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December 2018 Game Updates

Morels: The Hunt

We are getting closer to finishing up Morels. It’s looking more and more like our first release will not be until the Spring of 2019. It will be released on PC first. After that we will being working on versions for Console, VR, and Mobile. The first release on PC will feature seven different maps you can explore. We hope to add more with updates.

Out of Time VR

The story and worlds have expanded so much that it will probably take a bit longer to finish than originally expected. We hope to eventually release a version of this for most VR devices.

Battle Buggies

We have began working on several new tracks. One of our newest tracks is an Egyptian style track. We will share screenshots once we are further along. This is another game that we hope to release on PC, Consoles, VR, and Mobile.

Harbinger

We are continuing to brainstorm ideas and how exactly we want to tell this epic story.

We’ve learned a lot throughout the process of making games. We have been a little surprised by just how long the whole process takes. Every time we think we are getting close we realize we aren’t as close as we thought. We appreciate the support. We can’t wait to share our games with everyone.

-The Abrams Studios Team

 

Summer 2018 Game Updates

Morels: The Hunt

We have done a lot of work on Morels this summer. We have new animals, levels, UI, features, and more. We have been able to test what we have done on the game so far on a few different GPU’s. We are not completely satisfied with the performance results so far. We are currently working on optimizing the game a bit more. It is tough to balance quality vs performance.

We frequently get asked when the game is going to be released. We would love to get it out by the end of this year on PC. We are working hard to try and make that happen but it is possible it may not be until early 2019. The game has gotten bigger than we originally planned. This is definitely good for the game but it is taking a little longer than we originally expected. After we get a stable PC version done we will work on getting a console version done.

A couple screenshots of one of our newest levels.

 

 

Out of Time VR

While most of our time has been spent on Morels, we still continue to work on all of our other games as well. We have almost completely redone the story for Out of Time. A lot of what we had originally done may end up being scrapped. The new story is much better and we are super excited to bring this world to life in Virtual Reality. Once Morels is complete we plan to focus on this game next.

Battle Buggies

We have come up with a lot of new track ideas. We have made several new models that we are excited to see get added to our new tracks.

A few of the models we have created for the race tracks of Battle Buggies.

 

 

Harbinger

We are continuing to work on the story. We have also toyed with the idea of possible turning this one into a 2d side scroller instead of 3d.

 

Thank you for all your support.

-The Abrams Studios Team

Morels June Updates

All of the animals are now randomly spawned into random locations each day. You will have a chance to see different animals depending on how far into the season you are.

Animals can now swim or avoid the water.

You now get a multiplier depending on what level mushroom hunter and photographer you are. Morels and pictures of animals will be worth more the higher the level you reach.

We have added several new animals. An armadillo and boar are just a couple of them.

 

-The Abrams Studios Team

April 2018 Game Updates

Morels: The Hunt

We recently released our first gameplay trailer for Morels: The Hunt.

You can now use your points to purchase a headlamp that you can use at night to help you find morel mushrooms and animals.

We have done more work on the menus and sounds, added a new Texas level in the Southwest region, and created even more animals.

Battle Buggies

We recently made a few models for Battle Buggies. This T-Rex skeleton is the newest one. It was created for our Museum track.

Out of Time VR

We are working on a virtual reality Steampunk level for Out of Time VR. Here are a few models we’ve created for it.

Harbinger

We’ve been working on the level design for Harbinger, as well as reworking some of the animations and controls.

 

-The Abrams Studios Team

 

 

Morels the Hunt: More Updates.

It has been a while since our last post. That is because we have been hard at work on Morels: The Hunt. We will go over some of the updates.

Weather System: See what the weather will be for each location each day.

 

 

Time of Day System: Stay out and hunt as long as you like. It will be a bit tougher at night though.

Upgrade Your Phone Camera: You can now upgrade your phone camera. Get different modes when taking pictures like Black and White and even a Night Vision mode.

4-Wheeler: If you get enough points you can now purchase a 4-wheeler to drive a round on.

Other Updates: Morels grow each day, You can now hide and un-hide the UI. New animals like an alligator, owl, goat, pig, and cow. New levels and more!

A few more screenshots: See more on the Morels web page.

Our first game play teaser trailer is coming soon!

– The Abrams Studios Team

Morels: The Hunt – Updates

We have been hard at work here at Abrams Studios. Morels is coming a long nicely. So much has been done since we started this project.

You can now go shopping before you go out to hunt for morels.

Select from maps in all regions of the U.S. to hunt in.

The further away from your current location the more points it will cost to travel there and hunt. You will also get the forecast for each location for the day so you know what kind of weather to expect.

Choose your character you would like to hunt with.

Currently we have one playable male and female character. We are working on several others.

Stay tuned for more news and updates.

— The Abrams Studios Team

 

November 14th Update

The last couple of weeks have been busy ones here at Abrams Studios. Our work force has consolidated on just one project, that being Morels: The Hunt. We hope to have a finished product ready for release in 2018 so all of our efforts are currently going towards reaching that goal.

We have begun work on three additional levels in Morels; a Georgia forest with cave, a Rocky Mountain level, and a nice plot of land which is a mixture of farm and lightly wooded areas as well.

