Been a little while since we’ve given a full development update. But I’m proud to announce that all the alpha version’s APIs have been completed. The next step is to assemble all the different packages to play nicely together in a single code base.

We’ve been receiving a lot of questions surrounding the alpha demo, Kickstarter, and other topics. So we thought a quick Q&A would be a good way to answer everything.

Q. What differences should I expect from the alpha demo?

This is a complete code-base rewrite of the pre-alpha demo. We’ve literally rewritten everything to be more stable, extendible, and modular. Here is a run-down of the big changes you should notice in the demo.

• AI navigation is significantly more intelligent

• Coal’s combos are much easier to perform

• Aerial combat now works a lot like Devil May Cry with floating mechanics

• Enemy alarm system now allows for some group think tactics

• Lighting system upgrade

• Weapon crafting now available

• Potion crafting now available

• Skill trees now available to spend your skill points on

• Dynamic button display for tutorials based on controller input

• Saves now supported

• Item interaction queue for overlapping interactables

• New dynamic sound system

There is a ton more developer oriented stuff I won’t bore you with. But this should give you a good snapshot of what to expect.

Q. Will this be the same content as the pre-alpha demo?

Demo’s content will feature new characters, a different story, new enemies, and more. We’ve been working to cement the major story arcs of the game. This snapshot is a section from the currently planned content.

Q. How are you going to fix bugs in future builds? Bug fixes were terrible in the pre-alpha demo and some are still there.

We now have our alpha version generating cloud builds. Which means new builds are automatically created as we change the code. What this means is we can now rapidly make changes to the demo for bug fixes and deploy it without breaking or affecting code after we finalize the demo. Bugs will get fixed in a timely manner after being reported. We’re taking big steps to make sure this demo doesn’t end up with a code base that can’t be updated post-release.

Q. Is there still going to be a Kickstarter campaign?

Yes! Expect to hear more on this as official announcements roll out for the alpha demo. Right now we’re focusing our efforts on the new demo’s pre-production.

Q. Will there be a Coal plushie?

Yes, one of our Kickstarter rewards will be a Coal plushie. We currently have a prototype being made. Image below is a preview.

Q. Wasn’t the alpha demo supposed to be done a year ago originally? Feels like this is taking forever.

Originally we thought we could continue working on the pre-alpha and evolve it into an alpha version. After consulting with other indies who’ve created RPGs and receiving community feedback, we decided this wasn’t feasible. We needed to rewrite our code base to accommodate a massive amount of content. This was only doable by going through a large scale code recycle process that set us back from our original plans by roughly a year.

Good news is, we now have a much more modular game framework we think our fans will be happier with. Our team is extremely dedicated to creating a high quality product we can be proud of.