Dear Insane Children, 

Well, much as I predicted… the lockdowns have arrived in Fengxian! We could see the wave rolling towards us over the past few days – all of Yan’s friends around Shanghai one by one reporting that they were being locked down. 

Btw, stop trying to click the Play Icon on that picture… it’s a screengrab of a video. Haha! If you want to see the video – it’s not very interesting – click HERE. 

So… nothing to be worried about. We can’t go in or out of our housing compound for a few days. They’ll test everyone during that time. And assuming everyone becomes back “negative,” they’ll open the gates again. In the meantime, we have plenty of food. And if we need more stuff, we can always order from outside. 

Not a big deal for my family since we work at home anyway. And the neighbors I’ve talked to this morning aren’t really bothered. This is just life in Shanghai these days. 

From Shanghai in Lockdown, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Things here in Shanghai are crazy. I wasn’t here during the Jan-Mar period of 2020 when Covid first kicked-off, so I can’t compare it to that… but certainly for the time since then, this is the most serious period of virus and lockdowns that I’ve seen. Tons of areas around Shanghai are in lockdown. All parks, public spaces, government offices, schools, etc are closed. And there’s mass testing going on all over the place. 

As you might imagine that means there will still be no live stream this week. Non-residents aren’t even allowed to enter our housing area at this point… so Martin would just be stuck outside the gate!

But that doesn’t stop our art team from producing beautiful illustrations… 

The main image (above) is from Adam for this scene described in the Narrative Outline: 

Narrative Excerpt:

A FINAL INTERMISSION (HUB-WORLD)

MAD HATTER’S DOMAIN (BARGAINING REALM) – HATTER’S WORKSHOP

Tick-tock.

Alice steps from the Hall of Doors and quickly returns to Hatter’s Workshop. Alice now knows the secrets of the darkness, and what has created it.

Hatter is in a distant state of mind. He explains; Only 1 Moon remains. Tick-tock.

The chaos clock in Hatter’s workshop is nearly completely consumed by the shadow. Everywhere Alice looks in his workshop, darkness is seeping in, through window sills, under doorways. All other entrances and exits from Hatter’s workshop are blocked.

Alice has everything she needs. All that is left to do is complete Alice’s quest and assemble the fragments she has collected and find her way home.

Hatter reveals a sarcophagus, emblazoned with winged beasts.
A mighty Gryphon is carved on its hull.

A final puzzle to solve; Hatter and Alice lay the pieces she has collected into a stone slab with numerous apparatus and machinations. The Eyes, Brain, her inner compass, and tears, all slot into place. In the end, the puzzle cannot be completed. After all other puzzles are solved, a secret panel presents itself. A single, heart-shaped slot remains empty.

The final slot of the puzzle; the clockwork heart, is still beating within the rabbit.

A cut scene plays;

A pause. Hatter reaches for the rabbit, as Alice’s tiny friend shudders in fear behind her.

Alice

No don’t!

Hatter stays his hand. His voice is stern but steady.

Hatter

This might be a difficult choice Alice, but this piece is required. If we do not have the heart in the right place, what we create to get you home will be without one. I cannot guarantee your success, your safety, or what comes next, without it in place.

Tick-tock. Chaos is barely restrained at every crevice of Hatter’s laboratory. It is overflowing.

Hatter continues;

HATTER

We are out of time.

Alice looks down to her rabbit, and to the machines, and to Hatter. Her eyes land on her tiny friend. Hatter awaits Alice’s choice, as she turns to address the scientist.

Alice

…my heart is exactly where it needs to be. With or without one in place in the machine, I know we’ll face whatever comes next, together.

Hatter smiles.

The Rabbit hops in a circle around Alice. He hugs her boot.

HATTER

So be it. Sounds like you indeed have enough heart to spare.

An engaging click and a whirr, as heavy gears churn and spark, initiating the machinery in Hatter’s laboratory. The sarcophagus glows, the power sparks surge from white, to red… then green.

Hatter furiously tries to operate levers and keep the wild sparking power controlled within.

The winged Gryphon effigies on the sarcophagus change and morph to… something else.

Still winged. But wicked.

Horrible, snarling, beastly noises are heard from within the sarcophagus. Smoke streams from its cracks.

The Chaos Clock chimes. Time is up.

***

Alex will be sharing a big post with details about the work being done in 2022 to get the Design Bible done. Expect that next week! 

We’re also making great progress on art and story for Oz: Adventures. Here’s an illustration from Gareth where you can see the Spanish Captain leading an expedition into the heart of Oz. By his side is a kidnapped Aztec guide – who will rise to play a very important role as this narrative develops. 

Let our artists know what you think in the comments below! 

From Shanghai in Virus Madness, 

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Well… Shanghai is experiencing a wave of new Covid infections. You can read the local news about it here: https://www.shine.cn/news/metro/2203092893/ 

The result is that a ton of places are getting “locked down” – meaning residents can’t leave their homes; people have to stay put (for days) in their office buildings or schools; and everyone is encouraged to avoid crowds, unnecessary travel, etc. 

