Soul Sunder

author=NeverSilent
Please keep everyone updated on your super secret project that nobody is supposed to know about.

Because I've lost control over my own life, I might as well let you in on some info.

The Release Something! Day is coming up, and I do plan on releasing something. You remember that TOTALLY UNRELATED prototype that I offhandedly mentioned a few blogs back? This may come as a shock to you, but it actually WAS related!

It's okay. I'll wait while you collect your minds that I'm sure have just been blown by that statement.

Here's the thing: It's FAR, FAR too early to set up a game page for it. There is no story, no custom art, nothing but a (nearly complete) battle system. However, seeing as this event is focused on giving feedback, there is no way I'm NOT going to show this to you, as the very IDEA of feedback practically makes me drool.

The question now becomes: How should this be presented? I have two options: A demo, or a video. There are pros and cons to each choice, so I'll list them here:

If I make a video, I can be sure to show off the best the battle system has to offer. Since I know everything about how the game works, I can demonstrate exactly what each character can do. The con, though, is that I have no (reliable) microphone, and so any information that might be confusing to players will have to be conveyed through text. I don't mean to brag... but there's quite a bit of stuff to talk about, and a video with 60% text and 40% gameplay can get boring really quickly.

Or maybe it won't. I don't know. I've never made a video before, so maybe such a format WOULD work.


Making a demo would certainly be easiest for me. If you're anything like me, then you learn the most by DOING things instead of reading/watching things. Since every character has a fair amount of skills, you could learn the intricacies of the battle system yourself and be able to tell much more clearly what works and what doesn't. This is, of course, a downside in and of itself. Without extensive testing, I have no idea what could potentially break the game! Plus, as this is merely a prototype, not even an alpha, I don't want to give a bad impression of the later project. The other downside is that, since I'm using the Luna Engine for this next project, I will have to encrypt the game files. If you were wanting to open the project in Ace and have a look around the logic that makes this game tick for feedback/learning purposes, you will be disappointed.


So what do you think? Do you want a demo? Or should I make a video? While that's being decided, I'm going to build a sort of tutorial level that introduces players/viewers to the mechanics a little at a time. If you want that tutorial to be playable, I'd love to hear it.