With the new year coming up, I wanted to share some of the progress being done behind the scenes, as well as other plans that will be developed throughout next year! To start with, here is the current status of NPC tales and what is planned going forward. With the Shopkeeper demo being mostly done, focus will shift to the Adventurer demo, which will handle more of the mechanics, user experience, animation and some other progression ideas. New characters and interactions are also planned to be added, so you won’t be stuck with just the technical side of development. The next few updates will be focusing on adding the new combat system.
As mentioned, a lot is being done in the background and mainly kept under wraps as to not spoil future updates. That being said, I do want to share some of the work here, for a better perspective on everything that is going on and more will follow throughout the development! The world map has mostly been planned out with some room left over for some ideas that may be added later, depending on how it goes, as right now I'm focusing on the main parts of the game currently planned. The map displayed here is more of a blueprint, depicting planned out areas and paths as well as and idea of the content that has to be made for each. The design available in game may change over time, to which I will refer to your input going forward! On the right side is an early draft of the forest map that will be available in the in the Adventurer demo, where you'll be able to choose which areas to explore and what monsters to fight.
Background scenes are also being drafted bit by bit. I've been working on keeping them more consistent and leave room for more intractable objects that may be added later on.
A lot of the concepts for future characters have already been done, some of which also have been rendered and will be added to the dressup mini game, which will be available in the new Patreon tier coming early next year. This mini game will also serve to preview and vote on outfits and designs. While on topic, I still have some features to iron out, so that in the future I can simply and quickly add new character to it, without any complications or bugs popping up!
While the dressup mini game will be part of the new patreon tier, It will also be available to everyone else to the point of already available characters, but also new character profiles as I've done previously. The new tier will also include more spoilers for those hungry for more information or want to give more input before any of it is implemented into the game!
As far as How to train your Hero and InnHeat, they are also slowly being worked on in the background, updating the design and art style, as well as some on paper logistics. I also plan on using some of my spare time to start on testing out unity, as I'm starting to feel more confident using these game engines, so I would like to get a feel for it to be more prepared should I make a switch at some point which will probably include at least these two games. But to start with, I'll probably keep it very simple, which I'll also share with everyone here!
I'm planning on adding a programmer some time next year to help boost the development, I already have people in mind so once I go trough everything with them I'll update you more on that. I understand that doing this on my own is taking too long and may be asking too much of everyone supporting the development. I’m hoping that this info dump will give ease to some of the concerns regarding the current situation and development.Lastly, a personal note for those interested or concerned. Currently everything is stable and other than the occasional errand, I am able to focus more on my work.I wanted to thank you for all your support and encouragement, including any and all criticism! It’s no secret that I have been going through a tough time, affecting my work as well as my mental state. That being said, all your support and enthusiasm has made a great impact on me, pushing me to make better content for you all! Thank you all for having my back throughout all the development, as well as my personal problems that have delayed my work! I’m looking forward to delivering more interesting and fun games going forward! Cheers!P.S. - New shopkeeper update will be up in a few days!