Developer Ask-Me-Anything!

[cowbunny]

Timecrest was made completely by a 2-person team, and we made Timecrest because we were so passionate about wanting to tell the story in our hearts. We spent over a year planning out in meticulous detail the story of Timecrest, the paths, the twists, the mysteries, and are so happy that the story is resonating with people.

This thread was inspired by Ben, who wrote us a PM asking about how we made the story. We made this thread as a place where you can ask us questions about Timecrest, our process making it, or whatever you'd like to know, and we'll do our best to answering, without spoiling anything happening in Timecrest 3!

What would you like to know?

[sniktocs5]

is ash a guy or a girl ?

[cowbunny]

We wanted Ash to feel as close to you as your best friend. And it was important to us that Ash is whatever you imagine Ash to be. For some people, Ash is male, for others, Ash is female. Nobody is wrong. What's important is the bond you develop with Ash, and the journey you take together.

[sniktocs5]

wait huh so like ash is both, like a manwoman ? i don't get it

[Sashimioishi]

How did human technology get on Alyncia? Was it part of Earth? Or did humans learn deep space travel and bring technology to an underdeveloped planet?

[cowbunny]

wait huh so like ash is both, like a manwoman ? i don't get it

Ash is exactly how you imagine. Whatever you see in your imagination is exactly what Ash is.

[cowbunny]

How did human technology get on Alyncia? Was it part of Earth? Or did humans learn deep space travel and bring technology to an underdeveloped planet?

Those are very good questions. From Timecrest 1, we know that there used to be humans in Alyncia, and they weren't hated.

A time long ago, the human world was connected to Alyncia.
And connecting to your world wasn't forbidden, but encouraged.
Until the destruction of Valdor was pinned on humans.
No one knows for sure. Valdor was wiped out so suddenly that no one, besides Riley, survived to tell the tale. But enough people believed it was the humans, and rallied to make it forbidden to contact your world.

The relics of human technology are from that era. But when Valdor was destroyed, human technology was looked upon with the same suspicion that humans were.

But yes, you ask good questions about how humans and their technology got to Alyncia... it might be important for Ash to someday learn the truth about this.

[Dias]

Hey! So Timecrest 3 is definitely coming eventually, right? I can't wait! So, if I red well, only two people made Timecrest, right? How long did you take to have the final story, with all the twists, characters, special scenes, etc?

[cowbunny]

Hey! So Timecrest 3 is definitely coming eventually, right? I can't wait! So, if I red well, only two people made Timecrest, right? How long did you take to have the final story, with all the twists, characters, special scenes, etc?

We definitely have plans for Timecrest 3. How quickly it comes really depends on how successful we can make Timecrest 1 & 2, so we've been working hard on Twitter & Facebook to try to get the word out to as many people as possible about our beloved tale of Alyncia. We hope that our loyal readers can help spread the word as well, so we can stay focused on building out this story and world that we love.

Yes, just two of us made Timecrest. One of us focused on the design of the app and the other focused on the story, but we both collaborate extensively on all parts, and fully own the design and the story.

We spent about a year writing and rewriting the story. We constantly push ourselves to better what we have written. Near the end of 2015, we had completed Chapter 10 and thought Timecrest 2 was nearing release. (If you remember there was a trailer that announced it was coming in the Winter of 2015.) But in reading that draft, we discovered so many new things about the characters, the plot, and thought of many more choices and paths that we wanted to add. So we ended up adding so much more and rewriting most of the story several times—10,000's of words were rewritten and added—to get to one we were happy with that eventually went out earlier this month.

It was definitely a difficult process, because of the complexity of the story. If there were no choices and just one path, the story would be extremely complex in and of itself, but giving the players choices to change what happens really added a level that was so difficult to keep straight.

We have one document laying out the history of all characters going back to about 1000 years before Timecrest 1 began, and we have extensive branching documents detailing all of the complex paths that happen after Timecrest 1 begins, depending on what the player chooses. A single scene can be rewritten a dozen times depending on who is alive, who is dead, who you were nice to, what you decided in the past, what information you have learned, if you chose "distant relative" or "best friend", etc.

We have extremely detailed histories of every one of our characters, and know all of their backstories, their dreams, their hopes, their arcs, successes and tragedies.

The nice thing about the twists is that from the beginning, we had a clear idea of the story of Timecrest, and knew what Timecrest 2 and Timecrest 3 should be, the themes, the characters, the twists, and so on. It was intentional that we left hints in Timecrest 1 that would play out in Timecrest 2 and 3, for example talking about Ignis in Timecrest 1, the player's ability to use magic in Alyncia was not a random choice, but has always been an important aspect of how the story will play out.

One thing we really enjoy is reading people's theories on the various mysteries we have intentionally left in Timecrest, and seeing how they line up with what the answers are in our planned story. Sometimes it shows us that we lefts too few clues, and sometimes it shows that people have excellent deductive skills and they'll be pleasantly surprised when all is revealed.

[Crescent]

We have one document laying out the history of all characters going back to about 1000 years before Timecrest 1 began, and we have extensive branching documents detailing all of the complex paths that happen after Timecrest 1 begins, depending on what the player chooses.

This excites me so much. 1000 years of information that can be uncovered.

[ladbag1714]

[ladbag1714]

can't move past this point. no options or timer, ~,~ please help

[cowbunny]

Hi Ladbag,

I’m sorry to hear that your game was stuck, and that is definitely a bug. I’d like to assist you in resolving the issue.

From within Timecrest, please hit the “<“ back arrow on the top left, tap on the “Settings” button in the top right, and tap on “Contact Support”. Then send the email that pops up.

If you email us through this button, it will give us access to your account. Once we have that, we will give you instructions on how to unstick your game.

I’m terribly sorry for our bug, and look forward to getting your game fixed!

cowbunny

[ladbag1714]

hi thank you for answering so quickly, yes I did try that and nothing happens when I click on contact support which is why I came on here to ask directly. is there another way to get you the data you need?

[cowbunny]

This excites me so much. 1000 years of information that can be uncovered.

We're excited too. The events leading to the founding of Valdor, 1,000 years ago, are particularly interesting.

[Crescent]

The events leading to the founding of Valdor, 1,000 years ago, are particularly interesting.

Looking forward to it! I would like to ask if there would be official character designs of the characters (I'm guessing Ash wouldn't since perception of Ash depends on the player) in the future? The only depictions I have seen so far are in Ash's drawings and the silhouettes posted in this forum.

[cowbunny]

Looking forward to it! I would like to ask if there would be official character designs of the characters (I'm guessing Ash wouldn't since perception of Ash depends on the player) in the future? The only depictions I have seen so far are in Ash's drawings and the silhouettes posted in this forum.

Great question. We chose silhouettes for Ash specifically to make sure we didn't interfere with your imagination. We're likely to not show any further detail beyond those silhouettes for Ash.

As for some of the others, Ash drew some cute chibi versions of Elise, Roger and A.C. on the hand drawn map, so you get a little idea of what they look like. But we've also drawn them in silhouette, because we like the art style for this game.