July Update
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Jul 06, 2017 at 11:19:16 PM

Independence Day!  

In the spirit of the holiday we just celebrated here in America, we're very thankful for our freedom. Our country isn't perfect by a long shot, but we love it. We're also very thankful to all of our awesome Kickstarter backers! (that would be you) It's been a roller coaster ride over here and we're glad to have your support! We know it's been a while so let's get on to some updates!

Deadwood Returns to Orlando iX!

We've been pretty quiet around here lately and for that we're sorry. But it's not without reason! We've been working extra hard on the game. That's because come August Deadwood will be stepping back into the light for the first time since our Kickstarter! We'll be demoing the game to everyone at the convention, marking the first time the public will have a chance to play the game. This is great news for anyone going to the convention, but doesn't help you much if you're not. Well rest easy because if you backed the Alpha level or higher then we'll be getting in touch with you to secure your own copy of the demo. It's not an Alpha, but we're excited to share it with you and are looking forward to sending more builds your way as development continues.

 

Deadwood Progress Report

Below you'll find some gifs highlighting a few new features we've put in the game. We'll be showing much more next month when we've polished the demo up a bit more.

Combat

We've been polishing our combat system while adding in fun new things like the turret.

Water

We're working on a new water shader. We loved what we had in the Kickstarter build cause it was hand animated. But it absolutely killed performance. Thankfully we have a new shader we're developing that is the best of both worlds. It looks hand drawn AND it's easy on the frame rate. In this shot you'll only see ripples around the posts, but we've got ocean waves and river coasts all in the works.

Dialogue Boxes  

Story is a HUGE part of the game and so it only makes sense to have some good 'ol fashioned dialogue boxes in the game. They're a work in progress but it's exciting to finally start seeing the story part of our game.

Grass 

If you've been following our updates you'll know this isn't the first post on grass. Because of the overhead camera angle, grass plays a very important part to our visual look. The new demo has grass (and flowers) pretty much everywhere and we wouldn't have it any other way.

Splinter

Splinter is in the game and man does he make things more complicated for you. Easily the most sly of all Deadwoods, this guy will dodge your attacks while throwing white hot amber shards your way. 

 Woodchuck Clan

We've spoken about these guys in previous updates, well there camp is a focal point in the demo. They're a pretty good group of mercenaries but maybe a little to sure of themselves.

Day/Night Cycle

The day/night cycle is extremely important for our game as all of our major game design elements are tied to it. Because of this we have opted to make it a bit more punchy and obvious when you enter a new time of day. Here you can see the transition from dawn to day.

New HUD

Now that all of our gameplay systems are firmly in place we can start designing the UI with a bit more confidence. Here you can see a snapshot of the new HUD with everything turned on. Depending on the situation alot of these elements will come and go.

 

Team Members

Our Deadwood team continues to grow! From left you have Wes, Keith, Jalil, Jorge, Adam, Celeste, Chris, Cristian, James, Gabe, and the last two people became one beautiful creature... Bob and Frank. Or Frob if we had to give them a celebrity couple name. Click the image for some panoramic goodness.

 

Twitch

For those of you who want to stay updated on all things Deadwood on a much more frequent pace. Then don't forget to check out our Twitch stream every Tuesday at 3ish.

 

That's it for now! Once again, we want to thank all of you for your support. We'll be reaching out to you shortly after Orlando iX to get all the Alpha backers a sneak peek of the game.

Rolling Out,

Steamroller

State of Deadwood
about 7 years ago – Wed, Feb 01, 2017 at 08:50:58 PM

It’s been a long time since our last update, (about 3 months) but we’re excited to get things started right this new year. So we’re going to kick things off with a massive update. Buckle up, this may take a while…

State of Deadwood

First off we’d like to apologize for the lack of updates over the last few months. You guys are the best community in the world and we appreciate your patience. Just to assure everyone right off the bat. Yes, Deadwood is absolutely still in development. But more on that later. There’s a lot that’s happened and a lot to get you caught up on so let’s get down to brass taxes…

New Studio!

