N++ @ E3 2014

06 Jun / by: M&R / 25 comments / tags :

You may have noticed that Sony posted this today over on the Playstation Blog: https://blog.us.playstation.com/2014/06/05/playstation-at-e3-2014-livestream-details-booth-game-list/

Yes, we can finally announce that N++ will be playable at E3! There are a few more surprises with respect to that that we’re really excited about, but we’re not sure we can talk about them yet — we will definitely post some pictures next week. Stay tuned!

E3 is sure to be a swirling cacophony of over-the-top excess, but there will some interesting games and loads of interesting people, so we’re looking forward to it. We’re going to try to spend some time playing games at the Indiecade booth and there are a few other games we’re looking forward to hearing more about.

We’ll be showing N++ among 70+ other stellar games at the Sony booth, and more generally among hundreds at the expo. Although it’s likely N++ will get lost among the bigger, flashier titles, we’re hoping that lots of people will come and play N++, and that it stays with them longer than the sound and fury of E3! The experience we’re trying to build with N++ is one that compels players to try just one more time — hopefully that stickiness will come in handy at a show like this one.

Development on N++ is going really well right now — we’re excited about just about every aspect, and are getting impatient about it not being done yet! So our job right now is to tie up the loose ends and make sure we’re excited about every single thing. Right now we’re finishing up the graphics, dance animations, UI and general look and feel, and are finalizing the sound, and then it’s on to the editor, highscores and level sharing. We have a lot to do on the various game modes, but we should be thoroughly testing that in the next few weeks. There’s a fair amount left to do, and a ton left to polish, but we’re definitely getting close to the finish line, and that feels great. Hopefully we’ll have more news and a more concrete look at the release date for you soon. Until then, keep an eye on our tumblr for some behind-the-scenes details: https://metanetsoftware.tumblr.com/ and follow our twitter account for press and news updates: @metanetsoftware

comments ( 25 )

  • Hi there,

    please let me save after EACH level …

    I’m a big fan of N+ and played it up to level 249 on Xbox.
    Can’t wait for the PS4-Version, but one thing I’m afraid of:

    The save-mechanics. On the 360 I only could save after a set of 5 Level, what is no problem for the first 100 Level or so, but later on, it’s a pain. And I never finished the last Level because I had to do the previous 4 again and again.

    ok, would be happy to read from you

    bye
    zoetl

  • N++ will have a “resume” feature so you can stop playing in mid-episode and continue from where you left off.

  • I wish there was a closed beta version so that it could be tested to make it an even more perfect game 🙂

    @M&R Please take a look at Eddy and my comments on the previous blog post, thanks

  • @Johan: we’re looking into a closed beta. It may not be possible for us on PS4, but we’re trying to see if that can happen. And, we did check out your comments and are discussing them with the N team — we may not post that we do it, but we read and consider every comment!

  • Hi Guys, really excited for N++ im a huge fan of N+

    Any idea of when it is likely to be released?

  • @John: thanks! 🙂

    We don’t know when it’s likely to be released; definitely not until after the summer at the soonest, but sadly it might be longer than that because most of the level-sharing stuff (including the database/server stuff, as well as all the UI for interacting with it in-game) is still in development.

    We’re hoping it will be out before the end of 2014!

    Thanks for your patience… we doing our best to make sure it’s worth the wait 🙂

  • are you kidding me? Not until AFTER summer and longer than that?! WHAT?! I was expecting July! Been waiting for this game too long..Summer is the driest season for video games. This would have been a perfect game for summer release. You telling me I have to go back to 1001 spikes again?! That game is killing me!!!

  • @Rez Exactly my thoughts

    @M&R Alright, a Beta would be amazing! I would love to help shape this game.
    If you need volunteers for any work you need done, say so 🙂

  • @Rez: we would have really liked to be done by the summer, but since this is the very last version of N we will ever be making, we thought it was important to not rush things or cut stuff in order to get it done. Unfortunately it’s taking forever 🙁

    (1001 Spikes is amazing! I think we may be stuck forever in Antarctica though, those levels are *hard*)

    @Johan1996: we’re in the process of figuring out what our options are for beta; we definitely need to test all the online/database stuff so hopefully there will be a solution for that.

  • Wish you guys were a money hungry company. Maybe then we would see this on other platforms. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but I’m still so sad you guys decided to release the final N game exclusively on a platform you have never released on before. Such a kick in the teeth to your fans on 360 and PC.

    Should have gone down the same path as Trials fusion. They released on their former platforms AND ventured out into new ones (PS4). I’m sure you wont be surprised to hear which platform they sold the most on… That’s right.. Xbox… because that’s where their fans originated from.

  • Apologies for my childish impatience. I just love the series a lot. It looks REALLY good too. Incredibly crisp from the videos I’ve seen. Can’t wait to play this game in co-op mode!

  • @Hairy: the problem isn’t a lack of money hunger. We’re just two people, and have an incredibly limited budget — much of which is extrinsic to us, coming from the Canadian government and, and this is the reason we’re starting out on PS4, from Sony. Sony made it clear that they really wanted this game, and ponied up some cash to help us get N++ off the ground, and that’s a huge part of why we’re able to do this at all.

    We’ve gushed a number of times about how much we love our fans on PC and 360, and we definitely want to find a way for them to play N++ if they don’t have a PS4. We really really hope N++ does well on PS4, because if so, we should be able to port it to some other platform. Which platform depends on a lot of things, but it is our goal to get N++ in the hands of as many people as possible. We’re going to try our best to do that.

