View source for Hiveswap

[[File:Hiveswap.png|center|660px]]
{{Infobox video game
|image = HiveSwapGraphic.png
|developer = [[What Pumpkin Studios|What Pumpkin Games]]
|series = ''[[Homestuck]]''
|platforms = [[wikipedia:Microsoft Windows|Microsoft Windows]], [[wikipedia:MacOS|macOS]], [[wikipedia:Linux|Linux]]
|released = September 14, 2017&mdash;Unknown
|genre = [[wikipedia:Adventure game|Adventure game]]
|director = [[Cohen Edenfield]]
|producer = [[Andrew Hussie]]<br />[[Cindy Dominguez]]<br />[[John Hatchford]]<br />[[Ash Paulsen]]
}}
'''''[http://hiveswap.com/ Hiveswap]''''' is a video game set in the ''[[Homestuck]]'' universe. The story involves a human girl, [[Joey Claire]], switching places with a troll on [[Alternia]] after she finds and accidentally activates a mysterious device in her attic. To return home, she must work with a group of [[troll]] rebels to prevent the activation of a doomsday weapon that threatens both of their worlds.<ref>https://reviewfix.com/2015/03/review-fix-exclusive-jess-haskins-talks-hiveswap/</ref>

''Hiveswap'' is the first game created by What Pumpkin Games and is made with the [[wikipedia:Unity (game engine)|Unity game engine]]. It is being released as a four-part episodic title, with Act 1 released on September 14, 2017 and Act 2 released on November 25, 2020.

As mentioned in [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lS-NFRuEcBI an interview with then-head writer, Cohen Edenfield], then in the official ''Hiveswap'' Act 1 highlights, the game is to be followed by a sequel titled ''[[Hauntswitch]]'', featuring [[Dammek]], the troll who switched planets with Joey. The games are announced to be "playable in either order", with saves continuing "from chapter to chapter, then from game to game".

== Acts ==
''Hiveswap'' will be released as four distinct episodes, or "acts." At present, only the first two acts have been released.

=== Act 1: Kansas City Shuffle ===
{{Main|Hiveswap: Act 1}}

Act 1 introduces [[Joey Claire]] and [[Jude Harley]], the children of [[Jake Harley]] and [[A. Claire]], in 1994. When their home, [[Half-Harley Manor]], is assailed by mysterious [[Monster (Hiveswap)|monsters]], Joey is driven into the attic, where she accidentally activates a portal and is transported to [[Alternia]], switching places with an alien [[troll]], [[Dammek]]. While there she meets [[Xefros Tritoh]], and the pair find themselves in a dangerous situation.

=== Act 2: Dead Freight===
{{Main|Hiveswap: Act 2}}

== Production history ==
=== Pre-production and original version ===
The project was announced by [[Andrew Hussie]] on September 4, 2012, and a [[Kickstarter]] [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game campaign] was launched to raise $700,000 to fund its production. The funding goal was met after just 32 hours; when the Kickstarter concluded on October 4 at 2:26pm EDT (18:26 UTC), the final total was $2,485,506 from 24,346 backers. Hours later, What Pumpkin launched [https://web.archive.org/web/20121007202307/http://www.whatpumpkin.com/kickstarter.html a PayPal option] for pledging that ran for two weeks and closed on October 18. With the additional funds from the Paypal campaign, the total funds raised surpassed $2,500,000, however an exact figure was not given. However, it likely isn't that much higher, seeing as Hussie still used the value "2.5 million bucks" to refer to the entire funds.

The original project timeline, as outlined in the Kickstarter, would have seen game development begin following the planned conclusion of ''Homestuck'' in 2013, with the game releasing sometime in 2014. However, as pre-production work began and it became clear that the project would require Hussie's immediate full attention, he put ''Homestuck'' on [[Homestuck#Hiatuses|hiatus]] so he could focus on writing and planning for the game. This hiatus began after the end of [[Homestuck: Act 6 Intermission 5|Act 6 Intermission 5]], and lasted from April 14 to June 12, 2013. Game work was also one of the factors that led to the year-long gigapause from October 16, 2013 to October 16, 2014.