In December we moved the entire studio over to a new building. It was a massive undertaking and honestly we’re still unpacking boxes. For the 6 months before the move we were on the second floor of a Bank of America building. It got the job done but just didn’t feel like us as it was very corporate with lots of little offices. It was also more money than we wanted to spend. So we found ourselves a nice little chapel that we now call home. That’s right, we’re working out of an old church built in the late 1800s! It even has a bell we can ring to annoy our neighbors! It’s more charming and fits our culture so much better. We’re not sure if we’ll be here a year or longer, but it’s nice to be back at work.

 New Website!

As some of you have already noticed, we recently launched our brand spanking new website. We were hacked and lost a great deal of content. Thankfully we were already working on a new site. But this is why we had about a month where all we had was a coming soon page. The goal with our new site was to create something that better reflects what our company has become over the last year. You’ll notice that Deadwood still has a presence there. But the plan now is to do most of our Deadwood related stuff over on deadwoodgame.com. Which also got a new face-lift by the way! From now on “The Log” (which is our Deadwood micro blog) will be featured here instead of the studio website. Also, don’t forget about our discuss forums, they went down for a while due to the hack, but are now back up with a new post about designing Roguard.

The big “C”  

In the spring of last year we got the horrible news that our co-founder and lead programmer Keith Lackey was diagnosed with cancer. It was a tough time for everyone here. Now before we spiral away into a whirlpool of depression, we’re happy to report that as of earlier this month, Keith is finished with his treatments and is cancer free! So of course we gave him a big hug and then put him back to work.

Financials  

Well if that title doesn’t get you excited I don’t know what will. We strive to be as transparent as possible with our community, and so we thought it was time to shed some light on how Deadwood is actually being made/financed. You might ask “Wait mysterious person who writes the Deadwood updates, what are you talking about? Deadwood was funded through Kickstarter already!” Well yes, we did hit our goal thanks to all of you wonderful people. However, after everyone takes there cut and you set aside funds for reward fulfillment there’s not as much as you would think. We used our Kickstarter funds very responsibly and managed to stretch it out over 6 months with our then team of 6. We’re talking Ramen every night survival here. We were in negotiations with multiple investors during this time. But we just couldn’t find a fit. And so we made the decision to open our doors to contract work. This would allow us to fund Deadwood ourselves.  

So for the last year we have been juggling contract work as well as Deadwood development. Put simply, our profits from contract work goes right back into Deadwood. As we grow our contract division, we also grow our Deadwood team. We’re happy to say that we have grown our company from 6 to over 20 now with half of those people making Deadwood. But this game is a huge undertaking and even our current team isn’t enough, we’ll need to keep hiring. Therefore, we keep growing our contract side. So far everything is going better than we could have hoped. And we’re excited to keep growing our studio.

Release Date

There’s nothing more important to us than completing Deadwood: The Forgotten Curse. We have so much of our own time, money, and straight up sweat in it that we can say with absolute certainty that it will get done. We’re just not committing to a firm release date. Because it’s not fully funded, it’s better to not make promises on a date we don’t know if we can pull off. But rest assured we are always working on it and we will announce a date when we’re confident we can hit it. It’s our goal to make it the best game we possibly can.

Alpha

Some of you have asked about the status of the Alpha. Unfortunately, the alpha falls under the same category as the release date. We are working hard towards releasing it to you guys, but we want to make sure it accurately reflects the finished project. As soon as we have something releasable, rest assured we will share it with you all. We can’t wait to show off what we’re doing and are working hard towards doing just that.

 Our team is growing!

Over the last year we have hired a ton of people. You can learn more about them on the team section of our new site. Actually, we’re growing so quick, we have a couple new guys that are newer than our new website. Haha. We have Eddie, an awesome animator who comes to us from the amazing studio Monolith. And we have Josh, a very talented level designer formally of N-Space. While Eddie is mostly doing contract work. Josh is 100 percent on Deadwood. We’re excited to have both of these guys on our ever-expanding team.

