Hey ya'll!

Last we left off, the game had been going through development Hell. I can confidently say these growing pains are over. We are no longer using TML's engine, but rather building the game within futuregamer25's Top Down RPG engine. (the lead programmer of this project's new engine)

Everything has been rebuilt from the ground up. This isn't to say it's built from nothing; the code and art either reused old parts or referenced the previous builds.

Having a fresh, clean slate to build the game off of has been a breeze and incredibly liberating! Lately, I wake up and I get so excited I get to work on my game. At work, it helps occupy my mind even when it's the most boring job ever. I'm happy as a clam!

[img id: The player, Knight, and Dog stand by a SAVE Star atop a mountain. We can see a castle in the distance as well as a sunrise. id end]

My main focus is ensuring Overworld is fully playable. I'm saving the battle system overhaul for after

Note: There's a lot of work being done behind the scenes but very little I feel comfortable showcasing at the moment. I want people to experience the game through the demo. Sorry if that's disappointing, but I'll be sure to let you know how progress is going even if you can't see it.

Game Progress

Menus:

Main Menus -90% (Save Slots are almost done, other main menu options are done)

Overworld Menus - 40% (Visuals 100%, interactable but not fully functional. These will be done by next month)

Dialogue:

80% Mostly done.

Text system is in place but it's missing a few features. Dialogue needs some attention, portraits have a structure but aren't implemented in full yet.

Rebuilding Rooms:

Design - 80% - Actually Completed Rooms - 10%

I've redesigned and simplified the story and layout of the game. This is the happiest I've ever been with this project. Everything's connecting wonderfully together. Right now I'm polishing up the first few rooms, as that way when I make the rest they can repeat the same logic as the first.

As the screenshot above shows, we've got: the time of day, lighting, and particles. Both of these last two are optional in the settings menu.

Once the rooms are all in-game and connected, I'll rebuild the cutscenes and add all interactions. As said in previous devlogs, the script was 90% done. Some of this will change (simplifying the story means everything needs to be looked over)

My hope is to build a fully playable build with all the rooms, cutscenes (just a rough version of course), and menus implemented within a month.

Ambitious? ...Yes. But I'm optimistic! It doesn't need to perfect.

Once the base build has been fixed up, the next focus will be re-adding the puzzles and adding a couple of new ones I've got in mind. Then it's more artwork and polish... and lastly, the battle system overhaul. That's its own beast to tackle, but it's not my concern for now.

Because the more game-play heavy focus stuff will be my next big steps, those are going to take the longest as they'll require heavy play testing.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding. Hope to see you again soon!