Might and Magic X: Project Update September 1st, 2012

[MMXAlamar]

Might and Magic X
Press Release: September 1st, 2012

Might and Magic X: Children of the Void

Project Update: September 1st, 2012

We are still hanging in there, when the going gets tough. We have the public support to push this game forward, thanks to you guys, however, we still don't have the developers to make things go as quickly as we'd like to. Even if we don't finish the tutorial by the end of this year, there will be nothing stopping us in 2013. I've been hoping for a MMX ever since MM9, and I've been trying to make MMX happen for the past 2 years. It's finally happening! We are actually making another Might and Magic game. It's slow, that's for sure, but maybe more help will arrive. We need reinforcements, that's what we need! 3d modelers to design the diverse world in all its glory, and 2d artists to paint pictures of what it should look like. I still wait for the day when we won't need more help to make this game, but that day has not arrived, and maybe it won't for a long while. Until then, we're going to find some way to make this happen, and anyone else who wants to make this dream into a reality, please join us. MMX is our destiny!

What are the 2012 end-of-the-year goals for Might and Magic X?
• Production of a 2-3 minute gameplay video (est. January 2013)
• Finish level design for tutorial level (est. January 2013)
• Finish soundtrack and ambience for tutorial level (est. December 2012)
• Finish all dialogues and texts for tutorial level (est. December 2012)
• Program major interactions between the player and the game world (ongoing)
• Learn the entire design process for a town and dungeon so we can follow this process with other game areas (ongoing)

August 2012 Project Status

Major Game Design
• Main storyline script is 100% complete.
• Programming iteration 2 is 100% complete.
• World map is 70% complete.
• Enroth reference materials is 50% complete.
• Programming iteration 3 is 32% complete.

Game Mechanics/Databases
• Skills database version 1.0 is 100% complete.
• Items database version 1.0 is 100% complete.
• Races, classes, promotions database 1.0 is 100% complete.
• Potions database version 1.0 is 75% complete.
• Bestiary database version 1.0 is 25% complete.

Tutorial Level Design
• Designing and producing the tutorial level - IN PROGRESS.
• Tutorial plot summary is 100% complete.
• Tutorial region map is 100% complete.
• Tutorial texts/documents/cinematics/quests/dialogues are 60% complete (9 out of 15 assignments).
• Tutorial landmass is ~50% complete.
• Tutorial sewer dungeon infrastructure is ~33% complete (floor 1 is 100%, floors 2 & 3 in progress).
• Tutorial character/NPC/monster concept art is 17% complete (17 out of 99 drawings).
• Tutorial town concept art is 13% complete (4.2 out of 32 drawings).
• Tutorial 3d models (all) is 1% complete.
• Tutorial objects concept art is 0% complete.

(Note: these figures are relevant only to the level design/3d, art, and writing departments.)

September 2012 Project Goals

Major Game Design
• Finish 100% world map.
• Finish 100% programming iteration 3.
• Finish 100% programming iteration 4.
• Finish 75% Enroth reference materials.

Game Mechanics/Databases
• Finish 100% potions database 1.0.
• Finish 100% races, classes, promotions database 2.0.
• Finish 50% bestiary database 1.0.
• Finish 25% spells database 1.0.
• Finish 25% skills database 2.0.

Tutorial Level Design
• Finish 100% tutorial texts/documents/cinematics/quests/dialogues (15 out of 15 assignments).
• Finish 100% tutorial landmass.
• Finish 100% tutorial sewer dungeon infrastructure (floor 1 is 100%, floors 2 & 3 in progress).
• Finish 100% of all 3 WIP 3d models (slime, goblin, wolf).
• Finish 30% tutorial character/NPC/monster concept art (30 out of 99 drawings).
• Finish 30% tutorial town concept art (10 out of 32 drawings).

Concept Art Digest

Because the fans deserve to see what we’re working on, and now we have enough artists to generate a decent amount of quality art every month, MMX is going to release a select amount of concept art in the form of a digest during every monthly project update. This art will include mock drawings from our sketch jams, as well as some finished monsters, items, NPCs, and environment art. Although MMX has not yet acquired a sufficient amount of finished 3d artwork, we are doing not too shabby in the 2d realm.

Livestream News

There will be 3 livestream episodes per week on the official channel (http://www.livestream.com/mm10) and the playthrough channel (http://www.livestream.com/retromm) hosted by Corry and Ryan. We are going to try and hold more developer interviews with MMX project staff. The first developer interview was a great success and we had about 35 viewers online. Thanks everyone!

New Leader of Audio Department

One of our Audio Department leaders, Andrew Riechel, has stepped up to lead all Audio Department operations, including music, sound effects, and voice acting. Andrew has plenty of project management experience and will do a fine job with the audio for MMX. It's going to take a lot of spunk to fill the shoes of Rob King, Paul Romero, and Steve Baca, but we have a whole Audio Department ready for the job!

