A new epic journey around the world, Roots in the Sky is the sequel to the acclaimed point & click adventure The Hand of Glory!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Update #17: Italian Section Complete and Desert Adventures Await!
about 2 months ago
– Mon, Aug 19, 2024 at 08:59:25 AM
Hello, dear backers!
Whether you're on vacation, have already been, or are still planning to go, we wanted to keep you company this scorching summer with a themed update!
Let’s dive into what we’ve been up to these past few months and what’s coming next.
Italy's section: it's-a-done!
Let’s start from the beginning. In the spring, Stefano focused on writing the final texts for the first part of the game, set in Rome. It’s a rich and complex section, full of places to explore and suspects to interrogate, but he managed to get it done (and celebrated for a full three minutes before getting back to work)!
The texts are currently under review. Starting in September, we will begin localization into English, followed by voice acting.
Beach or mountain? Nah, desert!
Finishing the Italian section allowed us to shift our full attention to the more adventurous part of the game—traveling! We decided to start with Alice to take a break from Lars’s jovial antics. Our young and promising detective will be dealing with an intriguing excavation in the desert, where a mysterious idol has recently been discovered. Here’s a sneak peek just for you!
One of the things we enjoy most about development is creating characters, both psychologically and visually. We’ll discuss the psychological aspect in a future update, but for now, we want to show you some of the characters Alice will interact with.
And of course, there are animations, which, as you know, are one of our passions. Enjoy this cute camel with its jaw always in action!
Estimated Release
Many of you have asked if we’ve set a tentative release date for the game, and unfortunately, we can’t provide a precise answer just yet. Please keep in mind that Roots in the Sky is developed by just three people, who also need to work to make a living.
We’re currently aiming for a release in Q1 2025, but don’t take it as a definite date. We’re doing our best, and believe us, we’re just as eager to let you try out our creation!
That’s all for this update. We hope you enjoyed the new material! Again, happy summer to everyone!
Viva l'avventura!
UPDATE # 16: Revamping and Enhancing
5 months ago
– Thu, May 30, 2024 at 04:20:14 AM
Everyone, welcome to another update loaded with stories, colors, and adventure! June is at the door, which means almost half of this 2024 has already passed. Did it bear fruits? And were they good and fresh like cherries? Let's find out!
Warning to our “Part of the Cast” backers
Ah, we on the team love the “Part of the Cast”. If you don’t know what we’re talking about, we’re referring to those backers who will appear in Roots in the Sky as secondary characters. In the first game, we had a blast integrating real people into our fictional narrative, and we take pride in the fact that each of those characters was an important piece. Lars or Alice HAD to interact with them to progress, one way or another.
In Roots in the Sky, it won’t be different, and we are starting these days to contact you to define your role. We will come to you with ideas and proposals, some really interesting and others downright CRAZY. Check your emails, dear friends, it’s going to be fun!
Stylin' and profilin', UUUUHHH!*
In our previous update, we presented the restyling work we have been doing lately. Well, the work continues and continues greatly. We have redesigned some key characters, who now flaunt a significantly better look compared to their original versions. Say hello to the new Malcolm!
And here are some secondary characters, directly in their refreshed and perfected version!
But the restyling is not limited to the characters. Always trying to stay within budget limits, we are enhancing some scenarios of the part set in Rome by redesigning them from scratch and filling them with animations, particle effects, shaders, and everything we can think of. From this point of view, the first scenario we wanted to elevate to greater glory is precisely that of the water clock, the place where it all begins.
This new version is larger, richer in details, and we think it better conveys the idea of the majesty of Villa Borghese.
Shout-out to Sleepytime Village
As often happens, we want to close this update by pointing out an interesting project currently on Kickstarter. We are referring to Sleepytime Village, a new work from the authors of The Mystery of Woolley Mountain. Play as a workaholic who finds himself catapulted into a world that looks like a children’s storybook, meet the crazy characters that inhabit it... and find a way to escape!
There are three days left on the Kickstarter, so act fast if you’re interested!
And that’s all for today! We'll catch up in the next update, where we will try to provide you with a plausible ESTIMATE of the game's release date!
Viva l'avventura!
*And yeah, that was a reference to the Nature Boy Ric Flair for all our American friends reading this update.
UPDATE # 15: A huge surprise for you all!
7 months ago
– Thu, Apr 04, 2024 at 08:00:01 AM
Hey there, adventurous souls! Here we are with another jam-packed update just for you. This one's a whopper, so be sure to give it a good read! Let's dive right in from the top.
What is the “Enhanced Edition”?
During our Kickstarter campaign, we had a series of what we think were brilliant Stretch Goals for all of you. One of these was the production of an Enhanced Edition of the game, with extra music, animations, and cinematics. Unfortunately, we came really close to unlocking it, but fell short, so we won't do it, right?
WRONG!
Since the goal was only about 200 € away from being unlocked, we decided to go ahead with it anyway. This update is about SOME of the changes we're making to the game because of that particular Stretch Goal.
New Key Art
As you can imagine, marketing plays a huge role in the success of a video game, so one of our priorities was to enhance the key art (and consequently the cover) of the game. For this makeover, we focused on several aspects:
Achieving a more realistic visual representation of the characters, particularly Lars.
Positioning Alice to face the screen to increase her recognition factor. Additionally, we reverted to her original look, as we believe her iconic hairstyle is integral to her character (though we removed her front tuft!).
