Want to see how we’re wasting all your money on cocaine and jawbreakers? You can see it here!
Coding, Art, And Other Stuff
I have completed the map layout work for Westwoods, the next section of chapter 2. Obviously, I still have a lot of work to go. Enemies, scenario, map glue, save points, etc. But hey, the layouts are done!
We had a fundraiser for friend of the team Sinpai last week, so the artists are now working on fulfilling those obligations. Maybe you’ll get to see some of it? I don’t know, it’s up to the people who requested it.
Okay the stuff DrDiss made, you’ll see that. Hoo boy.
Fan Art! Fan Art!
This piece was done by Miraimiru on DeviantArt! It’s Werecat Christine! Commissioned by Justin Kinniger.
Werecats have such a cute widdle nose I love them.
Next up, we have a series of the best thing in the world: Doll Transformations! Christine got turned into a doll, and then decided to help her “friends” get the same treatment. My fave is Lotta because god I love maids, but god damn do Mei and Sanya’s outfits get me.
And here we have SLAYER SANYA by Chris from Discord.
I don’t think she needs the rifle when she has her bare hands.
Lastly, we have a strange piece. Artist Chris from Discord said he’d make a piece for me (Salty) if I worked a couple more hours instead of playing video games or whatever after a workday. So I finished a bunch of maps until my eyes were crossed, and we got: Command Unit Sanya!
We even got inexplicable emotes in case some maniac (not me) wants to mod them in.
Big thanks to all of our wonderful fan artists and followers! Enjoy!
In other news, at 1pm Central time today I will be hosting a fundraiser for friend of the team and noted fan-artist Squeaky Sinpai. The discord is discord.gg/VqgzMBk and will involve playing Minecraft and building (presumably) dong towers. Many of the Starlight staff have made their services available for pledges, so you could get Chicken to sketch your OC or even a custom animation by Urimas! Come by and donate to charity!
Chicken has finished up Izuna’s emotes, Koops is working on some more bunnies (but they aren’t quite done so patrons get to see them next week), Urimas got me some more trees and is working on ability icons. Hund will be doing the maps for Westwoods once I’m actually done them.
Maps for Westwoods are about 40% done. Hoping to have them finished this week.
Release Information
Chapter 2 goes public on the 2nd of June. I’ll make an update post when the time comes.
Fundraiser!
You know what else happens on the 2nd of June? Friend of the team Squeaky Sin is doing a fundraiser to pay off their insurance, because America is hell. It will be on their discord (which is on their DA home page) and will include Minecraft, lots of stupid bonus material, and raffles and extras you can get by donating! We’ll have Bottled Starlight artists giving away sketches and animations for donors, so come by and drop five bucks!
I will post more information on the day of the fundraiser as part of the update post. See you there!
Fan Art? (Yes)
This piece was commissioned from AkuOreo!
I would tell you to be wary around mirrors but you people are going to spend a week hanging out near one just in case.
More pieces from Blue Lily! Finishing up the moth series, and giving us some skunks (from Unity Edition).
I really love fan art. What more can be said besides that?
This week I finished the backend for the 4th party member in chapter 2, and the maps for the upcoming rabbit warrens. Urimas finally got me the tileset so I can start making the Westwoods area.
Chicken finished Empress’ second combat pose. I liked the first one so much that I’ll be using both, with one for an alternate class. I don’t even know what class but they’re both really good pieces! Koops is working on some more bunny designs and Urimas will be getting me ability icons.
I have another project that will be reaching announcement fairly soon, probably before the end of June. Look forward to that.
Fan Art!
I created a page to store all the fan art! The page contains the pieces as well as where you can find the artist. In fact we have even more of it this week!
These were done by artist BlueLilytZ and here is their FurAffinity page.
I keep making fun of the fact that 2022 has been a pretty shit year so far and ha ha it’s really been a shit decade. Chicken got sick, Koops’ cat Niko got sick! Things aren’t great on that front.
I’m making maps for the next part of the chapter and Urimas is almost done the new sprites for Empress.
Version 4.03 is out, mostly bugfixes and a bit of balancing. It should be on Itch/Steam and the patron downloads page as usual. Remember the file contains the changelog.
Fan Art!
Hey you know what rules? Fan art.
