Gabe Deyo

Its crunch time here for Strix Studios! Every member on our team has been working overtime to make sure we hit every deadline from here on out. Personally, I have dove head first into creating the particle systems in Everend. A particle system is a technique in game physics, motion graphics, and computer graphics that uses a large number of very small sprites, 3D models, or other graphic objects to simulate certain kinds of fun phenomena. Some of the particle systems currently in Everend is fire on the pedestals and Kaia’s torch, Kaia’s bubbles, ambient spores, waterfall foam, and a glorious glow (work-in-progress) for if Kaia missteps onto a dangerous area. In the future we plan to implement electricity on the eels, and ambient particles unique to each area.

In addition to official release dates coming soon, we are also preparing for some public events where we will be able to show off our progress. Here is some information about where our game will make appearances around campus.

SGX

Every year, Stout hosts the public Stout Game Expo (SGX) where all the UW-Stout Game Design and Development students get to reveal the games they have been working on. The SGX invites you to play 30+ free games at their annual gaming event. The games were created by freshman, sophomore, junior and senior students on platforms ranging from PC and mobile to virtual reality.

This Game Expo is a great opportunity to see the creations of other game designers and show off your own. Plus hundreds of people including friends, family, faculty, and public, show up to see everyone’s progress.

We had the pleasure of announcing Everend at Game Launch last semester, but we are very excited to finally reveal it at this year’s Stout Game Expo.

SGX this year is scheduled for April 27^th in the MSC Great Hall from 6 to 9 p.m. We hope to see you there!

SeniorShow

Another exciting opportunity we get to participate in is UW-Stouts Senior Shows. UW-Stout’s School of Art and Design will wrap up the semester with several special events May 6, in the Applied Arts Building and adjacent Micheels Hall atrium and Furlong Gallery.

Designs and artwork by 89 graduating seniors will be on display from 7 to 9 p.m. during the annual Senior Shows. Individual and group student work can be seen throughout the Applied Arts Building.

The event is open to the public, with a special showing for industry professionals from 6 to 7 p.m.

Everend will have an awesome themed booth so make sure you come see that as well!

We hope to see you at these really great events, but if you are unable to attend, we will continue to post weekly updates here on our blog site. Also we hope to have an official release date very shortly!

Bring on the feels! Here’s the very first trailer of Everend.

Our very talented artists Hue Vang and Mitch Clayton created this amazing cinematic and are currently making the final 3D rendered version.

This opening cinematic help players immerse into Kaia’s world. It gives an understanding of what is happening to Kaia and how the owl will progress throughout the game.

The beautiful scene really lets the viewer become engrossed in the story and create an initial bond with the protagonist. Right from the start, players can become entranced in the deep atmospheric cave system

Cinematic Storyboard:

Here are some great shots of our new cinematic!

TreeScene

Take a look at this excellent poster created by our outstanding artist and PR manager Megan Daniels!

We showed both the Game Trailer and our Poster off at UW-Stout’s Game Launch on December 9th.

The purpose of the Game Launch for some is to finally show off their finished games to their friends and the public. For others, it is an opportunity to present what they are planning to unveil in the future and show their current progress. The Game Launch has really changed over the past few years when we started. In the beginning there would be roughly 30 tables with several new games being shown off. And now we fill massive rooms with several hundred people showing off all the games that they have made over the semester, and even more coming to check them out! The event is a lot of fun and a great opportunity to see what is happening in the Game Design program.