Hey there folks! It’s been a minute. Last time I posted an update I was climbing out of a tough place. I didn't intend to worry anyone, my intention was to be transparent, and normalize some of the struggles that we all go through in life. Doing creative work while being depressed was just about impossible, but things have continued to go well in recent times. Honestly, I’m doing solid (all things considered), and through a lot of hard work have found my way. Anyway, enough about that. Moving on!

In other good news I’ve also completed a world building fellowship with Epic games. It's been an honor, and a privilege learning alongside folks who've worked on some of the largest IPs, from the Lord Of The Rings, to the Matrix series. I feel honored, and humbled. My work in the industry hasn't gone unnoticed. I was 1 of 100 people chosen to be included. I’ve learned a lot from this experience, met a lot of incredible people, and I’m excited to bring some of those new skills to Ira. All that being said, I’ve been happily working on Ira, and have made a lot of progress. I’ve overcome many of the shortcomings that playtesting brought to light. But enough about me, let's get into a big Ira update! This is an exciting one…

Let's start off this update with actual gameplay footage! This clip is from early in the game and is an introduction into the world. Here you will meet Jo and Patrick. Jo works at the local service station and supply depot. Some of you will remember rough / preliminary screen shots of this place a loooong time ago. So, without further ado, Ira gameplay footage!!! Most characters still need emotive voice work, and the dialogue needs a little touchup work as well. Overall, I’m really happy with the state of things. It feels pretty good.

On a side note Ira will not have any “real” voice acting via characters. They will have abstract sounds to represent their language. It sounds weird but it works in tests.

I've recently completed an updated Interaction system. The old full body radial menu was just too much trouble, too complicated, and in general didn’t add to the experience as I would have liked. So, I’ve moved to a more simpler / classic Icon drawer solution. Does it look as cool? Nope (it doesn't look bad either). Is it way more functional? Yes. Yes it is. Will anyone notice besides me? Probably not. All in all a nice reduction of complexity without taking away from the experience.

I’ve added more Inventory additions for more gameplay opportunities. Play testing found this area lacking. More inventory interactions have led to more environmental storytelling opportunities!

Characters have the ability to pay attention to things, and to emote contextually. That might not sound like a lot but when Luis follows Jo around and looks at her it makes a huge difference in making them feel alive, and not just some lifeless automatons. I’m loving how it feels. Do note, this is just a test room clip, and not final gameplay.

Davide is back in action for the final version of Ira and so is Tim! Davide is crafting character themes and motifs to further push emotions in dialogue / character interactions. Check out a gameplay example above where you can hear a theme for Patrick. It’s a bit melancholy, and you know when playing that you are getting real vibes from Patrick’s troubled past/present. Davide is taking the time to give each character their own audio treatment/theme. He’s doing beautiful work, and his audio add’s real texture to the souls of the characters in game.

Tim is back in action and is working on audio implementation specifically sound effects within the world. Tim brings the environmental audio to life, and without it, it just would not be a living world.

It's great to have both of these gentlemen back in action after an extended break.

In the last couple months I’ve worked out 2 sponsorships from both AMD, and Intel. They might be competing chip manufacturers, but it doesn't seem to be an issue!

Intel is going to be advertising Ira on launch! Which is great news, and may provide other support along the way.

AMD had really stepped up as my biggest sponsor. They will not only be advertising for Ira on launch, but just recently provided me with a high end development workstation. I’m humbled and appreciative, thank you AMD (and Joe)! I could not have asked for better support, and from one of my favorite companies no less! My fan boy heart swoons. The new system is already proving helpful in my development work. I will be doing an Ira related developer blog for AMD as well in the future. I can’t believe this has happened. I’m very excited to say the least. I will also be including (the latest version) of AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution in Ira. It’s awesome software that will make it run its absolute best on any hardware. It’s basically witchcraft (in the best way imaginable).

Refinement: Right now I’m making a pass through all the levels. I’m about 1/4th the way there, and trying not push myself past my limits (slow and steady). But my updated Action system is making refinement much faster, and more manageable.

If you still follow this then thank you! I know its been a weird long journey and the fact that I’m still updating this is kind of wild. Most people would have let the project die, but it’s been a real passion of mine (when life permits). I’ve been the only developer for a long time, and I’ve made it a life goal to see this through. It feels good to be back on track, regardless of everything. I’m insanely stubborn, and I love the world I’ve created. I hope to share it with you soon!

