Hey there! It's certainly been a while. By my records, the last time I made a post here, I'd announced I came down with COVID—which turned out to not be true, but I never made any additional post stating such, confirming anything, or even so much as saying I was okay.
Why was that statement incorrect, and why had I made it in the first place? Fact is, a coworker of mine DID come down with COVID; he's still recovering from it, about six months later. I happened to get sick at exactly the same time, so I simply assumed I'd gotten COVID as well, but when I went to test myself, as it turned out, what I had was not COVID. Unfortunately, where I work, we draw people from all over the world, and further, I commute on a weekly basis for school, so there are plenty of opportunities for any one of us to get sick at any given time; it just so happened, we got sick at the same time with two unrelated illnesses.
Fact is, this summer was a whirlwind, something I was hoping wouldn't happen. A few weeks after that last post here, one of my cats managed to escape, on the lam just outside the house for almost a full week. He narrowly missed encounters with bobcats—some instances of which were actually caught on camera—and managed to make in-roads with the small feral cat colony here, the matriarch of which has since learned—or perhaps she learned it from him—that the people here are not only kind, but more than willing to feed them.
My MS project continues even now; while the finish line is in sight, new developments in the last two weeks have nearly completely upended everything I've done so far. I've ultimately completely re-written a doctoral dissertation Python script three whole times at this point, including once more just yesterday. At this point, I'm pushing to get it done by January 12, expecting the bulk of the remaining work to take maybe another week, followed by extensive writing. This final paper is going to be LENGTHY.
Beginning in August, I officially returned to NMSU's Creative Media Institute, picking up work I'd left behind the year before in pursuit of a Bachelor of Creative Media in Animation and Visual Effects, 2D Studio pathway. This was on top of everything else, but also on top of continued work in an entrepreneurial incubation program intended to push CORAX studios forward, ending the week after classes began. I've made great strides in my own work, including learning 3D modeling well enough that I'm now confident I can create the kinds of games I wanted to from the beginning! Next semester's course-load is an introduction to 3D animation, and a course on digital illustration techniques. I'm looking forward to it!
So, what does all this mean for CORAX studios?
Our first game, That Abandoned House on Parkview Drive, is still under development. (You may have seen the announcement post here, or the slightly more detailed email announcement about it—oh yeah, are you on our mailing list? You should be!) A teaser trailer is anticipated shortly! This debut title features three individuals exploring an abandoned house—or at least, that's what they believe. Mild psychological horror combine with point-and-click puzzle solving in an attempt to recreate the magic of the MacVenture titles of old. While this title won't be released probably until the summer, I do anticipate it being released this year!
We do have a number of other projects also in the works. Our second title will be a short but intense atmosphere simulator, and from there any number of other titles could be next. From a collectible capsule monsters-style RPG to an action-oriented espionage game, we've got a lot of future material forthcoming. Look forward to it!
I do have another announcement to make regarding the future of CORAX studios, but I think that will wait until our first game is out. Let's just say, the inspiration has been flowing, and the ideas are plentiful. I may post again before then, but for sure, we'll see you in 2024! Keep enjoying the game!