Hey hey!

It's the sixth and final week of the project, and as such we would like to talk a little about what went right and what went not-so-right during development. We'll also discuss MOJO and share with you the demo version of the game, which we plan to continue developing independently during summer.

As you may or may not know, Through the Misty Gate was developed as our project for a Game Development Methodology class in our Master's degree. It was an eight-week long project, where we had to conceptualise and develop a game from scratch. The focus of the experience was to learn the common procedures and reasoning for the various development cycles of a game.

The idea for TtMG came along as a product of little sleep (the class was very early in the morning) and our ongoing obsession with Hollow Knight. We wanted to develop a game that was similar to Hollow Knight yet provided an entirely new experience. In hindsight, our designs for TtMG were too ambitious, and managing expectations proved to be one of the hardest challenges during the project. However, we learned much during the course of the project, and most importantly, we had a ton of fun. We do wish we had more time - everything felt rushed, at times, and it made the whole experience more stressful than it needed to be, but such is the way. 

We had a wonderful development team and a phenomenal writing team for the project, and that is definitely one of the highlights of the project - though it was at times a bumpy road, in the end we delivered our product in a satisfactory manner. We got a lot of positive feedback from MOJO this week, as well as a few points to improve upon, which we most certainly will.

MOJO itself was an enriching experience. It was heartwarming to see our colleagues proudly presenting the fruits of their labour alongside us. Each and every one of them did an incredible job, and playing their prototypes was incredibly fun. Having people play a game you've made is definitely the highlight of the day, however. Watching someone discover their way through your game, from figuring out the controls to finding your favourite feature and loving it - it truly is just an unrivaled feeling of accomplishment.

Since monday, the team has been hard at work ironing out the bugs that were found during MOJO (as well as a few ones that we spotted ourselves). We also finished up the reports that we were still missing, a necessary but, well, undesirable task. Nothing new was implemented this week, as we felt the demo we've produced was in a satisfactory place. Speaking of which, you should now have access to the demo version of the game in the TtMG page, available to play in the browser or download. We hope you enjoy playing it! As usual, please contact us if you find any bugs, it would be much appreciated.

That will be all from us here at Through the Misty Gate! Keep an eye out for more news once we decide on the future direction of the project. Until then, take care, and thank you for coming on this journey with us!

-- Rodrigo