Hello, gamers and friends,
I’ve got some thrilling updates to share with you about my journey with the game. It's been a remarkable month for me, filled with accomplishments and surprises.
Celebrating Success: My Recent Awards
This May was a monumental month for me at Vranygrai. I had the honour of participating in two prestigious events and, I'm proud to announce, brought home awards from both! At the Game Pitch Arena, which took place during the Anifilm Festival in Liberec (Czech Republic), I showcased Vranygrai to a panel of experts and was thrilled to receive my first trophy. Later in the month, at the esteemed Digital Dragons conference in Krakow (Poland), I was awarded the Activision Special Prize—an award for ambitious games developed by solo developers, among 226 competing projects.
The reception of these awards is both an honour and a massive boost of motivation for me. Especially the one from Digital Dragons came as a huge surprise and has filled me with gratitude and renewed vigour to push forward.
Showcasing Vranygrai at Digital Dragons
At Digital Dragons, I presented Vranygrai as part of the Czech national booth organised by the Czech Association of Game Developers. It was here that I first revealed the gameplay video of Vranygrai. Thrilled by the reception and motivated by my award, I decided to use the showcased snippet and share the gameplay publicly to give you a glimpse of how the game is progressing. Thus, I edited a part of the mission from our work-in-progress Vertical Slice into a short teaser titled 'Road to Vertical Slice.'
I would be glad if you watch the video to see firsthand the exciting developments in Vranygrai:
Development Update: Vertical Slice Progress
The journey of creating Vranygrai is in full swing. In my last update, I mentioned the Mini-VS, which I completed at the end of January. I realised, however, that the selected game section was not the most suitable for the full vertical slice, so I added an entire new mission to refine my approach.
Currently, I've implemented approximately 60% of the game systems, all within the newly added mission to test and tweak the game flow and create a visual artbar. My next steps involve enhancing enemy AI and animations, VFX for hero abilities and environments, improving overall lighting, colour grading, and postprocessing. Once all these elements are fine-tuned within this mission and its cohesive location, they will be integrated into the main world of the game, which was completed this January.
I'm excited to say that I’m on track to complete the Vertical Slice by this summer, offering around 45 minutes of gameplay.
Looking Forward: Publisher Search and Beyond
As I head towards the autumn, I anticipate completing the entire first chapter of Vranygrai, which makes up about 20% of the game world and content. This marks another significant milestone in my development.
Currently, I'm actively seeking a publisher or other financial opportunities to further develop Vranygrai—be it crafting new character models and environments or expanding the development team. While I've managed some occasional outsourcing for models, I remain the sole developer on this project only with the contribution of my writer Michaela.
Support from a publisher would significantly contribute to the growth and success of Vranygrai. Securing funding by this autumn would increase my chances of releasing the game by the end of next year.
Stay tuned for more updates, and thank you for all your support. I am seeking your feedback to create the best game possible, as it is your enthusiasm and insights that truly enrich this development journey.
Warm regards,
Ivan
Author and developer of Vranygrai
Dire Badger Studio
