Friday update day! Guns! Lots of guns! Well, not that many. We decided that tossing out all our placeholders was the way to go, so remember the stuff from the videos? Gone. The week was spent drawing out a weapon's list, complete with matrices that describe which gun parts will work with which frames, including weapon parts that can be changed out with others (Example: AK47 barrel/magazine replacing parts on an m16, or a thompson .45acp drum magazine in a Stery Aug). Then work was set to work getting out a modest spread of pistols. Many of these have high variety of weapon specific modification, like extended barrels and magazines, and then you have things like silencers, red dots, rails, and buttstocks that can be placed on an array of them. in the 3x3 picture we have, top left to bottom right; Desert Eagle, Glock19, fictional .460 rowland magnum modeled after an oversized 1911 (because it's cool, shhh), FN FiveSeven, H&K Mk23, Browning HP, PPK, Ots-33, and the 1911a1. 

Also a move date has been set; Krinkels will be in Philly on dec 3rd, from when work will start getting FAR more coordinated.

Evening, folks.  
Welcome to my city mockup, a work in progress that is, believe it or not, wrapping up right now.  The 3d part of this hasn't taken nearly as long as it has to have drawn up (and thrown out) copious amounts of building and structure placement planning artwork/charts.  If you've been curious about what I've been grinding on til I redline the proverbial engine, it's this.  The worst part of it is that thi sis just going to serve as a mockup that swain and I will be refining further and further as we progress through each subsector of the game (see all dem walls?)  But if we pushed through it like I do my cartoons the whole thing would be a disjointed mess, and while that works for the animation, it does not feed this beast proporly.  Over time these little buildings and horizonless universe will develop and change, I just gotta be more on it when it comes up keeping you guys informed, admittedly. 

No, we didn't skip the country with the dosh.  Long story short the cash from Kickstarter took a little while longer than we expected to hit so Swain and I had to fight off the bills with a little side work (that delicious starving artist lifestyle).  At present Swain is feverishly cobbling up an editor for me to use to actualize the mountain of maps and concept art that I've been banging out.  Having never planned something of this scale, this step of development has been a learning experience, as well as a hell of a lot of fun, I won't lie.  

What's next?
We keep working.  Somewhere in the next 3-5 weeks I'll be in philly, working under the same roof with Swain on this which with severely accelerate development.  You can only get so much of an idea across in text or over Skype.  The giant gnarly stack of conceptart, maps, notes, characters, ect all will be transforming into a game over the months, and it's going to be pretty rad.

Pic related, a whole bunch of really ugly broadstrokes world map art:

 

Dat madness day: http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/madnessday2014

At any rate, I'm sure you've been keeping up with the Project Nexus 2 facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/projectnexus2

As well as the Project Nexus 2 development forum:
http://projectnexus2.com/Forum/

But if you haven't (for shame) I'll give you the long story in a short version;  dispite the fact that there wasa a handful of bogus pledges, we're on track to get the budget we need to make this happen.  By mid-late October I will be in philly working side by side with swain to actualize this project, and frankly, I couldn't be happier.  Thank you EVERYONE who chipped in to make this development possible.  You've saved swain and I from menial freelance hell so that we can better serve you.

ANOTHER MADNESS DAY IS UPON US, FRIENDS.  The series is over a decade old, born and raised on Newgrounds.  My my my, how time flies....

And once again, the fans have crawled from the Newgroundsian woodwork to make it a killer one, and we're just starting!  Be sure to check out each and every entry, some really killer ones coming through so far: http://www.newgrounds.com/collection/madnessday2014. Madness wouldn't be where it is today if it weren't for the fans, this much is a solid fact, so show them some love.  

There is also time left on the Project Nexus 2 Kickstarter! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2

I mean, shit, look at these assholes that came straight from the concept art folder.  A replicating mess of a mag agent and a deformed zombie mag that eats corpses for strength.  You know you want a piece of these guys so get in on that Kickstarter for your early access beta, which could be available as soon as winter!

Hey there guys!  Just wanted to hit you with a bit of news concerning our kickstarter breaking 56k!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2

We're beyond thrilled to see it hit the mark, but we did a little investigating to find some cracks in the wall, so to speak.  Looking at a recent rush we had, we found several donations, back to back to back chipping in the exact same amount coming from accounts that were made too recently named things like "zzzzz" and "accountfake".  Someone's duping the system, it would seem.  This is essentially pulling cash that we need out from under us on crowdsourcing success.  Sorting things out with Kickstarter administration has been added to our priority list.  We're going to cross that finish line correctly, without people using false accounts to essentially short change us.

We're still optimistic.

Other'n that, have some of the concept art that came about when I decided that Mags shouldn't have the the monopoly on physical volume!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2
You want to talk about a nailbiter?  Six days to go and just over 6k left to hit the Kickstarter goal.  the 840 of you that backed so far are the very wind beneath our wings and it's not too late to get in to that early beta access!

