You can learn all about it on the official Steam store page (and Wishlist Now!) (and follow the Fullbright Newsletter for updates all along the way right in your inbox!) but here's the rundown:
- Springs, Eternal is a lo-fi (”Dreamcast-era” or maybe late-’90s PC graphics) first-person story exploration game (”walking simulator”) that takes place at a secluded hot springs in the dead of night. You’ll traverse the grounds, flashlight in hand, visiting the pools, saunas, caverns, grand lodge, and other points of interest on the map.
- At each location you’ll get to meet other visitors and learn their stories through branching dialogue interactions. Some of these visitors have unique topics that you can unlock by performing specific actions elsewhere; some of the encounters may not be quite of this world…
- Along the way you’ll relive moments from the romantic relationship that brought you here through flashbacks that draw you into these two characters’ story bit by bit.
- There are over a dozen different characters you’ll meet and interact with, and over 30,000 words of dialogue. The dialogue is all in text and branching dialogue; bring your reading glasses.
- The idea behind Springs, Eternal is inspired by my own experience visiting Breitenbush Hot Springs here in Oregon and getting up to go out to the geothermal pools in the middle of the night all alone. It really is a pretty freaky experience!
- Springs, Eternal probably takes around a few hours to complete, especially if you want to try to unlock everything that’s hidden. If you try to rush through it it’s definitely a short game, but how much you dig is up to you.
- Springs, Eternal is mostly open-structure: you can explore the grounds as you see fit, though the map does start more closed off and expands over time, so it’s player-driven exploration in stages as the map continues to open up.
- Springs, Eternal is an eerie, otherworldly, sometimes tense experience, but not a full-on “horror” game per se. If you like spooky and unsettling games with heavy atmosphere, I hope you’ll enjoy what’s in store; if you have trouble stomaching truly frightening games full of jump scares, I don’t think Springs, Eternal will be too much for you to handle. It really is kind of freaky walking down forested paths in the middle of the night with just a flashlight in real life; I hope the experience of the game brings that feeling across, as well as the relief of stepping back indoors after having been out there on those winding trails for a bit too long for comfort…
- The current plan is to support English, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, and Simplified Chinese on the Windows platform at launch (supported on Linux/SteamOS through Proton). Languages and platforms may expand, depending. The game is fully gamepad/Steam Deck compliant. Pricing hasn’t been decided yet.
- The cover art & logo are by Markus Bülow, who’s done great work for some of my favorite Puppet Combo games, as well as for the weird comedy horror microgame I released last year.
- Springs, Eternal will likely be rated “M,” but only for casual swearing, including the F-word. Other content wouldn’t cross that threshold.
- Springs, Eternal is a small title mostly solo developed by me with contract help from a few very talented individual contributors adding some 2D art, 3D art, localized text, etc. to the game— the scope and scale aren’t expansive, but I hope the experience Springs, Eternal provides will feel memorable beyond its size.
Okay! There'll be more news on Steam and in the Newsletter before long. Can't wait to share more!
-steve