 

 Twitch

Here’s a fun announcement! For those of you who miss our monthly Twitch streams, we’re excited to announce that we will not only be starting the stream again, but we’re going to do it every week! Tune in next Tuesday as we kick things off again!

Quick Deadwood Update  

We are knee deep in Deadwood development and unfortunately, most of what we’re working on we can’t show you. But we did scrounge together a couple new pieces for an area we can talk about. Let us introduce you to Philichop, the eccentric leader of the notorious woodchuck clan. These guys are lovable mercenaries who sell their turret defense and barricade systems to the towns that can afford their protection. Imagine if the lost boys grew up and decided to make barricades for people. Below is a small sample of what goes into a small area of the game. ie: Concepts, Models, Storyboards, Level Layout, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

Wow! That was a long update. If you're still with us, thanks again for your patience and excitement for our (not so little) game. We'll be back next month with more Deadwood goodness!

Love,

Steamroller

October Update!
over 7 years ago – Tue, Oct 04, 2016 at 11:02:36 PM

Hey Woodlings!

Welcome back to the world of Deadwood! October is here and its full steam ahead! After a little bit of a slow month last month, we are back with a full team of artists on the Deadwood. In this update we have some really fun gifs and images showing off some high-res models, the HUD, and more from our work-in-progress areas.

Hi-Res Models

Last month, we showed off one of the creatures named Tobard. This month we had the opportunity to work both the hi-res models of Tobard and a long-time enemy named Splinter. Take a look at what we’ve been doing in ZBrush.

HUD

We’ve been preparing heavily for a local conference here in the Orlando area called OrlandoiX to show you guys first hand just what we’ve been working on. This month, Adam has taken to the task of finishing the HUD for the use in our Pre-Alpha build we’re featuring at OrlandoiX. We’ve got some very skilled artists in the building and this is nothing shy of awesome!

Woodchuck Clan Camp and More!

For the last few months, we’ve really tried to nail down the layout and feel of the Woodchuck Clan Camp area to make it an example of what we need to do for the rest of the game. So far, so good; this area has proven to be a great cornerstone for the rest of the game. We’re about 90% of the way done with the layout and we’re really excited to keep this momentum going. In fact, we’ve already started on some of the newer areas for the game (but we’ll keep the names of those areas a secret for now). Have a look and tell us what you think in the comments below!

OrlandoiX

We have the absolute pleasure of having a booth this year at OrlandoiX. Come join us and many other great studios and artist as we come together to celebrate creators in video games, virtual reality, and immersive experiences. There will be over 100 interactive experiences, industry leading keynotes, speaker presentations, gaming tournaments, networking, and so much more! Come join us on October 14-16 and come talk to the team; we’d love to talk to you.

The Log

So far our take at blogging hasn’t gone so bad! "The Log" (clever right?) is our way of plugging you into the development of Deadwood on a much more consistent basis. These micro blogs will give you a small window into what we're working on everyday. Check it out here!

Twitch Team Stream Tuesday

Make sure to tune in NEXT TUESDAY (10/11) to our Twitch Live Stream! Remember to tune in the first Tuesday of every month on twitch and check out what we are working on for Deadwood! Feel free to ask any questions... we love talking about movies *hint hint*.

Steamroller Out!

September Update!
over 7 years ago – Tue, Sep 06, 2016 at 08:34:18 PM

Hey Woodlings! 

Welcome back to the world of Deadwood! September is here and its full steam ahead! We've been doing a lot of planning for some upcoming deadlines so Deadwood production has been a little slow this month but we’re still super excited to show you what we’ve been up to. In this update we have some really fun gifs and images showing off the Woodchuck Clan Camp, New World Assets, New Creature Assets, and a little news from our friends at Team 17!

Woodchuck Clan Camp (Cont.)

