Hey everyone! It's been a while since I really posted anything regarding the game. That comes a little bit from forgetting to use / update GameJolt, but it also comes from my lack of priorities with this game (which will be something I get into). This is gonna be a long one, so let's just get going.

DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS / PRIORITIES

When I originally started making this game, I expected it to take me all of a few weeks as I wasn't planning on making it a big game or have much to it besides basically random = funny humor. And the game stopped being worked on when my computer lost all the files. The point of this is that my entire view of this game changed when I got some form of the game back. I hated how stupid the game was as it wasn't stupid in a funny way, or just in a fun way. It was hard to play and accept the humor because it was a game made by a 13 year old.

All of that wraps around priorities. The game has taken me so long (thus far) because I've spent so much time doing different things that were just completely out-of-order with how you'd make a game. In my last post, I mentioned I was starting to do real art for the game. That is true, but it's also a ridiculous move because I still don't have the game in a shape where you could play it from start to finish and have a real experience. So here's how I'm finally handling it.

LIST OF PRIORITIES FOR THE GAME:

1. Finish the "story" so a playable game can be made. This doesn't include side quests, or other tasks / activities that aren't important to get the player from start to finish. This includes all weapons, skills, armor, classes, etc. needed for a player to get from the beginning to the end to be implemented enough for the game. Rough sprites for every character in the game that is necessary (which includes the facial sprites) will also be included here. Any characters that either have one or two dialogue lines or don't add anything to the main story will remain as placeholders until this is done.

2. Finish all side quests / other tasks and activities. This would also be the place where all weapons, skills, armor, classes, etc. are cleaned up and finalized - gameplay wise. This would also be where I'd implement all of the remaining OST and sound effects.

3. Bug / beta test the gameplay. I want to do this before any art is cleaned up and finalized as making sure the gameplay is where it needs to be is way more important. This would also mean any changes needed to fix balances based on classes, weapons, etc. would be made here. They would start in no. 2, but would completely finalize here.

4. Clean up the art for all character and facial sprites. Making tilesets for every area will be the hardest for me. So doing all of this would come first as I'd want to make sure there would be nothing else needed once the tilesets are finished.

5. Make all tilesets and implement them into RPG Maker MV.

This is a rough list because I don't want to bore you by giving a detailed list of every last thing I need to do. But I wanted to show you all that I understand where this game needs to go and what needs to be done first before everything else. Even for a jokey-type game like this, I want to treat the development as serious as possible. I have plans for games in the future and if I can't handle making a game like this, there's no way I'd be able to make a game like the ideas I've had.

THE END GOAL FOR NOW

Here's a question that I'm sure has been in your heads for a while.

"What is the current / end goal for the game?"

I've had this in my head for a long time. I want to get an alpha build / demo out. An alpha build / demo to me would either halfway through no. 1 on the list or have that be completed. And I've been working more towards that. For instance, without spoiling all my ideas, I've been implementing one of the most important areas in the game (as of now) because most of the "story" cannot go forward without it. I had to take a break from working on the game because I honestly ran out of ideas, but that break helped me come up with a lot of the ideas needed to move forward.

With that, I've finished the player face sprites.

The player is the only character who's art obviously doesn't fall into making rough versions and cleaning up later. My reasoning behind this is you see them the most. You read what they have to say and while yes, you also talk to other characters, all of them will come and go. But it was important to me to get the player in a state where they were considered finished, facial sprite wise. Other things might change and that applies to all characters, but this is a big step IMO. A big problem I've ran into for a while is having to stop writing dialogue or testing events and cutscenes due to the player needing a sprite I hadn't drawn at that point.

Another part of reaching my current goal is where different areas fall in my eyes when it comes to the story and gameplay. I have a list of the areas that specifically are needed for the story and anything that doesn't fall into that list isn't my biggest priority right now. For example, the first town has a few different areas that aren't important besides being a shop or a place to rest. Obviously, they're important in their own right, but not for what the game needs at the moment. That also applies to a lot of the quests. A few of them are story-important (from the ones I have in the game at this point) but a lot aren't. So while I may have an idea on how to finish the quest, it isn't implemented yet because it's not important at the moment.

I also want to say that the alpha build / demo will not be public. I'm going to give it to some close people to let them test the game. I don't want to publish a game in that state, even as an early-access type thing.

I have more ideas than I've had in the last few months for this game. And a good portion of them apply to the story. I also have a lot of ideas in general for the game. I am still working on this and I will get something out in the future (hopefully by the end of the year but no promises). I will definitely post more devlogs as things get finished and closer to my goals.

I hope you all are doing well and thank you for reading!

See you all soon! :)