Trip the Ark Fantastic | The Hermitage of Pride

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Our plans for Ark Fantastic in 2020

First and foremost, on behalf of the whole Gamechuck development team, I wish you a happy New Year!

Now, onto the topic of our new development blog - our plans for this year.

In many aspects 2019 was crucial for us – we decided on all the main story beats, finally found and gathered the entire team which (crossing our fingers) won’t change for the rest of the game’s development, secured funding and started working on the project, even releasing a teaser trailer and going public with the project. It’s been great, a lot of good feedback and even some early fans on our Discord.

Our first Ark Fantastic teaser trailer​

As we enter the roaring 20s, we prepare ourselves for the coming year and our plans for it.

Drafting the entire game in 2020

On a productional perspective, 2020 should see us finish drafting the entire game (sounds ambitious but since we’re working on this full time, it’s doable).

We should be done prototyping most of the mechanics (dialogues, languages, science, research, reporting, exploration, day and night cycles, etc), and that would leave 2021 for making sure they work seamlessly together and that our hunches were correct. Once this is done, our plan is to produce a demo that showcases how it all works, and then keep tweaking it until release in 2022.

Bunnies are super cute. This one serves as an example of our quest for finding the perfect character animation frames per second​

The story and dialogues should be completely drafted in 2020 for all the (three) acts of the game and should leave 2021 for revising and tweaking the script where needed, adding fluff and so on. We have finished the draft of the Burrows, Scurries and started on the largest city in the Kingdom – Pride, but we still have a lot more to go. Ideally, we will start on the Colony (Act II) sometime in the summer, and Act III mid-autumn.

A very, very early in-game dialogue preview​

Artistically, we are slowly creating characters, locations, and UI for the game, trying to wrap our heads around the idea of musical leitmotifs for various themes, characters, and locations and have it all work in tandem with the story, which is proving to be a very difficult job, but we hope to have some kind of musical prototype of how this works by spring.

Finding the publisher

On an organisational perspective, we’d like to find a publisher with a deep understanding of what we’re trying to do here (on a thematic, narrative, artistic and gameplay level), as well as better understand where our potential player-base resides (since what we’re doing isn’t a clear cut genre, this has been difficult to pinpoint so far). We will keep producing content for this blog since it greatly helps us organise our thoughts and, naturally, keep a steady momentum and maintain a dialogue between our three avid fans who read this and us.

Since many have clamored to see more gameplay in our trailer, we will try to produce a “gameplay trailer” as soon as possible, maybe even some time in the summer if we’re lucky. Some things, like the reporting mechanic, are going to be extremely difficult to craft and hone, but until we capture that fine line between fun game-like reporting and actual dull reporting, we will just use the examples we know must work.

More trailers and gameplay

We will also start going to game events in Europe and showcasing our trailer(s) and gather feedback on them. Most probably we will not go westward to the Americas, so expect us in the major European capitals such as Vienna, London, and Berlin, as well as all over our immediate neighbourhood in cities such as Ljubljana, Dubrovnik, and Belgrade.

Our other projects

On a final note, the year 2020 will be interesting for our studio from a different perspective as well – we will release the interactive comic books and retro games we developed in 2019. They might not be as huge of an undertaking as Trip the Ark Fantastic (all of these interactive comics are short 20-30 minute experiences), but if you’re here because you’re fans of interactive story-telling, these games are something you might be interested in as well.

Hopefully, some of you reading this will stick around till next year and we’ll see how well we managed!

 

[Strange Fellow]

This still looks great, keep it up

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

This still looks great, keep it up

Thanks man! Would like to brofist your post, but I still don't have those perks

More stuff to come every week

 

[Grokalibre]

Is that the former No Truce with the Furries?

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Is that the former No Truce with the Furries?

Funny!

 

[Verylittlefishes]

Wish you all possible luck with this!

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Wish you all possible luck with this!

We'll need it Thank you so much for your support!

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Hey everyone! It's Tuesday which means one thing - it's #ArkLoreTuesday again!

WE'RE ON A ROLL!


