Two points of news in this update:

1 - Users and friends of Ill Will tardis and Despitehas been approached for the completion of the remaining light-maps. With their help, all of the maps in Ill Will will be completed and ready to be populated.

2 - Three brief scenes have been deleted and need to be re-written. This isn't so much of a setback as it could have been, but it's frustrating nonetheless. Unrelated - I've signed up for Dropbox, and dumped the latest edition in there. No more setbacks of this nature will occur, assuming I update when I'm supposed to. I'm just thankful that nothing more was lost.

That's all there is to report this week.

Ill Will is coming together at a rather rapid pace. One additional tier (for a total of three) has been completed since I got my hands on it, and the next is in its final stages. These are the easiest to build, to be fair - the plot doesn't quite pick up until the next tier. All of the remaining scripting niggles that I couldn't quite figure out back in '09 have been readily handled with my current knowledge. So where does that leave the project?



In all truth, in a very favorable position. The plot is worked out, the areas are mapped, the soundtrack is assembled, and the graphics are for the most part complete. All that leaves, then, is the construction of the actual game itself, which is almost at the halfway mark. In short, there is no appreciable danger of this project becoming Ill Will Forever as has been suggested. Be ready for it sometime this summer, in all optimism.

So. You'll notice Rei is off the dev list. If he recovers the files, I'll re-add him.



You're all probably wondering where this is going to end up. I still have the pure-gameplay project file, so the base of the game is still intact. I'll probably get in touch with Karsuman or someone other writer who can actually keep a schedule.

As for pretties, we may or may not keep them. If any of you have looked at the map shots and thought "I can do that", keep an eye on this space. Another blog will be made once we figure out what direction we're going to take this game, and it may or may not ask for your assistance.



To Neok: One more "GREAT THINGS" from you and we'll give Skie a knife and your address.

I've been meaning to hold onto not releasing any further progress updates until we have the next version of the game out, but as more and more people have been starting to wonder if the game is even being worked on anymore, I decided I should post this.

Ill Will was originally meant to be simple game released for Game Chill, with the production time being a few weeks. The presentation of the project expanded and exploded out of the contest frame, however. Even though it's still a simplistic game design-wise, Chaos Productions gave the game 8 tiers of dungeons, with dozens of boss fights as well as a cast of 5 main characters (+ few secret villains) and Ness did great art for all of them.
Now what was left was a big bunch of work - everything between the dungeons and art, holding them all together; the environments and the plot. I'm not trying to set any sort of spotlights for myself here, but what I'm trying to say is that while Chaos' and Ness' work was great quality, I would not need to only match the quality, but the quantity as well. Enviroments, plot and dialogue for 8 tiers and 5(or more) characters is a lot of work, trust me.

So yeah, I hope this gives the idea what is taking so much time. The other thing being the fact I don't have as much time to work on the game as around December, but I've been working on it as much as I can, at least a hour or few per day.

The game is not very far from the final release anymore. January went mostly completing the graphics for over twenty dungeons and the cast:



The plot structure is mostly laid out and I'm still in middle of writing dialogue and scenes which take place between the dungeons, and some inside them.
Now while the design is simplistic and dynamic, I wished for it not to be shallow and boring, and been trying to work towards that goal.

Hopefully I'll be done with all the writing around February after of which the game will be tested by any volunteers and then improved upon. Once that final polishing is done, we can finally release the whole thing. So it's not exactly very far anymore, but there has been tons of work, and there still is a lot to do to guarantee everyone waiting this game an all around solid gaming experience.

Me and Rei- took a couple of days off after Game Chill ended to get sleep and release the pressure of time constraints. We've worked on it since then, but haven't really gotten anything done. That changes now.

I am going to be working on a Boss List as a game page for the profile. In it you'll find a quick-reference guide to beating each boss with each character, recommended skills to bring, and affinities.

For example:

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Darkspawn Spawn (+ three Darkspawns)

Level 09 - 500 HP / 845 SP
Weak: Elec
Strong: Phys, Ailment
Null: Fire



Skills
Shout, Bloodbath, Life Thief, Imbue

Special Rules
At the start of the battle, DSS casts Imbue on its minions, causing them to start attacking with spells instead of Phys skills, meaning your weaknesses are open for ravaging. In addition, they have a limitless supply of SP and are revived if you manage to kill them all. They are still Darkspawn otherwise, with the same affinities and stats.

Recommended Skills
Elec spells, Elemental shields

Character Ratings/Strategies
Francesca (Weak) - Her spells are even less good here than usual, since the boss nulls Fire. A phys resistance isn't helpful either. She can eat a hit or three, and she has a Fire-element shield, but there's better options for that and she won't be much help clearing out the minions, either. If you do bring her, have her guard to soak hits or relegate her to healing.

Josephine (Moderate) - Her water spells aren't resisted by anything in this battle, a definite advantage over the other lady. She's the right choice for assisting in damage over Ethan, but she isn't nearly as sturdy and one or two weakness-hits will put her right out.

Ethan (Moderate) - A good choice to eat hits and grin. He brings his massive EN to bear, meaning even weaknesses will take two or more hits to kill him. Have him guardwall and he'll reduce more than enough hits to zero damage to give you some breathing space to attack and heal.

Aaron (Strong) - He can tear this battle shreds, hands-down. His spells hit for double damage and he has the TC to back them up; he starts with Poison, which works on the boss; and Attarto can put your Bloodbath and Shout worries to rest handily. If your MC can cast Elec spells, however, he's not worth the risk - he has the worst EN and HP and one good hit from Shout or Terra will drop him like so much tissue paper.

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So, yay or nay? Things you want to see in the descriptions? I need to know what you'll need for this to help you guys most.