More art from Sehad! This choice is not a surprise, but I think it will be a popular one. ^-^ Aside from that, this week will highlight a new book launch, ramble about schedule management, and show some new Omnipocalypse screenshots.
Book Launch
Middle of next week, I'm going to be doing another book launch (Depthless Hunger 2). I find the release cycle exhausting so I often take a break from other stuff when this happens, but with the publisher choosing a mid-week date, I'm going to just keep pushing forward.
Here are the links to the ebook and audiobook versions:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GSNJW3BL
https://www.audible.com/pd/Depthless-Hunger-2-Audiobook/B0GGD958RN
Audible really cares about preorders but I'm ambivalent about them for ebooks. Just do whatever is convenient for you. And if you haven't tried it yet, consider grabbing (ebook, audiobook) the first book in the series first!
The series is most likely complete at five books. This second release is probably the last chance for it to gain any traction, otherwise the fifth book concludes a whole host of subplots and character arcs. I negotiated with Audible specifically to make sure that all five would get audiobooks so readers get a reasonably complete experience.
Schedule Juggling
I am feeling pretty good about my schedule overall, based on how things are coming together. There are some times when I have too much on my plate (like the previous weeks), but I'm not overwhelmed and I think I made the right decision for the long term.
How I see it: while I'm overbooked on occasion, if I didn't tackle a diverse array of projects, at other times I would have been massively underbooked for long periods, and that's no fun. With projects like Don't Save the Princess or Slave Rehabilitator, I've ended up sitting and waiting for long stretches. Sometimes work on SR has cut into other projects, but if I had started that entire process after TLS or during some other lull, there would have been long gaps in being able to deliver anything to patrons, with me twiddling my thumbs and doing mostly management.
I hope that the things I've finished recently, and will be finishing soon, are proof of the multitasking strategy, but enough abstract rambling. Let's look at some screenshots highlighting all the new things I've been working on!
Omnipocalypse Progress
Version 0.2.0 will not be just some fixes, I hope to take care of nearly all tech debt, finish the partially-constructed content, and also improve things overall. The first screenshot is an example of the last, because this build will have some new features I couldn't include before:
I'm sure you're all familiar with how "Defend" is a nearly-unused command in many RPGs, because it's just not effective for action economy outside of the rare "giant telegraphed attack" from a boss. Well, thanks to Rachnera I can take a page from Bravely Default and let players store up a turn.
So, as seen above, you can get the benefit of blocking against the swarm of attacks from enemies, then you still get the same number of actions after. "Prepare" is the most generic version of this, available to all characters, but there are various upgraded versions. Some characters may get more defense while storing a turn, some may build up energy, etc. I hope this will make defending a more interesting part of the overall system.
It isn't highlighted, but we also have a "wait" option that required custom coding! It delays a character's turn until after the next ally moves, thus ensuring you get turns in a row, which could be relevant for the following...
These options interact with the "status combo" system I've discussed before. Some players had trouble with the combos and/or didn't find them satisfying, and there are definitely times where you could get disabled by enemies between steps. With the ability to store up or rearrange turns, you can guarantee setup and payoff together... though that wouldn't always be most effective, so it's just another option in the player's toolbox.
Those of you who played 0.1.x will remember that the missions given in the hub were a line of sparklies - that was always intended to be a placeholder, but I was able to upgrade it sooner than expected! Now you can pick your missions from out of a list, which is a flexible system that should be able to function throughout the game.
This is obviously a QoL improvement over having to remember the order of a bunch of events, but I think the greater benefit will be in the future when I have deployed more art budget. You see that space off to the left? The plan is to have a map of the city there with an icon that will change to show the location of the mission. Just one of the planned improvements that I hope will make the game flow smoothly.
Alright, let's do a subtler screenshot so I can talk about handling details:
This is how the end of combat looks - it's a little fancier, but what I actually want to emphasize is the "$" line. Those who played the first version will remember that when enemies gave non-standard money, it was just handed to you in an extra box after the battle, which I always felt was clunky. Well, thanks to Rachnera you can now receive that reward smoothly with the others, without having to change all the underlying code based on the old system.
The main reason Omnipocalypse 0.2.0 is taking so long is that there are just so many details to take care of, more arising all the time. But, I want to emphasize, I don't feel like I'm treading water! I can see progress on a daily basis, more and more of the game coming together, my playtesting getting smoother. I think the next build, with a complete overhaul of everything and all skipped contact, is within sight.
So next week we have an audiobook launch on Tuesday... and maybe a game build on Friday. I can't 100% guarantee I can handle both, but I'm feeling positive about it!