    One thing you should know though, is that some things are not always possible. Microsoft has told us that they don’t want N++ since it’s coming out on PS4 first. They might be swayed by passionate customers, or by impressive sales numbers, but we don’t know for sure — we’re going to keep talking to them, but they still might say no.

    In any case, you can help us by spreading the word about N++! The more people that buy it on PS4, the better our chances to bring it to other platforms.

    @Rez: we understand — we’re pretty impatient about it too! Thanks 🙂

  • @Rez Yeah, the wait is killing me. For some reason, when I started reading about this game coming out for PS4 last year, I assumed it was a launch window game. I’ve been waiting ever since PS4’s launch to buy it.

    I keep throwing money at the screen but it won’t take it!

  • @EvilTrovis: it was supposed to be a launch game!!

    However, there have been many twists during the course of the development, such as our programmer having his first child, having to find a replacement graphic designer after our initial choice wasted several months of our time, and also a huge increase in scope (initially it was going to be very similar to N+, however once we got going we realized we could do something a bit more ambitious).

    It’s also driving us crazy that the game isn’t done yet! Especially since the store has been mostly empty for the past year, and there are a huge number of great games that will be out by the time we ship… it’s hard not to feel like we missed a huge opportunity.

    However, we wanted to make absolutely certain that this was the best possible thing we could make, which meant taking our time and doing it right rather than rushing things to make some sales deadline. We hope this is the right decision in the long run! At least we can be sure it’ll be a great game.

  • Really looking forward to this game as well, it’s one of the reasons I’ll be getting a PS4 (I’m very picky with games)…

    If time and money is an issue, have you thought about some type of donations page? or kickstarter? or anything to raise more money?

    I’m sure if word got out, you’d get a lot of positive feedback. Personally I wouldn’t mind donating $100 myself (To me it’s kind of like playing $100 to play a game months before it’s supposed to come out)…

    Anyway, you guys rock best of luck

  • @Matt: thanks for the suggestion!

    I think we’d prefer to avoid the kickstarter, simply because it’s a lot of time and effort to run a successful one, and at this point that time would be better spent just finishing the game. (Unless you were suggesting that as a solution for getting ports to other platforms, in which case it’s definitely something we’re keeping in mind, but we’re hoping it doesn’t come to that).

    The real problem is simply that we want to do everything ourselves, to make sure it’s the way we want it. With N+ we delegated a lot of the work (eg there was a designer who designed all of the menus, Nick the programmer designed a lot of stuff too such as the new entities, the editor, etc.) and this time — since it’s the last chance we have to get things right — we want to take the time to make sure it’s all exactly how we’d like it.

    Unfortunately, one thing we didn’t fully appreciate going into this is how difficult it is to be in charge of absolutely everything, all at the same time — since stuff like localization, sound, etc. needs to be started ahead of time, it means that there are always several simultaneous tasks in the air and it’s quite a bit more stressful than we anticipated. However, we’re definitely over the hump at this point.

    Anyway, thanks very much for your support, it means a lot.

  • That makes sense, understood! Thanks for replying too, nice seeing how active you guys are with the community… Day 1 purchase here among me and some friends, really looking forward to the finished product and enjoyed the new GIF you guys did a couple days ago looks like a blast!

  • @Matt Great to see that there are more people really excited for this! =D
    Here, have a look at these interviews if you haven’t yet:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwuP7aTRS6U
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LVNTcDlsng

    Also, I made this remake of level 20-2 of Nv1.4 in photoshop:
    http://oi58.tinypic.com/201253r.jpg
    It’s not great but I think it looks funny

  • @Johan1996: Cool!! That mockup looks really nice 🙂

  • I’m a huge fan of N and N+, but am still disappointed N+ never made it to PC. Will N++ be PS4 exclusive or will it get a proper PC port?

  • @JiggleBill: Thanks! In hindsight we really regret not making a Steam version of N+; sadly, at the time we were quite burnt out on it and also had no money to pay the developer, so it didn’t happen 🙁

    At this point we’re just trying to get the game done for PS4! Once it’s out and we can relax a bit I suspect we’ll be looking into other platforms to see what makes sense — that is, if we can afford it! Hopefully sales on PS4 won’t totally suck 🙂

  • Hello

    First of all, thank you for a great game. I used to play alot of N v1.4, which i used (too) much time on 🙂

    As i got a ps4 on the release day, i was exited when i found out that N++ was in the making.

    Now im checkin in here on this page at least 3-4 times every week. But it have been nearly 2 months since last update, i really hope you soon have something more for us. Just a minor official update would be amazing, cant wait for this game! 🙂

  • @nimoke: thanks!

    There should be a new blog post up this week, sorry to keep you in suspense — we’ve been hard at work and haven’t had much time for blogging lately 🙂

    Are you following us on twitter (@metanetsoftware) and tumblr (http://metanetsoftware.tumblr.com/)? We’ve been posting a little there too. Might help between blog posts!

  • Cant wait but how much will it cost(australian$) and how much storage does it take up?

  • We don’t know yet. If you check our latest post, you can see we’re not quite done yet: http://www.metanetsoftware.com/2015/the-time-is-almost-nigh

    When the game is ready to go through cert, we’ll probably have answers to both your questions.

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