Initially, we didn't have a clear vision of how the villain should appear on the cover. While we had drafts and ideas, nothing was finalized. That's why the original cover only showed his outline. Now that we have a clearer vision, we decided to fully reveal him on the cover because he's just too cool to leave out.
Here you can see the result of these tweaks and changes.
And here's the final result.
The “Lars problem” and how we solved it
At a certain stage in The Hand of Glory's development, we noticed a significant contrast between our older characters and the new ones, especially when comparing Lars and Alice.
The issue with Lars arose because we were already deeply into the development process, with numerous animations completed, making it impractical to make significant changes to his character. Consequently, we faced ongoing challenges in seamlessly integrating him with newer characters in the same scenes.
When we began working on Roots in the Sky, we initially aimed to slightly refine Lars' body proportions without deviating too much from the original game's design.
However, as we progressed and created new characters and scenes, it became evident that the quality of our work surpassed our initial expectations. This once again highlighted the disparity between Lars' cartoonish appearance and the more refined aesthetics of the newer assets. Ultimately, after an internal discussion, we decided to prioritize the overall quality of the game over consistency with the first installment. As a result, we made the bold decision to completely redesign Lars from scratch, aiming to elevate the game to new levels of epicness!
While we're confident that the final result is significantly improved compared to the original, we believe Lars remains perfectly recognizable, with his key features preserved. Now, he can stand toe-to-toe with his 'partner in crime'!
That's all for this update! We hope it was a pleasant surprise for you, and that you can see the effort we're putting into making this game the best it can be. We'll leave you with one last image showcasing Lars' secondary outfit (Alice's will come later)!
Until next time, and as always...
Viva l'avventura!
Once Upon a Time in India
8 months ago
– Mon, Mar 04, 2024 at 08:56:54 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
The end of a year, the beginning of a new one
10 months ago
– Sun, Dec 31, 2023 at 05:43:55 AM
Hello dear friends and backers! For those of you who celebrate it, we hope you had a brilliant time during this Christmas! For everybody else, we just hope you had a brilliant time nonetheless!
First off, a quick service announcement for our executive producer backers: you should have received an email with an invitation to a private Discord server. If you haven't, please write to us and let us know!
Let's dive into the final update of this year, shall we?
PAST: “It was a very good year”
That's the way Sinatra would sing it, and that's how we feel about 2023!
First of all, as you know, we wrapped up our second Kickstarter campaign. You might think we were prepared for it, but the truth is: you're never quite ready for something like this. That's mainly because we're not just here to sell games; we're here because we love making them. We're genuinely passionate, and we care deeply about what we create. This personal connection makes a crowdfunding campaign a unique and special experience.
Fortunately, you were there for us, and the campaign was a tremendous success! We've doubled the results of our first Kickstarter, sending a strong and powerful signal about the most important thing: we're a growing, healthy community!
PRESENT: Getting ready for a real adventure!
So, at what stage of development are we?
The first half of the game is nearly complete; it only lacks a few scenes and requires some extensive polishing (which is the final step). Over the past few months, we've been diligently working on the second half, which is also the more adventurous part. We've successfully coded the section in the desert, and we're currently gearing up for the India segment, which promises to be fantastic! Here's an exclusive sneak peek for all of you!
Please bear in mind that this is NOT the final version of the scene; it's just the basic design featuring line art and a rough indication of the colours.
A Work in Progress set in India!
FUTURE: mystery and intrigue everywhere we look!
Guys, have you realized what an exciting year 2024 is shaping up to be? Tons of new adventures are just around the corner. But it's more than that: not only are we getting a Reforged version of the first Broken Sword and a brand new chapter, Parzival's Stone, but also many upcoming games are inspired by Broken Sword! Could we ask for anything more?
We thought you might appreciate a little recap of the titles we think you should check out. Enjoy!
Foolish Mortals (by Inklingwood Studios)
Imagine if Broken Sword and Monkey Island had a child: their name would be Foolish Mortals! Over 70 gorgeous hand-drawn locations, high quality animation and more than 30 fully voiced characters to interact with are just some of the features the game promises!
The Adventures of Bryan Scott (by Radio Silence Studio)
To be honest, this is scheduled for 2025, but we thought you might want to add it to your wishlist anyway!
Embark on an investigation into the ancient mystery surrounding the legendary treasure of Queen Saba while keeping an eye on a secret society known as 'The Black Fist'.
Broken Sword – The Shadow of the Templars: Reforged & Broken Sword – Parzival's Stone (by Revolution Software)
No need for an introduction here: the legend is back, and it's back TWICE!
Come on, don't tell us you haven't already added both games to your wishlist!
Shadows on the Vatican – Act 3: Sloth (by Daring Touch and US!)
Daring Touch is finally bringing back the Shadows on the Vatican series, and we're proud to be helping them do so!
James Murphy and Silvia are back, and this time they'll face a bigger challenge than ever before. It's a more ambitious project, as revealed by the new graphics, and one we can't wait for you to play!
As you can imagine, we'd really appreciate it if you could add it to your wishlist!
And that's a wrap. You'll hear from us again very soon, as we've already planned an update dedicated to our brilliant heroine, Alice Sharp!
In the meantime, we want to take this opportunity to wish you all a fantastic new year! Have fun with the people you want to be with, eat a lot (you can think about potential diets in January), and play all those games that keep watching you from your collection!
