Great. So no sooner do I promise a big June prototype than I have to cover for two people at work. Everyone loves June vacations!
I’m trying to get the H-Scenes done with priority and the artists are behind, as usual. Rune’s status has deteriorated so I might have to get Hund to take over finalized coloring. Fortunately, I have most of the code changes I want in place, and it’s mostly scenario writing left to go. Saving and Loading might get axed though.
So, Rune is now back to work and is promising to be able to complete one character per day, which is very welcome after having to wait for finals.
I’m still not sure exactly what my targets for the June prototype are going to be. I would love to be able to squeeze in the two remaining transformations/monsters but I’m not sure if the art will be ready in time. I think it might be best just to narrow the scope: Everything except the Quantir Mansion and the Chapter’s ending sequence will be included in the prototype in some way. You’ll be able to find the mansion but not enter it.
I did some testing with Rune this weekend. In addition to finding a bunch of little bugs, I was delighted that he enjoyed the dialogue, world, and combat overhaul. Everything seems to be on track for those parts of development.
Here’s what I’m hoping the June prototype will contain over the first prototype:
-Overhauled combat, leveling, and under-the-hood mechanics (done!)
-Expanded transformation scenes with more playable components
-Redone initial dungeon (90% done)
-Redone dimensional trap (that’s the mansion you start in the basement of)
-New defeat scenes with saucy content (specifically, Alraune loses to Bee)
-All major cutscenes before Quantir complete (One to go, other than the defeat scenes)
-Dialogue sequences with all major characters (Florentina’s is incomplete)
-Time permitting, H-Scenes with various characters. You’ll know when you see them.
-A map so you don’t get lost so often (Hund is working on it, Patrons will get to see it when it’s done!)
-Fixed Boost’s damn filesystem problems.
Unfortunately, the artists are not available until the end of the week, at which point Rune finishes his finals and can get back to coloring stuff. I do have Urimas making sprites. Hoping to finish the monster sprites by the end of the week, and after that we’re pretty much done Chapter 1’s sprites and tiles.
I’ve also finished most of the combat overhaul I had wanted to do. It’s quite different from the previous system, though it retains much of its old appearance. I’m using a much more flexible system of resistances and abilities, plus gaining transformations changes stats and unlocks abilities. There is now a reason to play as each of the forms.
I don’t think we’re on track for a May Prototype 2 at the current rate, since the art is quite a bit behind where I want it to be. There will probably be a June prototype release instead, which should have the scenario completed and playable start to finish even if the art is placeholder.
All right, been a very busy work week for me but I managed to get most of the map work done for the second part of Chapter 1. I’m still waiting on a few tiles and have a few rooms left to go, but the mapping for Chapter 1 is almost complete.
I do still want to revisit the earlier maps with all the new stuff I’ve learned to make them prettier. Once I have the scenario work completed, I can start work on the H-Scenes for Chapter 1.
Comrades, this week I can report that Chapter 1’s scenario work has passed the 50% mark. A town and a dungeon need to be mapped, and then the map work is complete. 2/3rds of the major cutscenes and dialogues have been completed, with four major dialogue trees needing to be written and two major cutscenes needing to be written.
I do intend to revisit the basement where the game starts once I finish the mapping. I have a cutscene I want to add there and I want to rework the layout a great deal with all the tricks I’ve learned over the course of the other maps. I also want to expand the optional parts of the intro dungeon and probably rework the main floor of the mansion to make it more spacious.
I have been considering a major overhaul to the leveling system. As it stands, the level system is quite complex but is grind-heavy in a game that’s about exploring and discovering and talking to NPCs. In fact I might remove the conventional EXP system and go with something else altogether, but I haven’t decided. Rune proposed some interesting ideas so I’ll see what shakes out once I finish the scenario work.
The artists haven’t done much in the last week, with Chicken being busy and Rune entering into finals season (American education, ladies and gentlemen). I am going to have Hund make the world map once I have finalized the layout. The world map will be stylized, not a 1:1 representation. You’ll be able to tell that something is generally south of your location but you’ll have to figure out the specifics yourself.
