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Announcement

v1.3 Update - Small QOL Changes

v1.3 Changes

  • Xal has been nerfed.

  • The Two Corners puzzle in the North Cave has been redone.


  • Minor bug fixes.


For those who have already finished the demo: there's now also a series of hints at the end of the bridge to help you find all the hidden things you might have missed! Saves should be able to transfer from v1.2 to v1.3!

-DemonClaus

Progress Report

End of 2023 Check-in



Hey all, with the end of the year being well, today, I figured it was probably about time for another update.

Things are still going strong in the writing department and it is still my primary focus, plus life has finally given me a bit of a break so things are going stronger than ever. The story is approaching its final draft and the concept work for mid and late game is really coming together!

As the story falls into place, Post Elvis has been filling in the gaps on the soundtrack as we both add new songs and begin to replace some old songs as well.



In the gameplay department, the touch encounters and battle transition are approaching their final version:



And as the writing continues I've been wrapping up and revising the planning documents for a number of dungeons as well! We were cooking last time but now we're boiling!

Outside of Almari, the team's been releasing tons of cool stuff on their own!

Post Elvis recently released his huge new album I Can't Wait To Get There. Dude's been working on this for a hot minute so please check it out! The result is really cool!

Punkitt released the demo for her Wario Land inspired game Susan Taxpayer and also became famous for drawing My Little Pony comics?!

Decon Theed released 103 Works #09 featuring a handful of some pretty rad tracks!

Reteryisk (who voices Bethera) released two whole visual novels which is insane. Check out Pumpkin Seeds: The 51st Floor & Date Night At Mary-Jane's Therapy Club!

And lastly, I've been posting art on my Ko-fi, both Almari and not if you want to check that out and/or wanted a way to support my work!

That's probably about it for schilling for this year lol.

All in all, the game's coming along and becoming cooler day by day.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you all have a


-DemonClaus

Progress Report

May 2023 Update



Hey all, sorry for the several months of silence, life's had me pretty busy and the stuff I've been working on isn't really the type of stuff I can easily show off!

You see, starting in December of last year I started keeping a physical dev-journal for Almari and also started organizing all my scattered notes from the last ten years of development! It's definitely been an endeavor as I've figured out what's totally scrapped and what's still good and worth keeping from all my ideas, as well as refining many new ideas. In addition to that, I've been working on several documents organizing and going through each chapter of the story to get it all out of my head and summarized from previously complete versions of the areas in the game. It's a lot of work, but as a result the story, characters, and groundwork are really coming together.

As I've focused on the story, I've also given myself a chance to work out a few gameplay changes regarding touch encounters and battles that I've been a bit hung up on for the past year, and I'm glad to say I've finally figured out some answers that I like for them. However, I won't be giving any fine details until they're properly coded and tested. Though here's a little peak at some of them:




(in addition to this, running from enemies will stun them and prevent you from running into the exact same enemy after you've escaped!)


Also, Post Elvis and I have been reorganizing our music document to get things ready to go in that department as well, pretty much just spring cleaning but it gets us both in a great position going forward!

Here's another track off the soundtrack for you to check out!



And lastly, if you're looking for some fun bonus Almari stuff, Punkitt and I did a two-part stream of the demo together last year and I answered viewer questions as well! We had some technical difficulties in Part 1, but Part 2 is mostly fine!

Check 'em out!



With all that said, I've ended up prioritizing working on the final game over getting another demo ready despite wanting to get another one out last year. I think in the long run it's just the better approach for completing the game. I'll definitely release another playable build when I'm in the position to, whether that be the final game or another demo only time will tell. But for now, I'm gonna keep on cookin'.

Thanks for reading!

-DemonClaus

Progress Report

Mid-2022 Progress Update



Hmm, been a bit since the last update, huh?

We've been truckin' along behind the scenes and a lot of the plot and planning are getting finalized. When I released the current demo back in 2020 I'd say the remaining worlds in the game were about 50% planned (1, 2 and 3 are completely planned, but 4 onward was rough), they're now closer to 85% if I'm being realistic. A lot of groundwork is in place and building upon it should hopefully be steady.