First, we have Jeanne transformed into a maid doll, dusting her own runestone. Drawn by Myrmidia. Probably my favourite piece so far!
It’s Mei in her human form (as rare as that is to see). Done by 达达利亚干饭我 (sorry, don’t have a link to their site or anything).
And here we have a kitsune turned into an alraune. Don’t ask how that works. By Mako Hayashi.
Curious Cat
This is now a Niko blog. RoP is cancelled it’s all Niko from now on.
I spent most of the week fixing bugs, wow who would have thought. Chicken is designing a new character (patrons get to see her today!), Koops is designing a new character (patrons get to see her next week!), Urimas… made some sprites but mostly did his own thing. Hund, who can say?
It’ll be back to maps for me later, but keep the bug reports coming.
Version 4.02 is out
If you’re a patron, it’s on the downloads page. Steam users should have gotten the update automatically, and Itch users can find it on the game’s page. Changelogs are available on the downloads page or in the changelog file inside the zip.
Feedback Poll
This poll was conducted with everyone who has played chapter 2 so far. Obviously there might be little itty bitty spoilers in it, so don’t read it if you’re going in totally blind.
Wow who would have thought the people who like the game enough to spend money on it like it! But it also means we’re going in the right direction.
Combat balance is slightly too difficult, so enemies will probably get their HP’s toned down somewhat. It’s meant to be hard, because you’re out of chapter 1 and the game expects you know how it works, but not that hard.
A generally positive or neutral response, so these will be put into other abilities. They’re “better” in that they communicate more information than the previous version of the text.
The green chests will definitely be getting put into other chapters, though they aren’t as important since chapter 2 has the crafting system. It’s still a nice system to make the world a bit more alive and give you a reason to re-explore it, and maybe you’ll find something you missed.
I can’t believe you people like puzzles.
The dynamic map both shows the overall layout of the playable area, but also updates as you visit parts and shows connections to areas you haven’t been to yet. Since the result was positive, we’ll go back and update chapter 1 and 5’s maps accordingly – eventually.
Ha ha most of you found – the hey wait. Zoom in.
Zoom in again.
Son of a bitch!
I will probably decrease materials requirements slightly. It should take some work and make you want to pick your items carefully, but not be so much that you don’t make forward progress.
I can’t take this seriously because I’m just that cool. Wish I had a way to outwardly show that.
Going forward things will be tightened up a little bit, but most people think they’re about right.
I know my audience and my audience loves killing.
The minigame will be expanded, and most people think that even if it’s not good now, it can be good. I’ll give you some unique equippables, tougher enemies, and even make you fight groups. It’ll be great!
Pretty strong positive response, though I am surprised statue was actually more popular than werebat.
Close the trap!
1: The werebat TF is going to get some descriptions, but Mario hasn’t finished them yet. 2: Sanya isn’t mind-control proof, and most people don’t think of the TFs as anemic. 3: Zeke’s power progression needs to be balanced against his late-game potential. Once everyone else stops buying skills, he gets to keep doing that. He may get other upgradeable skills later. For now I can balance him by making his earlier equipment better.
Also he’s a goat so making him OP is just unfair to the humans who play this game. It’s not real life!
4: The maps feel empty because most of the stuff in them – isn’t in them! This is Legend of Zelda rules. Surely you saw those odd grappling posts, the spots of stone flooring that don’t fit, or the boulders?
You know what, sunglasses are going to go on the crafting list. It’s only fair.
Ha ha, straight protagonists. Good one! Sanya is as close as you’re going to get.
Perfect Hatred is the final boss of chapter 2.
The hot spring scene is in as of 4.01, this comment was older than that update. Also they’re going to kiss a lot in various scenes and stuff, don’t worry about it.
Zeke has a bigger portrait because goats can actually get pretty big. Go take a look at some of the bigger ones in youtube videos, they can rival a human!
We may either move the werebat TF to battles, screen transitions, or leave it at resting. I am currently leaning towards battles (though resting would advance it immediately).
(People on the internet tell me that Tom Brady is insane but the guy seems to like goats)
Ha ha, quest log. Good one! NPCs are wacky like that.
