Laura Bow 3 (was Laura Bow and the Mechanical Codex)

[notbobsmith]

Yes, this is unfortunate. They were negotiating pretty tricky waters to begin with: small developer, making use of an IP they don't have a license to. The recent industry upheaval certainly isn't helping. I do wish them the best.

[Tawmis]

Yes, this is unfortunate. They were negotiating pretty tricky waters to begin with: small developer, making use of an IP they don't have a license to. The recent industry upheaval certainly isn't helping. I do wish them the best.

Agreed. I think the current market is the biggest issue. Because the IP they could easily make their own and call it something else and change character names.

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

I hope they are able to restart negotiations. Let’s be realistic here: Laura Bow has her fans, but she’s not exactly the most commercially valuable or widely remembered IP out there. And from what I’ve seen of this game, it certainly won’t damage her legacy. If anything, it’ll take a dormant property and potentially make it viable again.

[Tawmis]

I hope they are able to restart negotiations. Let’s be realistic here: Laura Bow has her fans, but she’s not exactly the most commercially valuable or widely remembered IP out there. And from what I’ve seen of this game, it certainly won’t damage her legacy. If anything, it’ll take a dormant property and potentially make it viable again.

Agreed. And hoping that's how it's seen.

[Tawmis]

Aaaaand, we're back

It feels like it was a short month! But I think we were a bit late with the last newsletter... so that probably didn't help, heh. Anyhow, we're back with another one, and ready to fill you in on the latest happening here at NineZyme and abroad!
The Chopping Block

As predicted, February was another very difficult month for the game industry as a whole. Thousands of more jobs were cut, just in these past 4 weeks alone - the biggest one being Sony studios, at a loss of over 900 developers.

We saw cuts at Airship Syndicate, Crop Circle Games, Visual Concepts, Activision Ireland (a continuation from January), Hidden Path, Toys for Bob, Blackbird Interactive, Scopely, Daybreak, ZA/UM, Build A Rocket Boy, Gameloft, Electronic Arts, Saltsea Chronicles, Supermassive, PlayStation London, Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Deck Nine Games, Cloud Imperium, Wildlife Studios, Radical Forge, Frogsong Studios, 505 Games, and probably many more that I'm forgetting.

Just to be clear, this is JUST from February (and not a fully comprehensive list)! Many of those include cancelled projects and/or entire studios that were just fully shutdown. Some of the people who were let go are considered some of the best-of-the-best in the industry. So it's certainly a crazy time out there.
Laura Bow 3

Despite the state of things in the industry... we believe that this month is the month to start planting some seeds again. We're not planning anything major just yet. But we'll peek through some doors, slide some notes around, give a little wink wink and nudge nudge to some folks, and generally just make sure that some bridges of communication are open and stable.

So, basically, we'll put some feelers out and see what we get back. I can promise that it won't amount to anything concrete anytime soon... however, we want to make sure that our years of hard work on our Laura Bow project is at the forefront when things finally start to turn more positive again.

Otherwise, we'll still be mostly stalled on the project for now... although we may have some free cycles to start working on it again toward the end of March (see the next section).
A Puzzle By Any Other Name

Most of our development attention has been on a much smaller, casual puzzle game that we decided to take on. We think that it's coming along great so far! It really turned from such a simple little idea, into a delightful little experience, in a very short amount of time.

Our goal is to be art complete on this game by the end of March. Then a couple of people will continue to finish up the remaining animations and puzzles for a couple of more months. The plan is to release an initial batch of puzzles in April, and then release another "chapter" every 2-4 weeks until we get the complete set. Any remaining team members with free time will get back to working on Laura Bow, or help out with marketing, or any other tasks that need doing.

Anyway, we're excited to show off this game in the near future! We haven't prepared any marketing materials yet, so today is not that day. But soon we'll announce it in various places around the internet (including here). So look out for it! And know that any support you give to it will directly contribute to helping our Laura Bow project get completed.

Thanks for all of your support thus far!

[Rath Darkblade]

Well, I'm glad to know NineZyme isn't throwing in the towel ... and continuing to open doors, building bridges, and wink-wink-nudge-nudge at people.

