Hello everyone, and welcome to the very first devlog for Color Soul 2: Nightfall! We’ve got a bit to catch up on, so let’s dive right in, shall we?

(Promotional materials by Ethan Streblow)

CURRENT PROJECT STATUS

This project started development in October of 2023, which means as of writing this devlog the game has been in development for almost 2 years. While that may seem like a while, this is a very long-term project that I want to make sure to get right, so the project is definitely still in its early stages! I also took roughly three months in there where part of that time was dedicated to learning how to develop and publish for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. Plus, it simply takes a long time to make a game! Despite being a sequel to Color Soul: Memories, this game’s engine was completely started over from scratch and didn’t carry anything over from its predecessor. This was done as Color Soul: Memories is almost 6 years old now (crazy!) and to put it simply, my engine wasn’t as optimized as it could be back then. I’ve improved a lot as a programmer in that time and being that this game is planned to be ~5-10 hours long, I needed an engine that was efficient and made it easy to implement things like events and battles! Speaking of events, I published a whole Youtube short detailing how my event system works, so if you are interested in the details, check it out here!

BATTLE SYSTEM

Work has officially begun on the core gameplay feature of Color Soul 2, the combat! After creating Color Soul 1, I realized the battle minigame was definitely what I wanted the core gameplay to be centered around. The bullet-hell action RPG style was a perfect fit for what kind of game I wanted to make, but I wanted to improve a bit on the minigame’s original concept. Though I was happy with what I was able to do with Color Soul: Memories back in 2019, my core philosophy of developing this game is to improve, improve, improve! So, I started combat development with making the dash mechanic again, and this time, improving upon the overall “feel” of the mechanic. Now, when you dash, you’re locked into the direction you dashed in, and travel the complete duration of the dash before stopping. Below you can see the dash in action (background WIP):

Another thing I changed is how attacking works. Instead of swinging your weapon continuously, now the player can string together slashes to form a combo (resulting on two hits on the third slash instead of one!). I also added some nice particle effects!

Another thing that’s coming in the future is the ability to use spells in battle! In Color Soul: Memories, you saw a little taste of characters using magic, but in this game you’ll be able to learn and harness spells of your very own. Though, you’ll have to wait for a later date to see those implemented!

YOUTUBE

Every now and then, I post on how development is going through Youtube shorts as mentioned above! Please subscribe here if you are interested!

DISCORD

If you'd like to keep the most up to date with this game development journey, please consider joining my official Discord server! That's the absolute best place to get all the latest news and sneak peaks of Color Soul 2, big and small!

So… when will this game release?)

The short answer is, I’m not sure. The full version of Color Soul 2: Nightfall will not release, I’m guessing, for several more years. As mentioned before this is a very long-term project, and the most ambitious RPG I’ve personally ever created! Development is going smoothly however, and I’m making good strides on my way to completing the core features of the game engine. I’m very much looking forward to the day the game eventually releases! But, if you’re looking forward to it too, don’t fret about the wait! I’m planning on releasing a demo with the entire first area of the game included, hopefully sometime in 2026. I can’t nail down a more specific time period right now, so please bear with me until a later date when I can give more information!

Working on Color Soul 2: Nightfall has been a blast so far, and I thank you guys for all the support I’ve received! Have a good one everybody, I’ll see you in the next devlog!

God bless!

-Evan