As 2024 comes to a close, I personally wanted to make time to celebrate the incredible work the team has accomplished this year. It’s been a journey full of creativity & collaboration resulting in a slew of content--only a small fraction of which made it into the public eye.
Development Milestones
Building off the work completed for the Steam Demo we debuted at Next Fest in February 2024, the team has implemented all core mechanics across all chapters. These include robust traversal, light combat, "memory orb" object displacement, "control points," localized time dilation, and multiple types of gravity manipulation.
And let's not forget the sledding mechanic, which provides players with a unique method for navigating vast expanses of Teddy's mind to uncover the family stories at the heart of his journey.
Narrative is still the beating heart of the project, inspiring all elements. With the entire story residing in Articy Draft, and a custom tool to bring each narrative beat to life in unique fully-interactive ways, the daunting task of integration has become more joy than pain, and our efforts can be focused on refinement of the creative details, camera angles, line revisions, voice direction, and larger narrative set pieces.
Level Design remains a major challenge, simply because of the vast size of our locations and the player freedoms we have ingrained within the Always in Mind experience. With the ability to double-jump, glide, and warp, Teddy is far less constrained than most protagonists--and that freedom is only exacerbated by the vast & surreal locations found in all corners of Teddy's mind.
International Team Culture
One of the most rewarding parts of running this studio has been cultivating a team culture that defies any limitations one might assume exist due to its digital existence. Personalities are on full display, accomplishments are consistently celebrated, challenges of all types are overcome.
With new contributors entering the fray as team members complete work or move on to tackle other opportunities, it often feels as though we operate on endless renewable energy, and benefit from talented game-loving multi-dimensional individuals whose unique cultures and backgrounds are built on the practice of kindness, diligence, and integrity.
As new areas of the game take form in more robust ways, we can collectively envision the true potential of the game. Recent updates for the latest milestone have re-ignited passion across every discipline, and as we set a higher bar, we also realize just how much further we can push it, delivering a game experience we couldn't have imagined producing years ago.
Gratitude, Always
2024 has been a year of growth, hard work, and meaningful progress. With such a strong focus on production, we admittedly de-prioritized community efforts, but that lack of public sharing doesn't mean we didn't stockpile a ton of materials that we hope will make us an exciting developer to watch in 2025.
We strive to be transparent in our challenges and accomplishments, and as story-lovers and gamers, we hope to connect with as many like-minded people as possible across the globe. We are grateful for all the kind words, critical feedback, and resumes received.
Please reach out on discord or through the website any time, and we'll be happy to engage with you, field questions, and reveal more about our team, process, and what you can expect once Always in Mind releases to the world.
There's no denying that 2024 was a challenging year for the industry at large, and our hearts go out to everyone who was affected by project cancellations, studio closures, and lay-offs. As a small studio pushing forward against all odds, we hope whatever success we can generate will be a shining light for all the talented and passionate people making games, playing games, and celebrating games in 2025 and beyond.
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