It's too bad that Laura Bow 3 is on hold. It was showing such great promise. But right now, that's up to Microsoft ............. grr. Come on Microsoft, get your butt into gear!

OK, sure, me saying that won't make them do it, of course. I'm just waiting and hoping.

[Tawmis]

Not A Fool In Sight

Hey everyone... we're back for another monthly newsletter! As you may have noticed, we opted to skip the April 1st madness this time. Frankly, we were just too busy to try to come up with something fun this year, ha.

However, if you have any favorite pranks from yesterday... let us know which ones you thought were funny, or others which you actually fell for - even if just for a split second!

Industry Updates

We have mentioned it quite a lot this year already... so we won't harp on it too much more. But just a quick mention that March was still quite difficult for the game industry as a whole. There were at least 5 more small studios which just completely shut down - some of whom even had very positive press recently. And layoffs and reorganizations continue at many larger companies. The big one this month was Sega abandoning some of its subsidiaries.

There was also the Game Development Conference (GDC) this past month. During the event, a group of developers gathered in protest of the exorbitant amount of layoffs recently. We imagine that there will likely be more gatherings like this coming up in the near future.
The Life Of An Adventurer

March wasn't too productive for our Laura Bow project, unfortunately... however, this was mostly expected. With GDC keeping the most critical people busy, and the corresponding industry woes, it was tough to make any real progress on business related goals right now.

That being said, we do have one avenue at the moment which is looking promising so far! It's too early to say for certain, but I think we'll at least manage to get back to the point where we were with Activision before the major exodus occurred (except now with Microsoft), and restart some official discussions about our project. We don't expect to see much progress on this for at LEAST another 2-3 months, however. Things are moving in slow motion at the moment. However, there is still hope on the horizon there - so we're going to continue pursuing it!

Once we know more, we'll let you know!

In The Meantime - A Reveal!

Since we're in a holding pattern with Laura Bow, we will continue working on our upcoming little story driven puzzle game - which is turning out to be not so little after all, haha! Figures.

Unfortunately our main developer was sick for basically the entirety of March, so things were a little slower than we would have liked. But overall, the team has made some great progress on it! We are basically at an Art Complete / Alpha stage at the moment... and we're moving into a phase where it'll just be Animation, Audio, and Puzzle development. However, there is still a fair amount of work to be done - and it will now just be 2 of us working away on that, until the game is done.

The plan is still to get about 50% of the game completed... submit the game on iOS and Android, and then continue releasing more chapters/puzzles on a periodic basis until we have them all done. After that, we'll tackle getting it onto more platforms (Steam, GOG, Xbox, Playstation, Switch, etc).

The team has been starting to put together some marketing materials to help promote the game. We've got some fun and silly marketing ideas coming up - which fit well with the tone of the game. You'll be seeing some of those in the near future. But today, we'd like to share one of the posters that we worked on! You are the very first to see this outside of our team, so we hope that you find it appealing! Please send us a message and let us know what you think.

Next month, we'll describe a bit more about the game, and show off some screenshots too... so look forward to that!

[Rath Darkblade]

ARR! Pirates are always welcome. I wonder what this game might be about. I'm guessing it could be a "hunt the right tile to find ye olde treasure" kind of game?

Also, most pirates didn't dress like that - only the rich ones - and if in the Caribbean, which this seems to be set in, then only in the winter months. Would YOU go around in multiple layers in a Caribbean spring or summer? There you go. But obviously I'm digressing.

Too bad that Laura Bow is stalled. Hopefully it can get un-stalled sooner rather than later.

[Tawmis]

More Sierra Adventures

In April, we started knocking on a few more doors regarding our Laura Bow project. So far, things are going well enough... but, as expected, fairly slowly.

We did manage to strike up a thread with Phil Spencer (Head of Gaming, at Microsoft/Xbox, just one down from the very top of the Microsoft org chart). His interest was peaked enough where he has started to involve some other people in the conversation as well. That's a good sign so far - but there is a long way to go. It is still very early in the talks - but we feel like in May/June, we should hopefully be able to get back to where we were with Activision before the big reshuffling back in December/January. With any luck, maybe even further!

