Above you can see a glimpse into our world at the moment as we balance all of the elements in our eco-system. There have been some big developments since my return from GDC. We’ve decided to focus Chapter One exclusively on the Amazon Rainforest as we feel tying it into a locality will give each chapter a heightened sense of identity, while structuring the factual core that inspires / informs our choices for flora and fauna.

So it’s been a week of research for me, locking down the species, learning about their habits, diet, and various species variations, ensuring that all the t’s are crossed and i’s dotted from a factual perspective. This process has brought up a lot of cool new ideas as well, which we’ve added to the pile while iterating through the core loop of the game to make sure those daily activities of exploring, pollinating, and tending to your grove are fun and rewarding. Soon we’ll be testing that loop with persistence and user accounts linked to Facebook, which is very exciting indeed.

We also have some very exciting news in the form of a complete overhaul for the central grove area which will put a whole new level of control in the hands of our players, allowing them to create their own truely personalised part of the rainforest. More on that next time

Links that kicked ass this week:

Jane McGonigal convinces the TED conference that games will save the world

Dude slices a baseball in half with a Samurai sword

Spike Jonze tells a robot love story

Bill Murray bar tending at SXSW