Good morning everypony!

Novel Idea here with something you have all been waiting for. I know I have. Now, I could tease and play with the information and drive you all crazy, but instead, I’ll just tell you what’s going on.

For those of you who attended Pacific PonyCon, you already got most of this information. For everypony else… it’s time for the good stuff.

We’ve got three major announcements today.

Gardens of Equestria is moving to an episodic content schedule. Instead of releasing the entire game at once, we’ll be releasing the game chapter-by-chapter, starting with “Gardens of Equestria – Prologue: The Watcher.” We are currently aiming to release “Prologue: The Watcher” at the beginning of February 2017. Today, you get to see the Opening Cinematic of Gardens of Equestria: This Coming Storm. This is the actual cinematic you’ll be seeing in-game when you play the Prologue.

So, let’s talk about what this all means, shall we?

Episodic Content!

Why episodic content? Well, the truth is, the scope of Gardens of Equestria: This Coming Storm is massive. An original worldspace, over ninety levels, four unique voiced characters, dozens of new weapons and armor and so very much more. In addition, we’re a purely volunteer project. That means wives, husbands, kids, full-time jobs, college and a thousand other things.

What that means is that because of real life, we likely wouldn’t release anything for at least two years if we went for a full production model (and that’s on the extremely optimistic side. In truth, it would probably be longer).

I don’t want to wait that long and I know you don’t either. Going episodic means you’ll actually get the content in a better timeframe. Yes, there will be delays and you won’t be able to play the whole thing in one go (unless you wait until the very end), but the important thing is you’ll be able to see what we have coming!

What this means tech-wise is that you’ll just be replacing the GoE files with the new ones!

Upcoming Prologue Release!

That’s right folks! While our guests at Pacific PonyCon 2017 got to see a live playthrough of the “The Watcher,” soon you’ll be able to adventure there yourself! Get a mysterious message from DJ-PON3 and investigate the strange events in the cliffs north of Goodsprings.

Not only that, but you’ll get the first phase of the reality distortions! New billboards, new artwork, new music, a new radio station and so much more. Now, the thing to remember is that reality itself is changing! Things will get progressively worse until you put a stop to the chaos! So there’s even more to come!

While we were originally going to launch at the end of the month, we need just a bit more time to put the finishing touches on it. After all, I run this group with a mission of “Do it right and do it with style!”

Watch for the release of Gardens of Equestria: This Coming Storm – Prologue: The Watcher in February of 2017!

The Opening Cinematic!

After dealing with a surprising new enemy in a mysterious cave, you’ll encounter a strange Spritebot. After a brief conversation, he’ll head outside to give you a rundown as to just what has been transpiring to cause these strange shifts in reality…

This cinematic will play in-game once you reach the correct moment of the Prologue, like the opening of Fallout 3, Fallout: New Vegas or Fallout: New Vegas’s DLCs!

In the coming months, we’ll have more information as to the release schedule of Chapter 1: Strangers in a Strange Land and Chapter 2: Small Advantages.

Manehattan Live!

First of all, a special thanks to the staff of Pacific PonyCon for having us and hosting the very first GoE panel. It was an amazing experience for all involved. Sadly, we had a miscommunication on the Manehattan side of the team and weren’t able to record video of the panel. In addition, the audio we recorded didn’t turn out very well (though our audio team did an awesome job salvaging most of it!).

That’s okay, because in the next few months, we’ll be releasing interviews with the entire Board of Directors of The Manehattan Project!

But wait, there’s more!

We’re currently looking into doing panels for more conventions! That’s right, so if you missed us at Pacific PonyCon, you might get a chance to see us in person at another major MLP convention! Once we have confirmed venues, we’ll release more information, but we’re currently aiming for at least two more conventions with a possible third!

Interested in Doing Art or Modeling for Manehattan?

Finally, we’re doing an open call for any artists or 3D modelers who might be interested in joining our staff. We’ve got a lot of art assets slated for this game and we’re looking for new talent to help us bring Gardens of Equestria to life. If you’re interested in helping us out in art, modeling, scripting or think you can contribute to the project in another way, head over to our recruitment center and send in an application!

Remember, if you’re interested in a career in game design or a similar field, this is the perfect sort of project to have on your resume!

And that’s it for this week folks. We’ll have more for you in the coming weeks, but today I’m going to leave you with a look of the brand-new Sunset Sarsaparilla Billboard you’ll be seeing in This Coming Storm. This was designed by yours truly on Tuesday night!

…and if you’re surprised it’s Sunset Shimmer, you definitely aren’t paying enough attention. 😉

Until next time, have fun!

-NI