Anyway, as always... Once we know more, we'll let you know!
The Tales Of A Silly Pirate

As we mentioned last time... during our break in development on Laura Bow, we have started working on a very unique and brand new story based puzzle game, Tile Tales: Pirates!

We're doing this is an effort to help stabilize the company financially, by making something smaller that we can get out to gamers worldwide on a faster timeline. But smaller and faster doesn't mean that it's going to be a low quality game by any means! We're actually super proud with how it is turning out - and what we've managed to accomplish in such a short time. It's silly, entertaining, addicting, and some good quality puzzling - with a fun sense of discovery.

Last month, we teased a promotional shot using the game art. This month, we're going to show you the very first actual screenshots of the game. You all are the first to see them!

From this, you can gather what style of puzzles we're going for. However, don't be fooled, there is actually a lot more discovery and interactions than what is obvious here. We'll be working on a promotional video in the upcoming month or two, and that will make things a bit more clear.

But, for now, take a look at what we're doing... and let us know what you think!

[Tawmis]

The Mysterious Lost Newsletter

Ahoy everyone! It's time for another newsletter... nearly lost to the ages. We've been busy here at NineZyme, and quite nearly forgot to take the time out to say hello. But never fear... here we are. So, er... "Hello!"

We'll keep it short this month though. So let's just jump right into the state of things with a couple of project status updates.
Laura Bow vs Activision (Still)

We're still in the process of getting back to where we were, with the negotiations regarding Laura Bow licensing. Things are going very slowly, so not much progress was made in May - hopefully June and July will tell a different tale.

It appears that there is some kind of "gentlemen's agreement" between Microsoft and Activision regarding the Sierra back catalog. It sounds like the powers-that-be at Activision still are the decision makers regarding what happens with everything. We feel like if it were exclusively up to Phil Spencer, or others at Microsoft/Xbox, then we'd be making more progress. But with Activision still in some sort of power position - it's going to take a LOT of convincing and/or some big favors.

Anyway, we've been discussing more ideas for paths forward with various other people, including Ken Williams... and if things don't progress within the next few months, we will perhaps begin to pursue some of those.

Stay tuned for more information!

Tiles, Tales, Pirates... Oh My!

Meanwhile, we've been making some really nice progress on Tile Tales: Pirates, and we're very much looking forward to getting it into your hands over the next 2-5 months (depending on your preferred gaming platform).

We won't harp on it too much, since most people here are more interested in Laura Bow news. But hey, here's another new screenshot anyway... just for kicks.

Let us know what ya think!

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

That’s disappointing news. It sounds like Microsoft is a lot more amenable than Activision. Why they’re being so pig-headed I cannot fathom. Hence why I’ll never be a “suit”.

[Rath Darkblade]

I agree, SHP ... although, I'm not sure if Activision's inactivity is due to pig-headedness or simply fear of doing anything constructive (because legal complications can be made to become incredibly impenetrable and last forever).

**** MANY, MANY APOLOGIES FOR THE UPCOMING (HOPEFULLY AMUSING ANYWAY) DIGRESSION ****

It could also be a quote-unquote "administrative error". These are quite common in bureaucratic circles. You pick up the phone and call them, and some bored clueless twentysomething will tell you in a bored clueless tone-of-voice, "I'm sorry, we seem to have lost and/or mislaid your file" or "I don't have access to that file" or "You've reached the wrong department" or similar bullshirt.

It's well known that the worst trouble can be had if you're trying to get past the receptionist and talk to someone with actual decision-wielding power. The receptionist can even be one of those Dilbert-esque Power Trippers who seem to delight in small evils and not letting anyone see the boss, even if they have an appointment. These are known as "Unreceptive Receptionists".

And for people like that, I have some ideas for Creative Comeuppance(TM).

- Bring along a newspaper to read while you wait, and rustle the pages at the receptionist.
- Bring along some mints and crunch them at the receptionist, especially while he/she is on the phone.
- Bring along some candy wrapped in cellophane paper, and crush/rustle the cellophane between your fingers in an absent-minded way.
- Tap your fingers on your knee while whistling a tuneless tune between your teeth.
- If you're a man and have a moustache, use wax on the tips, and twirl them while staring at the ceiling in a thoughtful way.