Also, we have implemented a map system which will break up all of the levels into different regions across the continental U.S. Another feature being worked on is a daily update before you begin your journey letting the player know what the weather forecast and conditions are in that particular area for that particular day.

It’s very rewarding to be able to really see a game come together from a group of ideas, some inspiration and creativity, and LOTS of hard work. We continue to post new screenshots on our Twitter feed, so if you haven’t yet please check that out.

Thanks so much for your continued support and interest!

Morels level expansion

The weather here in the breadbasket of the United States continues to show signs that winter is approaching and here we are laying out levels full of late spring/early summer. It’s a pleasant escape to feel like you’re in the Smoky Mountains or Georgia when you can see the wind blowing rain around outside your window. It hasn’t been all pleasantries however. We are updating our game to Unreal Engine 4.17 and have come across numerous problems with the update. The newest versions of Unreal have some very beautiful atmospheric fog effects that we need for our players so we march onwards. We hope everyone had a wonderful week and will be posting some early work in progress screens of our newest levels soon. Also, stay on the lookout for another video featuring much more gameplay footage!

News and Updates

This week has been an eventful one. We experienced tremendous support from the online community regarding both our trailer release for Morels and also the release of our social media presence. In addition to the wonderful feedback, we were also surprised with an invitation to attend a local lecture regarding game development in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. If anyone is interested, there will be additional information provided at the bottom of this post.

UPDATES:

Morels:
We continue to make progress on the coding and additional features. We were surprised by the amount of interest the photography aspect of the game and have made plans to incorporate this in a more predominant way. Currently we are working on adding camera filters and effects that players can use to add a bit of uniqueness to their photographs taken as they explore the vibrant areas we have created. Additionally, level design continues on new areas to make sure we have an abundance of locations to play through when the game launches. We plan on releasing a trailer focusing on game play footage in the near future.

Out of Time VR:
Level creation is still the focus here. Most of the “meat and potatoes” of the coding is already finished in this game. Currently being developed are levels on a moon station, steampunk themed level, and Egyptian level containing an socially advanced species of fox-human hybrids.

Harbinger:
Mostly a focus on animation and the combat system here. Aside from creating some potential melee weapon assets while we consider the potential of switching to a melee or hybrid type of combat, we have spent most of the time dedicated to this project ironing out the animations of the hero character.

We continue to focus on Morels as we are hoping for an early 2018 release.

As always, we greatly appreciate all of the support and feedback from our followers. Our goal is to release games that provide an immersive experience regardless of whether or not you feel like relaxing while exploring the forests and landscapes of Morels and Out of Time, or the painful, yet rewarding experience that Harbinger will be.

Additional Information regarding the game development lectures we will be attending:

The guest speakers will be:
– Brianna Wu, and
– Casey O’Donnell PhD.
This event will take place on November 10 from 6:00 – 8:30 pm at the Coliseum Campus Auditorium (3800 North Anthony Boulevard, Fort Wayne, Indiana 46805).

Brianna Wu is head of development at GSX, a Boston independent videogame studio. She will be giving a lecture on her experiences in Game Development and the Gaming Profession. Revolution 60 is the premiere game of Giant Spacekat, an iOS company founded by Brianna Wu and Amanda Stenquist Warner in 2010. Excited by the possibilities of iOS Unreal, and seeing the momentum in the industry shift to mobile, Brianna set out to found a company that would deliver highly narrative gaming experiences. Brianna will be describing her experiences in creating a game development studio, developing games, and the gaming industry.

Casey O’Donnell, PhD – Associate Professor at Michigan State University will also be speaking. Casey is in the Department of Media and Information. His research examines the creative collaborative work of videogame design and development. This research examines the cultural and collaborative dynamics that occur in both professional “AAA” organizations and formal and informal “independent” game development communities. Dr. O’Donnell’s book on game developers and the development industry, “Developer’s Dilemma”, was published by MIT Press in 2014. He is an active game developer, releasing “Osy,” in 2011, “Against the Gradient,” in 2012 and “GLITcH” in 2013. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institute of Health (NIH)

The Social Media Campaign has begun

This week marks the official launch of many of our social media sites. We now have a Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook page. The work continues on all our projects.

Morels:
We continue to polish and refine. This game is the closest to completion and we are hoping for an early 2018 release. As of right now we plan to launch on Steam for PC with possible XBOX and Playstation versions in the future.

Out of Time:
Yep, our VR project finally has a name. Already a very robust experience and different from a lot of the VR games on the Occulus site currently. This will be an adventure game where you the traveler unravel the mysteries of the universe and your own past. Plans to release for Oculus initially.

Harbinger:
The layout and level design continues in our side scroller. Currently it’s predominantly ranged combat (think Super Metroid), but we are seriously considering something a little different with a collaboration of both melee and ranged attack combos. It would be a massive undertaking to rework the combat system, but to create something innovative it might be worth it.

Battle Buggies:
The title is still tentative, but the fun is not. Level design and modeling work continue for our battle kart game. As of right now, it’s something very similar to Mario Kart but with a completely different load out of weapons and abilities.

As our studio enjoys it’s infancy we invite you to follow our work and let us know your thoughts!

https://www.facebook.com/Abrams-Studios-265868820600897/

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