Selling the passage of time by adding more scenes also keeps the player from starting the game proper, which is an eternal issue. For every person who says this is too short, someone else will say “Let me play the game!”. Adding an extra hunting session, even if playable, is way overdoing it.
Crowbar-chan is going to have sunglasses and so much more. Just wait and see.
There already is! You can volunteer for the statue one, and the werebat one does not require a defeat at all. In general I try to include both though some (mostly the quest ones) won’t have both.
Sanya is the low-mental-component protagonist. Don’t worry, there’s stuff for the hypno fans. Statue is the least hypno-y TF out of all of them for reasons that will become clear later.
The sunglasses are taking over.
So that’s the general feedback, with a weird running gag that wormed its way into being canon. We do that a lot and do not apologize.
The Patron Steering Survey
$5+ patrons got to vote on our targets for the next big release. Discussion is below, but first, the cave crawler.
Even the $5 patrons love the cave crawler tf. It’ll happen, don’t worry.
So it’s looking like Empress and the Harpies will get priority. The Snow Bunnies are actually (hopefully) going to come along in the next prototype, but that’s due to proximity. They’re right near the entry to the area, and didn’t perform horribly in the poll. Windthralls and Fungoids will have to come in a later release, as they don’t have the proximity excuse.
This means the next release may take some time, as the Harpy Tower Defense minigame will need to be made. I’m looking forward to it, but geez you guys always pick the most involved stuff.
The big winner was the kitsune TF, but joke’s on you, the minigame for it is already in the game’s code! I already made it, ha ha ha! We might also see raptors in that release, but probably not Raelynn or the alraune story. That will come later.
As for the Trials of the Dragon, the grappling hook dungeon will go first. All three can be found in the Old Capital Grounds, and once the area comes out, I’ll try to put one trial in for each major release after that.
Therefore the upcoming plan is: Westwoods (Bunny, Empress, Harpy), Old Capital Grounds (Kitsune, Raptor), Ice Spires (we’ll do a vote on which subquests to do when we develop that) + Grappling Hook Trial, and then we’ll do another vote to pick what order we do the remaining subquests and minor areas.
Curious Cat
I hope you guys are ready for the craziest questions.
Hey wait that’s not a question, that’s internationally renowned cat Pumpkin. Get to the questions!
Yeah bet you didn’t expect TWO cat pictures this week. We here at Bottled Starlight like to keep you guessing.
Yeah it’s version 4.00, to distinguish it from the UI/Balance updates. Look when you spend years making a game, you can set the version numbers however you want.
Version 4.00 is public, since it contains several bugfixes. The patron-only version can be found on the patron pinned post, which you can find here (if you’re a patron). It will give you the page and password to find the chapter 2 intro.
Download the public version 4.00 (Mediafire / Mega.nz) (Win/Lin/Mac Bundled)
If you somehow managed to miss it: This version becomes public in 1 month. We also give out the password to people who send us pics of their dogs and cats (and other animals), compose heartfelt poems about the game, make fan art, or just tell lots of people about it. We want everyone to play our game!
Poll Results: The Cave Crawler Election
Last week I asked whether or not we should add Cave Crawler Sanya as a playable form. So the public is overwhelmingly in favour of the Cave Crawler as an enemy. Good to know.
Wow the people want to play as corrosive bug Sanya! Overwhelmingly!
But they are evenly split on making time to make it, and on only doing it “If we have time”. So, at the meeting today, we decided we’re going to definitely make the Cave Crawler form playable, but not in the next patch. It will get put in “eventually” just not right now.
Oh and that last one is a person suggesting to us that we give her some more phosphorescent corrosive bitties. Cool! Chicken likes that idea.
So What Now?
We’re going to continue development on the next section of chapter 2, which will be Westwoods and the Old Capital Grounds. I will post a poll (this week or next week) for patrons to tell me what they thought of the intro and its many new mechanics, minigames, and playable forms. I already have a lot of maps done, and the artists are just rushing headlong without regard into the next set of enemies and forms.
Version 4.00 Changelog
Major *Chapter 2’s introduction is now playable. No kidding. *Fixed that damn inventory load crash bug. This should be under the Bugs heading but it took so much work to find it that I’m putting it in the major tab. *Go ahead, try to do something about it.
