Release News
I've been planning on an episodic format for this game for a while, but now I've decided that these episodes will affect the releases as well.

The demo will consist of episodes 1-3, introducing each of the main characters and their background stories.

Each subsequent release will then consist of a new episode, while the original demo download will be replaced by a new one which includes the new episode. So, for those who download and play the demo, they will be given the opportunity to download episode 4 (complete with a decent save file) so that they won't have to replay older episodes. This way, I'll also be able to fix bugs and release new versions on a regular basis.

I have eight episodes planned, and shouldn't need any more after that to finish the story.



Battle News
Now, as far as battles go, Haddy will now use the standard rm2k3 battle system for her parts of the game. The reason for this is that Fergus' custom battles take way too much time, and it's been the reason for the postponed releases so far anyhow. By giving them separate battle systems, I can release these quicker while maintaining some diversity in gameplay.

That is the plan, as of right now. After Amerk gives the demo a try, he can tell me if the cbs is even worth it at all. It may well not be, in which case I'll release a special CBS version of episode 1 which will not be included in the main demo or subsequent releases. In such a case, I'll simply implement the rm2k3 battle system for Fergus as well, which will definitely quicken the releases, but also make gameplay a little less interesting (in my opinion). I could be wrong, as it definitely has its flaws... but we'll have to wait and see. I will at least guarantee that you will all have the opportunity to see the cbs in motion, even if I don't continue with it.

Back to work.

Ugh, it's very unlikely that the demo will be out at the end of this month. I worked on it some more tonight, and my god is it ever buggy. It's going to take a lot of brain power to figure out the problem for the second to last battle, and to finish off the boss battle. Brain power I just don't have at the moment.

Anyways, I switched over to working on Midard's stuff instead. I am really starting to hate the chipsets I've selected for this game. I'm not going to stop now, or redo anything, but I will say that it was a huge mistake and the progress is suffering even further as a result.

I'm going to try and keep pushing forward, but right now, the demo release is looking to be pushed back. Probably until June.

I did this last night, but I dislike posting two blogs on the same day for the same game. It details the gameplay for each individual character, and titles the episodes (this was done to give me some further sense of direction in my writing). Anyway, if anyone has any questions or concerns, let me know and I can add to it.

I was looking at all my unused resources for this project and came up with an idea for the sequel's battle system. It'll be pretty much the exact same thing, but I'll be using images rather than sprites. Being a fan of timed attacks, I'll probably add something like that as well. It's too far in the future really to tell, but it's nice to know I have all the resources ready when I finally start on it.

A note on boss battles, they'll work a little differently than regular ones. Basically, you'll find the minions before you can even engage the boss character. This will lead to a steady exchange of hits between you can the enemy, and you will actually have to utilize your "Defend" command (something no one uses in any game, and it's exceptionally useless in this one for regular battles). I hope this will lighten the criticism on the Defend Command's presence in the game overall. Plus, it was a buttload of work to implement it, given that it had no real purpose before.

I still don't know how the 2 character party battles will work yet. I considered doing the regular turn by turn, back and forth deal, but that's gonna get too confusing and the events will be too big in the end. I'll probably just have them fight their battles separately, or implement some new type of gameplay when they join forces. When I know for sure, I'll post it in the preview page, but this won't happen until after the demo's release.

I'm off to finish off Fergus' episode.

While I'm still hard at work tweaking each battle for the first dungeon area, I stumbled upon a new idea to implement into certain encounters.

With environmental commands, I had always planned to have a "move closer" option that would pop up from time to time, allowing characters to perform more powerful or beneficial attacks based on their positioning to the enemies. However, for the first few areas, enemies are extremely weak, and you can kill each one in 1 hit. This creates a problem in that it isn't at all beneficial to a player to choose the move command, wait a turn (getting hit by all enemies), then performing an attack to take out 3 or less enemies. Confusing? Don't worry about it.

Anyways, that's where I came up with the "Chance" command, which is sort of like a regular environmental based attack, except that it has a 50/50 chance of working. It's a really easy feature to tack on, and it really forces players to strategize their moves. As you start to encounter more enemies at a time, it will play a bigger role in the long run too.

This is by far not the most technically advanced rm2k/3 CBS out there, but it's a nice learning experience and I'm slowly building it up with each encounter. It's definitely a pain in the ass (positioning is a lot of copying and pasting, and it relies on the assumption that players don't choose "Defend" four times in a row, which breaks it), but I'm gradually familiarizing myself with each individual maneuver and it's becoming easier to find my way around in the event. As long as I don't take too long of a break in its development, it should go relatively smoothly.

Progress Update
I finished the intro cutscenes for Fergus' story. I was worried about it before because it uses a bunch of pictures, which were kind of a pain to make. But it is now finished, and it couldn't have gone any better. I actually laugh at it every time! Definitely a highlight in the comedy department, and being right near the start of the game, it should help to draw people in.

On a final note, I still haven't found music fitting enough for the game. It is really bothering me. I will continue the search though.

So as many have seen, I've finally started putting together the cutscenes. It's going a lot smoother than expected, which is a relief. All I need to do is 2 more anime pics and I can finish the rest of my scripted scenes (meaning I should get back to writing some more soon).

To describe the mood of this game, it's a light comedy game. I mean... some of it could be considered dark comedy, especially the opening scene, but it's done in a pretty light hearted way. It's not going to send anyone into convulsions or anything, but hopefully will engage players enough to want to keep playing to get to the next scene. I admit I did laugh out loud a few times at the crippled dominatrix scene (once I got it working). I have an odd sense of humor though.

About the music... I'll admit I'm having a really rough time. I always aim to have a soundtrack that players have never heard before (yeah, that means screw you all for making me listen to ff4 shit again and again). At first I decided to look into some hentai rpgs and see what they have to offer, but I know there are probably some pervs here that would recognize it and I can't seem to find any soundtracks for any of them (was looking for one for a game called battle goddess, or something to that effect). Anyways, I have a bunch of random cds I'm considering right now, but nothing is definite yet.

Some people have complained about the system set used in the screens. I agree that the text just wasn't readable, and so I've got a bunch of new ones I've been testing out. I'm down to 3 right now, and I may use them all for the different character stories. They're pink, white, and turquoise. I'll probably upload some new screens showing them off and see what people think.

Anyways, for now I'm going to focus on finishing the cutscenes I have written, and then go back to the dungeons and battles. After I finish the 3 intro stories I'll probably release the demo, just to see the reactions and hopefully get some feedback on what to improve.