Greetings to all the people who happen by this modestly designed game page! Fond(er) greetings to all of my loyal followers.

As you are all aware, or oblivious to, a little over a week ago I released the first in a series of demos for my project. I say series, because obviously there will be more demos out in the future in order to iron out details and produce feedback. While I am pleasantly surprised by the amount of downloads, as who wouldn't be considering that I did very little to pimp my game and so far 91 strangers have tried it, I haven't gotten a modicum of feedback apart from my dear, dear friend Noel Kreiss who faithfully played through the first dungeon and expressed his opinion on the things therein. Oh, and that the file size may be daunting to those looking to just try the game out. That being said and looking at methods of compression, I don't necessarily know what my options are in regards to the latter due to the fact that I did it without need for the RTP and the music is formatted as small as it gets. Anyone with ideas in that regards, feel free to let me know what to do.

On to other things. I know I didn't pimp my game as much as I could have, obviously. I could have went to a myriad of other sites and fashioned a fancy graphic and implored an even larger sample of enthusiasts to give it a whirl, but I haven't found the time yet. That being said, I'm just posting to ask for y'all to offer me some feedback on what the game has in it so far. The demo itself doesn't contain a large amount of the overall story, as I feel that beating you over the head with the early 'save the world' stick is unnecessary until you come to clearly understand the motivations of the characters. That in mind, I saved the stick for the next iteration of the demo. On the plus side, your saves will work in it as I don't have plans to implement any other crazy scripts as I all ready have a ton that weren't used in the release. In short, the stage is set and it is more or less piling through the fine tuning of events and perhaps adding in the little accents that will be the majority of work done from here on out.

ANYWAYS. Primarily the things that I'd like feedback on are the challenge curve, what things you'd like to see work differently if any, and what it is you actually expect out of something aiming to be a traditional style RPG. I tried to maintain a tone of difficulty in the battles stemming from the fact that if you were not prepared you couldn't just plow through them. Mashing enter doesn't work outright, some fights have mechanics in them that aren't readily apparent, and while there isn't a preposterous amount of branching at the beginning I'd say there is a rather large difference in the character development. My aim is to make an RPG that people will enjoy, and I can't *know* they are enjoying it without feedback. Is it too difficult? Is it too much of a chore? i can't say, I've played the game so many times that I am aware of how to play it and I haven't been annoyed yet. Anything I've encountered that resulted in anger I've nerfed or revised, and it's set up so while challenging it's relatively failure proof if you follow instinct and directions. Or I could be totally wrong on that, feel free to share.

As for what's planned for the future, that's relatively easy to answer. More. More characters, different party mechanics, branching quest lines, optional recruitment, optional dungeons. The most challenging of these things are the optional dungeons, the first of which was actually going to be included in the demo but I decided to hold it back due to a few lingering issues. And a bit of remapping as I changed the visual style of towns and interiors upon review. Anyways, optional dungeons are a bit of a pain to balance because if they're opted into they can make balance wonky. Though I don't want to gimp the players ability to 'feel strong.' I feel I can accomplish that through preposterously complicated experience curves, and the alluring nature of encounter skipping, so it is lightly less daunting than I originally figured. You're probably thinking to yourself, "but why not just make the dungeon mandatory?" My reply is fuck that, I like options. You *could* do the slime quest and get the synthesis recipes for better healing items, or you could skip it and be stuck with what the shop offers you. That feels so much better to me than forcing it down your throat. The incentive is there, so you feel like you actually accomplished something from doing a side quest. It's RPG 2020 at LEAST.

Anyway, before I ramble on more about things, I'll just ask one last time to those of you who have tried the game and those of you who have yet to (and please do, for my sanity) that all I ask is your opinion. Good, bad, indifferent, what makes you want to play it or what makes you not want to. Don't make me regret not making a game about a cat who likes to surf.

Since I last posted a blog, I've gained some subscribers. I'd like to take a second to thank all of you for subscribing, and having a general interest in whatever it is that I'm doing.

