Playing Barrow Hill 2 -> question about Brackentor

Hi all, so we are currently playing Barrow Hill: The Dark Path which is pretty good. Not an A game,
but still a very good game, we are enjoying it a lot. By sheer luck, I stumbled upon the game Brackentor which is listed
to be still in development here on GB. Do we know more about it? Is there a specific targeted release date set or something?

Update: I realized that there are trailers on youtube and they are 10 years old...

Matt the developer of Bracken Tor is still keeping it alive but there are setbacks. Matt is Jonathan Boakes (Darkling Room aka Dark Fall and Lost Crown Developer) husband and he has had a series of health setbacks this year and was helping him get the Crown series released before his own games. His health has delayed things but Jonathan has been working on getting Lamanna released shortly.

Thanks for the info, Ana. Sorry to hear about Jonathan's health problems. Good that he has Matt by his side.

Just to clarify, it is Matt who has been having the health problems.

Ah, ok . I thought it was the other way around and that was the reason why Matt helped Jonathan with Crown series. Got it now.

They both help each other with their games. The studios are very intertwined. Both have their own specialties.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear Mike. And to further explain, Jonathan has always written and developed the Darkling Room games, but Matt has always been the programmer. They have collaborated since the beginning. Matt's health put a little damper on progression of the Darkling Room games but Jonathan has been using a new engine and learning to program it himself and hence the creation of Lammana that will be coming out soon. It will be his first solo project by doing it all himself.

That is interesting. Based on what I read on the internet, I always assumed that Matt and Jonathan only met after Matt had already finished Barrow Hill I and Jonathan had already finished Dark Fall I , then fell in love and then started to team up regarding adventure games. Seems I was wrong. So Matt really already participated in the development of Dark Fall I?

I tried to get an overview today what games they already published and which are still in development. It is overwhelming. In total, I found eight
games that are in development. That is a LOT. I am not surprised they cannot keep any announced release date. They can do whatever they want of course, it is their life and if for some reason their work ethic is like that because that is how they enjoy working the most,, than so be it. I'd just wish they would listen to someone and at least consider the idea about working more sequentially (I actually was surprised that suddenly Lammana is the next game planned to be released, because until recently, it was Silent Night). I don't know whether it is true, but my scrum master recently told me that context-switching lessens productivity 40%. I am not a fan of such hard rules, but I can tell from my own experience as a developer that you loose lots of time when you have to switch back and forth between different development topics.

Anyway, I am happy that Brackentor has not been cancelled as I like both Barrow Hill games very much and it would be cool to play one more
similar game sometime.

Mike, given that the DF Games came out in 2002 and 2004, that is a possibility. I didn't know them till 2004 (actually a bit after) but they have been a couple since I've known them.
I'll ask him when I get off work.

Jonathan enjoys rewriting the story, hence the multiple games in process. After he writes one, Matt would program the "finished writing" and that left Jonathan free to continue his creative writing on the following games. Also, the games being released are self published, and the ones being held up have a publisher. Publishers always slow things up! As much as I would love to play them all, I am getting older by the day after all, they have never asked for a dime in advance so I never understood the attacks (and yes, they are attacks) on social media in particular and forums. They are his "baby" per se and unless he's happy with them, he should reserve the right to change as he sees fit. He is a perfectionist.
Don't forget, being indie developers they also held/hold outside jobs as well.

Ana, I agree that some of the comments on social media are out of line and are actual attacks. That is not ok. However, i think it is ok to give critical feedback (as long as it is phrased in a respectful manner) about them announcing release dates and then not keeping those dates. It is totally understandable that this can happen to everyone, especially to indie developers,so I would never say anything if that happens once or twice. But with them it really happens over and over and over again. And I can understand that fans get frustrated about that. This does not change the fact that I think they are really fantastic game designers and that we can be lucky to have then (actually, when I think about it, they are my third favorite indie game developers right after Knut and Simon) and it is totally their own decision how long they want to work on a game, they don't owe us anything..Maybe it just would be easier for both, them and the fans, if no release dates would be announced at all in the future.

Well said mike_bn! My sentiments exactly!

Thanks, oldbroad