In today’s Ark Lore Tuesday we want to talk about the Lynx Rebellion. This is an event that took place hundreds of years before the game takes place and therefore does not feature in the game.

However, the event is one of the bedrocks of the current social order of the Kingdom and has shaped the Kingdom into what it is today.

While the Animal Kingdom is a monarchy, the noble families still have some control over their own territories. This relative autonomy came about hundreds of years ago as the aftermath of the Lynx Rebellion.

This rebellion started after a series of imposed regulations and levies in the Kingdom by the lion king Red. The lynxes pushed back on this, declaring complete autonomy from the crown and thus a long struggle ensued, sometimes called The Third Northern War.

In the beginning, King Red believed the rebellion will be squashed soon and gave it no thought, but similar rebellions were soon beginning to spark in other regions of the Kingdom as well. That's why Red decided to send his son Nathaniel to help the royalist soldiers squash the rebellion.

As the story goes, Nathaniels carriage broke down near the battlefield so he stayed at a village nearby for the next few days, healing his broken paw and instead of regrouping and continuing the fight, he decided to solve the problem in a different way - he rushed back to Blackbark and told his father about their problems and how the policies and regulations imposed by the crown are hurting them.

Advised by his son and heir, King Red started a series of reforms, which his son finished, which transformed the unitary nature of the Kingdom into a more decentralized way so that the nobles have more autonomy over regional issues.
He also established permanent embassies in Blackbark for each noble family where their envoys can discuss grievances over issues pertaining to the Kingdom (these Embassies have since moved to the new capital Pride).

Also, a cool tidbit about how Snowy Wasteland scene came to be

A sketch

Work in progress

Final scene

Animated scene

Make sure to read the whole lore article on our dev blog!
https://www.tripthearkfantastic.com/ark-lore-tuesday/ark-lore-tuesday-the-lynx-rebellion/

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

We have crapload of lore and background to share, and the perfect days for that occasion are Tuesday and Thursday when we have our so-called weekly #ArkLoreTuesday and #ArkBlogThursday. Well, since there is much more lore to share, this Thursday we'll share more of it, instead of some technical stuff about the game...

Anyway, this article is more about the previous leaders in the animal kingdom, and King Michaël was the first one to find the Ark Fantastic... Sort of.

It’s hard enough figuring out the politics of the Animal Kingdom. Even though, we decided to clue you in on a bit of history as well. So in January we are going to go through the rulers of the Animal Kingdom one by one.

The lions ruled the Animal Kingdom for millennia, but the elder line of kings has been mostly lost to history. The past few centuries, though, are very clear. This is due to several factors:

• the influence of Dabrovit, a scholar who worked at the court of King Michaël
• the relative peace and prosperity that ensued after King Marius
• the invention of the printing press which helped preserve historical manuscripts

So we will start with King Michaël, the first king of whom most information is known without doubt. Like all kings, scholars posthumously gave him an epithet defining his rule – King Michaël the Zealous.

King Michaël

The King Who Found the Ark!

Michaël inherited the kingdom in great unrest from his father Marius. However, Michaël actually spent less time dealing with the unruly nobles and more time obsessed over the ark myth. At the time, a young scholar beaver named Dabrovit has popularised the scholar’s method in the Kingdom. The scholar’s method (similar to the scientific method in our world) is a methodical way of approaching the Kingdom’s mysteries. Inspired by Dabrovit’s method, Michaël funded many scholars and explorers and tasked them to find the mythic Ark Fantastic.

Eventually, after many failed attempts, one scholar returned with good news. He found the wreckage on an island shore southwest of Pride, with evidence suggesting it is the Ark Fantastic. Along with its great historic significance, this had a surprising effect on quieting the kingdoms unrest. Many historians believe this discovery was what ushered in centuries of peace in the Kingdom.

If you want to stay informed, be sure to visit our Facebook, Twitter or Discord.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

MOAR ANIMAL KINGDOM KINGS LORE!!!!

As we wrote about Michaël the Zealous in our previous lore article about the Kings of the Animal Kingdom, today we are continuing the saga with King Valent the Scholar, the longest-ruling king. His biggest legacy is finding a huge unexplored region whose location was lost in history.