Still Wanted: 3d Modelers

The 3d/level design department will soon be putting together an ad for more 3d modelers. We need all the help we can get in this area, especially with texture art, which is taking hours and the 3d staff dislike having to do so much texturing instead of modeling. So we are looking for 3d modelers and texture artists to help speed up the production of the game. The landmass will be taken care of well, however, the models needed to populate the game areas and to build the dungeons are the trickiest part of development. Be on the lookout for our 3d ad, which will be finished and released in September 2012!

Sewers Progress

The first dungeon area in MMX is still in progress, but we promise it will look great when it's finished. Because some of our 3d modelers and texture artists were tied up with their jobs and education, progress on the sewers this month was stunted. The completion date for the sewer will be pushed back to the end of September. The sewer will have three floors, and the first floor is complete as of the end of August 2012. Now we just have to finish the other two and add monsters, static and dynamic entities, and basic game functionality. More 3d modelers would definitely help to speed up the level design process. We are highly short-staffed in the 3d department but still able to make progress for the time being. With the 3d ad released, my hope is to get another 4-5 skilled modelers to help build game world objects. We will also accept novices who want to improve their 3d modeling skills.

Storyline Script

The main outline of the MMX storyline is fully finished and contains five acts. There is the possibility of releasing the game in episodes, act by act; however, no major decision has been made on this aspect of the game. A unique feature of the MMX story has been borrowed from MM7 - instead of a good/evil split we will have an order/chaos split. You will also have unique heroes join your party, which should be quite entertaining. The Writer's Department will soon begin getting into more detail with the main quests, lore, and world-building.

Dynamic Game World

Some ideas we've had lately is to have more different types of player-to-world interactions. For example, in some MM games you are able to break items in the actual world, for example, crates, pottery, and glass windows. MMX will have all that and more, and the developers will meet sometime in the next several months to nail down ideas for specific dynamics that we can integrate into the development process, whether it be AI, player/object interactions, animations, etc. This layer of dynamics won't be ready to implement for awhile, so it will be in the form of ideas floating around amongst the development team in the meantime. But, with that said, we are going to come up with plans for a lot of cool features for you guys in the upcoming months!

Progress Tracking

The project leaders of Might and Magic X are going to begin tracking our progress to the very last detail. This will help us break our many tasks into manageable chunks in order to more forward towards the completion of the tutorial level by the end of the year.

As always, thank you fans for keeping up the faith in Might and Magic X: Children of the Void. It's time for us to work harder to bring you evidence of a new Might and Magic game on the horizon!

Sincerely,

MMXAlamar
President of Might and Magic X
mmxalamar@gmail.com

[the beavers1]

sweet! can't wait!

[legendoferthia]

Liking the planning. Planning is such an important factor in any project.

[PicturesOfLily]

Really like the planning too.
And of course, the whole project! But it will take time, as you clearly know.
I can only hope that you'll find the 3d modelers and 2d artists that you need

[Xfing]

This is amazing news, guys. Unlike your team, I do not respect Ubi's decision to discard the original setting, which held limitless potential for amazing stories. I hope you do give a part of that potential justice.

PS on a rather unrelated note. Have you attempted to notify van Caneghem of this project? I know that the members of NWC are rather elusive these days, (which is a shame, since I'd pay good money for an in-depth interview with any one of them).

[GrayFace]

Unlike your team, I do not respect Ubi's decision to discard the original setting, which held limitless potential for amazing stories.

In retrospect, it seems clear that Ubi would have failed to deliver these amazing stories.

[tolich]

Well, they won't screw these amazing stories.

[MMXAlamar]

Hey Xfing,

I've only had limited contact with NWC but there are about 4 or 5 people who know that we're making MMX. JVC may or may not be on the radar, but it would not be wise to present it to him until we have at least a well-polished demo.

The biggest problem that we're running into is our 3d modelers keep going inactive. The rest of the departments are fairly solid, but we can always use more people as long as they're skilled and committed, but 3d modeling is a HUGE issue.

To solve this dilemma, we are going to release an ad this month targeted towards 3d modelers with some examples of the work done by our current 3d modeling staff. Our goal is to recruit 3-5 consistent, full time modelers so we can get the workload handled in the 3d Department.

-Alamar

[Talin_Trollbane]

This is amazing news, guys. Unlike your team, I do not respect Ubi's decision to discard the original setting, which held limitless potential for amazing stories. I hope you do give a part of that potential justice.

PS on a rather unrelated note. Have you attempted to notify van Caneghem of this project? I know that the members of NWC are rather elusive these days, (which is a shame, since I'd pay good money for an in-depth interview with any one of them).

i dont respect Ubisoft at all (only EA tops them off the Throne of Disgust in my regards), clearly the wrong guys to give the Might and Magic to.

[koval321]

Liking the planning. Planning is such an important factor in any project.

No plan mean chaos it get nowhere, but constantly update previously plan also lead to walk in circles. Am hope they report progress and not give new plan every month.

You known like this story for example: Today I have great plan to walk into sun because its bright. After few hours I deicided to go west following sun. Next day I begin jurney on east because sun was so great, am sure i was correct because no other directions was good as this. Third day am make great progress following sun at west. Four day I meet familiar places and it was proof that am always right.