Until next time folks!

Hey there. I know some of you have been wanting an update of where things are currently at for some time now, and I feel like I’m in a good place to provide that. For starters, I’m alive, and so is the project.

In my personal life (as noted in my last update) things were not going well. Sometimes despite your best efforts things happen to the people you love, and things are just outside of your control. You simply can’t save people who desperately don’t want to be saved. No matter how much you care about certain people in your life, no matter how much you love them, they are going to make their own decisions, and sometimes those decisions are self-destructive (addiction is a terrible disease).

The resulting depression from the situation I was in could only be described as a gray nightmare that I couldn't wake up from, and it basically sucked all joy from the things I loved. My creative spark was basically snuffed out. There were many occasions over the last 9 months where I’d look at my development server (which died during the move) containing all my Ira files, and I just couldn't find the motivation to repair it. It just felt like too big of a mountain to climb.

All I can say is that losing people you love takes an emotional toll that I would never wish on anyone. Life is profoundly resilient, and yet fragile. I've only had enough emotional bandwidth to work my client contracts, pay my bills, and in general, survive. Sometimes surviving is the best we can do, and surviving is what I’ve been doing. However, I think it’s time for more than just “surviving” now.

I’ve made substantial progress. I can’t stress enough self care, working out, socializing, therapy, and taking the time to heal (I’ll be doing this for awhile), and in my case (which I can only speak to) taking psilocybin. So, It's been a slow and steady climb out of that pit of gray despair. There was a turning point a few months back where half the time I was feeling alright. Then it was more like 75% of the time. I still have rough days, but they are manageable. I rarely break down sobbing on my desk anymore! Yup, I've cried more in the last year than I have in my whole life combined! Crying is cool folks! Anyway, I'm able to sketch and draw again. My creative desires have been resurfacing, and I feel more and more whole everyday.

The other day I sat down with my broken Ira server, repaired it, and enjoyed the process. I hooked back up all my Ira development systems, and opened the project back up for the first time, in a long time. The project brings back a lot bittersweet memories from what my life used to be. Watching the golden sunrise wash over the town of Pilgrimage felt good. Running the characters around, looking back at scenes, and watching the characters have conversations about the world they live in reminded me of why I started this project to begin with. I could feel that creative itch once again. I could feel the inspiration that used to drive me forward! Right now, I’m getting reacquainted with where I left off. I’m not putting timelines on anything at this point. I’m just going to feel it out, and take things as they come. It’s the best I can do, but I'm still here, and I still plan on finishing what I started.

❤ Thank you all for the support and understanding ❤

I need to pick up the broken pieces of my life, start putting the pieces back together in order to create something new. In the last year, I’ve lost more people that I love, than what should be statistically possible. I’ve tried to make the best of things, I’ve tried to be understanding, I logically understand the impermanence of life / relationships, but there comes a point that attitude can only get you so far. I’m not only emotionally spent, but I’m 6 figures in emotional debt. This is the single most painful point in my life to date. I’m leaving my apartment in Chicago (my home for the last 5 years) and I’m moving to the backwoods of Michigan to create a space so I can recover.

I will be taking my studio with me though, and rebuilding it where I set up shop. The irony of all of this is that I’m going back to where everything starts in Ira. The town of Pilgrimage is based off of Shelby Michigan; where my grandparents lived their entire lives. So in a strange way, maybe this is the best place to finish things over the winter.

I wish I had better news. I’m going to make it, but this is where I’m at right now. For a moment I considered not sharing this but, it's ok to struggle, it's ok to let people know, it’s ok to ask for help, and it's ok to give yourself space to heal.

If you're reading this then I'd ask that you take a moment to look to the people you care about, and simply let them know what they mean to you. Nothing lasts forever folks.

Until next time,
Zachary

Hey folks!

As promised it's been 3 months and play testing begins at the end of the week! This play test will feature the first 1/3rd of the game. All the meat and potatoes have been incorporated, but minor details still need some finesse. Things like pacing, environmental sounds, and animations for certain environmental interactions have either been created, or on the to do list, but still need to be implemented appropriately (in some areas). Touching up cutscenes will need to happen as well. That being said, the game is there and it’s doing what it's supposed to!

