Merry Reindeer!

It's getting darker earlier and the shops are stocking Christmas stuff... OK they were 2 months ago. But you get my point We're entering the holiday season! So things are getting exciting, and it's really the time of year to be talking Reindeer Story.

Incidentally I'm back in the metaphorical Reindeer saddle to charge into development. I'd been chipping at a slower pace due to my Mam, but my Mam is feeling a lot better which makes feel a lot better too! I also bought my first house!

So I feel quite energised! Like I can focus more again and finish up the game without any worries in my mind, beyond usual work stuff.

Reindeer Story is still looking to be finished by 1st December 2024. Probably earlier, but you know it's hard enough to get a game noticed as it is, a Winter-themed game would have a Snowman's chances in Hell in the Summer :)



Progress is going swimmingly, and I have a lot more breathing room from delaying the game.

Progress
--------------------
Main Story - 100%
Gameplay- 90%
Minigames - 80%
Graphics - 90%
Balancing =-70%
Sidequests & Secrets - 60%
Music - 50%

We're at the point where I just need to finish bits up, the game is playable start to end! But I just need half the music from the composer (though I've just bought my first house so I have to build up my savings a bit to commission some mor music). A few graphical visuals for scenes, balance the difficulty modes.

From now also I'll aim to be making more social media posts, videos , etc. on the game more frequently! I'm not a big social media person, but I aim to get out of my comfort zone, saddle up and deliver the game and also compelling content :)



Thanks for reading.

-Azzie

Hello!

Still working very hard on Reindeer Story, and now released an update to the prototype/demo to add all the cool refinements for the main game.

Reindeer Story's demo is on Steam! A wishilist would be appreciated, it's still on track to release in December 14th this year!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1946170/Reindeer_Story/

Difficulty Modes, Options, Controller Remapping!

This list contains most major changes, but there may be many unreported adjustments and improvements made in this version! Enjoy!

Regarding the updated controllers in addition to the already supported Xbox 360 controller the Xbox Series X controller and the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller have been tested! I changed it to support all controllers supported by Gamemaker Studio 2 so I imagine there's many more!

If the game works with any other Gamepad it'd be helpful if you could tell me so I can confirm the support :)

Graphical Changes
-------------------
- Updated graphics for Player Characters, NPCs and enemies
- Many icons, including moves and icons have been updated

Main Menu Changes
------------------
- Changed the Layout of the Menu screen
- Menu Screen now displays the current playtime
- Menu Screen now displays the Location Name
- Added an option to Quit Game or Return to the Title screen

- Added an Options menu that allows a large number of functions
General Options
-Text Speed Option (WIP),
-SFX, Ambience and Music Volume controls

Difficulty Options
- Easy, Hard and Seasons Beatings Mode to ease or increase difficulty (Default: Normal)
- EXP Option - An option to turn EXP gain ON/OFF for challenge (Default: ON)
- Timed Hit Assist - Automatically make timed hit in Battle (Default: OFF)

Control Options
It's now possible to remap controls for Gamepad and Keyboard and mouse! be aware in previous versions multiple
keys were originally bound to the same actions. Now there is only one default Keyboard Control scheme that you can
remap.

The default controls for Gamepad have been adjusted to fit the Xbox360 control scheme as a default,
Also expanded the controller support to every type Gamemaker Studio can support. This has been tested with the
Xbox 360 controller, Nintendo Switch Pro Controller and the Xbox Series X controller. But it's very likely to work
with many more controllers!

Language Options - (WIP)
- A Language option has been added, currently English is the only option however the game's text files have been designed with other languages
in mind. If you are interested in translating Reindeer Story into a different non-english language do get in touch!

Overworld Changes
--------------------
UI
- The UI in the overworld is now translucent and becomes opaque to indicate when a button is being pressed!

New Items
-----------
- Snowcones: restores HP and Energy
- Candle : Deals Red Elemental Damage to the enemies

Battle Changes
---------------
- A yellow circle now appears under the characters that indicates the player's hitbox.
- Enemies now account for the players Charisma stat when choosing which player to attack in abttle.

Balance Changes
---------------
- Characters starting stats have been adjusted.
- Many skills have had their power and energy costs adjusted. The amount of additional energy cost when placing skills in more powerful slots has generally been reduced.
- Many items and tokens used to boost HP have had their HP bonus reduced, such as Healthy Heart. These were once in-line with Energy Boosting but
in practice HP is more valuable.
- Robin's Z-Mana Skill has been changed to place down a present in the Battle Zone which can be collected on later turns by any character.

Difficulty Modes
-----------------
In this version Difficulty modes have been introduced, these impact the enemies stats and some other details. Enemy Attack Levels impact the speed of projectiles and the length of time you need to avoid them
making them generally harder to dodge. The harder difficulties present a more intense challenge without drawing out battles, tougher foes but faster Z-Meter charge! Easy mode reduces the enemies damage
for a more casual play style, combine with the timed hit assist.

Easy
- Reduce enemy HP by 10%
- Reduce the damage foes deal by 25% (rounded down)
- Reduce the level of foes attack by 1.

Normal
- Default Difficulty

Hard
- All foes HP multiplied by 10% (rounded up)
- Increase the level of foes attack by 2, increasing the length and speed.
- Foes attacks deal 1.25x damage (rounded down) + 1
- Players Z-Meter charges 25% faster

Seasons' Beatings -
- All foes HP increased by 2
- All foes HP increased by a further 20% (rounded down)
- All foes DEF increased by 1
- All foes DEF multiplied by 1.25 (rounded down)
- Increase the level of foes attack by 4, increasing the length and speed.
- Foes attacks deal 1.5x damage (rounded down) + 2
- Players Z-Meter charges 50% faster

Any feedback regarding the difficuty modes would be greatly appreciated!