Prince Laurent was oft ill and short-lived, and so he died before he could succeed to the throne. His son, Valent, took on the Kings mantle at a very young age, and was thus the longest-ruling king in historical memory, being known as The Scholar King.

King Valent the Scholar​

Even as a child, King Valent was tutored by Master Dabrovit, and fell in love with science and exploration from an early age. He funded many great expeditions to all sides of the Kingdom during his long reign and remade the kingdom in the image of science.

He funded academies in every regional capital, and built the largest library in Blackbark, holding copies of every book found in the Kingdom.

His biggest legacy, however, is finding the southern continent, a huge unexplored region whose location across the sea was lost in history.

If you want to stay informed, be sure to visit our Facebook, Twitter or Discord.

 

[Norfleet]

All I can say is that "trip" definitely adequately describes this. I can only assume that substances were involved in the creation of this story.

But what about the game? How does the game play?

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

All I can say is that "trip" definitely adequately describes this. I can only assume that substances were involved in the creation of this story.

But what about the game? How does the game play?

Thanks for your question! Basically, there are typical RPG mechanics like going from city to city, solving quests, taking care of
your resources and the day/night schedule of various denizens, etc.

But the way these quests are solved is a novel mechanic we made ourselves, in which you find evidence (by using your scientific equipment or talking to characters, reading books, etc) and then
combine them into an argument which you then publish, and your conclusions “solve” quests.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

In the continuation of our Ark Fantastic lore, we talk about probably the strangest of the recent kings, Vincent the Explorer. As the only son of Valent, the king who found the southern continent, he was less interested in ruling than in the vast unexplored reaches of the newfound land.

Nevertheless, denizens of the Animal Kingdom adored him, and his exploits were the talk of tales all over the Kingdom. He oversaw much of the Kingdom’s exploration and mapping. Indeed, most of the maps in his expeditions are in use to this day. Many feel that his early demise in the southern jungles was the end of an era.

While still a prince, Vincent grew up with tales of strange animals and cultures in the southern continent – monkeys and crocodiles, mysterious jungles and wild rivers…

Vincent the Explorer

Some say his father financed the first colony in the south, Valencia, mostly to please his son. And indeed it was but it was King Vincent who made it into the huge town it is today. He was so enamoured with the colony, he spent more time ruling from there than from the capital, Blackbark.

He died relatively young, contracting a strange disease while leading an expedition into the heartlands of the colony. His most enduring legacy is his deathwish. On his deathbed, he decreed that his castle be remodeled into the central hub for exploration in the colony. Thus Vincent’s Keep becomes the Explorer’s Guild, a crown funded organisation tasked with exploring and mapping this new continent.

Does worldbuilding interest you? Do you love discussing royal bloodlines of fictional kings? In that case, be sure to check out our Discord! We’re also active on Facebook, Twitter and many other places! Till the next lore blogpost, Long Live the King(s)!

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

The most brutal King of them all, also known as "The Tyrant King" reigned over 30 years ago, but the Kingdom still resonates from the consequences of his reign.

The steam engine changed much of the industrial landscape of the Kingdom… This, along with the vast resources coming from the newly discovered colony, all gave rise to new powers. Not all of these new powers were satisfied with their newfound wealth, and some wished to secure even more power.

Feared of being usurped, and to secure his hold on the Kingdom, Leopold, the Tyrant tightened his grip. He slowly transformed the royal newspapers into a mouthpiece of the monarchy. In his later years, he also funded a secret spy network that operated throughout the Kingdom.

Read the whole story about Kingdom's Tyrant King on https://www.tripthearkfantastic.com/ark-lore-tuesday/kings-of-the-animal-kingdom-king-leopold/

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

In the past few weeks, we spoke of many kings. There was Vincent, the beloved Explorer king. Before him, there was Valent, the scholar king tutored by master Dabrovit. Before Valent, there was Michaël, the king obsessed with the ark. Leonard, on the other hand, had no ambition towards exploration nor science nor mythology.

