I'm not quite sure why the snowman was there. But I thought I had better get a photo of it.

People may also be vaguely interested to know that the project has now assumed its proper name of "Ægis Quest". A quick visit to the site may yield a little more information regarding this change, the progress of the pilot and our (awesome) new logo.

The pilot filming was a great success, and highly enjoyable. Almost everything has fallen neatly in to place, despite a failed crossover attempt with "The Weakest Link".

We're now in the process of compiling and keying all the footage, and assembling some other sequences. Hopefully, it won't be long before we have something to show you.

In the mean time, here's a sneak peek at one of our characters....

Cheers!

[Missing phpBB attachment: IMG_0721.jpg]

I will edit the original and list the changes, here.

Sounds cool. When is it taking place?

(Saturday) 29th of August 2009. We will be starting early and going on until fairly late.

That's only one DAY...?

Correct. We're producing a one-off pilot as a means of testing things out. We don't anticipate the finished product being very long. On top of this, keep in mind that we're looking at something like a 9-10 hour day.

Where will it take place?

Central London. A venue has already been booked and paid for.

Will I have to pay anything?

You will incur all the costs associated with getting to the venue, feeding yourself and (if necessary) sleeping. Obviously these costs will depend on your circumstances. Despite the higher-than-expected cost of venue hire, we have decided not to ask people to make a contribution to the hire cost. That said, if anyone wants to give us some money....

Is there a deadline for wanting to take part?

There is a 'soft' deadline of July 10th. We will plan our schedule based on offers we receive before that date. If you miss the deadline, we may not be able to make use of you, but try us anyway!

I missed the deadline and REALLY want to take part!

We aren't setting out to deliberately exclude anyone, but we need to start planning things. Send us an email asap and we'll see what we can do.

Get in touch with me via e-mail or MSN if you can. I am willing to help you out if you need it. I have a history with creative writing and am currently a freelance writer, i think this could make an interesting project to cover - and of course, I can help you out creatively also.

Wayne

the_raven_effect@hotmail.co.uk

Personally, I'm desperate to get a large group of extra volunteers and get started on planning series 1. But I know that won't happen without a proof of concept and I want to ensure that things actually work correctly - hence the pilot.

Further to that, if anyone has any suggestions for series 1, I'm eager to here them. I know I put out a request for puzzles a while back, but just to reiterate, I'm always on the lookout for more

Can't Wait

Questions...

Sounds cool. When is it taking place?

(Saturday) 29th of August 2009. We will be starting early and going on until fairly late.

That's only one DAY...?

Correct. We're producing a one-off pilot as a means of testing things out. We don't anticipate the finished product being very long. On top of this, keep in mind that we're looking at something like a 9-10 hour day.

What IS the pilot?

The pilot will act as a proof of concept, technical rehearsal and introduction to the project. It will also provide some backstory for the game.

huh?

We've created a mini-dungeon which incorporates all the different the technical challenges we will face. We will test out our filming procedure by running the mini dungeon as if it were a full production. If all goes well, we'll have a single mini-episode to demonstrate. The mini-episode also tells some bits of the story and sets the scene, so to speak.

Think of it like a rehearsal.

What if things go wrong?

Just to be clear, things WILL go wrong. If everything works first time, the filming should take no more than an hour. Hence, we anticipate that nothing will work at first and that the setup will take forever. We've also given ourselves the opportunity to run through the process several times and play with things to find the best way of running it.

Where will it take place?

Central London. A venue has already been booked and paid for.

Will I have to pay anything?

You will incur all the costs associated with getting to the venue, feeding yourself and (if necessary) sleeping. Obviously these costs will depend on your circumstances. Despite the higher-than-expected cost of venue hire, we have decided not to ask people to make a contribution to the hire cost. That said, if anyone wants to give us some money....

How many volunteers are you looking for?

Probably a maximum of 5, which would bring our production team total to 10. But see the next point.

Can I be in the pilot?

Before this question is answered, let's reiterate:

The pilot is tiny. It will result in a 5-10 minute 'episode'. There are very few opportunities for being IN the pilot, and any chance you do get will not give you much screen time.

That said:

1. We need ONE male actor for an NPC for the pilot.

2. There might be a couple of opportunities for cameos in the pilot. These will probably be faceless (i.e. taken from the back)

3. This will be a perfect opportunity to pick up a role for our series 1 production which will have many more roles available in it.

