The Future Project is out now!
The day has finally arrived!
At long last, The Future Project is now available on Steam and the Epic Games Store! After a nearly five year journey, I'm happy to finally share my latest work with the world. In case you're new here (and haven't yet seen the dedicated page for The Future Project on this website), The Future Project is a first person Metroidvania styled game where you explore various environments, gathering new abilities and expanding what you can do in each world as you play. It continues the story started in my last game, Impressions, as the player sees the aftermath of alien contact and the progress of the titular Future Project. Humanity's dream to explore the cosmos and reconnect with the aliens is about to be realized, but there are still some who aim to bring down the project...
The Future Project is my biggest, most complex, and dare I say best work yet. I'm very happy with how it has turned out. When I start making any game, my first thought is always "what sounds fun to me?" And then I go from there. It's been challenging at many points, but I've had fun putting the game together and still have fun playing the game. Hopefully you have fun playing it as well! I think it'll be a game with lots of hidden depth to it. I've replayed it dozens of times for playtesting and there's still little things you can do in the game that surprises me in a good way. I look forward to seeing how other people respond to it. Personally, I think it'll be really cool when people start figuring out some of the hidden mechanics and secrets of the game. All I'll say for now is, speedrunning ought to be very interesting to watch...
So, what's waiting for us in the immediate future? Will I be supporting the game further beyond this initial launch? What on earth will I talk about on the dev blog now that the game is out? What does the next Infinite Level game hold? Let's take these one at a time, starting with the dev blog since that's easiest. I will be opting to cancel the monthly dev blog planned for August and move it to September, seeing as the game won't even be a week old by August 1st and I'll want time to see how people respond to it and formulate some post-release thoughts. Outside of social media musings (or interviews, if any press is interested!), you probably won't hear from me much till then. I would simply encourage you to enjoy the game in the meantime. As for if I'm doing any post-launch support, the answer is...it depends. I'll be keeping an eye out for any reported bugs or suggested balance adjustments, and will probably still be playtesting the game in search of bugs on my own time. Ideally, the game will be flawless with no bugs and strike a perfect difficulty balance, but especially as a one man show that's not exactly realistic. Even so, I'm confident that the average player's experience should be smooth. I don't know how long this post-launch support will last exactly. It will likely depend on player demand and how many issues decide to reveal themselves after release.
As for what's next? Well, it's a bit early to be talking about that, isn't it? The game just released! But I can understand the curiosity. Will there be any post-release updates to The Future Project? Will I immediately move on to something new? What would that new project be? The answer to all these questions is, yet again...it depends. But in general, I am indeed thinking about my next project after The Future Project, but it'll probably be a while before I start talking about it. I still have plenty to discuss about The Future Project in the meantime though, so I imagine I'll be focused on The Future Project for a while longer. As for post-release content, well...we'll see. I certainly have ideas, but I'll have to evaluate both player interest as well as what I personally want to do. Let's just say for now I'm keeping a list.
For now though, I'm gonna enjoy this moment. If you've been waiting for this game for a while, thanks for your patience! It was a long road getting here. If you're completely new here, greetings! I hope you check out The Future Project. If you like it, I've got plenty of dev blogs talking about various aspects of the game. Great for those who like behind the scenes styled content and/or want to see the thoughts of the creator over the course of development. Lastly, a few special shout outs before I go. I of course want to thank my wife for all the love and support that absolutely carried me through development. "The Squad" (you know who you are) for your friendship and support, and of course the friends who helped playtest the game. And with that, I'm signing off. I hope you enjoy The Future Project!
Until next time!
-Lance T.