Build 1.4

Sorry y'all I was at the spa. Every solo Indie dev needs a day to unwind :).

I'm actually on schedule, I just got distracted while I was typing this. As far as I'm concerned, it's still Friday.

For any newcomers, which would be everyone, I implore you view the main page to see a general synopsis of the game as well as read game rules and key bindings. It's not overly complicated, and the game goes over most of them, however as of now, not all of them. Actually, the only key that hasn't been properly explained in game is the character select key.

While in town (And only while in towns), press the 'G' key to open the character select. Drag and drop to replace.

There are currently (7) characters to choose from. 

So before I hop into the gameplay discussion, I feel it necessary, at least once, to discuss why I'm posting such rough, early builds of my game. This is for a few reasons:

1. I want to create a catalog for myself, as well as for others who may eventually stumble upon these posts. Eventually, once the game is officially released, I'd like to play some of the earlier versions to see how much it progressed.

2. If I don't challenge myself to release something every 2 weeks, I know I'll fall into the habit of not releasing anything at all. 

3. A portfolio. Y'all hiring?

4. Why not?

Anyways I added stuff. Between the last build and this one, it may not seem like a ton, but it's a ton. So let's talk about it.

Last build I mentioned 4 major systems that were coming within the next few builds.

-Distillery

-Mixery

-Relic Crafting

-Lore Collection

With build 1.4, I've 'completed' 2/4. Completed in quotes because while it's done, remember this is what I consider pre-alpha phase.

Yadda yadda, there will be some bugs, but they'll get ironed out as time goes on.

Anyways, let's talk about the first new system, Lore Collection.

I've added collectable scrolls, each containing unique world lore. Each map will have a set amount of scrolls to collect, and players will be encouraged to replay previous levels in order to acquire passed over Lore Scrolls.

The more unique scrolls you collect, the higher your 'Lore Score' will rise. Talk to a certain NPC in the town to earn rewards based on your score.

The second system, the "Mixery", has multiple screens to manage, albeit, all easy to understand and grasp.

As solo player content becomes more difficult, the only way for a player to match their enemies, (aside from selecting spells and relics) is to consume special potions.

Potion effects last the entirety of the quest you're embarked on, but will fade once you return back to town.

You can mix and match different potions to combine different buffs, or consume the same potion multiple times to stack its effect.

To begin mixing a potion, players must first have the potion fully researched. 

Earn research points by donating the corresponding item to the Mixery NPC back in the town. Once enough items have been donated, the potion recipe will be unlocked.

Swap to the Mixery screen to mix potions using your unlocked potion recipes. This system is largely the same as cooking.

Finally, when you mix a potion, the NPC in the town will record it down. Once the player has mixed that potion a certain amount of times, that potion will be capable of being "Mass Produced".

Simply put, the NPC will be able to sell the potions directly to you from her own shop, so players won't have to always find ingredients when they need to acquire potions for quests.

For build 1.4, the shop portion of the Mixery isn't unlocked yet(Not finished programming *Wink*), however you can mix potions and consume them.

There are currently two types of potions to mix.

What else is new.

The cooking log has been revamped!

-Cooking menu has an updated look. Unlocked(finished programming) the level up system. Players will now earn experience upon cooking foods, and upon cooking enough foods, will level up their cooking rank.

Completely retouched the art for all scenes.

Revamped the look for torches 

Revamped the look for trees

<There may be some un-updated trees still leftover> 

Alongside that, I murdered a few bugs including a handful from the previous cooking menu. (Duplication and visual bugs).

Finally, I fixed some gwitches throughout the game, including a bug where the 'Gunk Bomb' spell was dealing 20x more damage than it should.

Honestly, I was testing something and forgot to turn the damage back down haha.

What's next?

-The Distillery (Will focus on this a little later. Not super important, but nice).

-The Relic Maker(Important, will be added next build).

PVP -  So a while ago I talked about how I have a server set up for GOS. Problem is the server can only hold up to 20 people. (It's free).

With that being said, I have tested two player mode in this game, and have even got it to work. In fact, I've finished it back in December lol.

However, since then I've updated the battle system a lot, but the online and solo systems are separated. Long story short, the pvp version needs to be updated to match it.

So, I'll prioritize rebuilding it once the game garners attention. It will be rebuild overtime regardless, but I won't prioritize it until I advertise and see how popular this game can get.

In the meantime, once these two systems are complete, I'm officially done with "pre-production". I think. I want to add other small things, but none of them are as important as polishing, adding sound, and adding more content. So sooner rather than later, the game will start looking... official.

In terms of polishing, here's what I'm eyeing next

-Better transitions between scenes including loading screens

-Improve lighting

-Improve spell effects in battle

-Improve tutorial/include a quit and return to town screen.

Apart from that, I'm going to finish setting up my donations information for donations.  Be prepared to give me whatever you have left in your accounts.

Within the next few builds I'm going to polish up the saving system. As you can see, saving across scenes works, (and has worked for a while now), so I just need to make menus for quitting and loading previous data. For now, I'm going to continue releasing these as builds however, as opposed to patches/updates. At least until I'm closer to release; which I'm shooting for towards the end of the year.. *Fingers crossed*

Anyways, see you guys in 2.