A Leap Forward in Game Development
There are few games I enjoy watching the development of as much as Gloomwood. Not only because New Blood Interactive’s Thief-inspired immersive sim is one of my most anticipated games, but also because the developers keep adding wonderful little extras that I never would have expected. The most recently announced addition is a wonderful example, with New Blood revealing that Gloomwood is getting cutscenes.
Introducing Cutscenes in a Unique Style
Gloomwood creator Dillon Rogers excitedly announced on Twitter, “Gloomwood is getting shortform cinematics before major areas/encounters, done in an early 1900s animated horror style.” The tweet included a video showing off one of said cutscenes, which introduces the “fishdog” enemy that appears a couple of hours into the game. The cutscene epitomizes the entire Gloomwood project. The animation and camera work are highly reminiscent of the briefing cutscenes in the first two Thief games. At the same time, it undeniably has its own style, designed to fit Gloomwood’s Victorian gothic aesthetic.
I said we had a bigger thing to show this week!
Gloomwood is getting shortform cinematics before major areas/encounters, done in an early 1900s animated horror style.#gloomwood #screenshotsaturday pic.twitter.com/dEelicaL4R
— Dillon Rogers (@TafferKing451) August 24, 2024
Community Reactions and Developer Responses
As expected, the community had mixed reactions to the introduction of cutscenes. Some players have responded to Rogers’ tweet saying they preferred experiencing Gloomwood’s world seamlessly, without being interrupted by cutscenes. Others raised concerns that such anticipatory cinematics might spoil Gloomwood’s nastier surprises. Rogers responded patiently to these comments, explaining, “The fishdog cinematic is pretty upfront, but later cinematics may only show the shadow/shape of the upcoming beasts or how they sound!” He also assured players who prefer an uninterrupted experience that there would likely be an option to avoid playing the cutscenes if desired.
Continuous Innovations and Future Prospects
This is far from the only feature New Blood has announced for Gloomwood this year. In February, the developers revealed that they had implemented new rat AI that made the game’s virtual rodents actively seek out cheese. In March, New Blood published a progress update on Gloomwood’s massive underport area, announcing a new weapon, a harpoon gun. In June, the first part of the underport area, named the Power Station, was released and is already bigger than the market district released last year. While there’s no word on when Gloomwood will be finished, it’s clear that the final release is still a long way off. Given how complex immersive sims are to make and how dedicated New Blood is to making its take on the genre great, it’s well worth the wait.
