Mage’s Initiation Update #51 – Voice Acting and Release Window

While Transolar Games’ Adventure/RPG hybrid Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is looking at a mid-April launch, another Quest for Glory-inspired project, Mage’s Initiation: Reign of the Elements, is currently on track for a Q3-Q4 2018 release, we learn in a new Kickstarter update from Himalaya Studios. So, if you’re a fan of Sierra’s games, you have plenty to look forward to this year.

A few paragraphs about the game’s development progress:

NPCs Got the Gift of the Gab

It’s most pleasing to say that we’ve FINALLY hit the major milestone of getting all of the NPC characters’ voices recorded and completely lip-synced. That equates to a total of 3,247 lines; a process that took almost one full year! With that task now squarely in the rear-view mirror, we’ve started concentrating on slaying the final beast – D’arc’s lines. At this point in time we’re still preparing his script and haven’t actually started recordings yet. However, that’s on track to commence within the next few weeks. D’arc has lines. A LOT of lines. 5,712 lines to be precise. So MANY lines that it’s taken several weeks just to organize his script document, add all the directional notes, and put everything in the right contextual order. It’s almost like proof-checking a short novel. (By comparison, a typical NPC script takes around an hour to compile and organize). Thankfully, not all of D’arc’s lines will need lip-syncing, as many of them (such as narration descriptions) will merely be thoughts in his head that don’t require his mouth to move.

It’s anticipated that D’arc’s lines will take another two to three months to record, lip-sync, and implement into the game. After that’s been sorted, we’ll need to do a few final rounds of beta testing to check that everything’s working properly, tidy up a few remaining bugs, and to catch any voice files that may have been missed or that might require retakes on account of having the wrong inflection or tone.

Aside from that, only the cutscene intermission movies still need to be finalized by having the final character voices and lip-syncing added, as well as some editing adjustments to make the timing cleaner and snappier. We’re excited to be nearing the light at the end of the tunnel – it’s approaching like a Flame Bolt to face… only less cauterizing.

Surveys Reminder

A quick reminder about rewards surveys: We sent them out to coincide with our last update (on Oct 11th, 2017), so if you missed that and you’re a backer at one of the rewards tier levels, please check your e-mail accounts/spam folders from around that date and fill the form. The form makes it very easy to update your address details if you’ve moved houses since initially filling it out.

When all’s said and done, it looks as if we’re on track for a Q3 or Q4 2018 release! We’d like to thank everyone again for your incredible patience (and sometimes eager impatience) and for bearing with us through this lengthy development cycle. You’ll have the game in your hot little hands before too long!