Additionally I've been tweaking the touch encounters a bit mostly to address the issue of running into one and then just getting tossed into another battle moments afterward whether you win or lose. As well as something more maybe? We'll see how it pans out. Hopefully it'll be more fun.

The soundtrack is close to done for the next demo build with the full game's soundtrack on its way there as well, though not as close. We're starting to get clear visual concepts for a lot of the later game and some areas are slowly being built as well! And of course, I'm always designing new monsters!



That's about it for updates, lotta under the hood stuff and tedious code touchups, but it's all essential stuff. If you're looking for a cool bonus, here's a cool work-in-progress animation by Punkitt and some concept art by them as well!



Thanks for reading!

Progress Report

Looking back on 2021

Hello all, I figured it was about time for another update post. It was a pretty big year for the game! I got a lot of plot revision finalized as well as a ton of planning. I also got some new gameplay mechanics conceptualized that are slowly being integrated (hopefully they'll be ready to go in the next build!) Also Almari being featured in the 2021 Mother Direct was pretty nuts! We worked really hard to get that trailer done and I'm still really happy with it. I put together an outline for it, wrote the poem at the start, and wrote all the voiced lines, but it was really PostElvis' cinematic eye and musical direction that really brought it together. A huge shoutout to him and all the voice actors that agreed to work with us! You guys really made it special.

That trailer taught me a lot so I'm glad I had that experience. It really was a moment of the game going from a funny little concept in my unwell head to something much more concrete and completable.



On top of that we also ended up appearing on the RPG Maker podcast, RPG Maker Cola! It was a really pleasant surprise! In a weird way, I feel like I've been a part of a little bit of RPG Maker history by being on the show, which is weird to think about because I've been messing with this program since I was about 10! (I'm 25) There's so much passion and love that RPG Maker has brought about as a community and I'm just really glad to be a part of it.



Speaking of love, I've seen a lot of fanart this past year and oh my god I love each and every piece. Thank you so much to everyone who's decided they adore my little TV lad. ;-; I save all of them and hold them dear! Also thank you to everyone who has decided to livestream the demo or just share it with friends! It's still amazing and a tad overwhelming to see it really pick up traction this past year, and I hope when the final game is complete it'll be to your liking!

My goal is to get another build out this year, I don't know how big it'll be (I'd like it to be big) or when it'll come out, but I want it to happen. Development had to slow down during the fall since I'm also attending college (though thankfully I was able to do most of my planning and revision during that time) and it'll probably slow down again once I get into the spring semester, but I'm always chipping away at this game on an almost daily basis, it's my hobby after all!



Thank you for sticking with the game and I hope you look forward to future updates!

As a last little more personal update, I've finally decided to make a ko-fi, so if you wanted to support the game (and future games) or just me and my little creative hobbies you can! Almari's always gonna be a free game but I know some people do want a way to show their support, so if you feel like leaving me a tip, feel free!

And if you like the soundtrack, please consider buying one of PostElvis' albums or checking him out on YouTube! Guy's a wizard and Almari just wouldn't be what it is today without him and his sound.

Schilling aside ahaha, I hope you all have a wonderful new year filled with things that you enjoy. Let's make 2022 a good year.

Thank you!!

Announcement

Bravery Rebuild v1.2 - Quality of life patch goes live + Big news!

Hey all, the patch is finally here! Sorry for the delays, I ended up much busier than anticipated with many more things for the project that I'll go into in this post. But first, the patch notes!

v1.2 Changes

  • The Escavator has been nerfed.

  • Stan can no longer stunlock.

  • The Sleep Status now heals 5% HP/WP

  • Pushable rocks now have different graphics from non-pushable rocks.

  • The cave where Flame is hidden received an exit at the end so backtracking through the enemies is no longer necessary.


  • Minor bug fix.


I had many more things I wanted to put into this, but ultimately they ended up as things that would be better to put in the next build. For example: this new battle transition.

Aside from that, I can finally talk about the exciting news I hinted at in the new years blog. The EarthBound/Mother fansite Mother Forever runs an annual presentation of Mother fan-projects and related works called the Mother Direct, and Almari happened to be accepted into the showcase among several other incredible projects! We've been working hard on a trailer that we hope you'll love, and it'll be airing live tomorrow (6/13) at 1PM PST / 4PM EST!!

