Update #9: A closer look at the game music - Stretch Goal #1 reached!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 24, 2019 at 08:48:49 AM

Hi guys, another great campaign week has passed and we are now entering in the final 5 days of this incredible month. Let's see what's new.

STRETCH GOAL #1 REACHED!

 Woooh! We already reached the first stretch goal of our campaign, the "Extended Soundtrack"! And our musician Carlos Leal Valladares wants to talk about you about his creative process. 

Hello, everyone!

I’m Carlos Leal  and I’m the musician and composer who’s working on The Hand of Glory!

A few words about my work

Making soundtracks is my favorite job, it opens my mind and free my creative ability, therefore composing each track was great fun! The soundtrack for The Hand of Glory is entirely original, the result of the inspiration generated by the storyline of the videogame. 

How do I compose?  

I can start composing in many ways: sometimes songs arise just from a melody; others are pure rhythmic motives. In The Hand of Glory, I found my inspiration thanks to the pictures and the whole aesthetic of the game, and from the mysterious and adventurous atmosphere of the scenes. Being precise in finding the perfect sound for a scene takes a long time and requires hours of deep concentration. Along the game, you will find all kind of ambient sounds that goes along with the actions of Lazarus. A big challenge, but I’m confident about the result! 

Let's talk about technique! 

In my creative work I mix my musical experience with the use of technology, so that the result is always original, a combination of artisan work and innovation. I use a midi keyboard to play the melodies and accompaniments. Only in one of the tracks - a brawl scene - there is a standard classic guitar.

The rest of them are virtual instruments! I do not like using loop libraries. I prefer to create my own rhythms and melodies to fit perfectly the images and synchronize the cinematic scenes. 

There is no specific order in my way of creating the tracks. Sometimes the melody comes first, followed by the different layers that support it. Other times I develop the sound environment and the textures and I leave the lead instrument for the end. I’ll leave you with an example of my work: since you can already find the main theme of the game in the Kickstarter page, here’s the theme song for Alice! 

Carlos

250 BACKERS!

You're starting to become a lot! Thanks to your support, we are now at the remarkable result of 250 backers! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

NEXT...

Now things are getting interesting. We REALLY want to hit the next stretch goal and send Alice to Rome... so help us reaching the 750€ we need by spreading word around on the social networks or through your friends. Alice awaits you :)

To the next update!

Update #7: WE DID IT! 100% FUNDED!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 24, 2019 at 01:13:10 AM

WOOOOH! We did it! Thanks to you, amazing people, we just reached our basic goal of 8.000€ in only 19 days! Time for celebration, am I right Lars and Alice?

We're really over the moon and can't wait to show you all our commitment to create the best possible game. And we certainly won't stop promoting the campaign, since we REALLY care to reach our stretch goals, which you can find below!

Thanks again and we will update you again tomorrow with interesting news! 

Update #6: Genesis of a video (plus some other exciting news!)
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jul 19, 2019 at 03:58:18 AM

Hey guys, we are super-happy today because we just reached 200 backers and the 90% of our funding goal!  To celebrate, we have a few updates for you!

Mac/Linux and German version confirmed!

Our community has spoken and we listened! We did our tests and we can now confirm that we will be able to support Mac and Linux in the game! 

Plus, we passed the threshold of the 50 German language backers in the campaign, so German texts are confirmed as well!

Making of a video

And now for something more technical: this time around we thought about giving you an insight on the development process, specifically about the making of a video.

We will lead you through the various stages of the creation, from scratch to the final version. We will do so by analysing our credits video.

Phase # 1 – The Idea

As with everything else, the production of a video starts with a basic idea. You need to ask yourself what you want to achieve, what messages you want to convey to your audience or, like in this case, how you can give information to the player without boring him to death!

Designing a good credits video is not an easy task, because people tend to ignore it or even skip it. That is why we needed a cool idea, something that could attract the audience and make the video as engaging as possible.

