SSH #37 - #41 — Spooky Holiday Special

Happy Saturday! Happy Halloween!

I'm stuck in the terrible daylight savings time vortex again, so I don't know what time it is — but it's definitely still Saturday!

This update actually isn't very Halloween themed, it's just that October was a CRAZY month. For a very brief moment (about 8 days), 83.33% of the team were in the same city, before the laws of physics and an ancient curse tore them asunder once more.

The remaining team member (the talented Jon Gwyn) continued hammering away at the work completely unsupervised — bearing the weight of the world of MS80 on his shoulders like a modern Atlas. Not the geography book.

Such is the nature of remote work.

Second Half IRL 2025: Toronto

With remote work having the potential to leave people feeling isolated or not fully connected with their co-workers, Lucien decided it would be a good idea if everyone could get together and do something fun in a cool new place once every year! Think of it as "behavioural enrichment."

Toronto did not know what it was in for when the good people of Second Half were let loose on its streets and public transportation system. For just over a week, it was OUR city! No noodle bars, art galleries or escape rooms were safe.

My greatest takeaway from the entire Toronto adventure is that I've been lied to for years. Toronto in early October was warmer than an English summer (which in itself is like autumn warmed up), and after a few days we all started to feel a bit of the strain. I came back to England and told everyone I met, "Canada is actually warm." Everyone thinks I'm lying.

Lucien found the trip an almost transformative experience — especially the food! Pho, ramen, delicious sandwiches, great coffee, nice cake, Laotian food and mac & cheese! The people in Toronto really have it sorted out.

I asked Laura to give me a quote for this section. "I just live here." she said, which she does. She's lucky we don't all live there too. She was the best tour guide we could have ever asked for!

We also had the chance to see the beautiful Niagara Falls! And have a terrible time in a chain restaurant in a little town that might have actually been a bit of Hell sticking out of the ground.

A Farewell and Thank You to Rasmus

During his time at Second Half, our resident maths wizard, mad scientist and hat-wearer, has meddled with affairs beyond the gaze of mortals. Mostly eldritch physics engine work, performance tweaks and electrical system iteration, but also devious traps that litter our levels.

I think my favourite thing of his still has to be his Takeshi's Castle/Wipeout contraption. That, and a certain railgun tripwire trap he made at the start of the year.

Rasmus will now be moving onto bigger and better things as he continues on life's journey. We've been so grateful for all he's done in the year he's been with us, and are terrified of what further machinations he might get up to.

Brand New Environment Art!

While we were living the high life in Toronto, Jon was knee-deep in the art mines, creating new 3D assets that will transform the look of our game!

They're far more detailed and interesting than the basic walls and floors we've been using for a while, and we've got so many plans for how to use them and how we might make different kits for different planets and levels.

The current goal is to design these with a very hot volcanic planet in mind — one that's been taken over by heavy industry and almost cracked like an egg! More on this later.

Looking Ahead

Besides dealing with the effect of daylight savings time ending and throwing all of our scheduling out the window, the next big goal is continued character work and a start on texturing! I've got a lot of worldbuilding I've been putting together, and we'll be having a big meeting this week to talk about it.

We still haven't got round to watching WALL-E.

November will likely be the last full month of work for us in 2025, as December heralds horse-themed mischief. Horseplay, even.