BACKGROUND

For the last few years I’ve been hard at work (on nights and weekends) designing the world of Neon the Ninja. During this time I’ve touched upon every aspect of the game from including the main mechanics and core game loop, boss fights, level design, enemy design and upgrade items.

I have enough experience with all of the moving pieces to formulate a clear vision of what the completed version will look like and when it could realistically happen. With this information in mind I’ve created a development schedule with specific milestones to keep me on track.

2017 - FINAL DEMO

Last week we hit this first critical milestone of the development schedule. In this demo you can finally experience a vertical slice of the non-linear gameplay I’ve been working towards. You have 2 levels to choose from that each have their own boss fight and upgrade item for Neon once you beat them.

This is a free demo available to anyone who has access to a PC. The thought is anyone can try the game on to see if it fits them. We’re living in a world where free demos are becoming a bit of a rarity with more and more games going straight to ‘early access’. (In case you aren’t familiar with this term it basically means that users can purchase in-development video games and play unfinished versions of the game while it is being developed.)

While I think ‘early access’ can be great if approached correctly I don’t want to take it lightly. Once money is involved I’m going to have a bigger responsibility to deliver consistent updates to the game (which will be difficult considering I work a full-time job in addition to developing Neon) but I have a plan for this.

2018 - EARLY ACCESS

I’ve already started development on all the bosses and levels in the game but I’m switching gears with my approach to finish them out 1-by-1. My plan is to have a total of 4 bosses, 4 levels and 4 upgrade items in the game when we launch early access. (Twice the amount of content as the demo)

While I haven’t yet decided the price point for early access I’m thinking it will be half the price of the final release and while you’re getting an unfinished beta version of the game you’ll eventually have the full release at half price as I continue to roll out updates. (Adding new bosses, levels and upgrade items)

2019 - FULL RELEASE

My plan is to have the entire game finished by late next year. Based on how long it took me to work on the content for the demo release I think this is a very achievable goal. This would just be a PC release but I’m hoping to release Mac/Linux support soon after. (I’m only one guy and am trying to not overextend myself with a multi-platform release)

Once these platforms are supported I’m going to look into what it would take to port the game to consoles. Neon is ultimately geared towards a console experience (Gamepad is everything) but these details are still TBD. I’d love to hear any questions or comments regarding this rollout plan but the important thing is I think it’s achievable. Also please check out the DEMO if you haven’t and give me feedback on it. (More Feedback = Better Game)