Live Streams

Hello all! Just like last week, we’ve got an exciting roster of live streams for this week, including a Giveaway, where a few lucky viewers are chosen and given a free Beta Key for the game! Plus, there are going to be TWO streams on Tuesday— double the Genfanad content!

Take a look at the schedule below, and make sure not to miss them!

2-Week Buddy Invite

This Wednesday, we’ll be starting up our 2-Week Buddy Invite! This will allow current players to invite up to 2 buddies to a 2 week Beta pass. You can do this using the in-built referral system on the website. Just log-in to your account and share your referral link with two friends of yours!

We track which referral code people used to sign up with, and our referral program will allow your friends access to the closed, Kickstarter-exclusive Beta! You can find your referral links through your Account Information, under the Referrals section.

Tag your posts with #Genfanad so we can see them, and afterward, we’ll carefully select two winners. One winner will be the most liked, retweeted, and viewed post— the other being the most creative! You’ll be offered a Beta Key, so go ahead and push your ideas to the limits!

So, before Wednesday hits, be sure to gather up your friends!

Team Interview!

Hi there! Who are you and what do you do on the team?

Hi, I’m JohnLee Cooper, I lead the level design team for Genfenad, which is about 5 people. The responsibilities of people on the map team involve planning the different areas in the game, in meetings and documents and sketches, and also building out the physical areas in the game

This involves making the terrain itself in 2D editing tools, building the walkable spaces and buildings in our custom editor, and then decorating the game world with premade models and other assets. A lot of it is like architecture & city planning, and then some of it is more like interior decorating. Currently I’m designing a massive spooky castle for our upcoming Kosten region.

Cool, what are your biggest inspirations?

Some of the biggest influences on my level design in Genfanad come from recent open world games, which I think have a lot to appreciate in terms of making areas feel unique with limited assets, and guiding the player intrinsically with its composition. Fromsoft games in particular have great examples of mediaeval architecture to draw from.

Taking reference from the real world is important too though, whether looking at historical buildings or just walking around and looking at things. It's cool to see the kinds of stories these little details can tell about the history of places. Give it a thought next time you’re walking around!

Hm… What makes Genfanad fun to work on?

Because of Genfenad’s retro influences and artstyle, there are a lot of self imposed aesthetic restrictions that we have to work with, and those restraints make it really satisfying to come up with unique designs for areas. A common thing we have to work around: almost everything in the game is on a grid, and building pieces can only exist at set heights and at 8 angles.

Coming up with unique and memorable building shapes can be tricky, but it’s very rewarding and inspires endless creativity from me and my team! You’d think they’d run out of ways to build a house but they keep surprising me.

So, how do you incorporate user feedback into your work?

One of my favourite things in making games is hiding little secrets around the map, rewards for players who want to peek around off the beaten path, and I love when people can find these, or theorise about them.

Hiding little things like this feels like one of the most direct ways that I can communicate with players through my designs. If you find a quiet little corner tucked away somewhere in the map that you like, send it my way! I made that place for you!

Anything you'd like to say to the players?

I hope you all enjoy the game and its world! Genfanad is the result of the continued hard work of all its developers and it’s getting better all the time.

Making an MMO with a team of this relatively small size is an incredible undertaking, and it’s thanks to the playerbase that we can keep it up! So uh yeah thanks, and have fun with it!

Reminders...

We will be having another Stress Test this Saturday! So, join us this 9/17 at 1 pm PST. There will also be a huge update to the Discord server’s store this Wednesday— so ready your Cliche Coins for some new roles, colors, and the ability to join a Beta Key giveaway!

As always, thank you for your support, and see you all next week!