CRT7 News

Hi all, Tom here!

As they say: no good deed goes unpunished – and shortly after my previous development update I sadly ended up getting a couple of pretty nasty respiratory infections that knocked me out. Long story short, I was isolating most of July and early August, so work on CRT7 had to stop for a little while for me to rest up. The good news is I'm mostly better now, and starting to get my strength back... so you know what that means, I'm back to making puzzles!


One small advantage of the pause was that it gave me a some time to think about puzzle design, in particular the puzzle I had to stop midway through making: the viridian glowing monitor that appears in one of the side rooms. I was struggling a little with the design because, while I loved the paper puzzle style inspiration, I wasn't quite sure how to make it link into the rest of the game in an interesting way. Well, as I always like overcomplicating things, I came up with a linkage I think you'll find pretty fun! I'm not going to reveal exactly what it is – that's for you to discover – but the programming work on making the puzzle is really getting there and with a little more complication to the ruleset and some more puzzles we'll have another interesting sequence to solve!

I've also made interacting with the puzzle and drawing lines way more intuitive and, as you can see below, I've linked them up into something you can navigate around. I should say, the video below is still a work in progress. Expect puzzle and audio design to change, but there still might be minor spoilers!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]


As the days are growing shorter and we slink back towards Autumn, I have a pretty clear goal for this coming month: get this puzzle sequence done and dusted. As hinted at above, there is a little more to be added to the ruleset and I'd like to give a little more visual and aural interest to it. Plus, once that's done it needs a bunch of puzzles designed for it. The nice thing about it being paper puzzle inspired, however, is that I can design them pretty much where ever I am. After that, it's back into the basement, and unlocking one of my favourite elements from the trailer. Are you ready to search for voices in the static?

As always, if you want keep up to date with development, help out a (mostly) solo dev, or just be told when the game released please add CRT7 to your wishlist. It is a massive help and really keeps makers and creators going through the long dark winter of development!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096780/CRT7

Stay well and see you all soon!

-Amicable Animal

Hi all, Tom here!

So it finally happened - I finally got some actual proper time to work on the next section of CRT7 and I don't mind telling you it was flipping awesome to get back to it! Motivated by the huge increase of wishlists the game received during the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase, I got a lot done! Let's talk about it a little, shall we?


The first important part is that the next Staff Door code sequence has been (mostly) completed! Players can find all the information they need around the room, solve a new type of puzzle, and open the impossible door again. There are two entirely new books (available in both printed and handwritten style) to pour through, and more devices to interact with. Which reminds me:

The design of CRT7 is one where the room you are in slowly unlocks, with more devices, surprises, and interactions between everything becoming apparent as you play. I think that's awesome in puzzle games... but it is also a tricky balancing act. Give people free reign immediately and people get lost (trust me, I tested it!) Leave it too late and people struggle when more freedom eventually arrives. Part of this month's work was figuring out how to introduce these interconnections effectively and I've setting on something I'm quite happy with. This stage I've been working on is more open and interconnected than the demo, but still somewhat fenced in to keep people pointed in broadly the right direction. Still, if you're looking for puzzles that trust you to pay attention, combine, and transform information I think you'll be quite happy.

Plus, a new Staff Door code means another subroom needs to be made. This one is rather green...




The above is obviously a work in progress, but I'm a big fan of the retro green CRT + art deco style that has emerged, particularly on an octagon grid. The lighting is reactive again too, so it really can light up a room! If you've played paper puzzles before you might have an inkling of the direction this is going, but I hope it will have a few interesting twists even for the expert paper puzzler. The basic rules are decided, and puzzles are solvable within its own rule set. Perhaps most importantly, the code is in so the game can tell when the solution is valid as well. There are a few more rules I'd like to add, and this month I'm going to design the specific puzzles to solve, and then move onto the final two Staff Door codes where the gloves definitely come off and some really fun surprises live.

Want to keep up to date with development, help out a (mostly) solo dev, or just be told when the game released? Well, a wishlist is a massive help and as you've seen really motivates me to make more puzzles for you all!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2096780/CRT7/

Take care and see you all soon!