Okay, I understand that there are few acting opportunities. But what about helping out? Can I volunteer to help out?

Yes! We will quite probably have lots of different jobs going on to try and put things together and get them as good as possible.

On top of that, we'd value anyone with technical kit, a possible filming venue, or stage management or directing experience. We may also have sets to build, costumes and props to deal with and obviously, we need people to play.

But....I want to be more involved!

Sorry. But we're just trying to create a very simple pilot here. Speak to us and see about getting a part for series 1.

If you really need people to play, why limit the numbers?

There's a limit to how many times we can go through the same dungeon before we're just going through the motions. On top of that, we may be limited for space.

Me me me me me me me! I want in!

Please note your interest by sending me an email (you have to be logged in to the forum for that link to work).

Tell us your experience, what you'd like to do, what expertise you have, what you might be able to offer and what your favourite colour of smartie is.

Then what?

Once we have a venue decided and if we can use your help (and if your favourite colour of smartie is sensible), then we'll ask you to make a firm commitment to taking part.

What if I'm not chosen?

Then we're really really sorry, but we just can't use everyone this time around. It's just not feasible. Remember that we're only constructing a pilot and this in no way excludes your participation when we get around to the proper filming for series 1.

But what if I want to play a role in series 1?

Even if every one of our volunteers wants an acting role for series 1 and even if we want to use ALL of them, there will still be roles remaining. Therefore, you'll still be given an opportunity for an acting role in series 1.

Is there a deadline for wanting to take part?

There is a 'soft' deadline of July 10th. We will plan our schedule based on offers we receive before that date. If you miss the deadline, we may not be able to make use of you, but try us anyway!

I missed the deadline and REALLY want to take part!

We aren't setting out to deliberately exclude anyone, but we need to start planning things. Send us an email asap and we'll see what we can do.

I have questions which you failed to answer

Ask and ye shall be answered.

You're so cool

Thanks. Though I suspect that's not a common question (or even a statement).

Edit (01/07/09): Venue location and filming times have been refined. A deadline for offers has been added.

thanks muchly

Lots of hidden things have been happening behind the scenes, and we've made a small update on the KMV website (http://kmv.partreal.net)

Hopefully we should be able to show you a small video soon

Enjoy!

However, it might take some time for your ISP to refresh the data. So I imagine it'll be offline for up to a few hours.

Thanks for reporting that!

Will it be back up soon?

This time, featuring a new screenshot of something that should be familiar to all of you

http://kmv.partreal.net/

I'm about to start producing a simple playable prototype for KMV of about three rooms. To accomplish this, I need a concept for three different rooms - of different difficulty, to test the expressiveness of the engine as well as discover any bugs in the room building/playing process.

I thought I would offer this opportunity to anyone who might like to see a puzzle of their creation rather than outright create them myself

What I need:

A simple text description of the room and how the puzzle/challenge works. Feel free to include diagrams where appropriate.

Some key points:

1. Please don't submit excessively complex rooms. The rooms are all 3D and much as we'd love to, we simply don't have the time to create (eg.) a colossal 3D gargoyle (or even a small one). By all means, if you can provide a model and texture for anything complex, feel free to include it!

2a) Don't make puzzles too hard.

It's boring to watch people lose all the time

2b) Puzzles may have a random element - but if they do, they must not be lethal.

It's reasonable to give the players a basic combination lock without a combination and give them a time limit. But only if entering the wrong combination repeatedly doesn't kill them.

3. We don't (yet) have any NPCs

So no wall monsters, goblins, walking skeletons, etc.

Unless you want to provide the models/textures of course!

4. No sounds

The client doesn't support sound.

5. Please indicate if the group is assumed to have found some piece of knowledge before entering a room. For example, a causeway assumes that the group has found a combination (causeways are lethal if you get them wrong, so cannot have any random element to them).

So, if after all that you still have an idea - I'd love to hear it. Feel free to contact me privately. Either via the forum or via the KMV contact page

http://kmv.partreal.net/component/option,com_contact/task,view/contact_id,1/Itemid,35/

Finally, if anyone is interested in providing a link to the KMV website. A selection of banners and corresponding HTML code for them can be found here:

http://kmv.partreal.net/content/view/34/38/

Cheeeeerssss!

Including, thanks to Forester, a screenshot of our new area under construction.

Enjoy!