Misc Changes
------------------
- Reduced the volume of some of the music tracks.
- Significantly reduced the length of fade outs between rooms.
- Substantially cut down time taken to Load a Game.
- Added more support for controllers
- More Sound Effects and visual effects have been added to moves in battle
- Robin has been given a 2nd Z-Skill that fires poison projectiles.

Bug Fixes
----------
- Removed a bug that could result in Lux stuck behind the Large Rock in Cringle Woods.
- Fixed a bug where a Cherub could be re-rescued each time you re-entered a room.


Phew! A pretty long change list huh? You should see the full game, not too long to go now!

Thanks for reading this far and thanks for your support!

-Azzie

Good Evening, Morning or Afternoon!


After a long year of work on the full version of Reindeer Story I've updated the prototype!




I've worked hard to make a new version of the prototype with the enhancements of the full game. I've even added a new area with the snowmobile mechanics.

General
* Added more battle animations for characters
* The Equip Screen has been split into the Equip and Abilities screen
* The Nose Beam now stuns enemies
* Added a new Spin Jump move, refer to the Included Manual for instructions
* Added more control options (See manual)
* Added a rating system for battles.
* Text now appears in battle for various cases to indicate super effective attacks, timed hits, misses and failed attacks.
* An indicator now appears for Timed Hits.

Balance Changes
* Cookies now restore negative status effects.
* Lux's Heal has been replaced with a new skill Expose
* Beam skills are longer and can now also damage foes behind your target.
* Robin's Life Anthem no longer causes regen.
* Items now have a limit which will be displayed on the item screen.
* Humbug's Dark Hole now deals 50% of the players HP.

Bug Fixes
* Fixed general dialogue for signs and removed instances of repeated dialogue.
* Fixed bug where attacking a spiked enemy causes burn on the whole party


I've also included a more in-depth manual explaining the games mechanics!

Hope you all have fun playing!

-Azzie

Happy New Year!

Phew 2021 was a tough year...But we've finally made it to 2022! Hurray!

I've been a little quiet on Reindeer Story, mostly due to how tough work has been been and lack of energy as a result. But I've still been plugging away behind the scenes!

Proud to say I've got all the key maps, mechanics and scenes of the game done! So the project is officially at 50% Completion! I've also got a new graphic made for the game's banner/cover art!



2022 and beyond!
What's next for 2022? If 2021 was about building the skeleton of the game 2022 is about fleshing it out!



Now that I've got a structure to work with I can properly create the content and fill in the gaps I left. I've avoided putting general NPCs, treasure, etc. in the maps so that I wouldn't write general dialogue that's out of synch with the story.

Battles - developing Enemies and Bosses to reflect increasing challenge!
Dialogue - General Dialogue
Graphics - replace any placeholders.
Treasure/Collectables - distributing Platforms - Getting the demo onto Stream
Music - Commissioning the games music
Optional Content - Maps and scenes, alternate endings(?),etc.
Demo - Creating a demo for 2022 which will replace the prototype.

By the end of 2022 I'd aim to have a version of the game that is playable finish to end with no placeholders. I'll also want to have a new demo that features the Prologue and 1st Chapter!

2023 will be a year of refining where I'll to ensure maximum quality for release in Winter 2023! I'm thinking of selling the full game for £6 which works out to about $8.

Thanks for reading! Happy New Year!



- Azzie

Hey It’s Azzie

Two months since my last update, and I’ve gotten my first pass of Chapter 2 done. Took a bit longer than expected as I thought I’d be done by the 1st of July(so much for that, whoops!).



As always there’s a bunch of placeholder battles/graphics that I’ll fill in during my 2nd pass in 2022 but essentially the key scenes, maps, platforming challenges,etc. are done!


2021 - Development

Complete(First Pass)
Prologue(Tinsel Town, Mount Fairsteppe) –Finished (Todo: Some sprites, Town Houses)
Chapter 1(Snowzone) – Finished (To Do: Some sprites, encounters)
Chapter 2(Autumn Forest, Knight Games)- Finished (Todo: Bosses, Encounters, Some sprites, Town Houses)


To Do:
Chapter 3(Toy Town) - target 1st September
Chapter 4(Pleasure Palace)- target 1st October
Chapter 5(Magical Mists) - target 1st November
Chapter 6(Final) - target 1st December


Chapter 3(Toy Town) - target 1st September
• Maps (50%)
• Encounters(20%)
• Graphics(30%)
• Writing(70%)

The next chapter is Chapter 3 Toy Town, Loosely based on the Nutcracker. I’ve already made a start with the scene writing, maps and the major some of the character designs. (The two toy knights are inspired by the Onion Knights in FF3)



It’s also another story driven chapter! It will cover a conflict of Toys lead by the Jo the Nutcracker, the Mice lead by Mouserinks her son the Mouse King!


To keep it from taking quite as long as Chapter 2 I’ve tried to keep the number of scenes a bit lower in my writing draft. From what was about 30 in Chapter 2 to about 18 in Chapter 3. Some of the scenes will be even more action packed soo…might take me more than a month again!



Thanks for reading!

-Azzie.