Surveys are sent!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Aug 28, 2022 at 11:25:48 AM

Hey all, as promised, we've just sent out Backerkit surveys.

You can upgrade your pledge level if you'd like, add-on additional copies of the games for friends, or get some stickers or other add-ons Ala-cart. If you backed the game at higher tiers, be sure to provide your character art too.

Can You Help Get The Word Out?

Also, we'd really appreciate if you tell your friends about the Pre-Order Store that we launched alongside with this! We've added a limited number of rewards that are basically the same as what we had during the campaign.

What's Next?

1. Once everyone's had a few weeks to fill out the surveys, we're going to start sending out stickers to those at the $100 and above tier.

2. Later this year, we'll be adding the custom characters to the game, and working on fulfilling the other rewards, such as the custom art book and secret credits level.

3. We're hoping to send Steam keys to all Kickstarter backers this year as well. The game won't be finished until 2023, but we'd love to get more of you playing the early demo!

August Update!
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 20, 2022 at 06:16:41 AM

Hey all, just a quick update for you all on Whisker Squadron!

Dev Update

The team has been really hard at work this last 3 months working on a "vertical slice" build of the game. This build basically includes the first 3rd of the game in fully playable form - including "Exploration zones", and a finished "Action Zone" (on rails level). We've got a ton of new items in the game, and a new upgrades system as well. It's really starting to feel like the action Roguelike we want it to be!

The team has also grown quite a bit! 10 different people have worked on the game in some form this last few months, and all of this effort is really bearing fruit.

Here's a little peek at the game as it is right now:

Project Timeline

As you may have guessed, Whisker Squadron won't be done this year. We're still evaluating the schedule, but right now it's looking like sometime around May next year may be our target. It'll be worth the wait!

In the meantime, we're going to do our best to deliver Kickstarter rewards ASAP, including Steam keys for all backers this year.

Speaking of which...

Backerkit Surveys coming very soon!

For real this time - our Backerkit page is "in review" and we plan to set it live next week. Look for an email with a link. You'll have an opportunity to raise your pledge level if you'd like, add on extra copies of the game, and if you've backed at $200 or above, we'll have some forms where you can upload custom art for the "secret credits level", and for $500 and above, your character art.

Thanks all!

-Aaron and the team

Quick development update!
about 2 years ago – Fri, May 06, 2022 at 09:02:36 PM

May Update

Hey all, we're preparing a much bigger update in the coming weeks, but I wanted to give you a quick update in the meantime.

Vertical Slice

We are building what's called a "Vertical Slice" - a small section of the game that's representative of the production quality and fun that we're aiming for.

This first level isn't quite done yet, but we've made incredible progress on enemies, procedural space zone generation, and artwork. Here's a quick preview

Surveys?!

I promise, backerkit surveys are coming soon! We're working on figuring out stickers, setting up forms for submitting custom character art, etc. 

Stay tuned!

-Aaron

Quick development updates for you!
about 2 years ago – Sun, Mar 20, 2022 at 10:08:41 AM

Hey all, sorry for the silence these last few weeks - we've been really busy!

Steam Next Fest

Thanks to those of you who played the demo and sent feedback!

The reception to our recent announcement about focusing more on space gameplay has gone over really well. We know we've got some work to do, and die-hard Starfox fans may be a little skeptical - but we're really confident that we're going to deliver something everyone loves!

What we're working on:

AI:

 Chris has been working on wingmate AI, particularly in space levels. Your wingmate will now shoot at enemies and follow you around. It's a work in progress, but it's starting to feel more like you're part of a real "squad".

Art: 

We've got a new artist on the team, Miguel Friginal. Miguel is helping out with UI and giving lots of great input on the overall look and feel of the game. 

I (Aaron) have been working on shaders and materials, and in particular, the "outline" shader and toon rendering (aka cell shading) for objects in the game.  Here's a tiny little behind-the-scenes look at some of that work in a test scene:

Jin has been doing 3D modeling and animating for enemies, as we develop a new workflow for enemies that are a little more "high def" than the ones in the game currently. 

Here's a little sample:

Business

I'm going to the Game Developer's conference next week, and meeting with some platforms and publishers. We're hoping to find some partners to make the game launch go as well as possible, and to help make the game the best it can be.

Speaking of which...

Project Timeline - We'll Need A Bit More Time!

It may come as no surprise that we're going to need some more time to finish the project! We don't have a new timeline to announce just yet. However, we're going to do our best and deliver Steam keys for an "earliest access" build within the next couple months, roughly on the timeline we had estimated during the campaign. We'll be delivering other Kickstarter rewards (stickers, etc.) within the next couple months as well. Thanks for your patience!

Backerkit surveys, Custom Characters etc.

We'll be sending out surveys within the next few weeks via Backerkit, and at that time, we'll provide an upload link to submit your custom characters (for those of you in the $500 tier and above.) Given the additional time we'll need to finish the game, it won't be a problem if those characters aren't finished until this June - but submitting them sooner is fine too.

Backerkit will also be an opportunity for late backers to get in on funding the game, or for you to upgrade your support level with additional add-ons, if you'd like!

What's Next?

Our next development priorities are:

1. Improving space zone gameplay variety

2. Improving wingmate AI

3. Refining the look and feel of the game, including enemies, fx, and environments

Thanks all!

Whisker Squadron goes OFF THE RAILS
about 2 years ago – Sat, Feb 19, 2022 at 03:03:29 PM

Hey all, it's been awhile since we've updated you here- we've been busy!

We just announced a MAJOR design update to the game. The short version is that the game will have a big element of free-roaming space exploration, in addition to the "on rails" levels you've already seen.

Here's a concept of what we're imagining this could look like:

Please check out this  Steam event update for lots of details and screenshots - and there's a demo on steam available right now to try. If you already own the game on Steam because we sent you a Steam key - that version has been updated as well with the same features.

Let us know what you think in the comments!