Happy holidays everyone! Hope you have fun doing things you like with the people you love. Nothing in this world is permanent, so always remember to appreciate the good times when they are around.
For this post, I wanted to note a few things about the new graphics. When I started this hobby-turned-job I was only 20 years old and struggling with my university studies, the few bucks I made with Sunny Coast College all went for the Katrina commissions and there was nothing left for the map. So, Domina used a variety of free assets I found online, from various artists and various styles. When you are just starting game dev and you are penniless, this scavanging of random map pieces is common to see in games like this, I'm not the first nor the last to do it. But after several years of development and growth there's no reason for this practice to continue.
The entirety of the game will now use assets from the same creator, with the same art direction. All pieces are professionally made and commissioned/bought to keep consistency across a playthrough. I am personally a big fan of the new style and I can't wait to show you the new realms :3.
The same applies to music. Most audio was sourced from royalty-free releases and can stay, but others were a bit more murky and I'm not sure I can actually use. The Cerulean Fields theme comes to mind, which I think was originally sourced from an old PS1 game (lol). The questionable music choices have been replaced with new tracks.
All in all, these changes really make the game feel fresh and like a new experience. The addition of new content/locations/NPCs also helps with this.
P.S. The christmas tree won't actually stay for the release :P