We came up with something that was both pleasant and useful. Basically, we wanted to show Lars waking up and getting ready, with the credits appearing on screen matching the actions Lars was performing. This way, not only we would be able to fix the attention to the credits, but we would also have a chance to introduce Lars to the player.

Phase # 2 – Pre-production

Once the idea is defined, it is time to design the video itself. This phase is crucial for the following steps, because it will give you a clear idea of what to do and how to do it. You could think you are wasting too much time designing, but that is a common mistake: a good planning will save you a lot of work, later on.

Usually you start the pre-production of a video with a storyboard, which is a series of simple drawings accompanied by the texts and some indications about the direction of the scene. I personally love this step, because I can draw freely and invent strange shots (and funny expressions for Lars).

Phase # 3 – Production

Let’s admit it: pre-production is great, but production is a different story.

This is where magic happens: you create all the assets, the backgrounds, the animations. What was just a thought starts taking shape, and you are able to fully understand if your idea can actually work or if you need to think about it again.

In our case, we were convinced by this shot:

Phase # 4 – Post-production

The final step is about refining. You add sound effects, music and voice-overs if needed. Then you check the rhythm of the video, the pauses and all the tiny adjustments of the case.

This may sound like child’s play, but it can take a lot of time!

The Final Result

And here we are with a finished and polished version of the video (except for the credits themselves, those will be added later on)!

We hope you enjoy it, let us know what you think about it in the comments section!

To the next update!

Update #8: New pledge!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 05:42:42 PM

Hi, guys! As you probably know by now, yesterday we reached our basic goal! We’re super happy about it, but we STILL want to reach those stretch goals, so...

NEW PLEDGE ALERT!

...we decided to create a new limited pledge just for the occasion! It’s called… (drum roll) NEWSWORTHY! Here’s what this is all about: The Hand of Glory will be divided in days, and every morning Lars will find a newspaper in front of his door.   

The player will be able to read it and find out news about what’s happening in the city, some curiosities and… YOU!
 

Yes, you have the chance to become part of The Hand of Glory with a newspaper article dedicated to you! 

You will be portrayed by our artists and you will write with us* a small article talking about yourself, your passion or whatever you want! Here’s the details! 

At this point you may be asking yourself: what if I already backed the game and I want this pledge?   The answer is simple: you can have it as an add-on! Just add 25 € to your pledge and off you go!  

 
Please note that this pledge is different from “Part of the cast”! In that case you will receive a professional modelsheet, we will create a new character with your appearance and that character will talk with Lars as well (by the way, we only have 2 spots left, so hurry!)

*We reserve the right to NOT accept content of dubious racist or sexist nature.  

OTHER PROJECTS

There are many great adventure projects who needs a bit of attention out there and which we think you shouldn't miss! Let's take a look at them...

MADIEVALS  

Available on Steam in Early Access - https://store.steampowered.com/app/916240/Madievals/ 

Immerse yourself in the comedy and grotesque atmospheres of Madievals!
 A completely 3D point&click adventure like you haven’t seen for a long time, perfect for the whole family!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq01yWD9hm4 

THEROPODS

Currently on Kickstarter ( https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/theropods/theropods-an-adventure-game-full-of-dinosaurs)

Theropods is a point and click adventure game that combines puzzles with a cinematic story, colourful characters and a retro aesthetic. Oh, and lots of dinosaurs!

TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KxHrPepGHU 

To the next update!

Update #5: 80% funded
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 06:25:54 AM

Hey guys, we reached another great milestone today! Now we are 80% funded and we're steadily reaching the 200 backers! That's really fantastic!

What's more important and that we're closer and closer to our goal: just 1500€ to go with 20 days left! Let's hope to reach our target as soon as possible, so we can start looking at the stretch goals in details!

Plus, by popular demand, we added another reward: "Part of the Cast 2"; since the first 5 spots in the game went sold out almost immediately, we decided to give the chance to be featured in the game to other 5 of you! These are the last 5, though, so hurry up! Here's an example of the 'treatment' you will receive in the game (and also the artwork will be sent to you, of course)! 

To the next update!