If the receptionist gets annoyed, act innocent. "Who, me? I hadn't noticed, honest." And if the receptionist still won't let you in ... that's when you bring out the big guns: A picnic basket.

Set it up in the waiting area. Bring a whole selection of tracklements: chutneys, whole-seed mustard, chilli jam, a pickled onion or two. Unpack your ham sandwich and spread on your tracklements liberally. Crunch into your pickled onion and chew noisily, staring at the receptionist the whole time. Ignore any protest. Offer to share your tracklements with anyone else who may be waiting. Or even with the receptionist. Be generous. Remember, sharing is caring.

Why not? If you end up waiting for hours, you may as well have fun while you're doing it.

Enjoy turning your creativity to the Pursuit Of Pure Evil(TM). (But please resist the urge to mwa-ha-ha. We here at the League of Pure Evil(C) do not advertise).

That’s disappointing news. It sounds like Microsoft is a lot more amenable than Activision. Why they’re being so pig-headed I cannot fathom. Hence why I’ll never be a “suit”.

SHP, you probably don't want to be a suit. All you'd do all day is hang around ... on a hanger. YEAH!

(... and I can't believe I just recreated the "put on sunglasses, tell a lame joke, grin with a "YEAH". *shrug* It's been a long week, and I'm too tired to think of anything better. Sorry)

[Tawmis]

To be fair, Microsoft just got everything... They're probably still settling things on their end.
Acquisitions usually result in consulting everything into various teams, and laying off the excess.
And we're only getting the side of the story from the folks doing the game.

[Semi-Happy Partygoer]

To be fair, Microsoft just got everything... They're probably still settling things on their end.
Acquisitions usually result in consulting everything into various teams, and laying off the excess.
And we're only getting the side of the story from the folks doing the game.

True. They’d only know what they’ve been told so far.

[Tawmis]

... And The Livin' Is Easy

That's right, it's summertime (for us northern hemisphere folk anyway) and we're back for another monthly update... sorta. We're actually sitting on a beach right now, sipping some kind of fruity cocktail, most likely - and this letter is being sent to you from the past (only a couple of days) via the magic of internet time delays! We are currently on our mid-year break, and will be back in mid-July to continue making progress on our NineZyme projects.

Anyway, let's jump into some updates!
Laura Bow Progress! (Really)

The time has finally come for a bit of good news regarding our Laura Bow project! Things started a bit slow, but through some good old dedication, persistence, connections, and recommendations... we've finally made a bit of progress in our development relationship with Microsoft. Phil Spencer is an extremely busy guy, as you can imagine... so he has handed us off to several other people who will be able to help us kick off some legitimate negotiations about our project.

We've got our first official pitch meeting with Microsoft in mid July, just after we're back from break. So, by the end of the month, with any luck, we will be potentially further ahead in an official capacity than we were back in the days of negotiating with Activision.

Anyway, we'll have more information in our next newsletter!
Yo Ho Ho, And A Bottle Of Rum!

In other worlds... Tile Tales: Pirates is progressing very well! Unfortunately, due to some government/political issues, we were forced to say goodbye to our recently hired team member to work on this project. So we're back down to just two of us working away again.

At this point, I don't think we'll attempt to hire anyone new again... because the last time sorta burned us. We spent a solid 6 weeks ramping up a new hire, just to have to let her go rather quickly - which means we lost a lot of that time and resources. So that's not good.

Luckily, we have made some new tools which are making our lives significantly easier to set up new puzzles! So we've actually done some really nice work lately, and are making reasonable progress still. I think we'll even port these tools over to the Laura Bow project, because they would be very useful there too!

Anyway, we just started working on a new area this past week. Here is a little preview of it. Let us know what you think!

Oh! And we also have a Steam page up and running for the project! It's still being worked on, but you can go ahead and wishlist the game, and follow the progress there, if you'd like. Because... we would like (for you to follow, that is). Every wishlist/follow helps those magical algorithms work in our favor!