So the semester is over, and I've turned back to working on Prism. After a quick look through our resources, it became apparent that while we had some cohesive style between our site, wiki, forum, and indiedb, there was a big difference in some areas.

I took the opportunity of being revved up from the end of classes to patch up our various locations on the web. The forum has received a total reskin from scratch which is much more in line with our existing styles. I've also done some tweaking to the website so that it's a little more pleasant to look at. You might notice these changes here and there as you browse.

Additionally, the indiedb page received a minor revamp as well! You'll now see more of the game information on the front page, and it looks a little prettier too!

I apologize this isn't really what most of you want to hear, I imagine. You'd rather see updates and cool things yeah? Well I promise to have something cool in the next update.

Thank you all who follow our RSS! But keep in mind the bulk of the chatter goes on in the forum. If you're interested in more than occasional updates, don't be shy, join us!

-endie
 
We've decided to take a new modularized approach to getting an alpha off the ground. We've already started to build up our collection of assets, so now is the time for us to put that to use. Our plan is to finish a town, Nilneas, as a complete stand alone releasable with all basic features. 

For more info, see the dev lists page, and the collaboration thread on the forums: http://prismonline.forumotion.com/t123-nilneas

-indie
 
As you can tell, we have been working on revamping the map and world of Prism. Below is the newest edition of our world-map created by indie.

We have just launched a new contest, The Great Prism Envirorama.
Details can be found on the forums. We're hoping for a lot of entries. Find full contest details on the forum!

-TheGood
6/20/2012 
 
So, the year is calming down a bit for us while summer takes its heated toll on us. For the past few weeks, we've been working really hard to get the project "programming ready". This means that we're finalizing all the systems, working out any foreseeable kinks, and that sort of thing so we can start getting a working prototype in place. This is an ongoing process and we're getting pretty close to a point where we're happy. Part of this is getting our GDD up and running. Rather than make a huge document that's tedious to navigate and edit and stuff, we've decided to make a wiki. You can visit it at  http://prismonline.wikia.com . Please refrain from editing pages, or creating new ones for the time being unless you've been approved, but feel free to talk about our pages on the wiki itself, or on the forum. We welcome feedback!

For now, you probably won't see a lot of graphical progress like there has been in the past while we work out kinks in the various systems that have to go into the early builds of the game, but I'll still be working on game art when I can.

All that said, we are starting the hunt for a lead programmer. For our lead programmer, we would like to have someone who is as dedicated to this project as the rest of the core crew. Any sort of experience is a plus as MMO programming is no small task. We have a professional, industry, database designer who you would be able to work with, but they don't specialize in game programming so that's where our lead programmer comes in. 

We are also looking for auxiliary programmers, and specialized programmers. So if you'd rather not take on the task of directing the whole operation but you'd like to help out, we'd love to have you on board.

And of course, we are always looking for artists and engine specialists. For anyone interested in joining us, please let us know via the forums, or IRC chat (though be aware of timezones and that not everyone will be available). Happy gaming!

-indie
 
So a few of you have expressed that our progress is slow, or that it looks like Prism has died. Au contraire! This is far from the truth. Yes, progress is slow, but we are in no way dead. What the issue has been is team size. Right now, our team is incredibly small, and while a few people taking some time off for school or other real life things wouldn't show in a large team, with our small team, a few people taking time off means that there are just that many fewer people working on the game.

But there's some good news! There's been some good concepting in this period of time: we've created more monsters, we've developed our world, and we've worked on systems vital to gameplay. Only a small bit of the world concepting has been posted to "The World" under The Game. We wouldn't want to spoil the surprise of your own exploration!

So what can you do to help us? Well we're always looking for artists. A lot of art goes into developing a game of this magnitude, and we only have a fraction of it done. Whether you're a concept artist, a modeler, animator, texture artist, or just a doodler, come show us your ideas in the forum! Regardless of your skill level, we're looking for input from everyone! We want to make this a game that everyone in the community wants to play, and has helped shape. We also need programmers. We'd prefer if you're reasonably experienced, but don't let that deter you from talking to us! You may be exactly what we're looking for. We are also casually looking for writers. We will be looking for a handful of on staff writers, but anyone can contribute a plot point, a quest line, or an NPC idea, just head on over to the forum! Last but not least, we need people to do sound. What's a great environment without great environment effects?

Anyway, we'd love to expand our team so tell us what you're good at!
 
So I've begun building Vertisa! So far, we have the arena (like a gym in pokemon), the science center (where the player receives their first monster and their game intro), and some shopping places. But I'm stuck on misc buildings. I KNOW you all want a preview, so here's where Vertisa is at so far (I warn you, it's gruesome!):
Hey, I can see my house from here!

Hahaha, so we can all have a laugh at indie's expense since this is my working copy. Ignore the fact that the world ends.

So yeah, we're looking for some artists to help out! Our biggest need right now is texture artists. We'll need someone that can do realistic textures on these buildings. Keep in mind that the style is cyberpunk/retro futuristic/??? So neon colors, metal, (there are places made specifically for hologram adverts) and other things with bells and whistles are a big must. Someone that can unwrap to UV themselves is also a huge plus.

We also need modelers. We don't have a specific style, but obviously, it has to work with what we currently have. Since I work at a pretty casual pace myself, I don't expect you to have all the time in the world; however, I do ask that you keep me updated! A nice casual 2 hours a week is all I'm asking.

For those of you tracking us and thinking we've fallen off the face of the earth, fear not! We're back in the swing at school (it only took 2 months!) and ready to attack new tasks head on. This isn't to say that suddenly we're vacant of university responsibilities, but there's a bit of a lull, so you can expect to see a few updates here and there!

-indie

 
Ok, so this is just a brief update to let everyone who has been following our project know that there is will be a period of slow updates. The reason for this is because TheGood and I are returning to university this week, so we'll be getting situated and settled in. During this time, we'll still be producing content, but we'll be quite busy with other stuff as well, so the speed of updates won't be the same as previously. 

Hopefully, this is only temporary and lasts for only a few weeks or so at which time we'll be back in our groove and outputting again! 

-indie
 
Ok, so some basic info about the game can be found around the site. BUT, if you want an indepth perspective, check out the *drumroll* NEW GDD! :D It's located in the downloads section of the site and contains everything from plot to gameplay information. So you should check it out. If you have questions about the game, I'm going to assume you read the GDD, but feel free to ask questions and join the forum and hang out.

On another note, this site and the forum will be your quickest access to information. We'll continue to update the indieDB page we have, but as you may know, anything submitted there has to be approved by their staff so updates take a little longer to process. If you're interested in staying up to date with news posts like this one, or gallery additions, subscribe to our RSS feed on the right. 

I hope you guys are as excited about the new Prism as we are, because I'm personally stoked! See you all around.

-indie
 
As you can tell, we have reworked the game and its plot. It is entirely original, and represents a large amount of work by a small team of people.
We're always looking for developers of all kinds, so if you're interested in helping out, drop by our forum.
-TheGood
 
Ok, so by now I'm sure you all have seen the news post in the forum and on the indiedb. So you know, do not fear. We are not discontinuing this project by any means. It IS however, going through a major overhaul. More information will of course come available as we see fit, and will be posted here, first! 

If you've become interested in this project then stay interested! We hope to be back very shortly with a lot of new stuff to show you including new models, new design and new features. So check back often :3

-indie

Prism Online