It seems crazy that more than a year has passed since we released the first playable version of Alun Hevel. And while there have been unregular postings here, not much seems to have moved forward. And indeed, as we are slowly inching towards another release, we cannot really hype that much new content.

Sure, the maps we are going to include in this version will be new ones, the music has changed, and a couple of visual change will appear here and there, it will seem as if it was the work of maybe a week or two. And not something that would take a year.

The reasons for the delay are diverse, and I think this post as a good opportunity to share some of them with you.

First, the whole code went through an almost complete rewrite. That was caused by a switch in the library we used for the game. We had learned things from our first attempt, and thus what was going to be a simple switch became a full rewrite. It is much nicer for us – although the players will not see anything.

But that rewrite also gave us the opportunity to change some things. The pathfinding algorithm for the demons has just been replaced by an improved version, and the interface system is being currently given an overhaul. It will come in two parts: the first step, which will be included in the next release, is a simple cosmetic change (particles !), whereas the second will be much more substantial, with the game interface itself getting a facelift to be more user-friendly.

Then, unfortunately, life has been busy, and we came to the realisation that yes, it’s not something people say without reason : making a game is easy, finishing one is hard. One year ago, we already had most gameplay elements implemented. But all the tweaking, the interface design, and generally all the smaller improvements that will take Alun Hevel from demo to full game eat a massive amount of time.

So I hope you’ll bear with us, and will still be excited to give our next release a spin. We’d give you a date, but then life will probably stand in our way. Though wouldn’t it be great to have it out in a couple of months ?