MonCon Newsletter #11 - UNWINDING FROM CSGC!

CSGC Debrief, & the April Progress Update

Greetings, one and all! It's time for your every-once-in-a-while scoop of MonCon development information! Progress on the game is still trundling along at a healthy pace. But before we get down into the nitty-gritty of where the game is at, let's briefly reminisce about the fun we all had at CSGC...

CSGC = Completely Super Gaming Convention

Ok, that's not at all what it stands for, but that pretty accurately captures our feelings about the event. Formerly the Heartland Gaming Expo, CSGC is one of our favorite conventions to attend, and not just because it's local and doesn't involve lugging all our crap to another city. It's also the very first convention that Anton and I ever attended to show off The Idiot's Tale way back in 2015. This was our seventh year in attendance, and they haven't kicked us out yet for exhibiting too many times, so CSGC 2024 is already on the calendar as far as we're concerned!

If you're local to the Tulsa area, I highly recommend stopping by next year. We had a blast talking to everyone and watching people get to play the new build of MonCon (and find some bugs for us!)

Now on to the MonCon progress update...

As you can see, Chapter 3 of the game is mostly complete. A huge chunk of time over the last couple of months was spent on completely rewiring the NPC character creation system. While it's always annoying to have to go back and redo work, it was a worthwhile investment. In the past, each NPC had to be meticulously created by hand, but the new system allows us to create NPCs much faster. It's something like one of those character creators you'd see in a triple-A game where you can cycle through a hundred different sets of eye types until you find that absolutely perfect eyeball that expresses you.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, designing NPCs is much faster now. This means that work on the remainder of the game will also be faster.

Since we're in the last stages of Chapter 3 development, this involves creating art assets and adding the last little bits of polish to give MonCon that extra oomph in the quality department. We've been working with our composer, and have new pieces of ambient music for Chapter 3, as well as brand-new battle attack songs that we can't wait for you guys to hear.

As far as what lies ahead, we have two more upcoming conventions - both of them in June, one physical, and one digital. There's the Nescatunga Arts Festival in Alva, Oklahoma, happening from June 2nd to June 4th. We'll have an even more complete build of MonCon for people to play.

Secondly, we'll also be participating in Steam Next Fest this year. There will be at least one livestream where we show off MonCon gameplay and answer questions from YOU, the fans! Be sure to follow us on social media to get the latest and greatest updates about both these events.

Don't forget you can still join the MonCon Discord server to meet up with other MonCon fans online!

That's all for now!

Until next time!

~ Elliott