BUT OH LOOK, MORE JUNK FROM THE CONCEPTART SKETCHBOOK :V

The Industrial Zone is one of the first places we started fleshing out, the very production center of the city.  Walled off like every other sector this place has become not only extremely defensible, but valuable.  The civilian and paramilitary forces that occupy this area operate the facilities to produce power, weapons, ammunition, and even food (but not flavor).  They've likely struck agreements with just about every other active organization within the city, exchancing protection for goods, and with their own armed force one to be reckoned with, they aren't entirely reliant on the rest of the city.  Cutting this place down will create nothing but problems, but hey, that choice is yours.... what better way to move about than when everything is a nice, easy-to-get-lost-in mess? 

The Greater Walls divide the city up into managable zones and sectors.  These massive, multistory steel and concrete walls present an oppressive presence from every vantage point in the city.  Originally developed to control and monitor the city's population.  However, with recent developments they've taken on the role of outbreak containment.  The hollow areas around the doors contain security rooms and barracks, and with it they can be breached for quicker traversal, but compromising the containment angle will have consequences... speaking of the whole, -chaos- angle....

The infamous A.A.H.W., a dangerously focused, singular purpose army whose members are fanatically loyal and devoted to their leaders, as mysterious as they are. Unlike the MERCs, they seem to operate without a clear chain of command on the field, making them impervious to morale drops brought about by having their infrastructure shattered. They'll fight like maniacs to the very last man, and operate with uncanny coordination. Each member of the A.A.H.W. can assume any role needed, everything from kamikaze melee runners to heavy gunners. A faction to be reckoned with, especially considering their one goal is to snuff out the disharmony brought about by Hank's existence. 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2
The kickstarter is chugging along rather well so far, people! With an impressive 759 backers to date with 8 days to go, you guys are incredible with the support shown so far. Everyone who's chipped in to date, all the way to midnight tonight EST will be getting the exclusive outfit pack! Be sure to check out the page to give it a look!

Want to support, but can't pony up the 15 for early access? There's always Thunderclap!
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/16168-kickstart-project-nexus-2
All you need to do is click in to support with Facebook, Twitter or Tumblr and it'll tie you in to a rush getting the word out as the Kickstarter comes to a close in a bit effort to make this game happen!

AWith only 13 days left on the kickstarter we find ourself in a bit of a pickle as the whole thing seems to have floundered to a halt.  This steam greenlight will do us no good if we can't actually create the game, guys!  Swain and I want to work on this full time with our undivided attention, and have the ability to communicate face to face on the matter.  That is to say, if this kickstarter fails the two of us will have to backburner this project while we pursue day jobs flipping hamburgers to keep the lights on meaning production on Project Nexus 2 will grind to an agonizing crawl.

We have a phoenominal 579 backers on our kickstarter, and I can't thank you guys enough for the support we've been given so far, but with over eight thousand of you amazing people voting for the Steam greenlight that means only 7% of you have put your money where your vote is.  If just a fourth of that eight thousand chipped in the 15 for the early access beta and a copy of the game we could be seeing the early acces out as early as janurary.

On top of that, eight thousand pre-orders would let us reach every one of our stretch goals outlined on the kickstarter page!  That is to say; we need your help!  Help us serve you!

Take a second look if you haven't already, this kickstarter desperately needs the help of every devoted Madness fan there is: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2

Also, have some artwork!  Something that bugged me about Nexus 1, that we started to address in Nexus 1.5, is the homogeneous nature of the battles.  With the introduction of factions we'll see a very distinct variety in battles when dealing with the different groups.  The MERCs are heavily leader based, for instance, buffing their squadmades's accuracy, morale, and even their AI.  Taking these guys out will cause all sorts of disharmony in the ranks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2
Oh, and the bandits. Those lovable, opportunistic, cowardly scavengers. Not so much a 'faction' as a bunch of dangerously far flung splinter groups stealing, looting, and killing for sheer pleasure. They are as every bit as dangerous as that sounds.

Unrelated to bandits, though, I'd like to talk a little bit about the sluggish pace the kickstarter has gotten to, and how alarming this is for Swain, myself, and the nearly five hundred kickstarter backers we have so far.

The steam greenlight is phenomenal, and frankly the speed at which it came about blew my head off. The problem, however, is that without the financial backing to produce this game, the greenlight will at present do nothing for us. What I'm seeing is that of the over eight thousand 'yes' votes we have on steam, we have only ~500 backers on the kickstarter. I don't mean to go on a rant, fellas, but if we don't reach the kickstarter goal, this game goes from a 2015 release to a 2017 release or beyond. Swain and I have bills to pay, and working day jobs severely cuts down on our ability to move on this, especially considering how far we've come building this out-of-pocket. 

Reaching our kickstarter goal puts swain and I within walking distance of eachother, allows us 8-12 hours a day to work on this project in a dedicated fashion (ratherthan chipping in bits of tired, worn out free time at the end of the day), and if we go even just a bit above and beyond, we getMindChamber on to help us kick even more ass. I've heard people tell me they're counting on Swain and I, and that couldn't be further from the truth, at this point, friends, WE are counting on YOU.

tl;dr Let us create for you, support the kickstarter, it is VITAL to the creation of this game.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/500655604/madness-project-nexus-2