Today, this marks a bit of a special day: This was the first release of the game on Gamejolt (and it happened to be released on my name day :P ). Although the original prologue demo was rough, I was able to flesh it out and expand it, adding features to the launcher as well. Turning the launcher from something fancy to a player's swiss army knife.
Looking at the oldest build footage, it's a night and day difference. I still need to finish the game, of course. But looking back, it's been a bit of a journey for me. Working on a game was a new experience for me (with the only thing I knew was programming). Over time, I was able to improve the game. Every build brought improvements and fixes. And I've been searching for any feedback I can get so I can improve it. And as my programming got better, I was able to add new features and build Northbridge to something that would be useful to the player. The ideas for it were due to my experience with games not having cloud saves: I had my PC break down (and that was a time before Windows 8's File History) and I would lose my saves. I wanted to implement a backup system to let the player back up their saves (whenever it's on the cloud or an external storage device). And while I had a hard time working with RPG Maker, I was able to persist and push it to new heights (in the tech department, at least. See Halva). I wish I had everything under one programming language, but I'm still happy with how the game came along.
So, yeah. The development of the game has been pretty interesting for me. Even though there were cases I felt burned out, I still have a fondness for it. The reason I improved my programming skills were due to the game. A lot of my tools were a by-product of it. And since I had a good understanding of some technologies, I was able to put some tricks in the engine's sleeve.
Now, before I get back to my metaphorical lab, I want to give special thanks: To those who gave me feedback. Wherever it was because I asked you for it or you came in, I want to say this: Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. Without your input, I wouldn't improve the game to what it is today. Even when there was a perfect concoction of frustration spike (Hi, Neo).
In any case, whenever you've been following the game, giving feedback, or even sharing the game with anyone:
Thank you. And I hope you enjoy the final game when it comes out.
Sincerely,
AceOfAces
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