A Chronological Collection of Designer Scrawlings

Initial End-of-Level menu flow design for Runner3, as drawn on my space etch-a-sketch.

Initial End-of-Level menu flow design for Runner3, as drawn on my space etch-a-sketch.

Right before Runner3's development started, I got a fancy-pants iPad Pro with the Apple Pencil. I acquired these items because I wanted to see if taking notes while writing on a magical piece of glass with a space pen would be a viable replacement for my usual notebook-filling scrawls, as seen below...

My old notebooks from BIT.TRIP BEAT to Runner2.

My old notebooks from BIT.TRIP BEAT to Runner2.

I used to buy a new notebook for each project and vow to only fill that notebook, regardless of how full some of the pages got. It was fun. But it is now 2017 and paper and pen seems so... quaint.

I don't know if any of our lovely and fragrant readers are interested in perusing my daily notes for Runner3, but in looking back at my notes from previous projects, I often find a few nuggets that I think are fun.

So, without further ado, check out my chronological collection of Runner3 designer scrawlings to date and poop me a message in the comments if you see anything worth seeing.

What a flavor!

Hey, everyone!

After the big announcement last month that Runner3 was coming later this year to the Nintendo Switch, we thought it best to take a break from the blog and give that post some time to breathe. Now, two weeks later, we’re ready to return to your regularly scheduled updates. The show must go on!

As some of you may already know, we’re currently hard at work on a world known as Foodland. It’s been an absolute blast to create, made more so by the contest we held last month where people had the chance to submit ideas for foods. Speaking of which, I thought it might be fun to show off one of the winning food items from that contest, and how it will look in-game. 

Take a look at these hotdog cattails (with the addition of some assorted meats and cheeses, for good measure): 

The idea for hotdog cattails came from user MikesJam, who has contributed greatly to making Foodland a weird and wonderful place. They've also caused me to think long and hard about whether I’d eat a hotdog cattail if I encountered one in the wild. I think I would, but only if there were some wild ketchup nearby as well. 

Until next time!

Runner3 is coming later this year to Nintendo Switch!

Hey, everyone!

After months of playing coy, we’re prepared to answer the question we’ve been asked more than any other:

Is Runner3 coming to the Nintendo Switch? 

As the title of this post has already given away, the answer is a big, sloppy YES! In fact, we’ve already got the game up and running on the platform and it looks great! 

Seeing as how we got our start on Nintendo platforms, it feels good to be continuing that legacy with Runner3. In addition, something we’ve always said in the past is that we like to bring our games to whichever platforms it makes the most sense to bring them to. As hardcore console and handheld gamers, the Switch is a perfect hybrid of the types of gaming we love, and an excellent fit for the likes of Runner3. 

We’ll have plenty more to say about the Switch in the future—including what system features Runner3 will take advantage of—but in the meantime, here’s our announcement trailer:

Pretty fun, right? And you’ll be able to play it later this year!

Let us know in the comments if you have any questions!

A batter world

Hey, everyone!

Is it just us or is it a really exciting time in games right now? This is usually the slower part of the year, but great games have been coming out left and right! It’s been hard to keep up! 

All this excitement has us feeling, well, excited. So much so that we wanted to share something fun with you. As you may know by now, there’s going to be a world in Runner3 called Foodland. What you may not know, however, is that it’s going to be a pretty weird place. All the staples—milk, eggs, butter, etc.—will be there, but we’ve also challenged ourselves to branch out a bit and throw in a few curveballs for good measure. As part of this initiative, we've invented the BATTERBLASTER 2000: 

The BATTERBLASTER 2000 is an incredibly complex piece of machinery, capable of creating just about any kind of food you can think of. Hungry for balut? No problem. Hankering for some geoduck? Coming right up. I just hope the future of food is something along these lines, as opposed to us all being forced to eat flavorless nutrient pills. That is my worst nightmare in so many ways. 

Hopefully the BATTERBLASTER 2000 is enough to tide you over this week. In the off chance that it isn’t, though, let me assure you that next week’s update is going to be a real doozy.

Until then!

- Dant

And the winners are....

Hey, everyone! Our Foodland contest concluded on Sunday, and we’ve taken some time since then to look over all of the amazing submissions and pick out our favorites. As an aside, I also wanted to point out that some of the food items people suggested are actually already in Foodland! We must be doing something right…

Without further ado, here are the winners we’ve chosen: 

  • Bouncy jello - Chris Trenary (a few people suggested this, but Chris was the first!)
  • Hotdog cattails! - MikesJam
  • Tapioca, Coxinha and Brigadeiro! - Joemir Franco
  • Blue Cheese! - flyp_J
  • Mac & cheese in an ice cream cone with Sriracha! - Ganny (this name sounds familiar…) 

If you’re listed here, it means your suggestion is going to make its way into the game! You’re practically a game developer at this point.

Also, we mean it when we say that all of the submissions were amazing. We were absolutely blown away by how many we received, and the inventiveness (and silliness!) of all of them. If you participated, thank you! 

We plan on running a few more contests like this over the course of development, so stay tuned! 

- Dant