Release date & pre-order

Release date & pre-order


Okay, let’s rewind first before we get started.

It’s been months since we announced We Were Here Too was on its way. In those months, we at Total Mayhem Games and a lot of helping hands, have been working non stop on the We Were Here sequel. We promised you many times that we would give you more information on the release date, price, storyline and mechanics, but in these extremely busy and sometimes chaotic months, we weren’t always able to follow through on our promises.

But now, we are! We are extremely proud to announce the official launch-date on We Were Here Too. Mark 02-02-2018 in your agendas, because that will be the date We Were Here Too will be available for you on Steam for $9,99!

This game will be the product of hours and hours and hours of hard work, and we’ve never been this proud of a product we have made so far in our lives. We hope you’ll forgive us for the delays, but we promise it will all be worth it.

That’s why, from today on, you’ll be able to pre-order We Were Here Too! You’ll find the pre-order link on our website. By pre-ordering We Were Here Too you’ll be guaranteed of access to the closed beta in January!

To celebrate that We Were Here Too is closer than ever, we made you two awesome videos. The official trailer of We Were Here Too and the descriptive gameplay video are now available on Steam and YouTube. And since you’re probably on Steam already, make sure to wishlist We Were Here Too so you’ll get a notification when We Were Here Too is ready to play.

Thank you for your support, patience, and love. You guys are the reason we’re still going strong!

Official trailer We Were Here Too

Official gameplay video We Were Here Too


BIG news

BIG news


We’re back with some BIG news. We decided that the best way to share this news with you guys is through a video. So sit back and relax, and let Lucia and Lorenzo do the work.

*relieved sigh* Pfew, that is out.

We hope we’re not asking too much of you guys, but like Lucia and Lorenzo said, it’s all about the quality of the game. We sincerely apologize for the delay, and we promise you We Were Here Too is going to be the game we wanted to put out.

Also mentioned in the video, December 1st is going to be a big day! Stay tuned, keep an eye on our social media and website, and we’ll talk to you again in a few days.


Visit us at Dutch Comic Con the 18th & 19th of November!

Visit us at Dutch Comic Con the 18th & 19th of November!


 

While we are still catching our breath from the amazing Firstlook Festival, we are proud to announce that we’ll be returning to the Jaarbeurs Utrecht at Dutch Comic Con Winter Edition 2017!

Since Dutch Comic Con doesn’t really need an introduction, we’ll be heading straight to the main question: what is We Were Here Too doing between all the cosplay, merchandise and special guests? We enjoyed every second of Firstlook Festival, and that’s why we really couldn’t wait any longer for an event to display the latest We Were Here Too updates for you guys. We even got something special planned… A whole new, unreleased part of We Were Here Too will be ready to be played by you and your friend at Dutch Comic Con Winter Edition! So even if you visited us at Firstlook, don’t hesitate to come by and say hi. New gameplay is waiting for you!

Are you coming to Dutch Comic Con Winter Edition? Let us know! We’d love to meet you or see you again! Down below yo can see where our stand will be at the event.

 

 

Here you can see a video of our latest visit at Firstlook Festival in Utrecht last October! We will upload a new video after our visit to Dutch Comic Con Winter Edition! See you there!

 


Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!


Trick or treat! It might surprise you (or not), but Total Mayhem Games looooves Halloween. As you might expect, our love for horror, darkness, and mystery is one of the reasons We Were Here is like it is today. The difference is: we don’t need this one particular day of the year to scare the hell out of you guys. 😉

But since it’s almost Halloween, we can’t resist adding a little extra something to the We Were Here universe. With the musical soundtracks released a few days ago, we were thinking of something else to really bring your favorite co-op puzzle game to life…

That’s why we made you an awesome cutout explorer mask and walkie-talkie, so if you were low on Halloween costume ideas, we got you on this one!

 

But, like we said before, our love for horror and thrills doesn’t stop at a little Halloween present. We are working day and night to make We Were Here Too even more mind-blowing than We Were Here. And we promise you, the scariest part is yet to come… ?