In the area where Martin lives (called JingAn), there are new cases popping up all over the place. Out where I live (called Fengxian) there aren’t so many cases but there was one at the swimming school where we take Lucky – and we only missed getting caught up in that mess by a few hours (those people went swimming *after* us – thankfully). 

So… (mainly for this reason, we’re going to cancel the live stream this week. It’s just not a good time for us to be traveling around the city. Best to wait for this to pass. 

But wait! There’s more! 

There’s another reason too! The house right next door to me… yeah, not the virus. But they are using jackhammers to knock down (concrete) walls. That house recently sold and the new owner is doing renovations. In China that starts with a week+ of jackhammering. So… it’s SUPER NOISY here at the moment. 

Not an ideal setup for doing a live stream. 

So, yeah, no live stream this week. 

Sorry about that. But we will be back next week? I hope… 

Starving? 

The image above is from a friend of ours who is in lockdown somewhere in Shanghai. She sent this to my wife as an example of the food delivered to everyone in lockdown. This stuff is sent daily and for free. 

I share this because I’ve seen quite a few news stories recently that suggest people in China are starving; that people in lockdowns are jumping out windows because they have no food; etc. 

Absolute nonsense. 

The only thing we hear of people complaining about here locally? The fact that they see their friends sharing these pictures on social media… and then complain that the meat they got sent doesn’t have the right amount of fat! Haha. Basically, people complain that their neighbor got a better tomato or something. 

So, yeah, be careful when you read news about China. 

The pandemic control system here has avoided a ton of deaths. And it has effectively contained the spread of the virus for all this time. And people are well taken care of within the system. 

Interesting question – how much longer will they maintain this level of control? How many months (or years?) before China declares the pandemic “over” for the country? 

Feel free to speculate and share pandemic stories in the comments below!

From Shanghai with(out) The Virus, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Woo it’s busy around here. In the last week, I’ve been to the hospital for migraines and the dentist for a painful tooth; Yan’s been to the hospital for pregnancy checkups; and Yan’s mom is off to see her brother in the hospital – meaning increased Lucky duty for myself and Yan and Lulu. I’ve had a bunch of meetings related to Alice (TV series); Akaneiro (more on that later); and Oz: Adventures. There just aren’t enough hours in the day or days in the week!

But fear not! TONS of progress still happening even if I can’t find the time to share it here on Patreon. 

For example – check out the main image above! 

Alex is working on design and UI/UX for Asylum. That includes defining things like Difficulty Selection, Gameplay Balance, and Combat Loops. 

He’s sent me a bunch of documents to review… 

And while I’ve not had time to fully review and comment on these ideas… I thought we could open this up to Crowd Design!

So I’ve ATTACHED the ZIP File Alex sent me to this post. You can download it and examine all the design materials contained within. Then send your feedback to Alex via the Comments below!

Of this material, Alex says: 

1. A Full First Pass on Resource, Economy and Weapon Attack Data 

This contains a few PDF Spreadsheets containing;
1. Full Ammo, XP, Health, Pickups and Resource Economy for Alice: Asylum.

2. Full Outline for all primary and secondary firing modes for all weapons in Alice: Asylum.

This information is presented as data at this stage, but will be typeset and placed in the “Pause Screen/Inventory” pages between the Narrative along with visuals.

I’ve included an early pass on the Vorpal Blade using this information and structure. 

—–

2. Conceptual Layouts for Selecting “Hysteria/Inferno” Special States

I’ve made some Conceptual Layouts and some Animated UI mockups that explore;

1. Using Alice’s Necklaces for Different Abilities we’ve outlined in the Narrative. (Rage/Inferno & Hysteria).

2. A new concept that I wanted to explore that uses; The Alchemy Symbols/Runes on Alice’s Dress Pockets, as Gameplay Modifiers that can be equipped by the player to adjust playstyle.

This allows for 2x different Equippable Alchemy Symbols for a player to mix n’ match secondary abilities. These abilities could enhance, or lean into their preferred attacks, weapons or abilities. 

Struggling in combat? Buff Alice’s Combat with a Rune.
Want to focus on Ranged Weapons and Sniping? There’s a rune for that too.

The idea is to build on Alice’s ToolBox, and offer these runes in the Gameplay areas as items that can be found in secret areas or unlockable via challenge spaces in one of each of the 12 worlds.

They’re not game-breakers, and the idea is a very skilled player could finish Alice without ever equipping one, but these offer some fresh versatility and open up the experience largely with the different combinations available. 

It also adds practical meaning and gameplay purpose to something that has been a staple of Alice’s look since 2000. These symbols I’ve chosen and abilities could all be edited, and changed to suit their true “Alchemical Meaning” but I’ve had a solid crack at finding that balance in the first pass.

The Content I’ve attached, will all link up and reference one another when looked at in detail.