For the moment I will be collecting play data and responding accordingly to that feedback. After I get through this phase I will open things up to backers / followers on Steam who are interested; specifically using Steam keys for testing purposes. If playtesting is something you'd be interested in doing then drop me a line at info@iragame.com. Please keep in mind that I will need some things from you. You need a windows based computer, sign an NDA agreement, have a webcam, provide feedback, and must be willing to record your face + play session. I will include a how to doc with links for easy setup!

If you have any questions feel free to drop them below. Until next time folks!

- Zach

Let's start off with the teaser of the main menu. The orange glow of the sun cascading around Mount Azimuth as it looms over the town of pilgrimage. This is it! This is the menu you will see when you startup Ira for the first time! Many of you have probably seen a version of this at some point. Well, now you know it's part of the intro and main menu. Listen to the music, the dust blowing in the wind! Pretty soon you will get to see where the road to Pilgrimage leads.

This is how the journey begins, on a dusty road right outside of Pilgrimage.

What? A completion date? This cant be real right? Well it is! We will be doing final playtests in July! 3 months out! That's right. That's the hard deadline! No more delays. Playtesting begins

The last six months have been slower than I would have liked. In full candor I have had freelance clients off and on and it's the primary way I make my income and survive. That being said, I have been splitting my time between Ira and clients; hence the slow down. Most of my weeks are about 75 hours, but I’m not complaining as I love what I do. Things may have been slower than I would have liked but don’t take that the wrong way. I have been doing a lot.

• The entire project has been gutted of years of old unused content and systems, in order to be ready for the final builds. Anything that was created by members from years past have been rebuilt or cut, etc. The game has been rebuilt from the ground up by me. The entire stylization system has been overhauled to be as performative as possible with the help of a wonderful plugin called Extended Shading Pro by a gentleman named Nikolay Prudnikov. Nikolay has been instrumental in transferring Ira’s style over to the new shading system. Now, things run flawlessly and will run that way on any platform including mobile. I know this is more on the techy side of things but it’s made a world of difference. Thank you Nikolay Prudnikov!
  
  
• I unified all Ira actions into something called Ira’s action system V3. It makes it so any action I’d want to use in my development work can be called from a localized place. I’m systematically replacing the old logic. This way, play testing and modifying character actions and future acts will be easy.
  
  
• Updated a few tools that I use in my process as well.
  
  
• I upgraded the character locomotion system to an advanced locomotion system that makes character movements natural and now characters can be controlled by A.I. This might not sound like much but it's huge, as I can have characters climb ladders and perform all sorts of actions with ease. That makes handling gameplay much easier on my end. No more one-off scenes that take days or weeks to make as you just have to tell the character what to do and they will do it! I’m in this for the long run and I plan to continue making new content with this system! Also, the new locomotion system makes them feel alive! So much better than what it used to be.
  
  
• You’ll notice that the old press kit has been retired. The overall quality has gone up so much that, once again, the press kit isn't representational anymore. So it’s out with the old and in with the new. I will be adding a new one closer to release, all with final gameplay.
  
  
• Someone asked about how the number acts that Ira will have on release. The plan largely remains the same. Act 1: Pilgrimage comes out first, and is self contained, but leaves things open for Act 2. There’s a very good chance that Act’s 2 and 3 will be combined into a single act. I’m going to have to feel that out as I go. That being said there is a lot of fuel for the creative fire, and I’m excited for future prospects. The better Act 1 does, the more I will be able to produce subsequent content. And just to be clear. Act 2 will be a quick turnaround due the games framework already being complete.

• A lot of character development outside of the game itself. The further I got into writing character dialogue, the more it became apparent that many of the characters weren't ready to speak on their own. What I mean by that is that each character has a history, a story, a personality with wants, needs, and a unique way of engaging with the world around them. I find that when I really get to know a character writing on their behalf is an easy thing to do. So, this is something I’ve been taking the time to flesh out more, and It’s a been a great experience feeling them out.
  
  
• Let’s take Patrick for instance. What was he before he started prospecting Lith ore? Well, I looked back into my grandfather's life (who Patrick is based on) and I found a connection to his past that fit beautifully. Patrick used to be a projectionist at the local theater, and used to love to watch the stories unfold on the silver screen. He used to be an idealist like his son Ira. Patrick represents the past. Already experiencing the best and worst of what Intele Co’s technology could offer the world. Patrick is stuck looking at his life before the collapse of the economy, and obsessed with restoration of what once was, but he is losing that battle. He still pines for the past and wants things to be like they were, once before. Back to the days where he would sit in a booth above a crowded room, and watch life unfold upon the silver screen. Back to the one room theater in the middle of woods.

