Howdy hey, Howdy Hi!

Autumn’s artful airs fulsomely flair, frolicking leaves with aplomb. Coiling coffee steams and crafty costume themes tease Halloween’s arrival is coming along! While you dream wily schemes sure to bring delighted screams, the creatives here at DVNC bring you wicked news to read. Your time we’ll not hold long!

Isn’t it the sweetest feeling when you unwrap and play your favorite game? You consider the characters your friends because you’ve grown alongside them for years. Story beats melt off your tongue line by line as you recite them. The anticipatory tingle when that one boss battle that rocked you as a kid comes around? There’s precious little like it in the world.

We get that feeling every time we make a game, and when we get to share our process with all of you.

Last time we talked, we treated you to our goals of changing the game industry’s tricky hurdles. Today we wanted to show you how we organize the Village and explain the impact our approach has on our community.

                                                    Village Vision

In thinking about how we want to interact with our community, we kept focusing on openness. All of us really wanted options that gave members opportunities to talk to us without dealing with extra forms, or difficult to navigate websites. It’s hard to know what to change in our games, or other media, if no one can ever tell us what’s wrong, or what they want to see! We wanted to build a community where people rely on each other, rather than a place people dread coming to. That’s why we settled on making servers on Discord, a social media platform where users can chat and live stream.

Discord lets anyone be a part of private servers using URL invite links. We have the option to funnel conversations across various channels, limiting what members can interact with and see. Rather than search through countless emails, documents, or audio logs for our information, we have the ability to search directly for specific conversations with our creatives. Community assigned moderators ensure disputes are handled respectfully, keeping channels clutter free.

We also have designated areas for newcomers to introduce themselves and learn the rules. A general chat section for non-game related topics, and places users can report bugs. There’s separate voice and text spaces for writers, artists, musicians, and animators too. Numerous references and inspirations for Rosett, Monochrome, and other projects, are posted by creative leads. Question related channels give members a chance to speak directly to management one on one. Social media and self-promotion sectors invite our community to support and uplift their fellow Village members.

The best part of our Village though, has to be the atmosphere and flexibility.

In an office, people can feel stifled in what they say or do because their ideas aren’t “professional” enough for the setting. Face to face meetings can be hard to manage for workers with international time zones due to building office hours. Introverts and neurodivergent individuals may struggle to convey their ideas in noisier office environments even with accommodations.

None of these problems exist in the Village! Okay, okay, that’s wishful thinking on our part, but it is true that a lot of these problems are mitigated. The chat rooms full of people texting or voice calling make meetings feel more like talking with friends than objective based, no time for tangents Powerpoints. There is no time restrictions on how long servers can be open or costly fees for room rentals after hours. Anyone finding it difficult to keep up in a voice call can mute themselves, others, or participate via text. They can also easily leave the call and take breaks whenever they need to.

Personal user handles and the freedom to privately message outside the server makes it easy for creatives to form long lasting friendships too! Then there’s the fact we can share our work with others through a link, file, or video that doesn’t require access to social media platforms or other websites. Both perks really make the process of game design less isolating.

Everyone in our server works hard to fulfil their dreams of creating something amazing and it’s important to honor that. That’s why we use our Workshop and Village approach to promote community engagement, highlighting our creatives’ skills through amazing events!

Recently, we launched Testing Tuesdays, where server members and creative leads playtest the latest game builds, offer suggestions on game design, and relax with their peers. Our managers scour for local and international contest opportunities. They offer asset work, as well as personal and work feedback. Daily social posts let members vote for their favorite options, bringing tons of memes and nostalgia. Acceptance and celebration of diversity fosters safety and respect. Throughout the Village, brainstorming and collaboration discussions dominate discourse.

We know it’s thanks to our creatives that DVNC’s mission succeeds. That’s why we ask developers and community members for feedback on Village policies, games, and workload in weekly meetings. The responses we get help us continuously meet, re-evaluate, and expand our goals. DVNC is also committed to helping our members thrive in whatever medium or job they wish to explore, so networking and portfolio highlight nights are currently in discussion!

The significant role playing games play in forming connections cannot be understated! Watching story cutscenes, reading dialogue, completing side quests, and interacting in battles is like a dose of books, artwork, and movies combined! That’s why, after business is done, community game nights take precedent. We try and play games we hope everyone loves-

Just like we hope you’ll absolutely love hearing about our latest game developments!

                                             Monochrome RPG

Vaudevilles been ill ever since Mayor Le Stache took charge. But not every citizen’s given up using their talents small and large! From stark Talent Town to Captain Smokestacks barge, music floats in the air alongside applause.

Fluttering flutes, lookit the swell suit on this dashing lad! The double buttoned jacket and bow tie bring tears to the eye. Those sleek dress pants and rolled gloves surely capture countless toons love. Then, there’s the smarm charm in his mustachioed smirk. Oh, it’d make anyone cut a hot foxtrot! Otto’s certainly never seen anyone so foxy fresh in their life. The entertainer of the century, Foxy Fresh works alone. His animations reflect singers of old, waving his microphone to and fro. He pounces, standing up on his toes, eager to give his enemies woes. Pirouetting, his whole body flexes. Don’t blink, lest missing Foxy Fresh’s pose transition stances is something you’ll be regretting.

A fleeting flash dashes past, spinning Otto in their tracks.