The game was originally being developed by game studio [[wikipedia:The Odd Gentlemen|The Odd Gentlemen]], which publicly announced its involvement through a [https://web.archive.org/web/20141018154130/http://blog.theoddgentlemen.com/post/89512388164/the-odd-gentlemen-are-making-the-homestuck-game press release] posted on Tumblr on June 21, 2014, revealing two pieces of concept art and one character model. Months later, however, the October 31, 2014 [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/1035099 Kickstarter update] stated that the game had changed hands and would "continue production in-house" under [[What Pumpkin Studios]]' newly-formed video game division, What Pumpkin Studios NYC. The update announced that the game's title would be ''Hiveswap'' and outlined the plans for an episodic release model and a second game. At this point in its life, the game was being developed with 3D graphics.

The ''Hiveswap'' website launched on February 15, 2015, advertising an Act 1 release in [https://web.archive.org/web/20150218013634/http://hiveswap.com/ spring 2015] (later revised to [https://web.archive.org/web/20150314200502/http://hiveswap.com/ mid-2015]). An [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVEQ3v9RRR0 asset reel] of 3D character models was included in the the March 26, 2015 [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/1178157 update], and a [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptSacF8xb8k teaser trailer] was posted on April 10.

On July 20, 2015, What Pumpkin [https://web.archive.org/web/20150702232756/http://whatpumpkin.tumblr.com:80/post/122960569195/we-are-excited-to-announce-that-what-pumpkin-will announced] that We Love Fine (now known as [https://www.forfansbyfans.com For Fans By Fans]) would be taking over production of ''Homestuck'' merchandise, allowing What Pumpkin to restructure and focus on making games. In what would be [https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/1299457 the final update] for the original version of ''Hiveswap'', posted the same day, it was stated that the game was being delayed due to the restructuring and the developers' move into a larger office.

=== Final version and Act 1 release ===
[https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14293468/homestuck-adventure-game/posts/1453119 The next update], posted on December 25, 2015, revealed that ''Hiveswap'' and its developer had changed enormously over the preceding months. The increasing time and financial demands required by 3D modelling, as well as some engineering issues, had prompted What Pumpkin to scrap the 3D graphics and remake the game with 2D art instead. As part of this change, What Pumpkin Studios NYC had been closed and replaced with a geographically decentralized operation that would cost less money to run.

On October 6, 2016, the [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGk7CEA-O_s first trailer] for the new incarnation of ''Hiveswap'' was released, announcing a January 2017 release for Act 1. At the same time, the game was submitted to [https://web.archive.org/web/20161215192320/http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=818780831 Steam Greenlight] and approved for release on Steam on December 28. The January release date was not met, however, and the game's release was pushed back further to allow for additional bug testing. On April 13, 2017, [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOtZJL2cwDY another trailer] was released along with [https://web.archive.org/web/20170419022720/http://whatpumpkin.tumblr.com:80/post/159538215525/act-1-update a statement] from Cohen Edenfield, saying that the next time a release date would be provided would be just prior to Act 1's launch. A [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAEs-NlcRtU launch trailer] released on August 29, 2017 advertised a release date of September 14, and Act 1 and its soundtrack were released on that day.

=== Continued development and further Acts ===
On November 11, 2017, What Pumpkin [https://everythinghiveswap.tumblr.com/post/167382563162 announced] a Spring 2018 release date for Act 2, as well as the weekly [[Troll Call]] event in which new Hiveswap characters would be revealed every Wednesday in the run-up to the release.

In late March and early April 2018, several high-profile members of the What Pumpkin Games team working on Hiveswap announced that they were no longer working at the company. These included the project director, Cohen Edenfield, composers Toby Fox and James Roach, and artists Shelby Cragg and Phil "Poinko" Gibson. However, some continued to do official Homestuck work for Hiveswap Friendsim in a part-time capacity (James Roach most frequently). These changes occurred concurrently with the shifting of Homestuck content from the original hosting site at [http://mspaintadventures.com mspaintadventures.com] to [https://www.homestuck.com/ homestuck.com], and the takeover of the management of said content by [[Viz Media]]. On April 3rd, 2018, a [https://everythinghiveswap.tumblr.com/post/172569673317 post] on the What Pumpkin tumblr revealed that the company was going through a period of transition, and would in the short term be focusing on creating "smaller, fun, lightweight games that can be produced more quickly," but that the production of the main acts of Hiveswap would continue as the top priority to the company as "the approach to (their) development evolved". This was followed by the announcement of [[Hiveswap Friendship Simulator]], as the first of these "smaller" games set within the Hiveswap world to bridge the gap between acts.

