Weekly Penguin
December 11th, 2007

Where we are now

This is the first edition of the TAGAP blog, an introductory edition if you will. This time I'm just going to give you guys an update on what's going on in TAGAP land, while in future posts I'll dive deeper into TAGAP and TAGAP 2 development trying to be 100% spoiler-free.

First let's look at the website redesign. While almost everything has been re-arranged, all the original content remains. There are a couple of things that didn't make this initial releas, mainly RSS feed and "Game tips" section of the F.A.Q., but they are coming soon.

New site features are the official TAGAP blog (the one you are reading right now), own section for further TAGAP 2 information and downloads section for user-submitted content. Yes, you can submit anything from extra levels and mods to music- and video-tributes and fan-art. Everything goes, at least if it fits on our servers. To submit your creations, contact us via our feedback form and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

And TAGAP then? The new v1.5 patch is coming along well. The backwards compatibility version is pretty much done, while the heavy gameplay testing continues on the XP and Vista version, which now supports XInput game controllers. Some of you may have been worried about how it will play, but don't be; it plays like a dream! I don't know is it because I mainly play my games on Xbox 360 or what, but personally I find the game easier to play on the gamepad. Still, there's some tuning and testing to do – converting gameplay that we kept polishing for two years into completely different interface needs LOADS of testing.

TAGAP 2 is also moving forward. We're still in pre-production, re-creating all the necessary game assets to fit the new, more detailed look and feel of things. If everything goes as planned, we can start the actual production in January or February at the latest. Recreation of these assets will pay off, I promise. As soon as we have created some levels, I'll post a screenshot or two to show what I mean.

For the TAGAP 2 soundtrack, Petja hasn't started working on it yet. Since the look and feel has changed quite a bit, we agreed that it's most likely best to have some gameplay ready before deciding what the music should focus on. One this is certain, however; it will be more organic, depending less on synth sounds.

And finally, pretty off-topic; I've started working on my personal site SOUNDTRACK.notes again. In all this TAGAP release and maintenance madness I had no time to listen carefully, yet review scores and soundtracks, but as things are normalizing again, the site is back. Those who aren't aware of SOUNDTRACK.notes; as a serious soundtrack collector I have hundreds, if not thousands of soundtrack albums. Some standard, some rare, same true collectibles. On SOUNDTRACK.notes I review my collection one album at a time on semi-regular basis and share all the exciting soundtrack news I may come across.

And hey, don't forget the Weekly Penguin; in this new site layout it's located at the top-right corner of the screen.

Until next time,

Jouni Lahtinen, the head penguin