The MGC Times

August 2011 Newsletter

Dear customers and fans,

Good news: everything is on schedule for making Dirk Dashing 2 available for pre-order later this month!

The release date I'm shooting for is Friday, August 26. If it looks like it may slip past that date a bit, then I'll be sure to let you know.

When the pre-order begins, I will have a demo version containing the first 8 levels that you can freely download and play. Customers who choose to pre-order for $19.99 USD will be given access to the beta version of the game containing the second part of the 5-part story arc, which will provide 8 additional levels to play. As I finish each of the subsequent parts of the story, pre-ordering customers will receive an updated beta containing the new levels, new features, bug fixes, etc. This should happen every 8-10 weeks (roughly every other month) until the game is done. Once the game is completed, all pre-ordering customers will receive a free copy of the planned $5 strategy guide, containing level maps, hints, tricks, concept art, etc.

I'm excited about finally unveiling Dirk Dashing 2 and letting everyone play it. It's going to be fun!

- Troy Hepfner

Dirk Dashing 2 Production Update

July was an extremely productive month, and the software is in great shape. I have builds for all of the planned platforms (Windows, Mac, and Linux), and I have volunteers who have been testing the game on each platform. Most of the known bugs have been fixed, and I've been polishing the game and tweaking the gameplay.

I hired a new artist last month to help with the promotional illustration and title logo for the game. His name is Mike Metcalf, and he specializes in comic book art. You can see samples of his work here and here. Mike drew a full-page promotional illustration for me, as well as web ad graphics in various sizes. I was so pleased with his promotional art, that I've offloaded some of my remaining art tasks to him. Mike has redrawn some background graphics that I created that I wasn't happy with, and he drew the achievement medals that will be awarded at the end of each level. He will also be illustrating the initial comic page that introduces the game's story. Here is the promotional illustration he created:

Jesse is wrapping up production on the draft version of the game's audio. I'm told the sound effects are mostly done, as well as the music score. Right now he is busy tweaking individual instruments in the various arrangements to get just the right sound he wants. Some examples of what he is doing is trying to get the classic Bond "wah growl" trombone sounding right, making the guitar parts better, making the drums a little tighter, and patching dropouts of rhythm patterns. The idea is to make the draft version more like a temporary final version, so it will be acceptable for customers to hear. I'm expecting to receive the draft by the end of the week. The final version will be completed later, when the game is nearly done.

I have about 20 items left on my to-do list, which I hope to finish this week. After that, the testers will be hammering on the game to try to find any remaining bugs, while I start putting together the installers and promotional materials for the game, like the game's registration screen, official web page, video trailer, screenshots, press release, etc. Stay tuned!

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