I’m not sure if the artists will be able to make the May Prototype 2 deadline at the current rate. I would rather not have to release the next prototype without the art caught up, but I also want to make sure the public has something to digest. We’ll see how it goes.
Salty here. This week we’ve been plugging along as usual. Pretty much all of the engine work I needed is done, with a few bugs and tweaks left to be sorted out. Most of the outdoor world for Chapter 1 has been completed, though there are a few spots on the edges of the map that block progress until Chapter 6 that haven’t been finished yet.
I’ve started on the cutscenes and dialogue, working my way through Trannadar up to the Pit Stop and Outland Farm. Once all of those are done, I’ll be working on the “dungeon” of the first chapter, and then Chapter 1 is pretty much good to go.
On the art front, Rune has time between finals (finally) to do some coloring work. Chicken has finished all of the base character designs for the first chapter and has started work on dialogue portraits and Mei’s alternate forms. Hund has been reassigned to color the dialogue portraits to ease the burden on Rune, while Urimas has only a few more sprite sheets to go before he’s done the chapter 1 requirements.
If everything goes well, there will probably be another prototype released towards the end of May. This is not a guarantee, I don’t know if the artists will be able to keep up, but the scenario should be complete by then.
After being away for the previous week, I came home and promptly got sick. Then I had to work on a different project. That’s all done now, so we’re back to business here.
I did managed to finish up the item upgrade system and got some baseline writing done for the next set of scripted sequences. From here on out it’s mostly mapping and scenario writing, so I should be able to finish the rest of Chapter 1’s scenario in May. Hopefully the artists are caught up by then and we can do a second prototype!
Not much got done this week by virtue of me being out of town for most of it. Most of the improvements were the small number of engine-related things that need to be done before we go into pure scenario stuff. I’ve developed (but not finished) a mechanic for upgrading items, for example, and fixed a number of bugs that had been mentioned during the first prototype release.
Next week I’ll likely finish up the rest of the bugs and start putting in the sections of the map that were dummied out in the prototype. I’ve been asked multiple times to put a map in the game, so that’ll certainly be done before the next prototype.
Salty here. I got some good feedback from the prototype last week. We got nearly 2000 downloads and less than 10 feedback posts, which is about what I had expected.
I’ve finished most of the shopping interface and have added additional party members to the game. I’ve got a long list of improvements I need to make from the beta testers plus some I found myself that nobody else noticed (shame on you lot!).
As for art, we’ve got sketches of Mei’s transformation to a slime and her bee form. Alraune Mei is on the way, at which point I’ll be ordering Chickenwhite to finish the remaining unique characters before she finishes the rest of the TF sequences. The sketches will be up on Patreon soon for anyone who wants to see them.
This month’s budget report might be a little later than usual since my folks want me back home for Easter. I’ll see if I can get it done while away. Progress will also be a bit slower for the same reason, but I’ll see if I can fix the SDL loading bug and get a Mac Allegro build going while I’m off.
This is contingent on me getting a few code things handled. We’ll be using whatever art is available, and filling in the parts over time. Remember, this is a bug-and-feedback release, much of Chapter 1’s content is either not present or dummied out since it’s incomplete. I’ll be looking to see how everyone likes the combat system, art style, gameplay, and so on.
I’m thinking putting together a prototype survey might be in order for the 2nd or 3rd release, depending on feedback. I don’t prefer doing surveys since they tend to constrain the valid answers, but most people don’t write long-form feedback so we make do with what we have.
Chapter 1’s development is proceeding quite well. I’ve grabbed some music and SFX from opengameart.org (if you’re making an indie game, go there. It’s the best damn site ever!), did a bunch of editing to make them fit, and did some programming tricks to make the battle sequences look nice even with their terrible, terrible UI.
I’ve also completed writing for the first three transformation scenes and will be putting them in the game this week. Sit tight, Adventure is on its way!
Pandemonium Development 