Here is the process for creating a background in our game Desi Leaves Town. We have a Devlog over at the TIGSource Forums if anyone is interested in tracking the development in more detail.

Trish Keenan from Broadcast passed away. She was amazingly talented with a hauntingly beautiful voice. The Broadcast became one of my favorite bands over a decade ago. Discovering them for the first time truly felt like stumbling upon something really special. I saw them every chance I could and it saddens me to know that I wont be able to ever again.

Trish Keenan you will be missed by many, but we are grateful that you left a bit of you behind in the form of song.

This is one of the new projects we are working on. It’s a story / puzzle game that follows the exploits of an eccentric frog named Desi, who is voiced by Riley Martin. The game is an adaptation of the 1884 novel A Rebours by Joris-Karl Huysman.

Lately people have been inquiring about the status of Sonorasaurus for the iPhone and why it has not been updated for a long time and if we will be able to bring in the new features they desire.

A bit of history on Sonorasaurus – it was the second app our studio created. The project began because we wanted to create something interesting for the iPhone that could appeal to DJs in different ways. For those familiar with DJing it would be a great option in case their equipment failed. For those new to DJing it could be a way to experience the art form through emerging yet accessible technology.

After Sonorasaurus’ debut it was promptly pirated. Real sales for Sonorasaurus were pitiful and have remained so. After over a year of being available, units sold are still less than 1,000. This is in direct contrast to the number of pirated copies, at last count close to 200,000 before I became too disheartened to continue to keep a tally. Of course piracy is one of the realities of the world, but the degree we have experienced is constantly threatening to shut our doors.

Many people may have been thinking that we just lost interest in the iPhone version because of the added capabilities of the iPad and the dazzle of a new platform. The truth is we have wanted to work on Sonorasaurus. A lot. But frankly we cannot afford to work on it given our limited resources. Pajamahouse is a very very small studio.

Great things are planned for Sonorasaurus and Sonorasaurus Rex. We want to be able to bring them to you and at a much quicker rate. We have also been inspired by what Amanita did back in August with Machinarium.

So we are putting Sonorasaurus on sale for a while. If we get a good enough response we can move ahead with the updates we have planned and bring Sonorasaurus for iPhone up to date – starting with Retina Display and iPod Library Access. You can get the app for cheap now and the updates later for free.

Even if only 10% of the pirates pick up the app it will make a difference.

Our pirate amnesty sale begins now.

Update: There is a bit of discussion going on about this over at Palm Sounds. Feel free to join in and share your opinions: the-palm-sound.blogspot.com/2011/01/sonorasaurus-price-drops-as-part-of.html