For the past few months, we’ve really been focusing in on the Woodchuck Clan Camp area. As we continually build new areas in the world, we polish a few areas along the way to make sure we’re ahead of the game. Last month when we showed you this area, it was in its roughest stage with no textures and hardly any direction. This month, we’ve gone full steam ahead and mapped out the entire region and begun working on a lot of its assets. Check it out! 

New World Assets

Moe and Frank, our newest members on the Deadwood team, have been cranking out new models that you’ll have the opportunity to see in the game. From headstones in the graveyard to the wagons in the farmlands; if you see them, they did them! 

New Creature Assets

The rest of the time that we spent on Deadwood this month was spent on these guys right here. Below we have Tobard, Wooly, and Lathe (but of course you knew that one!) All of the credits for this go to James and Frank for making some amazing models! 

Worms W.M.D.

Proud moment for the Steamroller Team. Worms WMD was our first contract project we were honored to be a part of! Many fun memories and many... many renders. Go check out Worms WMD and give our friends over at Team 17 some love! 

The Log

So far our take at blogging hasn’t gone so bad! "The Log" (clever right?) is our way of plugging you into the development of Deadwood on a much more consistent basis. These micro blogs will give you a small window into what we're working on everyday. Check it out here! 

 

Twitch Team Stream Tuesday

We had an awesome time on Twitch Stream Tuesday today. Thanks to everyone who came. Remember to tune in the first Tuesday of every month on twitch and check out what we are working on for Deadwood! Feel free to ask any questions... we love talking about movies *hint hint*.  

 

Steamroller Out!

August Update!
over 7 years ago – Tue, Aug 02, 2016 at 05:35:18 PM

Hey Woodlings! 

August is upon us! The month of August brings us days like National Lazy Day, National Tell a Joke Day, and the Summer Olympics, but more importantly, MORE DEADWOOD UPDATES! In this update we have some really fun gifs and images showing off the Woodchuck Clan Camp, Doors Doors Doors, more types of Trees and Plants, and our NEW STUDIO.

Woodchuck Clan Camp

A month ago, we left you with one of the newest areas, Keeper’s Outpost. This month, we want to introduce an area called the Woodchuck Clan Camp! As we continually build new areas in the world, we polish a few areas along the way to make sure we’re ahead of the game. Here’s a little info about the Woodchuck Clan and their Camp.

Loyal to a fault, this group of mercenaries that dwell just outside of Cedar Wharf will do pretty much anything for the right price. Under the leadership of Philichop, this delightful group of assassins acts tougher than they really are. 

Below are some of the layouts and current models of the Woodchuck Clan’s Camp:

Doors Doors Doors

We’ve taken an extensive pass this month at the doors that you’ll see in-game (hence the title). Here’s a look at the newer stylized doors. 

Plants and Trees 

Jaryd, our Lead Technical Artist has been whipping out some amazing trees and plants this month for all different parts of the map. Below are just a few examples of the greenery that he’s been working with.

Our NEW Studio!!

In one of our last Throwback Thursday post, we took a look back to when we moved into our first studio over two years ago. It's safe to say now that we have officially moved into our second studio! The third weekend of this month, we rounded up the troops and moved everything from our old studio into the new studio right down the road. Our first studio was a great first home, but we are growing faster than we ever imagined which means that we needed more room. Below, you'll see some of the pictures from the tear-down process of the old studio and a picture of the new one as everyone is getting set up! Here's to another great studio!

The Log

So far our take at blogging hasn’t gone so bad! "The Log" (clever right?) is our way of plugging you into the development of Deadwood on a much more consistent basis. These micro blogs will give you a small window into what we're working on everyday. Check it out here!

 Twitch Team Stream Tuesday

We had an awesome time on our Twitch Stream Tuesday today. Thanks to everyone who came. Remember to tune in the first Tuesday of every month on twitch and check out what we are working on for Deadwood! Feel free to ask any questions... we love talking about movies *hint hint*.

 Steamroller Out!