Developer Letter #3

Happy Holidays, Future Kovaakians

We’re very excited to unveil eighteen of our main storyline/NPC characters today, along with a small tech showcase of our facial rig setups. These are the heroes & villains of Kovaak, the industrious survivors who’ve clung on for dear life, who’ve helped shape the world around you, and you will have interactions with while surviving & questing in the world of Kovaak. While everything you see is a work in progress and nothing is final, it’s a very good glimpse into the personality of the game & the quality we set out to accomplish with our art. Please bear in mind that everything you see is the work of 1-2 people only currently.

Facial animations & expressions are a must in a game like Flayl, with an intentional focus on comedic delivery & great storytelling. Most multiplayer games do not take the time to worry about facial animations during gameplay, especially games in the extraction genre, which is fine for most games, but Flayl is not most games, and we have a much higher expectation internally of how expressive our characters should be during gameplay. Comedic voicelines & VOIP just don’t feel the same without a goofy expression paired with it, or things like an angry face depending on character state(s). These are the small, but massively impactful things that set us aside from other studios & other games in similar genres.

There’s a lot more to come in the near future over the next few months, as we prepare for launching our Kickstarter sometime in Q1, and start to ramp up reveals for social media. We’re very excited to share more with you very soon, including a full game announcement trailer, and as always, we really appreciate the support of each & every one of you. This journey is possible because of the belief that people have put into us, and we promise you will not be disappointed.

Important Note On Game Direction

Also, an important note & some clear transparency about the direction of the game from here on out:

We know we’ve pivoted a fair bit in the last few years of working on Flayl. We originally set out to accomplish a blend of a survival game with some extraction elements. As we continued to work on the game, we kept adjusting what we didn’t like about it, what didn’t feel right, as developers should. We are happy to say (as well as a bit relieved) that the vision of the game is crystal clear to us at this point, and Flayl is an extraction MMO. What does this mean exactly?

Well…this means that we’re building a whole MMO foundation around an extraction gameplay loop. Every aspect of the game is being designed to make the game high risk/high reward, while still maintaining sane accessibility for more casual players, and maintaining that level of friction that is coveted in PVPVE extraction games. Things like professions, gathering, crafting, and re-gearing are all being designed thoughtfully, so that players aren’t spending the majority of their time doing these meaningful objectives in the world/hideout after dying in a raid. It’s very important that players are able to feel the weight of their success in every successful extraction, and that they aren’t drained economically & resource-wise after each death, to the point that they cannot afford to keep losing gear/resources. While death should be impactful, and it is being designed to be so, you will not have to scurry around like rats constantly after a streak of deaths. Finding that crucial fine line between friction, economy, and accessibility is one of our top design priority philosophies. Flayl is a game that gives you those incredible highs, while respecting your mental health with the lows, the best of both worlds for those big dopamine hits.

One more quick note while on the subject: it’s important to note that while we are being mindful about scope creep, we are also endowed with the philosophy that we set out to accomplish the vision we see fully with minimal compromises, to ensure clarity with executing our vision as we see it fully. With our plans for Flayl, it’s one of the most intricate game visions to date, utilizing cutting edge emerging technology, and it’s got one of the widest long term scopes in games…when you look at our grand plan. We understand that can be nerve-racking to interested parties & gamers alike, as we know that scope creep can be a problem too, but I was always taught growing up, that if you are going to do something with passion behind it…do it the f*** right. So here we are, staying true to our vision & ensuring that we execute it exactly how we see it. We keep on chugging towards our goals.

That being said, thanks for your time & support, happy holidays once again, and stay tuned for more information & unveils in the near future leading up to our Kickstarter.

– Gladman, Principal Gameplay Director for Flayl & Feral Games Studio COO