Hey there!

We decided not to post a progress report last month due to a combination of prioritizing development, personal responsibilities, and using October as an excuse to have Koffin-K take over the Twitter account. As you can see, we're posting one this month!

In our September 2022 Progress Report, we mentioned how we're looking to keep our progress reports much shorter in length, since they're written by one person and take a lot of time! As a quick reminder, here's what to expect going forward:

• "Progress Reports" -- Our smaller posts, which mostly cover progress updates.

• "Dev Updates" -- Our more in-depth posts! These generally include progress updates and community spotlights, though may also include sneak previews and longer development insight sections.

We likely won't be doing any Dev Updates for the foreseeable future, so expect to keep seeing Progress Reports -- hopefully they'll continue on a generally monthly basis, but don't always expect it! Since Twitter is currently self-destructing, you can either follow us there or on Tumblr to stay updated with what's going on!

And with that being said, let's start!

Progress Updates

September's progress report detailed how our development priorities for Starlight Isles shifted towards focusing on the major content of Starstruck Village. We're currently:

• Focusing on the script for the final major boss, and implementing sequences with rough placeholder writing or upon completion -- this is taking the most time!

• Implementing attacks based on concept art with finished assets.

• Creating overworld and environment assets as-needed for cutscenes.

• Finalizing the second to final major boss fight in-game, including post-fight sequences.

In terms of our general progress since September:

• Writing -- There's a LOT to talk about here!

  • We've finished the entire script for the second to final major boss fight for Starlight Isles (pre-fight, battle, post-fight, and variations)

  • The script for the area's final major boss fight has been a pretty substantial undertaking thanks to its format and required variants -- we have several pre-fight and post-fight variants completed, the pacifist fight script is almost finished, and the other fight variants are in early stages.

  • We're also trying to chip away at other needed major writing (incl. The entirety of the village's various interactions and minor content), though this is less of a priority right now.

  • We've gone back and touched up some earlier sequences to improve the writing, and overall flow of the scenes, and implemented them in-game.

  • We've also done a lot of brainstorming for Crystal Springs!

• Artwork -- Various overworld, environment, battle, menu, and concept art assets have been made as needed.

  • We've also been doing preliminary work on Crystal Springs with concept art, area layouts, and trying to get a solid feel / visual identity for everything.

• Soundtrack -- We currently have 28/35 planned tracks for Starlight Isles completed!

  • There's also 5 tracks nearing completion, and 2 others not yet started.

  • We have 1 song for Crystal Springs finished, with 2 others nearing completion.

  • As we finish Starlight Isles and move further to Crystal Springs, we'll evaluate more of what the area needs songs-wise -- though we've plotted out a rough list of the area's soundtrack.

• Programming -- Imported a great deal of assets, significant work on major sequences/cutscenes, implemented an entire major boss fight and various attacks, bug fixes, added new mechanics, polish work, more bug fixes, and more!

Thanks for tuning in for another one of our progress reports -- it's been a lot of fun seeing everything we've been working on slowly coming together, and we can't wait to talk about more!

See you next time, and have a Happy Holidays!

- Beethovenus and Team Switched