Hey there.

So, I said before that I wouldn't make anymore devlogs until the update was complete and ready to be out (which is still not the case unfortunately). However, I do have an excuse today because I took a small decision that may look confusing at first but it'll make sense in the long run.

If everything y'all want is a quick summary of the game's progress you can skip into the final section of the devlog where I usually make a small conclusion to everything shown here.

I hope you all have been doing fine and thank you for your patience.

Test 1 remake is now just the 2.0 version of the game

(I don't know how to put it in better words)

For the people who didn't read the past three devlogs; I've been working on a new update of the game that completely improves the gameplay, adds more content and has a brand new Test 1 replacement, with new zones and enemies.

Click here if you're insterested in reading those:

https://gamejolt.com/p/depper-jar-in-2024-and-test-1-remake-izndd6vj

https://gamejolt.com/p/test-1-remake-release-date-q-a-outdated-vazaphjk

https://gamejolt.com/p/test-1-remake-is-being-delayed-8ibdfrty

(A bit of information on those posts is already outdated thought.)

I kept calling this update the "Test 1 remake update" with the 1.7.0 label, but that always felt strange to me calling it like that, it made it look unofficial in a way.

So now, is just gonna go as 2.0.0, the 2.0 update!

The 2.0 label makes more sense to me and is also a direct contrast to other updates in the past, the game has changed to much is almost an entirely new product.

This does not change my plans for Test 2 or other updates however. Test 2 will release on another future update with a different label.

Development progress of the update

I'm going to be real for a second.

I didn't expect the update to be taking me so long to complete, and I'm not even done yet!

Since my last post I've been shifting my focus into finishing the overworld and making it as polish as it can be. I had to redraw assets, redo a lot of maps and come up with my own design philosophy in map creation design... for a lack of a better word.

Here, I'll show you an example.

Let's supposed the path at the top leads you to a small optional puzzle, and the path at the bottom leads you to the rest of the forest. The player also starts from the left side of the screen.

In this scenario, people are more likely to go on the bottom path as it is the closest to them, not only that, but when entering the next room people could forget about the unvisited path or just don't care about it anymore.

This is not necessarily a problem, but when I want people to feel like they're exploring the world on their own while also guiding them, I have to make some adjustments.

Sometimes I like to add some sort of minor obstacle to the main path. It doesn't have to always be enemies it can also be a plataforming section, objects that can only be interacted with using a certain ability, etc.

It's not about entierly blocking the player, it's about making them think and analize. they'll see the bottom path being full of enemies and they can just start a battle right there like there's nothing stopping them, but before that, may as check the other path while they're there, maybe they could find an item that could help them in that same battle. And they don't have to do that either way, is their own choice.

Using enemies is great too because it gives the players a sign that the room leading to is more dangerous than the rest, and it can also tell the player that the path IS the main path.

This is a more straightforward example, as the enemy chases the player. I specifically placed the enemy there to "force" the player to check the right path and see the item located there.

This is the kind of stuff you don't normally notice when playing a game but is always present and is fundamental for a better game design.

Anyways, what was I talking about again? Oh yeah, development progress.

Again, I'm still working on the overworld, but I'm getting very close to finish it, and it feels exactly as how i wanted it to be, which I'm very happy about! Despite the game being more M&L-inspired, I tried making the overworld feel more like a Paper Mario game, specifically TTYD which I got the chance to play for the first time a few months ago, I really missed out.

Talking about a game my low-budget project steals ideas from, I also re-worked the equipment system.

I think I already showed this exact thing before but never explained anything, so here it is. Medals and Armor are still a thing, same thing with Charms.
However, Medals now only affect your AT, while Armor only affect your DF.

Not only that, but Medals no longer affect your AT with a fixed number, now they work with a %-based number.

Let me explain, I was really struggling at re-designing the equipment system. I always felt it kinda useless and it didn't add anything new to the game, they just increased stats without any more depth.

I wanted to make every equipment felt unique and be useful even in the later game.

So, my solution to this was to ditch the original fixed-number system and go for something more dynamic.

Now, Medals affect your AT based on your current AT, but they also give you a unique side effect too.

For example, Spike Shoes makes you inmune to spike enemies in fights, but they also take away 25% of your current AT. (Be aware the UI is still WIP)

Armor also gives you unique side effects too.

I designed this new system having in mind to allow players to make their own strategies and make the game feel less repetitive. The only thing you need to worry about this system is that you can only equip one Medal and one Armor at the same time.

I have a lot of crazy ideas for more medals and armor but for now the ones that are in Test 1 are enough to give an idea for the player for what they can do, and I hope you get to try them all in your playthrough!

Moving away from this topic, the rest of the game is going well. I'm currently making every encounter in the game and adding them in the overworld. The forest zone is almost complete and I'm gonna start working on the final boss later this month, hopefully I can make a build of the game playable from start to finish with placeholder cutscenes by February.

Underevent 2024 is fast approaching

I should probably also mention that Underevent 2024 is releasing next week on January 25.

Underevent is an annual commemorative event where all sorts of UT/DR fangames announce their trailers in a incredible high quality live stream with an unique story and characters. Last year, I got the chance to appear in UE 2023 and it was one of the most fun and exciting moments in my weird life as an amateur game developer.

The team has been working really hard on making 2024's event the best it can be and I'm really excited to see what the community has been cooking at the moment. Go check it out!

Depper Jar's third anniversary + Q&A

Oh yeah I forgot to mention this, Depper Jar's third anniversary was this past October 27.

Happy late anniversary to my weird game!

I don't usually care for the anniversary of any of my projects, but this time I tried doing something special and just didn't have enough time to do anything at the end of the day.

I'm still planning on doing something later but, for now, I want to take the opportunity here to make a small Q&A in the comment section of this post!

Write down in the comments below any question you may have about the game and I'll try to awnser most of them throught the rest of the week.

These questions can be about anything related to Depper Jar. I've never done something like this before, so please forgive me if I take too long to reply back.

Conclusion

Development is going great, the "Test 1 remake update" known as the 1.7.0 version of the game will be rebranded as the 2.0 version. This does not affect any future major updates.

The overworld is close to be finished and I'll start working on the final boss later this month. The Medals and Armors system got remade to be similar to badges from the Paper Mario games.

Underevent 2024 is happening this January 25.

And I'm making a small Q&A in this post, it'll last for the rest of this week. Ask me anything related to Depper Jar in the comments section below.

I think that should be it. Thank you all so much for keep being here with me and still being interested in my game, it means the world to me.

I'll see you later on October 2028 when the 1.6.1 update finally releases with a brand toilet paper gameplay feature.