But wait there's more!

If you've been itching for more music from Almari's soundtrack, Decon Theed has ya covered! Check out his new addition to the OST wannashoutaboutit!

And lastly I want to announce that a newer longer demo is in the works! I'm hoping to get it done by early 2022 but the curse of being an indie dev suggests it'll probably be later than that lol. But one thing I can say is that when it's done, it'll be the final public build of the game until it's finished. It will pick up from where this demo leaves off, and include the entirety of the first three emotion worlds in their final form! I hope you can look forward to that, and in the meantime, the Mother Direct is tomorrow! Be sure to check it out!

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you in the next exciting episode of Almari blogs!!

Announcement

Q&A open for RPG Maker Cola! (Q&A now closed! Please look forward to the episode!)



As mentioned in the previous blogpost, PostElvis, Punkitt and I are appearing on the RPG Maker community podcast RPG Maker Cola!

The Q&A Twitter thread is now open! You can also leave your questions as comments right here too! :D

Announcement

More Character Artwork by Cam Collins + New Screenshots & More!



Hello all, I bring you another character commission by Cam Collins! This time it's Siza the friendly monster enthusiast! Have you met him?



I've also got a couple screenshots to show off!





I'm planning to release a small demo patch in early 2021. The changes will only be to gameplay so it won't be super exciting for everyone who's already finished the demo unfortunately.

v1.2 Patch notes.
  • Stan will get a nerf that will stop him from stunlocking with his Ram attack (it will instead halve your Speed for a second)

  • The Sleep status will now heal your HP and WP.

  • The cave where Flame is hidden will receive a quick exit at the end so you won't have to backtrack through all the monsters.

  • Pushable and non-pushable rocks will have different graphics.


  • A minor bug fix.


If you're curious about other soundtrack additions, many of the tracks from the demo and other new songs have been added to the OST Playlist on YouTube!

Also happening in 2021, PostElvis, Punkitt, and I will be on the RPG Maker podcast RPG Maker Cola! We'll be recording next week so look forward to a Q&A submission popping up!

That's all I can say for now, but I hope to bring more exciting news in 2021!

I wish you all a happy new year!

Announcement

Character Artwork by Cam Collins and Punkitt joins the team!



I commissioned Cam Collins to draw the cast of Almari! I've posted a twitter thread with the full sizes of the drawings as well as their colored variations! Check out Cam's other work as well, he makes some cool stuff! I really like his art so It's been great getting to work with him!

Additionally Punkitt has recently joined the game's development team to help me in the graphics department! You may know him for his projects Happup and Astral Guard! His most recent project is Saga Crew and the Spire of Mana! He makes really cool stuff and he’s been a delight to work with!

We'll all be doing our best to make Almari a great experience for you all!

Miscellaneous

Looking back on the Demo's Release

So it’s been five months since I posted Almari on itch and I’ve been truly surprised by how well it’s been received so far. I mean, a brief Let’s Play on day one?? That was insane! I want to shout out to Sahil for doing that, that really meant a lot to me. To everyone who’s played the demo or popped their head into the discord server, thank you. I’m really happy that my game has made an impression on you.

I feel like I’ve honestly been welcomed into the RPG Maker community, especially on twitter, between getting to know other devs, and Sgt M writing a review, and now Liquid Mikan has started doing translation videos of the demo, it feels almost unreal. I never would have thought that after being influenced by so many RPG Horror games around 2012 that I only got to experience because someone translated them from Japanese, I’d one day make a game of my own that gets some part of it translated to Japanese. It’s surreal that things would come full circle like that.

To anyone else who enjoyed my game enough to want to translate it, you have my full support and I’d be humbled and honored that you’d put in such a great effort. If I can be of any help with such a task, please let me know!

There’s still a lot of the game to be made and revised past the demo. I have my own list of additions and changes to implement, but I’d like to hear your opinions five months after release.

What were some of the things you loved about the game? Or some of the things you hated? High points, low points, everything in between. I’d like to know what worked and what didn’t so I can make the best game I can with the help of your feedback.

Thank you for reading, and thank you again for trying my game.

-DemonClaus
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