Known in the Kingdom as Leo the Wise, he focused on Making Things Work. In his reign, all parts of the Kingdom were developed and connected. Leo oversaw the implementation of intricate systems of sharing goods and information across the Kingdom.

King Leonard funded the bastions of modern civilisation such as the Elephant Transportation Company and the royal newspapers. The printing press was brought to every major city of the Kingdom, and, after the steam engine was built.

Leonard's great deeds and accomplishments cast a large shadow on his two sons – Leopold and Lav, of whose reigns we will speak in later posts.

Read more about King Leonard on our dev blog: https://www.tripthearkfantastic.com/development-blog/kings-of-the-animal-kingdom-king-leonard/

 

[AdamReith]

Animals of Farthing Wood RPG? Sign me up!

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Animals of Farthing Wood RPG? Sign me up!

Thanks man Hope you'll dig our future updates We're thinking about writing more about the industry in the animal kingdom

 

[AdamReith]

Animals of Farthing Wood RPG? Sign me up!

Thanks man Hope you'll dig our future updates We're thinking about writing more about the industry in the animal kingdom

Looking forward to them. I'm sure everybody is saying the same thing but please make it as dark as possible.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Well, EXCITING TIMES! It's been a while and we're ready to talk more about the place that you're gonna find yourself at the beginning of the game. And it's called...

The Burrows

The burrows is where we start the game. Here in this quaint little mining town, our protagonist (Charles, the hedgehog scholar) has his lab.

This is an early map we’ve made to showcase where the first part of the first act takes place, close to the capital city Pride:

We’ve made this map using the cool freeware program Inkarnate which is really cool if you are running DnD campaigns or just need to make some cool reference maps for your upcoming RPG masterpiece (like us)​

It’s in the introverts goldilocks zone: far enough from the capital to be left alone by pesky colleagues but close enough so he can get his hands on all the latest scientific equipment on a whim.

Most rabbits in the burrows work as miners and live in the residential area below during the workweek. The rooms are very humble and simple but Charles’ has built a large lab for himself here:

The smith of the Burrows is Quince, a downtrodden lizard belonging to the vermin caste, the lowest caste in the Kingdom. He replaced the former rabbit smithy who got ill due to the poisonous fumes eroding from the metalwork. This is where the player first has a chance to explore the societal differences in the various castes of the Kingdom.

A short way away from Quince we have Orville’s mansion. Orville is a badger who is the foreman of the mine. As part of the highest caste in the Burrows, he is in charge of the entire mining operation, and de facto owns the whole underground site. He finds himself constantly competing with other mines and digsites and trying to stay afloat but the industrial landscape is changing fast and it’s hard for his little mine to keep up.

Thus, the Burrows serves as an introductory place to start the voyage into the world of Trip the Ark Fantastic. Here the player learns of the caste system, the way things are in the world and how characters react to it.

Since the Ark myth is central to the story of the game, its underlying hierarchy is important to understand as early as possible.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Well, long time no see!

In the last week or so we have tried to re-evaluate what are we going to do with the Ark Lore, and is there enough interest in it among the community.

So this time we're going with...

Science and technology in the Animal Kingdom

​

As the game begins, the Animal Kingdom is far from its humble animalistic beginnings. It’s a brewing civilisation on the very beginnings of the industrial revolution and (possibly) a social revolution as well.

Science

As for science and the scientific method, it has been steadily advancing since at least King Valent. However, in the Animal Kingdom, there is no difference between science, engineering, history, and other intellectual pursuits – all thinkers are called “Scholars”, whether they are scholars of botany or scholars of machinery or scholars of the Ark myth.

You play the game as Charles, one such scholar of the Kingdom.

Charles doing his science stuff

A botanist by trade and son of the famed scholar Herbert, you have always been in the spotlight which you’d rather avoid. Here’s a peek at Charles’ lab:

Our protagonist Charles is a botanist, and gained fame after he invented an indoor plant irrigation system, more commonly used in the kingdom as – the shower!