Jeepers and thyme, this squirrel can jive! Tumbling hand to feet, there’s nothing stopping his flips. Otto wonders how, with his lack of a belt, this fella’s pants don’t slip. Eyes extending, magnifying the truth, no clue shall escape this sharp witted sleuth. Where he got his hat from is quite a mystery. Golly does Otto wanna look into this toon’s history! Modeled after deerstalker style, a staple of detective’s wiles, the hat’s angle stays stable as his body bends. His elbows wend sideways, tail partially hidden, the animation flows in slight diagonals to keep the eye thoroughly smitten. A second secret slowly sneaks, in the jolly jiggle of his cheeks. 

                                    General Development Updates

Following more discussions about Metaverse goals, the DVNC team started implementing those strategies to acquire more Metaverse clientele. We’re happy to report our hard work paid off! We’ve had meetings these past weeks with potential partners, showcasing a new hub model for a VR meeting room. 

Rectangular in shape, sloped ceilings and an open floor plan make the room far larger than a typical office meeting space. Little touches such as reflective shadows, pebbled bricks, speckled concrete flooring, and cubby notches in the walls deviate the Metaverse from traditional digital meeting spaces where clients can only view a static face cam. The first person camera and three hundred and sixty degree view let you decide where and how you’ll focus your attention.

There’s plenty to see!

Large glass windows and doors allow users to view alternate rooms, while overhead air ducts and columns make the meeting room visually appealing. Plush couches and recliners, colorful rugs, bookshelves, and desks offer clients tons of space and comfort. There’s exit signs, ladders, and artwork on the walls. Ambient lighting is plentiful, with numerous windows, lamps, or ceiling fixtures dotting the space. Potted ferns and privacy screens separate various seating sections, perfect for organizations with multiple teams. We’ll be able to swap out these assets to make the space personable. 

There’ll be more information coming out about these opportunities soon.

                                                          Rosett

Capital born aristocracy and determined Downers both rely heavily on magic and technology to survive Rosett’s wild wiles. We used both to update the game’s colors and background artwork, dispersing deeper depth along our asset visuals.

Gone are the expansive green voids wherein no other life be seen!

Textured sod softens the rugged forest landscape, differentiated by subtle hints of creamy white. Gridded pathways give hints to the fields former use, diverted on the edges by wide laned roads leading towards misty backdrops. Shadows wrinkle twining trees offset to the side, leaves highlighted by deep lime, emerald, and grassy tones. Branches loom over craggy rocks and teeny bushes aligned near southern field furrows, surfaces eroded. Shrubbery piles obstruct entry into an abandoned shack and windmill, the only habitation for miles.

Roughhewn rocks sideways stacked comprise the two-story home’s ground level, held in place by thick oaken beam borders. Ramshackle wooden slats staple the second floor and roof together, grain cracked along their edges, hues mismatched. Two un-shuttered windows and three doors bearing heavy metal knockers are the hovels only opulence. Expenses forgone on the neighboring windmill whose entryway holds no door to protect it. Bricks lacking mortar carry double stacked beams, topped by dowels wide, round, and creaking. Tattered sails brush overgrown treetops, lame spinning undeterred by their creeping greenery. A shed sitting behind bungled bushes looks barely big enough for two, roof off-kilter, door narrow.

Players aren’t able to enter or visit either building at this time, nor is the background stationary. As the camera pans, the artwork shifts with the limited camera space, offering new details and close up shots. Looking closely shows off minute world building details. The bricks in the windmill, for example, are stained less than the house’s. There’s also humped mounds behind the tree roots you can only see by getting close enough to the backside of the map.  

Visuals aren’t the only exciting upgrades, though!

Followers emerge from swirling, green tendril vortexes, no longer mere humanoid paper shapes! A brand new follower class, the Builder, leaves behind crate cubes as they travel, blocking pathways and projectiles alike. Boisterous Builders boast a grey helmet surmounted by silver ridges, matching the patina of his long sword and plated armor. Our white haired, mischievous mage wields a crinkled staff, whisking belted navy robes about their feet.

Spectator mode gives defeated players a chance to cheer for their competitors and partners. The camera pulls back into an omniscient third person perspective, stilling the camera movement to give an aerial view of the playing field. Players can no longer interact with the game, but if teams  happen to be playing in a group call or chatroom, nothing says they can’t help their teammates out with directions. If that feels a bit unfair, we certainly won’t be ruining anyone’s fun! It’ll be up to players to dictate rules regarding dead team members, item nerfs, and class restrictions.

On the programming side, we plan to create class leaders with special abilities and overhaul our enemy visuals in the coming weeks.

                                                     Challenged

Everyone at DVNC pushes themselves to craft engaging stories that promote introspection, challenging player’s perceptions. Inspired by mainstream media, other indie developers, and our own dreams; we have numerous gameplay mechanics, characters, narratives, art and musical styles we want players to experience!

We can’t bring any of our worlds to life though, without first challenging ourselves to think like a player. Games work best when they’re intuitive teachers.

If you want to support us and see where our challenges lead us, and how they teach us, be sure to tune in to our socials to receive our latest game updates!

   Follow our socials for all the latest updates on our upcoming titles: 

The Monochrome RPG Twitter

The Monochrome RPG Instagram

Rosett Twitter

Rosett Instagram 

Rosett Website