Year of the Woolfe

January 13th, 2015

Happy 2015!

First off, we’d like to wish all of you the very best for the new year. May 2015 treat you well!

Speaking for the GRIN team, this year is going to be an exciting, scary and exhausting one 🙂 Over the past few weeks, we made some really big decisions and worked our asses off to get a new build ready for our alpha and beta backers. Let’s walk you through some news.

Red Riding Hood’s split-release

As you have probably noticed, we’ve been under the radar for a while. That is because we had some major challenges to tackle and pretty game-changing decisions to make. From the moment Woolfe began to take shape, we were determined to deliver the best story possible within the scope we had defined for the game. Along the way, we expanded our levels and iterated on our story. As a result there is much more content, which is great news! But… if we were to deliver the entire game to match our initial promises on timing, we would need to compromise on quality. And that, for us, was a no-go. After a lot of sleepless nights, we figured out a way to:

• Deliver -as promised- in spring.
• Keep our quality on par with your expectations.
• Avoid having to throw out levels and content in order to maintain the desired quality while doing so.

So… We split up Woolfe into two separate, fully fledged, stand-alone yet successive volumes. Yes, it was an emotional break-up, but a necessary one. The only other option was to drastically postpone the game’s release and we really didn’t want to keep you waiting.

The first volume, Woolfe: The Red Hood Diaries, will come out as planned on March 17th. We’re working on a new trailer so we can announce the launch date with a splash! Volume 2: is planned for release in August 2015.

Important note: all of our backers will get BOTH VOLUMES, obviously.

As a small team with finite resources, your trust and support mean the world to us. We believe this was a decision in the game’s best interest, and in yours as well. We hope you feel the same way.

Release schedule

So, here is the updated planning for Woolfe:

• March 17th: Steam Release (volume 1)
• August: Steam release (volume 2)

Under construction

Yes, we have a lot of new stuff to share… First of all check this new Electro-Guard we made exclusively customizable by our Backers. This bad boy is not to be messed with… one shock and you’re done. Don’t try to take one on, unless you know what you’re doing, so get your combo’s upgraded first! More info about the Toy Soldier editor coming soon…

Previously unrevealed level: Floating Mountains

We’ve been keeping this level secret till now, but I can tell you, it’s our favorite one so far. (maybe still a bit too hard at this point, still cleaning up some gameplay and balancing difficulty)

Attention, Alpha Soldiers…

Beloved Alpha Army, you have just received another updated Woolfe build. Alpha backers can now play a bunch of new and updated levels, from the very beginning in the city until Granny’s house in the forest. What’s new?

• We’ve been experimenting a lot to improve the combat fun, a known issue for quite a while now. We’d love to hear what you think.
• We have been reworking the animations throughout the game. Check out some of Red’s new and improved moves.
• Ready for some story? In this alpha version, you can listen to Red narrate her story (and yes, this time it’s actually Red’s voice and not some in-house crappy voice actress 🙂 and on top of that you get to unlock a buck load of back story (look out for the blue “W”s)
• We hope you make it to the forest and especially our floating mountains level: a personal favourite of ours, and… a pretty challenging one too.

As always, we look forward to your findings: You can use the in-game bug reporter by pressing F8 when playing.

Important note: Please DO NOT post any Alpha gameplay footage or screenshots publicly yet. Alpha updates are to be enjoyed by YOUR EYES ONLY! 

Attention, Beta Soldiers…

Hey, you, wonderful Beta Army! We promised to deliver you a first try at the game in December, remember? Well, we’re a few days late, but now you finally get to experience Woolfe-in-progress yourselves. Hurry over to your Steam account, ‘cause we have a whole lot of Woolfe fun waiting for you.

Explore every corner of Ulrica, from the slums, through the sewers, the residential area, the harbor and the Woolfe Industries Headquarters. Head to the forest for some surreal floating island-fun, get chased by wolves and beat up some freaky fairies along the road to Granny. PS: don’t forget to pick up the shiny blue “W”’s to unlock buck loads of additional story.

We hope you enjoy the ride and can’t wait for you to tell us all about it. You can use the in-game bug reporter by pressing F8 when playing.

Important note: Please DO NOT post any Alpha / Beta gameplay footage or screenshots publicly yet. Alpha / Beta updates are to be enjoyed by YOUR EYES ONLY! 

Countdown has begun, so… back to work it is. We look forward to hearing from you.

Love!

The Woolfe Pack