As previously considered, the difference between engineers and scholars in the Kingdom is vague so Charles doesn’t only work on the theory of botany but also works on the greenhouse technology that would help preserve plants from the cold conditions on the outside. His wish is to create a stable environment for growing crops even in winter-time, but he is still far off from that goal.

Technology
The industrial revolution made steam engines available in many mines and centers of industry throughout the Kingdom, including Charles’ hometown – the Burrows. The usage of steam engines made coal production skyrocket and made it possible to dig deeper and deeper into mines. Luckily, the rabbit miners didn’t meet any Balrogs down there, but the health hazards of being so deep might be just as deadly!

Complex machinery operating on steam and helping run the elevator down to the Burrows coal mine.

Other cities use steam machinery for other things, such as connecting the various treetop dwelling animals with their ground-based friends in the small squirrel trade town of the Scurries.

Yet another steam-powered elevator!

The Kingdom hasn’t (yet) started building railroads or any other steam-powered vehicles, mostly because of the convenience of travel by paw (due to the small scale of the Kingdom’s mainland), and the larger distances are traveled by using the royal Elephant Transportation Company (which has been known to stifle innovation so it could stay in the transportation game).

There are some technological issues we haven’t decided on yet, such as whether the Kingdom has learned to use powder for guns and weapons.

They certainly use dynamites, but guns seem too modern for a fantasy setting to some in our creative team, even if our fantasy world closely resembles the 19th century which was FULL of guns…

 

[Alienman]

Will you be able to run really really fast?

Looks cute and good luck. Seems to be some real investment in the lore and that is nice.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

Will you be able to run really really fast?

Looks cute and good luck. Seems to be some real investment in the lore and that is nice.

Thanks

You probably won't be able to run, but there will be some sort of quick travel. We still have to decide what kind. Then again, it all remains to be decided. Who knows; we could add running animations in the end.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

We have some new lore for you, and this time we are talking about the Ark myth and how it affects the society. And why.

Impact of the Ark Myth on Society


How does the Ark Fantastic relate to the Animal Kingdom? Why is it central to their society and our game? Well, the entire caste system of the Animal Kingdom is derived from the ancient Ark myth. Let’s briefly go over it again:

In the past, there was a flood and an ark housed all the animals whose ancestors are alive today. The journey to stay alive on the ark during the flood was perilous, but possible due to the guidance of the lions.

The other noble cats ruled over wings of the ark, the steward animals kept peace aboard the ark, the commoners were the hardworking animals who kept the ark afloat, and the vermin were the no-good scoundrels who didn’t do anything right. Once the flood subsided, the ark reached land and animals spilled forth and formed what is now known as the Animal Kingdom.

That’s the long-short of it. There are many scholastic debates in modern ark-lore, for example – what was the world like before the flood? Did the lions build the ark or did the world begin with the flood and all the animals on it?

Interested in more?

Read the whole blog article here.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

For this post, I'm going to show you guys something different. A human side of Gamechuck.

This is how we make sounds for Trip the Ark Fantastic

Our sound department for Trip the Ark Fantastic is comprised of two people. Fenton Hutson is in charge of the score (in the later blog posts Fenton will explain how he composes for Ark Fantastic), while Matija does sound design and sound production.

In this article, we talk with Matija, who is going to tell a short story about himself and the process of recording sounds for our game, Trip the Ark Fantastic.

Who is Matija Malatestinic? Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m Matija Malatestinic, sound designer and composer born in Rijeka, and currently living in Zagreb. I’ve used to work as a school teacher, but following a collaboration with Gamechuck that lasted a few years, I got a full-time job here.

What kind of music do you play, and how did you come up with to idea to make sounds and music for video games?

Well, following years of playing in bands that performed various musical styles (I’ve played death metal, mathcore and similar), I’ve decided to write my music.

​

The first project was music for a documentary my friend filmed. I liked the concept when the picture and video lead the direction of the music you’ll compose.

Matija in the process of growling​

Later I have started working on sound design, and among the first projects were the ones for Gamechuck.

Describe your work process while making sounds for games a bit. How does your average day look like when you start recording?

