I wrote to GameinABottle and heard back from the owner/developer. That was really nice. now don't you all go flooding him with email, they need time to deliver the promised games.
He says that there is actually two versions of Gemcraft in the pipeline, the one due soon, and the one alluded to at the end of the current version of Gemcraft.
Here is a link to some screenshots and some of the new features in Gemcraft Chapter Zero.
The bad news is that I read from Peter's note that perhaps the release of Gemcraft Chapter Zro will be delayed somewhat beyond the end of January.
We decided to extend the story line backwards a bit, so the next GC will be "GemCraft chapter zero: Gem of Eternity". The sequel "chapter two: Chasing Shadows" mentioned at the end of "chapter one: The Forgotten" will come later this year.
I just put up some screenshots of GC-0, please take a look! We are working hard on it but we game deadlines so many times (and failed of course) that I don't give one anymore. It will be launched on ArmorGames.com when it's ready.
You don't have to search "Gemcraft" to see if the new game is out. When it is placed onto the site, it will be on the homepage under the new game section! Save yourself a couple seconds of your life! : )
Good news: While being reluctant to give a release date after all the delay, by now we can be certain that we are only a few weeks away from releasing GemCraft chapter zero. The game is almost complete, we need to finish or refine some content - sounds, graphics, level details - and fix a bunch of errors, balance the game as good as we can, and make some finishing touches before releasing it. GC 0 will be released on ArmorGames.com first, and it will be available on other sites after a few weeks. Sorry for both the long waiting and the gappy communication about the progress of the game, we hope you'll have a lot of fun playing GC chapter 0!
1st it was end of 2008 2nd it was end of January 09 3rd it was three weeks from 3/12/09 (which is today by the way)
Quit jerkin us around. WHEN IS THE GAME GOING TO BE RELEASED!!!!
Just cool it. Writing games is sometimes incredibly hard and when you try new stuff it doesn't always work as one thought at the beginning.
GameInABottle gets money for the game, so they have no reason to unnecessarily delay releasing the game. Also, it shows that they don't want to release a game full of glitches and bugs.
1. The basic premise for the game was already written (with the first version), so it's not like their starting from scratch.
2. Since they get money for the game, it's not a one man show sitting in a basement trying to write the next big thing. They should be able to give an accurate timeframe.
3. Just keep the public informed. Since this is such a highly anticipated game, if there is a problem just say so.
