WELCOME TO THE ESOTERA NEWSLETTER. Bringing visions of a dystopian future to your electronic inbox with every broadcast. I'm your e-host, wanderer of the Salt Wastes, film director & producer

NICK LAROVERE.



In each newsletter, I share content - sci-fi & post-apocalyptic games, films, books, and related oddities - for you to enjoy. I also share my films and provide updates on the development of the Esotera world. GAME REVIEW - METRO: EXODUS The Metro team have outdone themselves again with this new entry in the series. I know I'm behind the curve here, but I wanted to put out my two cents on this game because I've been so impressed by it. If you haven't picked up a copy of this game, it's definitely worth it.



Let me try and summarize my experience so far (I'm not done with the campaign quite yet): It's as beautiful as it is devastated - Skyrim-like vistas but with a lot more nuked, mutant-ridden wasteland.

The graphics quality (especially the lighting) got turned up to 11. My computer hates me.

When it's open, it doesn't feel empty, and it hasn't lost its claustraphobic, underground Metro charm.

The gunplay feels satisfying and the crafting system is slick - it never feels overbearing. One of my favorite things about Metro: Exodus so far is that it knows when and how to slow things down and connect you with the humanity of the characters, and remind you it's the story of a group of people doing their best to find hope and build something new in a brutal world.



There are plenty of intimate moments with characters that feel nicely fleshed-out and sympathetic, without slowing down the action too much.



I, for one, can't wait to see where the rest of this train-ride takes Artyom, Anna, and the team.



My rating so far: 5/5 SHORT FILM SPOTLIGHT - 'ADAM' 'Adam' showcases the capabilities of the Unity game engine as well as excellent visual storytelling. Because good films set in a post-apocalyptic/sci-fi setting are so hard to come by, I like to share one when I find it.



When I first watched 'Adam', I didn't even realize until probably a minute in that this thing was rendered in real-time in the Unity game engine. It looks very good.



But what's really cool about this film (and episodes 2 and 3, which you can watch here) is that not a word is spoken, while the setting and actions within the film tell you a lot about the world and the mindset of the character.



I watched this one a couple times to take it all in.



If you know about any great films and you'd like to share, feel free to reply and tell me about it. NEW DEVELOPMENTS FOR ESOTERA We're preparing to shoot our most ambitious film yet. Here's where we're at so far with its development. We've begun pre-production on what will probably be my most ambitious project yet - another addition to the Esotera sci-fi world.



I am working with a writer, as well as concept artist Travis Wright to visually develop one of the most important worldbuilding elements of Esotera - its portable artificial intelligence - since it plays a large part in the plot of this film.





The designs above are just very early sketches, so it's bound to end up looking totally different.

The film currently has a temporary title of "AI Short Film".



Real creative, right?



Well, portable Artificial Intelligence plays a fairly large role in this world. In order to be an effective visual icon, it has to fill 3 needs:



1. Visually distinct/immediately recognizable

2. Aesthetically pleasing - 'cool'

3. Make sense, practically, in the world

Travis has also been helping come up with some pretty sweet designs that will help us deck out our wastelanders in practical and cool-looking costumes. I really love the work he did on these...

The cost & scope of this project makes it a bit scary to tackle, but I'm also excited to bring another story to life.



Trying new things always presents challenges, but figuring out how to overcome those challenges and doing so successfully is part of what makes filmmaking so satisfying.



I'll keep you in the loop as things progress! WATCH OUR FILMS: DRIFTER " | DESTINATION "

READ OUR STORIES: WESTBOUND RIDER " UNTIL NEXT TIME...

Hey. Thanks for reading. I hope you're enjoying the content.



If you stick around for a while, there’ll be more awesome stories for you to enjoy as we build Esotera.



Comments, thoughts - hate mail? Feel free to reply any time.