Sorry for not updating sooner, I’m doing my best to make sure everything is the best it can be, but I’ve come to realize that I’m a flawed person, making a game about a flawed world, full of beautifully flawed people, and in turn Ira will never be a perfect game. My hope is that it will be a meaningful journey to go on, and that it will speak to you, in your own personal way. Anyway, 3 months left until completion/playtesting! Looking forward to finally being able to have you all play Ira Act 1: Pilgrimage. A game that’s taken waaay longer than it should have to be completed. I hope all of you will be able to enjoy it very soon!

I created a post awhile back detailing the passing of my Grandfather (Patrick Morningstar) who is one of the inspirations for Ira, and the Morningstar family (in game). I’m sad to say that my Grandmother has now passed as well. She lived 96 years and was sharp as a tack to the very end. Ethelyn and Patrick were married almost 80 years. They experienced so much together and saw the world slowly change before their eyes.

The homestead is based on the home they lived in throughout their entire married life together. Patrick built the house from the ground up starting with just the basement, and building it up level by level over the years. He would always share stories about how it was built. One story I will always remember is how the main cross beam of the house was put into place. When it came time to build the first floor Patrick did all he could to be thrifty as they had a small budget to work with. The day Patrick needed the main beam set for the house he went down to the local pub, and offered free beer to anyone that would help him hoist the steel crossbeam into place. In about 5 minutes time Patrick had the whole bar following him back to the homestead. In no time they had the beam hoisted above their heads and dropped into place. They spent the rest of the evening drinking and celebrating the laying of the beam. The beam which would support their home for the rest of their lives.

It’s stories like this that exemplify the best of human nature and our drive to prosper (regardless of the odds) that inspire much of my work and development today. I miss them both, and will do my best to honor their legacy.

The picture on the projector below is of Patrick and Ethelyn on their front porch.

Scene conversions/updated levels are coming along well. The Homestead has come such a long way. Remember this old living room scene?


Still needs some fine tuning but it's just about 100% complete and ready for the final game. The house has been expanded and is now fully explorable. You’ll find lots of interesting story elements and world building throughout the house. Maybe even a few of Patrick’s stories here and there. You might even notice some call backs to the original prologue / demo released back in the day.

At this point I’ve decided that (besides some fine tuning) Ira’s visuals are complete. I’ve come to the conclusion that any more large tweaks would just give diminishing returns at this point. In my heart I feel like there is always more that could be done, but, after the MegaGrant updates it’s time to let things settle as they are. Overall I’m happy with what I've created, and I’m content to have reached the end to this area of production.

If you noticed Ira’s web page being down, that’s because the web page had been hacked, and I lost years of web work including the backup copy on the server! This was extremely disappointing but there is a silver lining; I’m currently rebuilding the web page with final Ira content where there’s a lot more fleshed out info about the final game, dev blogs, and press kit, and trailer!

I’ve brought on another composer / sound designer / audio implementer to do the finishing work on Ira. Tim not only does composition work, but he also does sound implementation in Unreal which will take a heavy load off my shoulders. Between Davide's and Tim's work, Ira will get finished with high quality audio implementation / composition. You can find more of Tim and his work here[timcorpus.net].

Play testing of the revamped game has begun and will continue to expand leading up to the end of the year with the goal of being completed before 2020 is out. I had some set backs with Covid this year but I feel like everything is back on track, and not too much time was lost! I also had a Coivd antibodies test done, and I in fact did have Covid 19. Apparently, I still carrier the antibodies. It's a strange time we are living though people!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well. Stay safe out their folks!

-Zachary

Well, I got sick. Did I have Covid 19? It’s very possible. I had soreness at random places all over, I felt extremely fatigued to the point I was sleeping 16 hours a day. It felt like I got hit by a truck while simultaneously having mono, and took me a few weeks to get back to feeling normal. That on top of already having a pre-existing heart condition it was a little concerning to say the least. All that being said I’m doing just fine now, and I hope all of you are doing well too.

