Jamie Antonisse

It turns out everything changes.

I knew that, of course... babies know it. But the last three months have reinforced that fact.

Here's my first tease of Spectre stuff... a few pieces of character art from our art director, Mike Rossmassler.

This is our hero, Joseph Wheeler. known to the team as "Specs".

36 hours 'til the IGF deadline... and the Spectre team is racing towards the finish.

(Above, Sam Farmer and Asher Vollmer tightening up the graphics on level two. NO, those amazing blue and orange worms will not be in the final game)

When I remember that six weeks ago this was just an inkling, a bare concept that Sean and I decided might benefit from a team, I can hardly believe it. The way these eight people have pulled together and, outside their already busy school, work and social lives, turned a shadow into a fully fledged game... words fail me (possibly due to lack of sleep).

We're not the only IMD team racing towards the November 15th student deadline... Andre Clark, Mike Rossmassler and Ian Dallas (and perhaps others that I'm forgetting) are all in the final stretch as well preparing their own games, pushing the envelope of this medium. Good luck to all you fellow IGF travellers... and if you get the chance, wish us luck as well.

And that, our first screenshot of Spectre, represents perfectly how I will feel tomorrow...

after I've slept a few hours.

Well, the winter break is over... and as Matt Korba pointed out, it's likely to be the last school vacation of my life. I'm ready for this last semester, ready to move on to other things, but the notion of graduation always makes me a little misty-eyed.

But while school may be coming to an end for me, Spectre is just starting to come into its own. We have two things to announce: first, the Spectre website is live... go to http://www.spectregame.com and check it out! Sean's done some great work for the site, including images, team bios and a forum. The download section is quiet for now, but that will change soon enough.

In addition, I just finished cutting the first Spectre trailer. Check it out:

If you have comments on either the site or the trailer, leave them below!