So! I thought a little update would be in order as, yes, I will be releasing my very first demo in about a week. I know I said like four months ago that I'd be doing that, but I did some things. Random things, some related to work on the game, some related to life, and some related to falling off of a boat. Anyways, I've nailed down just what I'd like to have in terms of scripts, so I'm happy with it. As in, I won't be adding any more than I have with the exception of one aspect which is slightly up in the air right now. That has to do with the 'TP' system and whether I want to add 'limit break-esque' type abilities. As of the moment of writing this blog, I've arrived at no, no I do not want them. They'd be cool, but I think it takes a bit of the strategy out of games. I don't want you to have an 'oh shit' lever that you can pull and win. And I've done so much tweaking in terms of balance so far that it'd make it like ten times the work just to adjust everything and add it in. Characters all have their skills, utility, niche, strengths, and weaknesses all panned out. Which with a larger cast can be a slight challenge as you can only have so many things that apply poison without it being retarded. That being said, only like one spell applies poison.

I'm rambling. Anyways, I've been doing quite a bit of reading on what the length of the demo should be, how to curtail it, present it, etc. etc. Originally I had planned for a length of about three hours. Then I realized that it's far too long for a first demo. So I shortened that to about two hours. Nothing too heavy in terms of plot, just kind of lays a foundation for the story that will be told. Introduces you to a few of the characters, applies general bits of foreshadowing, and allows for slight development of personalities. The more work I actually do on the project, the longer it is seeming to become. Finishing the first dungeon, knowing exactly where everything is, the strategies that can be employed in battles, and just how to go at it I clock myself in at about an hour to an hour and a half; the demo will contain two dungeons and a small amount more of plot, which I am in the process of finalizing. Now, granted, I could release much more than what I am, but as I've stated before I like to make sure things are as perfect as I can get them so until I'm comfortable with it you won't see it. Basically if there's a screenshot of it it's done, just to give you an idea of overall progress.

I know the RMN breeds a fickle audience, and I hope to appease you with something palatable. The TL:DR is that the demo of the game will be up within a week. I'll more than likely be creating a feedback page for you to direct all criticisms, bugs, suggestions, gripes and general opinions. Though if it's, like, really awful please just send me a message. If not for me, then for the children.

Also, if you have any questions about the the game, or the demo, or anything like that please feel free to ask. Answering questions is my pass time.

So I haven't a clear idea on what it is I'd like to say in this particular entry, but I do know that a journey of like, say, 58,000 steps starts with the first. I feel like a million is a bit far-reaching at this stage of the process. Anyways, I've actually been working on this game for a while now and just recently got the motivation to create a page for it on here. With the many alterations, additions, omissions, and revisions all halting my progress at various times.

What I ultimately aim to do here, is obviously release something that I'm not only happy with, but that perhaps a few others can enjoy along the way. That being said, I'm not seeking out to be a trailblazer here who seeks to rock the very foundations of our homy little community, I just want to give people that warm fuzzy 'I'm playing an RPG' feeling we've all gotten from time to time. I have an original story, it's not a fan game or blatant Final Fantasy derivative, and I certainly don't have you battling an evil wizard to save the planet from a meteor. Now, while I reserve the right to at some point integrate an evil, princess-kidnapping wizard who wants to destroy the world with a meteor, that will only be in the case that someone is threatening to assault me with a hammer unless I release the thing immediately.

I also would like to clarify that I am actively looking for feedback. So if you see a screenshot and have a comment, whether positive or negative, please feel free to offer me any form of input. As long as it isn't something like "U R QUEER."

Furthermore, I will try and post more detailing the story and characters available during the game. I have all ready actually designed all of them, their skills (including individual animations using Yami's lovely Symphony Battle Engine), their fancy opening cut scenes, individual motivations and personalities, graphics when applicable, equipment(s), etc. As I said, I've been at this for a while.

Well, I bet that big ol' wall of text got you guys excited. I know I'm FUCKING PSYCHED. Please, please, come join me in my descent into madness as I make sure the my trees don't overhang cliffs improperly or that my slimes are of appropriate strength.