Oh, and don’t forget to send us your best Halloween pictures. We’d love to have you try and scare us, for a change!


Does It Make Any Cents?

Does It Make Any Cents?


 

‘Hey! We want We Were Here Too! We don’t want to talk about money!’

Well, we don’t either. But we have to. And since we are trying to take you with us through the process of making a new game, this subject can’t be ignored. We won’t make it too serious though, we promise.

Now we are getting closer to the release date than ever, there are more and more points that ask for our attention. Of course, finishing and releasing the game is priority number one, but with a release, a lot of other things should be taken care of. Marketing and promotional activities like events are getting more important to make We Were Here Too known to the public.

We can speak from our own experiences when we say that showcasing We Were Here (Too) at an event brings opportunities. INDIGO for instance handed us the possibility to speak to other game studio’s and others that have been in the game industry ‘a little’ longer than we are. But when we were talking about ‘bringing our game to an event’, we’re also talking about an investment here.

The whole process of making We Were Here Too and everything that comes with making a game (like events) has been one major investment for all of us. We still invest all our time, energy and money in this game to make We Were Here Too an even bigger success than We Were Here, but we have to conclude that we run out of one of the most important investments of the three: money. We can’t offer all everyone who helps any, but we so wish to. We really don’t care that we don’t make any money or get any loan, but it will help if some of our financial burdens could be taken away a little.

We are lucky that our investor made it possible for us to achieve what we’ve done so far. Without his help, we wouldn’t have come to this point at all. But since this is our first time dealing with these issues, we couldn’t have foreseen that making a game and showing it off on events would be so expensive. And that’s where you guys come in.

We noticed that a lot of our fans, followers, friends and supporters feel the need to support us on a variety of ways. We got a lot, A LOT, of messages asking us if there was a way to donate, support or kickstart us. Our answer always was the same: no. We wouldn’t want to take advantage of your goodwill, and we simply didn’t have the possibility for receiving donations. But now, after a long time of doubting: we do!

On our website and in this post, you can find a ‘donate’ button. We will receive your donation via PayPal. Every amount helps. We are working day and night to get us into Dutch, but also international, events. We are not asking for your money, but if you’d like to support us, that’s not a problem anymore. We’ll use all of the donations wisely, so we can do more events and showcase We Were Here Too in the best way possible.


We Were Here Too Newsflash #2

We Were Here Too

Newsflash #2


Hi everyone!

We have an update regarding the release date. As many of you know we had set the planned release date for We Were Here Too this summer. With the end of summer drawing near we have decided to delay our planned release for We Were Here Too and its’ first chapter. We are now aiming for a release this November with closed beta tests finishing in October.

We feel this delay is necessary to provide everyone with an unforgettable experience that is above and beyond what the original game offered!

So sit tight for a little longer. We hope you’ll understand and be sure to add We Were Here Too to your wishlist if you haven’t done so already. We will continue posting weekly updates about We Were Here Too and the development of the game.


Total Mayhem Blog #3

Total Mayhem Blog #3


Let’s talk about you and me. No… sorry, just kidding. I will just talk about art. Don’t worry.  As I told you before, our team used to consist of 15 students who all came from different studies. Our minor as a whole consisted of 45 students, and nearly half of those students were part of the Willem de Kooning Academy: an Art Academy located in the city centre of Rotterdam. It’s not unusual that the love for art was floating in the air during the minor.

Total Mayham Games (yes, you read that right… our original name was a pun) had the honor to have 4 artists in the team. The artists worked very well together and made sure the game had a very consistent and unique atmosphere. Even though the artists all had very different styles, they managed to make the player feel he or she went through one experience. In the gallery below I’ll show you some of the (concept) art of We Were Here.