I set up a Discord [discord.gg]for other indie developers, and fans like yourself in general feel free to join in here. Let me know you if you join and are a Kickstarter backer; I'll give you a special role. On the Discord I’ll be sharing smaller daily things in this location, and I'm still trying my best to be active on Twitter. Ira Twitter, my personal Twitter

Per usual I’ve been busy, busy, busy, and work never goes as fast as I would like. Working as a solo developer isn't always easy. On the up side, I updated the interaction system to make game play simpler to set up, and implement. The old system was not a productive system to work with. Basically, it was wildly inefficient, and I automated away around a 1000 of hours worth of work in about a week! If you ask me it's a solid trade off. I’ve also been adding some more interactive elements to draw players into the experience. Progressive buttons (40 secs in) are a fun new addition! Check it out. Here's a clip of that. The frame rate is a little rough, but it should be a solid example of what I'm talking about.

I had the privilege of putting a techblog together for Epic games and UE4. I never thought Ira (or myself for that mater) would be featured on the Epic's website! We've come a long folks. Anyway, It’s a peek into Ira’s stylization, and automation pipeline that I've built out to make production easier. If you are interested in that sort of thing feel free to check it out here[www.unrealengine.com], or click the image below.

[www.unrealengine.com]Publishers have been a big item on my to do list. I’ve only reached out to a couple at this time and have had some solid interest. I will be sending out test builds to a few key folks and a general demo package to a large group of publishers sometime this coming month! Wish Ira luck! Having a well known and connected publisher on board would make a huge difference. If you are interested in being a Demo tester let me know on the Discord or Email me at info@iragame.com.

I hope you are all doing well in these strange times, and I hope to see you on the Discord [discord.gg]!

Hey Folks, It’s time for another update. So what’s been going on the last few months?

Well, things have been busy. I’ve been working like crazy (what's new right?), but it's a good kind of crazy. Just working hard to make sure everything is in order. Which makes big updates a bit of a challenge. For those of you who want more frequent updates / and interactions with me and Ira in general please feel free to follow @IraGame on Twitter. I will also be putting a discord together in the near future. So stay tuned for that. If you have any social media requests feel free to let me know in the comment section below, and I will do my best to accommodate your preferred platforms.

In other news the MegaGrant has made a huge difference in Ira’s overall level of quality, and in general the richness of the experience. It’s incredible having the proper resources to define environments now. They feel so much better than they did before. I’ve been updating all the core game play systems to be release ready. They are not quite there yet, but I’m getting close. I’d say they are around 80% complete! There is a lot of detail work that goes into that last 20% to make everything feels just right.

Storytelling and game play are other big areas of progress. Currently I’m working on finding the right balance between various storytelling elements, and mechanics. It’s rewarding, but also a challenging endeavor that I’m continuing to finesse.

Lastly I have some new teasers planned which will be part of the main trailer for Ira! We have not had a real trailer as of yet so it's something that is really exciting to start putting together.

That's it for now but I look forward to sharing more with your folks soon, and don't forget to join us on Twitter!

My apologies for the lack of updates over the last few months. We’ve been waiting on some big news and it’s finally here! I’m happy to announce that after a long time and a lot of hard work, Ira Act 1: Pilgrimage is now the recipient of an Epic Games MegaGrant.

The MegaGrant is a grant awarded by Epic games to UE4 game developers of all sizes with funds to make their projects a success.

The MegaGrant is not an exclusivity deal with Epic Games and comes with no strings attached. That means as of this moment, we will be releasing on the same platforms as before. Steam is still our first release platform. Nothing has changed in that department.

This grant covers the remainder of Ira’s development costs. That means we have funding for better assets, more help, and our most important resource - time. Time to increase the overall quality of the story, game play, and in-game assets.

As most of you know, our goal was to wrap Ira up by the end of the year and then release. In order to make that deadline we had to cut content that would have really added to the overall experience. Basically we had the best parts version of Ira we were looking to release. Would it have been the best Ira possible? It would not, but it still would have been enjoyable.

Now that we have the MegaGrant, we will be able to release the version of Ira that is the best that we can possibly make it. One with all the intended scenes, story elements, quality, and nuance it deserves. This is really a dream come and could not have come at a better time.

Instead of releasing January of 2020 we will be looking to finish Ira up sometime in mid 2020. We are sorry about the delay but at this point we can’t pass up the opportunity to make Ira the game it was always meant to be.

Looking forward to 2020, we will be sharing a lot more content and our team will be hard at work making Ira the best it can possibly be!

I look forward to sharing more with you folks soon.
- Zachary