Hello everyone, time for another glimpse into Apskeppet’s charts and plans. I’ve got some big plans for this year. They’re even more than plans actually, things have been progressing very nice lately so I can with some certainty lock down a roadmap. Let’s have a look.

picoCAD 2

Let’s start with picoCAD 2! Feature-wise it is locked down and I recently added 15-20 new testers. Happy to say that while there are a few things that come up, most things seem fairly stable. Here’s a list of things to look forward to:

• Elegant low-poly modelling with no fuss

• Low-res live UV-mapping

• Built in pixel art editor for real-time texture editing

• Simple animation tools to bring everything to life

Currently closing in on ten thousand wishlists on Steam, so looking forward to the release some time in Q2.

Icy Tower

Once picoCAD 2 is out, full focus will be on Icy Tower. I’m already working on it weekly, but it will be good to be rid of all distractions.

Dreamhack was a success and it game Anders and me a good view of the expectations for the game. We spent a full day workshopping last week nailing down what we need to have in the game to be able to release it. A sort of bare minimum version. Then we have a prioritised list with additional features that we will start picking from once the foundation is in place. From a development point of view this means that I can focus on less things at the same time and also know that regardless of how many extra features we have time to add, the game will feel complete.

In other news, we also hit 15 000 wishlists! Massive milestone. ☺️ This means that we will have mostly what we need to end up on Steams lists as we close in on launch. But we also want more people to know about the game. If you have any gaming streamers and influencers you think ought to test the game, hit reply and let me know!

And speaking of launch, we’re looking at sometime early Q4. Could change, but good to have a plan.

More!

While these two are big releases that I am really looking forward to, there are also a few smaller things on the horizon.

First off, I’ve been contacted by the fine folks over at PortMaster (a games port manager for linux handhelds) to bring Ascent DX to it. I’ve gotten really good feedback the game so feels like a no brainer to spread it further. Also, I’m a sucker for pixel art on small handheld screens. ☺️

Last but not least, I’m working with some cool and prominent pico8 games developers to make a big bundle a selection of our pico8 games on Steam. Hope to spread the pico8-love even further.

That’s the update, thanks for staying on the journey with me.

All the best,
Johan