We Were Here Too Newsflash #1

We Were Here Too

Newsflash #1


We figured that after a long time of teasing, mysterious hints and maybe even some radio silence, it’s about time that we started of giving more clarity on the development of We Were Here Too. Hereby introducing: We Were Here Too newsflashes. Expect weekly updates, facts and information on the long anticipated sequel of We Were Here.

As you may have found out on our social media channels (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter), we are starting off with newsflash #1 revolving about the structure of We Were Here Too. The game will consist of a free Prologue chapter, with multiple Chapters following this Prologue as downloadable content. The Prologue AND the first Chapter will release simultaneously in just a couple of months. But why did we choose this structure?

Looking back at the release of We Were Here, we are (of course) still proud of what we have accomplished in only 14 weeks. But we also learned from our own experience and your feedback on We Were Here, that we missed some structure in the storyline and that the game needed plenty of time for bug testing. That’s what we’re trying to overcome by splitting up the game in the form of Chapters, with the Prologue available for free. Now we’re able to transform the amazing story we have into an awesome game, without having to leave some essential parts out. We will give you a taste of the We Were Here Too storyline in one of the following We Were Here Too newsflashes.

Your continued support has been amazing and we are eternally grateful for your patience and all the kind words. Unfortunately, positivity alone won’t pay the bills. That’s why we had to make the decision not to make the entire game free to play like We Were Here. We have to be realistic: we can’t create more innovative and fun content without an income. But we would also like to give our supporting fans something in return, and that’s why we decided to make the Prologue available for free for new and returning players to enjoy. This gives us plenty of time to give each chapter the needed time and polish it deserves, while giving you guys lots of content to enjoy this time around!

The Prologue will consist of several puzzles and an introduction of the storyline of We Were Here Too. After the Prologue, the new Chapters will be available (with the first Chapter releasing simultaneously with the Prologue), so you can continue to puzzle your way out of Castle Rock.


We Were Here Too Steam page online!

We Were Here Too Steam page online!


We can finally be bringers of some great news: the We Were Here Too Steam page is finally online!

Our apologies for getting your hopes up (too) high last friday. We wanted to give you something bigger, but unfortunately, the process didn’t go as smoothly as planned. But now we’re finally clear to spread the word: the We Were Here Too store page is now online at Steam! In the store page you will find more information on We Were Here Too, and you will also be able to put We Were Here Too on your wish list so you will get a notification when the game is released.

Hold on just a little longer, We Were Here Too is on its way!


Dev Blog Update #1

Dev Blog

Update #1


Leaving the school project vibe behind us

Even though we’re working hard on the sequel called ‘We Were Here Too’, we haven’t forgot about We Were Here. Now, six months after the release, the game is still being played by more and more gamers worldwide. So we thought it was time to give the game a performance upgrade, allowing more gamers with lower-end setups to enjoy our game. Read all about how we achieved this as our programmers Sam and Thomas explain the fine details.

Since We Were Here started out as a school project and had to be developed in less than three months, there wasn’t too much time to optimize properly. Shortcuts in code were taken, unnecessary amounts of polygons were drawn and multiple lighting systems were stacked upon each other. Four major goals were set when starting with this overhaul:

  • Increasing overall performance (Especially for lower-end systems)
  • Less hiccups / frame drops
  • Solving frequently reported bugs
  • Preparing the game for future ports to other platforms

Spreading the load

A seamless game experience is an important part of the game. Upon entering the actual gameplay phase just after the matchmaking, a system called Dynamic Mesh Filter System (DMFS) was developed to simply split up different parts of the game (e.g. the theater and dungeon) and only enable those where the player is walking. This makes game-breaking loading screens in between puzzles obsolete. However, toggling large amounts of game objects at the same time caused hiccups as well. To improve this system, Sam redesigned it from scratch. He came up with an asynchronous recursive depth-first traversal algorithm that essentially spreads the load by enabling game objects within an area over time. In the example video you can see the player walking through the dungeon. As he walks past corners, the DMFS starts loading the area he is heading towards, and disabling those he left. This improved system, together with Occlusion Culling, makes for a smooth gameplay experience