So, we aren't quite where we intended to be by the end of July. Things were going well in the first half, then took a turn. We were ready to move forward on certain aspects but wanted more graphical feedback first (an area of contention in our previous titles). From those we sent work-in-progress screens to, some replies were less than enthusiastic, while others we still haven't heard back from. On the upside, having an environment that's still in development allowed me to keep adding details while waiting, and work to address points of concern as they arose.

Everyone's imagination works differently, so the potential of a WIP screenshot isn't always obvious. What to us was a park at the city's edge (again, in progress), was perceived by some as a random pairing of an industrial foreground and a meadow background. This is exactly why feedback is so important; eventually we would have fleshed out the park, but in view of this revelation, I made it my top priority, starting with a fence to separate the two distinct areas.

All three of these images are still very much WIPs, and we're still looking for feedback on how the intro environment is shaping up, as well as the overall art direction in general. Tweak by tweak we hope we're closing in on an eye-catching and eye-pleasing aesthetic.