As any gamer can attest, the wait for news about a much-anticipated game can be agonizing, especially when the devs are playing their proverbial cards close to their proverbial chests about launch dates and the like, which is exactly the topic that the folks at Visionary Realms address in this month’s Pantheon newsletter. Fans of the game have been champing at the bit to know when the game’s alpha testing will commence, but unfortunately, no answer has been forthcoming.
But there’s a reason for that: The devs don’t know yet, either. Obviously the devs know when they hope to start alpha testing, but with any game development project — especially crowdfunded ones like Pantheon that by necessity have to announce themselves and generate hype early in the development process — there are a number of factors that can shift the goalposts. “[We] don’t want to take you on the roller-coaster of shifting dates with us,” the devs say, which is why they’ll only be announcing production dates when they’re “sure they are rock-solid for delivery.”
In terms of actual development progress, the devs say that Project Faerthale is coming along nicely: “Several animations have now gone into the client, the climbing system is now functional in-game, and the encounter [the devs have] been talking about is nearing completion.” Although it’s still going to be a bit before the devs are ready to share the fruits of their labors with players, the newsletter does provide a sneak peek at what they’ve been working on recently. VFX Artist Fernando Flores pulls back the curtain on some of the flashy effects he and the team have put together for atmospheric elements like lightning strikes and for the Wizard’s spells.
For those more interested in swordplay than spellcasting, Lead Animator Ross Armstrong shows off some of the recently unveiled Warrior combat animations and details the process of taking the class’s abilities and putting them into action. If you want to get a glimpse at the in-progress effects and animations for yourself, you can feast your eyes on the videos below or check out the full newsletter for all the behind the scenes details.
