It’s been a few months since our last devlog, so we wanted to send out another little sign of life. ????[/p][p]A lot has happened since then:[/p]
- [p]Gamescom recap[/p][/*]
- [p]Heading into production[/p][/*]
- [p]A new name for Packy[/p][/*]
- [p]Wishlists[/p][p][/p][/*]
Gamescom Recap
[p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/45534013/61b2204b2e0aeded1b7dfc3ad462896947fc74fd.png"][/img][/p][p]As you probably know, Gamescom is one of the most important events on the calendar for any game studio - especially for one based in Germany. So we packed our things, headed to Cologne, Germany, spent a week sleeping on air mattresses in our artist André’s living room (luckily he lives there!), and showed off our game![/p][p]From Wednesday to Sunday, visitors at Gamescom could play Rootbound in Hall 10.2 and give us direct feedback at our booth. We not only managed to win over new players but also meet many of you who simply stopped by to say hi - which made us incredibly happy! ????[/p][p]Besides exhibiting the game, networking was high on our agenda. We were able to connect with other studios and publishers, and even catch up with a few old friends. It was an exhausting, yet super fun and wonderfully eventful week![/p][p][/p]
Rootbound Goes Into Production
[p]After Gamescom, we took a few weeks off – a break we definitely needed! Then we reached a big milestone in development: After implementing the feedback from Gamescom and running another round of tests on our Discord, it was finally time to leave pre-production behind and move into full production![/p][p]So what does that mean? Over the past year, our focus was on turning the vision of Rootbound into a playable foundation – developing the core tech, art style, and gameplay systems. Along the way, we created several worlds and even a demo that, however, won’t appear in the final game.[/p][p]With the start of production, things are changing: while we’ll continue refining the core gameplay, the main focus now shifts to creating actual game content. As you’re reading this, we’re working hard on defining and locking in the story and gameplay of Rootbound. At the same time, we’re building the entire game world – though still in a very rough state.[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/45534013/5d408916edc5d31750617f4e31125b546a20efe6.png"][/img][/p][p]And what are our programmers up to during all this? They’re currently focusing on core systems such as saving and loading, and the localization framework that will make it possible to play Rootbound in different languages. Since these systems reach deep into the game’s code, it’s pretty normal that things break along the way - but once they’re implemented, fixing those issues usually goes quickly. ????[/p][p] [/p]A New Name for Packy
[p]In our last devlog, we introduced our living backpack and called it “Packy”. To our innocent German ears, that sounded like a cute name. But during Gamescom, several people pointed out that this word is often used as a racial slur against Pakistanis in English-speaking countries.[/p][p]So, of course, it was immediately clear to us that we needed a new name for the backpack. But instead of seeing that as a setback, we turned it into an opportunity: If we’re going to rename the backpack - why not do it together with our community?[/p][p]We asked for name suggestions on our Discord, then held a vote to find everyone’s favorite. The results are in: we’re happy to officially announce that the backpack will now be called Nimo! The name comes from 荷物 (nimotsu), the Japanese word for “luggage”. A huge thank-you to everyone who took part in the naming process![/p][p]We plan to run more community polls like this in the future. Want to help shape the development of Rootbound? Then come join our Discord server![/p][p][/p]Wishlists
[p]And now for the obligatory numbers section! ???? Thanks to several Steam events, our wishlist count has jumped again – we’ve now reached a proud 23,200 wishlists! Thank you so much to every single one of you for your amazing support! ❤️[/p][p][/p]Closing Words
[p]Of course, we don’t want to end this update without saying thank you! ???? Your continued support and interest mean the world to us. Do you have any wishes or topics you’d like us to cover in future updates? Don’t hesitate to reach out! You can find us on:[/p][p][/p][p]???? Website: https://www.brainlag-games.com/[/p][p]???? Twitter: brainlaggames[/p][p]???? Threads: @brainlaggames[/p][p]???? Instagram: brainlaggames [/p][p]???? TikTok: brainlaggames[/p][p]???? Discord: Rootbound [/p][p][/p][p]And of course, here’s the obligatory cat photo! ????[/p][p][img src="https://clan.akamai.steamstatic.com/images/45534013/131887feee6e8d670eb23d1bc71e277b92485db8.png"][/img][/p][p]Take care,[/p][p]Markus[/p][p][/p]
