Since the last update on here where I showcased some of the 'on map' states, and their display within the status screen on the games menu, I've been going over and refining key elements of the game up to the present point. Prior to this, the focus was getting the next regions completed and the main events added in and working correctly. Afterwards, it was a case of getting the extra pieces working and fixing anything that didn't work as intended, something that took far longer than expected, partially because it then led to new mechanics being added to get things working as envisioned.

Of particular note for time consuming tasks, is the balance of the game overall. A small tweak to attack and defence stats can mean retesting from the beginning all over again to ensure progression is still smooth and doesn't turn the game into a grind. I'm pretty pleased with where the balance is currently, and I'm hopeful the playtests done over the next day or 2 won't show any remaining balance issues. One of the key problems that was faced was the starter enemies doing minimal to no damage once the characters had mid tier armour equipped and gained a few levels. Various damage formulas were tried which work with scaling damage, but ultimately they didn't quite achieve the desired effect.

To counter this, there is now a minimum damage that enemies will always do, so whilst a battle could be immensely easy, you will still take some damage at least, whilst still feeling powerful in comparison.

I've also been going over the games conversations with more detail, so grammar errors are (hopefully) less of a thing now. Spelling has been fixed across the board, and the auto colours for key text pieces are now working as intended. Some conversations have had refinement to work smoother, especially where multiple choice prompts were displayed. Some of the events have been adjusted to be somewhat more automated, eg, the initial mayor conversation now automatically moves your character for some aspects and keeps the dialogue flowing. Chest text etc has also been standardised across all maps.

Item chests etc have all been amended, with some new additions as well. Lore books have been added to each town which provide a brief history of the area, and tell you a little more about world you are in as well. Additional side quests for the starting area have been added as the game progresses as well. Other towns will be receiving side quests in the future, but I'm holding off with these until the game is more content complete to make full use of each area.

Behind the scenes, I've been working on completing functionality for the plugins the game is using. For instance, the Save Game plugin now has pictures to use for each area of the game, making it easier to remember where you were when it comes to loading a save a few days later. Further fine tuning of other plugins has also been made, with the Log Book being a key feature that is now much more useful to use throughout the game.

As a solo developer who started out with next to no knowledge of JS and minimal skill at image editing, things have taken me a lot longer to do than I'd personally have liked. Whilst further refinements will be made towards in-game tile sets in general, things are presently in a much better place. Sometimes, it's the little details that make all the difference.

That being said, if you are a photoshop wizard and want to help out with some basic sprite and tile sheet edits, please do send me a message and perhaps we can work something out!

Whilst this isn't the demo update I know a few people are waiting on, I hope this somewhat explains the current dev process and the thought process behind how I'm doing things. I do hope to push out an updated demo in the coming weeks.

As always, any comments and questions are welcomed, as well as suggestions you may have.