—-

3. Difficulty Settings and Intended Gameplay Experience

See page layout and content attached that explains these in the DB.
Any edits required, let me know.

—-

4. Game Design Ethos / Soft Gates and Hard Gates

Another DB layout that explains a scenario and how a player might tackle a situation in game. Flexibility and encouragement to get creative with Alice’s abilities in Soft Gated areas.
Focus and objective-based achievement to progress in Hard Gated areas. (ie: Kill a boss, defeat all enemies, solve puzzle etc to proceed.)

Any edits required, let me know.

—-

Gameplan moving forward is to wind most of this supplementary Game Design content in the earlier chapters and the content for the “Pause Screens” near finalized by end of March. I’ll continue typesetting the Narrative and pages as I go.

The next DB update I expect will be a PDF snapshot of all of this coming together in the DB layouts alongside Narrative Content and Script. So a WIP sample of the real deal.

Thanks, Alex! 

There’s a lot to consume and comment on… and that should keep you busy until the Live Stream later this week. 

That’s right! We’re back with another Live Stream this week. Usual time and place. 

And we’ll have plenty of time to discuss Alex’s design proposals (and your comments during the stream. 

You can find links to Twitch and YouTube via: https://linktr.ee/americanmcgee 

See you soon!

From Shanghai with Medium Difficulty,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

First up: There WILL NOT BE a Live Stream this week. Sorry! I have to go to the dentist on the usual live stream day. I have a new crown that’s decided to fail – so that has to be removed and I get to have a root canal. Wee! I’d change the time to allow for the Live Stream – but this dentist is only in that nearby office once a week. So… Yeah. 

Mark your calendar for the 10th of March though. That should be the magic day of the next stream. 

Now…. to some art and updates: 

Sarcophagus of Transformation

This item is seen in Hatter’s Lab throughout Alice’s initial journey to save Wonderland. She’s told it contains The Saviour who will stop the encroaching Chaos. But if you read the Narrative Outline you know… well, just go read the outline if you want to know! 

These sketches by Adam are all beautiful and I think they all look great. But I asked him to go forward on the one marked “A” – as the two bird heads facing off against each other does a good job mirroring the overarching narrative of Alice vs. The Shadow. 

Adam also turned in this absolute stunner – of a scene from early in the game where Alice is being chased by The Moon. Love it! 

Omri also sent over an updated version of the Orphanage Children/Child Dolls – with reference to one of them being a paper cutout doll. 

Scary! 

Meanwhile in Oz

Gareth rendered a vision – of what you’d get if Russell Crowe and Antonio Bandaras had a love child. Woo… be still my beating heart. This is the Spanish Captain – the quasi-main character of the first episode of Oz: Adventures. 

This art and the concept for the Flying Monkey – previously shared here – will be sent to 3D artists who will produce 3D models of both. 

Those models will be pulled into a scene we’re building in Unreal. That scene is designed to test some theories about producing interactive spaces using limited resources. I want to see if we can manage to reduce the number of assets required to convey the narrative and action of a particular sequence of the game. 

One common phrase you’ll hear in the games industry is that modern games are a sort of “asset tourism” – where the player breezes past a TON of very expensive art on their way to a puzzle section, combat box, or narrative scene. Is it possible that we only produce fully-realized 3D spaces in places where they are really needed? Such as combat arenas or puzzle sections? And that some of the connecting spaces could be done with more matte paintings and optical illusions? 

Those are the questions we hope to answer with the current series of experiments. And we’ll share the results (and maybe even some playable demos?) here with you when we’re able. 

As mentioned previously on the topic of Unreal and demos – I really wish we could have produced some demo scenes for Alice: Asylum. Certainly, we have the capability and desire. But EA made it very clear early on that we were NOT allowed to do anything relating to actual interactive game development – not even visual demos. So… that was Red Line we did not want to cross. Doing so would likely have resulted in EA sending a Cease and Desist with regards to ALL efforts of pre-production for a new game. And that would have been sad. 

But with Oz.. well, we’re free to do what we want. And what do we want? To produce some G. D. interactive stuff! 

I hope everyone is staying safe out there – crazy times in the world. A bit scary. A bit depressing. Here’s hoping the elephants come to their senses before the grass gets crushed. 

From Shanghai with Love, 

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Font Lord here with a quick reminder of what next month’s print is.

As you can see above, it will be “Burning Birthday” for February Patrons charged in March.
So you now have 7 days to adjust your pledge if needed.

And of course, yes, this will become a choice for the 3x$35 tier Patrons when March rolls around    🙂

In other news, we do not have infinite space to store every art print selection we ever have, so unfortunately, we do remove them from the shop and the 3x$35 selection occasionally to make space for new and shiny prints.

We have now removed Alice & Cheshire and also House of Fire and Fury.
BUT we have taken the last 5 prints of each and created a ‘double print tube’ in the Mysterious store for $70.
We only have 5 tubes, so if this interests you.
GRAB ‘EM WHILE THEY’RE HOT! 

– Cheers