=== Changes between development versions ===
Despite Kickstarter's [[Kickstarter#Stretch goals|stretch goal]] that all backers could beta test Hiveswap, only the episodes' final builds were released along with occasional bug fixes. Some early concepts and screenshots were released, however:
* All 3D models and animation were scrapped by December 2015 to use 2D art instead
* At least two UIs have been scrapped from the final work; The first used similar icons on the top of the screen for the characters, [[Abilitech]]s, the [[Sylladex#Hiveswap|communicator slot]] and setting buttons while the [[sylladex]] was on the screen's bottom; Then on August 2015 another UI similar to the final product was shown, but with the sylladex and the character's icon on the screen's left corner
** Most if not all inventory/portrait icons had their sprites changed twice
* [[List of Hiveswap characters#Concept Art characters|Various troll concepts]] have been scrapped or changed; These characters do not canonically exist in the game and the changes were brought by the mindset of what would be visually dynamic in 2D animation
* The sylladex was originally black (at least on Earth) as opposed to green/yellow
* Jude's shirt symbol used to be green and gray instead of (mostly) blue and gray, and Joey's symbol was the dog drawn on her diary
* Most references to copyrighted material were remained in the shift to 2D development but got changed to [https://i.imgur.com/NHi6TMn.png parodies] months before the game's release

== {{Dubcanon material|Hiveswap Friendship Simulator}} ==
{{Main|Hiveswap Friendship Simulator}}
[[File:FriendsimNewMenu.jpg|thumb|260px|Hiveswap Friendship Simulator title screen]]
On April 3rd, 2018, What Pumpkin [https://everythinghiveswap.tumblr.com/post/172569673317 announced] the first official Hiveswap spinoff game series, ''Hiveswap Friendship Simulator'', as part of a new strategy to produce smaller, lightweight games inbetween Hiveswap acts. The game is written by various authors and is a platonic riff on the [[wikipedia:visual novel|visual novel]] [[wikipedia:dating sim|dating sim]] format, with the player interacting with the characters in order to befriend them. The first Friendsim volume, [[Hiveswap Friendship Simulator: Volume One]], released on [[413|April 13th]], 2018, and features [[Diemen Xicali|Diemen]] and [[Ardata Carmia|Ardata]], characters who debuted during the [[Troll Call]]. The Volume One trailer can be found [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SclBsrWeF1Y here].
Subsequent volumes were released at a rate of one every two weeks, each featuring ([[Hiveswap Friendship Simulator: Volume Six|at least]]) two new Troll Call characters and six (or [[Hiveswap Friendship Simulator: Volume Four|occasionally more]]) endings. In all, 18 total volumes and an epilogue were released, featuring all 38 Troll Call trolls.

== Trivia ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20150331114028/http://mspaforums.com/showthread.php?55871-A-Homestuck-Video-Game-!-%28Kickstarter-FAQ-and-Discussion%29&p=7769966#post7769966 The game exists for the sole purpose of keeping wiki editors busy.]
* The concept art for the circus area resembles the art style of some of Andrew Hussie's earlier work, such as ''[[And It Don't Stop]]'' and ''[[Whistles]]''.
* A full [[Alternian alphabet#(New) Alternian Alphabet|new Alternian alphabet]] has been introduced in the game and its albums. This change was probably made to avoid copyright claims from Bethesda, as the Alternian "[[Daedric alphabet]]" of the comic is simply a vertically flipped edit of its namesake from the Elder Scrolls series of video games.

== See also ==
* [[List of Hiveswap characters]]
* [[List of Hiveswap locations]]
* [[Hiveswap achievements]]
* [[Hiveswap: Act 1]]
* [[Hiveswap: Act 2]]
* [[Hiveswap: Act 3]]
* [[Hiveswap Friendship Simulator]]
* [[Troll Call]]

== References ==
<references />

== External links ==
* [http://hiveswap.com Official website]
* ''Hiveswap'' purchase links
** Steam: [https://store.steampowered.com/app/623940/HIVESWAP_Act_1/ Act 1]
** Humble Store: [https://www.humblebundle.com/store/hiveswap-act-1 Act 1] ([https://www.humblebundle.com/store/hiveswap-act-1-soundtrack-edition Soundtrack Edition])
** GOG: [https://www.gog.com/game/hiveswap Act 1] ([https://www.gog.com/game/hiveswap_act_1_soundtrack_edition Soundtrack Edition])

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[[Category:Games]]
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