Hey buds ^^
Another month has just flown by!
May has been all about wrapping things up preparing for what’s laying ahead. We’ve completed our Vertical Slice, submitted what may be our final application to Østnorsk Filmsenter for Steps, and started preparing for the biggest milestone of the year: Steam Next Fest.
Along the way, we’ve also taken important steps in shaping the story, and started preparing for the final months before launch.
Let’s dive in.
Delivering Our Vertical Slice
May has largely been a month of building and repairing.
The month started much like the others this spring, with another few weeks of sickness… Fortunately, the second half of the month was much kinder to us, giving us the opportunity to regain momentum and catch up on lost time (thank you, Sarah, for giving me catch-up weekends throughout this month).
Our primary goal for this phase was to deliver the Vertical Slice to Østnorsk Filmsenter, and we're happy to say:
We made it!!
Not only did we deliver on time, but we did so without any last-minute game-breaking bugs, sleepless nights, or emergency fixes hours before the deadline. Who would have thought!?
That alone feels like a milestone.
Our current build now contains at least one level from every region in Steps, with a representative level from each region featuring updated visuals, sound design, and gameplay systems. Together, these levels form the Vertical Slice, which showcases the direction and quality of the finished game.
Of course, delivering a Vertical Slice within our current circumstances required us to make a few compromises, but it also helped us focus on what mattered most for the project.
Since we have been less time-efficient this period, we chose to prioritize building the first levels of each region rather than some of the later, more mechanically advanced levels, as they take more time to develop. As a result, we weren’t able to produce the trailer we had envisioned. Rather than rushing it, we decided to wait until we can properly showcase the variety of regions, abilities, and mechanics that showcases what Steps is all about.
Instead, we've decided to postpone the next trailer until October, where it will be released alongside our participation in Steam Next Fest.
As with the trailer, there were also camera improvements, bug fixes, and quality-of-life features we had planned for the vertical Slice that had to be moved into the next phase.
I guess that's the reality of running a small studio.
When a two-person team loses to sickness, it hits the efficiency of the schedule. The upside is that we're also flexible enough to adapt quickly. We can reshuffle priorities, move tasks around, and make sure we still deliver on the goals that matter most.
Looking back, we’re proud of what we’ve achieved during this phase, despite the setbacks. The Vertical Slice may not be perfect, but we still think it gives a solid and honest representation of where Steps should be at this stage of development.
One Last Step at Østnorsk Filmsenter
With the Vertical Slice delivered, it was once again time for what has become a familiar ritual at Glueplant Games: preparing for another funding application.
This marks our fourth application to Østnorsk Filmsenter, and as always does it feels like the most important one yet.
If approved, Steps will reach the maximum funding threshold of 800,000 NOK for a project at Østnorsk.
That number still feels unreal to look at!
When we submitted our very first application one year ago, we would never have imagined being so close to reaching the threshold, only 12 months later. Now, we can only hope and pray that Østnorsk wants to prioritize projects that are close to the finish line.
Over the past year, we have learned a great deal about how a game moves from concept to release, giving us a much broader perspective on the development cycle as a whole. We've experienced the time and effort longer projects actually take. We've learned how much planning is needed before production starts. And we've learned how to scope games more realistically and how we should structure future projects with funding in mind.
One thing we are particularly proud of is how much our application process has improved over the last year. Earlier applications often involved weeks of crunch, and deadlines that were met within the final hour.
This time, we estimated one week of work. And that's exactly what it took. The application was submitted on Friday, two days before the deadline! That may sound like a small “Yihuu”, but for us it’s a sign of how much we've grown as project managers over the past year.
The Story Has Finally Taken Shape
One of the biggest focuses for the next project period will be on implementing the story of Steps, together with building all remaining levels.
As we move closer to launch, we have reached the point where the mechanics and unique block-systems are starting to settle into place. That means we can finally begin focusing more heavily on building complete levels featuring the characters, dialogue, and the larger narrative that ties everything together.
To make that possible, we have divided the work between us. Adrian will continue building levels while Mathias takes the lead on the story implementation. Every level draft will be reviewed and tested by Mathias after completion, and Adrian remains involved in shaping the details of the story that Mathais is setting up and writing.
Since the next phase is centered around story implementation, we felt it would be natural to include a dedicated story document in our application. But when we sat down to create such a document, we quickly realized that we first had to finish the bits of the story that were postponed due to inconsistencies during our pre-production.
So during the application week, we had a few meetings dedicated to the remaining pieces of the narrative. There were still characters whose journeys needed clarification, relationships that felt vague or unfinished, and key points to the main story with big plot holes.
Those meetings turned out to be some of the most productive we've had in a long time. So, we are happy to announce that the entire story of Steps is now in one complete piece.
Not only have we finalized the overall narrative, but we've also managed to tighten many of the connections between the different characters. Even though each character is on their own path through the game, they now influence one another in subtle ways that ties the world together.
This helps reinforce the deeper themes that Steps wants to explore, and the ideas we have been carrying with us since the beginning now have a much stronger foundation.
We are very excited to finally start bringing the stories into Steps and make it come alive.
Looking Toward Steam Next Fest
With the Vertical Slice now completed, our attention is shifting towards the next major milestone:
Steam Next Fest.
We have set the next phase to end on the 14th of October, only five days before the event begins. Because of this, almost every major decision we make over the coming months will be made with Steam Next Fest in mind.
This event is a big opportunity for us. Up until now, most people who have played Steps have met us in person at events, testbonanzas, or through our website. Steam Next Fest is different. It is a worldwide event consisting of players actively looking for their next indie game to fall in love with.
That is both exciting and terrifying.
Our goal for the event is to release a brand-new public demo featuring the entire Rivergreen region. Here, players will be able to start their journey in the tutorial level, progressing through all five Rivergreen levels, before experiencing an end-game challenge in the Metalworks.
While the other regions will be playable internally at this time, we believe Rivergreen is the perfect introduction to what Steps is all about. It contains the heart of the game and provides a good picture of what players can expect from the full experience.
Alongside the demo, we will finally release a brand-new trailer that showcases the other parts of the game that aren't shown in the demo. Together, we hope the demo and trailer will form a package that gives players a strong first impression of what Steps is all about.
So, what’s lying ahead?
First, this June, we will be attending Spillkonventet in Oslo. Last year, people kept asking if we were going. At the time, we didn’t know that game industry events existed in Norway, and had our hands full with figuring out how the industry worked and where we fit into it.
This year is different. Thanks to a travel grant from Østnorsk Filmsenter, we both have the opportunity to attend the event ourselves. We’re looking forward to showcasing Steps to the industry, attending seminars, and meeting other developers. One of the things we appreciate most about the games industry here in Norway is how willing people are to share their experiences, and we look forward to both learning from others and sharing some of our own.
And at last, after Spillkonventet, we have decided it’s time to take a well-earned break. For the first time in a long while, we are taking a three week holiday break. The next six months will be the most important period in the development of Steps, and we want to meet that challenge with full batteries, clear heads, and renewed excitement.
So there will be no DevLog for June, as we will be on vacation for most of it.
We hope you'll stick with us through these final months until Steps finally finds its way into the virtual shelves on Steam^^
See you all in August^^