Everything begins with the project manager, or in the case of Trip the Ark Fantastic, with Aleksandar. Alex gives me the scenes and a list of the required sounds, and that’s when my part of the job starts.

First, I’m checking my own sounds library to see whether I already have some of the required sounds that can be edited for the game. Ark Fantastic is quite a different game, so it requires new sounds to be recorded.

That is when the fun part begins! This past weekend I went with my girlfriend to the local woods on Ivanščica (my girlfriend is from Varaždin) and the Bednja river to record some sounds. I’ve packed my hardware and went to action.

​

On the photos above I have used my Tascam DR-100 field recorder that can record with built-in microphones or two microphones connected via XLR. That feature shows that DR-100 is a versatile handheld recorder up to any task. The recording can be used for the stream sound in the game.

Ambiental sounds are of the essential importance for the atmosphere in the game. That is why I have picked up my shotgun microphone Rode NTG2 with PG2 pistol grip and started recording the environment sounds in the woods.

​

Shotgun microphones are highly directional so that means that it must be pointed directly at a sound source. Also, a big problem with recording outdoors is the always present wind noise that sensitive mics pick up pretty easily. That is why I always use a windscreen, or what everyone else calls it: deadcat.

The sounds of nature do not require a lot of additional editing if they’re recorded correctly. But there are “traps” out there you have to worry about, in the form of noise, or audio clipping if there is a sudden volume increase on the input.

All in all, it is a very fun and engaging process.

What kind of hardware do you use for Ark Fantastic sounds? Apart from those you have mentioned before.

Well, if I’m recording outdoors, I’m usually using Rode NTG2 shotgun microphone and Tascam MK100 field recorder. It’s an easy and lightweight solution to get the best result.

Rode NTG2 shotgun microphone and Tascam MK100 field recorder
​

When it comes to indoors, I’m using several different microphones that plug into the soundcard and get recorded via the digital audio workstation software (DAW).

Some of the microphones that I use regularly:

Rode NT1 and Rode NT5 are both great for recording foley sounds.

But I tend to use Rode NT1 condenser microphone for recording voices and Rode NT5 small-diaphragm cardioid condenser microphone when recording acoustic instruments.

I also use Shure SM57 dynamic microphone if I want to record something loud, snappy. That is why it is liked by so many drummers.

Being creative and thinking out of the box is important in this field of work. Some sounds have probably been created in quite unusual ways?

Recorded sounds are then layered into my DAW and edited. Sound that you hear in the final game is pretty much always a combination of different sounds.

Our ears are magnificent organs that are hard to deceive, but with experience, you tend to think much less about it and just go with your gut feeling when editing.

Recorded downhill bike sounds in combination with sounds of a gas leaking and hits on the washing machine could make a great steam elevator that you’ll see in the game. Your imagination and skill are the limits.

 

[Pero_Gamechuck]

TYRANNY IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!!

Stay, dear reader, and harken the tragic story of King Leopold, the tyrant king! Today we shall learn that in the wise words of our bard Orlando the Otter: “Nothing is more important to kings than the affairs of state – except the affairs of kin!”

The year was 1848. The days grew dark for the Kingdom. The once budding enthusiasm of the advances of science and technology now gave way to a bleak realism. The steam engined boats did indeed bring wine and silk across the continent, but not to all animals. While the nouveau riche grew rich-er, more and more commoners would have to contend themselves with harsher and bleaker working conditions.

The city of Blackbark, once the biggest city in the Kingdom now lies in ruins and slums, as the symbol of tyranny and oppression

A meal skipped here, a Sunday skipped there… Is this really what progress looked like?

Who would have thought that the brave and pioneering work of our greatest kings would be so perverted? All the scholarly works of king Valent, all the technological advancements pioneered by his grandson Leonard, all for what? For those toiling their lives in the mines or in the royal quarries, it would seem – all for naught.

In the latest lore article, we talk about the tyranny in Trip the Ark Fantastic history, that emerged during the ruling of one of the most brutal and corrupt kings of them all, King Leopold.

Read the whole article here, and join our Discord, too while you're at it.