-Amicable Animal

Hi all, Tom here!

This has been a bit of an odd month, thanks to being in the Puzzle Showcase, so let's debrief...



First off, a special hello to all the new wishlisters joining us! The Cerebral Puzzle Showcase was excellent for CRT7 this year, and there is over 1,200 new people here to explore the dark. If you didn't know, I'm Tom and I'm the solo (ish) developing the game in my spare time.

You also might have seen that The Escape Roomer gave CRT7 a lovely little preview as well: “I really, really enjoyed playing CRT7 and cannot wait for it’s full release. It’s part escape room, part detective game, part procedural music game and part Y2K retro goodness.”

As you might imagine, preparing for the showcase took up much of the month as I was polishing and fixing up the demo to get it ready! It did, however, act as a really good test of the the new systems, like the rebinding and hotspots - they seemed to work mostly well! Also, seeing a few more people streaming it has highlighted a few areas I would still like to tweak in the early game.

If you've not tried the demo yet, it's not going away in the next month or two, so I hope you get a chance to enjoy it!





So what's next? Well, I want to spend the next couple of months sorting out the next few large puzzle sequences. The demo allows you to find two door codes, but the later ones are going to be more involved to find... and it's time to get them sorted! In the next couple of weeks I'm going to figure out the order the next puzzles are revealed to players. This sounds easy, but with so many moving parts it can often have hidden complexity and needs a bunch of testing. I've already gotten started though tweaking some of the visuals, and working out what to do next.

So! Step one is for me to go and unlock the rest of the room. Step two, well step two is the fun part... it's time to bring more devices back to life...

- Amicable Animal

Hi all, Tom here!

It is once again Cerebral Puzzle Showcase time, and the new CRT7 Demo is officially OUT NOW! If you see Demo 0.18c or greater on the entry door or credits menu, you've got the updated version! Be aware it will reset your demo save file, however.

This demo update comes with a bunch of improvements from the initial launch, some entirely new:

1. NEW: You can rebind the mouse clicks (and hotspot button)!
   
2. NEW: You can show possible in game hotspots/places you can click with TAB
   
3. NEW: The text message interface is massively improved
   
4. NEW: Change the size of the cursor if you struggle to see it, or it is too big for you
   
5. NEW: Extra/improved settings menus in the phone, including the ability to save whenever you want
   
6. NEW: Improved intro and outro for the game!
   
7. NEW: Improved subtitling system that remains in sync better when the game in out of focus
   
8. NEW: Improved intro and outro behaviour that's hopefully a bit more immersive!
   
9. A mysterious secret if you complete the demo
   
10. Option to change the look of the books from hand-written to printed!
    
11. Improved high score menu!
    
12. Tweaked and improved hints
    
13. General bug fixes all over!
    

If you've not tried the demo before now is an excellent time to rectify that, as this update has tons of improvements! As always, dropping a wishlish is hugely helpful as well as I'm working on this mostly by myself in my spare time and I'd love to get to the next wishlist milestone 🧡

Oh, and before I go, I should let you know that SOLAS 128 is also having it's deepest ever sale too, at 70% off! So if you're yet to pick that up, now is a great time too:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1257850/SOLAS_128/#game_area_purchase

As always thanks for all the support, and I hope you enjoy the puzzling!

- Amicable Animal

Hi all, Tom here!

A little extra post today to let you know that CRT7 (and SOLAS 128) will be back in the Cerebral Puzzle Showcase this year, happening from May 23rd to May 30th!

CRT7 needs more development time before I can reveal all its secrets, but I've worked hard to make an updated demo for the event! It will launch at 9am BST on the 23rd! If you see Demo 0.18 on the entry door or credits menu, you've got the updated version.

This update focuses on improving quality of life issues, accessibility, and the intro and outro of the demo so it's a great time to try if you haven't already. It premieres the all new hotspot highlighting system, improved in game menus and text message interface, input rebinding, cursor resizing and more! Be aware that it will reset your progress if you've played before, however.



I really hope you enjoy it and consider dropping a wishlist so you can be notified about updates and when the full game releases!


- Amicable Animal