Minor *Refactored the combat execution code. *Added some new indicators for buffs so you can tell at-a-glance what stats got buffed/debuffed. *Mei’s Queen Bee costume now shows up in the journal and on the costume select menu. *The UI should now immediately reflect stat changes when passives are equipped.
Combat Balance *Fixed Christine’s discharge not correctly changing damage types based on the weapon secondary. *Added a distinction in the prediction box. The game will warn you when an attack can only Glance versus a guaranteed miss. *609144 can now be stunned. *Effects modified in battle by a severity (such as 55’s User Manuals) now show the computed effect value in the combat inspector, instead of the base value. *Added a few more gem slots to common low-level armors to allow a bit more early customization.
Bugs *Buyback no longer carries over when loading the game or changing chapters. *Fixed a number of small bugs involving the combat engine. *Latex Drones now show the “Volunteer” icon if you don’t have the form yet. *Fixed some incorrect combat item descriptions. *Fixed a specific box in the LRT facility that was not clipped, and causing much consternation. *Fixed the missing icon for the GOV Gem.
Curious Cat
As a head’s up, I would like everyone to know to Please Not Ask About Chapter 2 Stuff On Curious Cat until 1 month has passed. Some people don’t want to get spoiled! You can instead use our Discord or the TFGS forums, where you can spoiler posts. Links are in the links pile at the bottom of every post!
The Link Pile
Haha wouldn’t it be funny if someone clicked these links as if they owned them? Luckily we have a blockchain certificate that means only we can click them! Don’t click them it’s a crime!
Just fixed some bugs including a crash. Trust me, the wait has been worth it. A few more art pieces are coming in and then we’re good to go.
Patrons should check their… Patron… patronage… to find the chapter 2 downloads page and password. It will be populated with the release on May 2nd.
Patron Poll!?!?!?
There will be a patron poll – right now! It’s about the possibility of bug girls in the future so you know it’ll be great. I know how much you people like bugs.
Unity Edition: Beta 7 is OUT!
You know that other game in the Pandemonium Extended Universe (PEU)? Well guess what, it just hit beta 7 and it now officially has everything. You can play as the T-1000, the long-awaited bimbo, angels, statues, angel statues, and even get a good ending where everyone goes home happy.
I have finished almost all of the codework for chapter 2’s intro. Only the werebat TF remains, plus any bugs that get discovered. The artists are trying to get all the enemies done, as well as the basic emotes.
For simplicity, Chapter 2’s Intro will launch on May 2nd. I wanted to make it “Last Week of April” but I like to launch stuff on Mondays due to our update schedule, so May 2nd it is.
If you are a patron of April, I will do a post on where to find the download when it does get posted. Though obviously I encourage you to continue to be a patron because that’s how this game gets made. Like this is how we pay the artists. You probably knew that but artists actually need real food, they die if they just eat paste.
How Does This Work?
A special page with a password is created, and all patrons are given the link and password for that page. If you decide to stop being a patron at some point in the future, you can still access the page for the remainder of the chapter’s development.
All prototypes get posted to that page first. The prototype then becomes public after one month, because long ago in the mists of time, the patrons voted for the one month delay.
Bugfix releases are pushed pretty regularly as we clean things up, and new art or sprites gets added when it’s available. And then we work on the next update, and usually put up a patron poll to ask what you thought of the release and what features you want to see.
Slitted Eye
At our last team meeting, we decided to put priority on Chapter 2. Slitted Eye will get done “Eventually” but we’re going to push to do at least one more major chapter 2 update before we put any resources into Slitted Eye. Urimas will continue on the animations between spriting assignments.
Coding Stuff
Based on feedback from my MOST VILLAINOUS TESTERS I’ve made some improvements. There is now a new shop UI for unlocking items with crafting materials, and a new re-spawning chest mechanic with randomized loot to help make traipsing through the brush that much more fun. We’ll see how you appreciate these new mechanics at launch, and hell, maybe I’ll retrofit them into chapter 1 and 5 if people want me to.
Artartartart
We now have some more sprites and portraits, but it’s hard to say if we’re on track for the launch. There may be some placeholders still in there, or at least just neutral portraits instead of full emote sheets.
Budget Report
Holy shit did you know we publish our financial records around here – very occasionally? Well now you do, and you can read it here.
Pandemonium Development 