Hey guys,

So I thought I'd update you all on what's been happening with FE as there are a lot of cool things on the horizon. First off, Ness has been kind enough to provide me with some nice custom facesets (Epoch's is my current avatar picture). I know she has been really busy with other things, so it means a lot that she is doing this for me.

In addition to custom facesets, Quetzalcoatl, aka Alex Amana, is also composing an original soundtrack for my game. He has already completed a few songs, one of which you can listen to on this site:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=8985190

He is a really talented musician and a solid guy, and I am looking forward to implementing his music into my game. I probably won't have my entire game be custom music, simply because there are a number of songs in the current version that I like way too much to let go (and also, I don't expect Alex to make me 42 brand new songs to replace the old ones).

Alright, custom content aside, progress has been at a steady pace, but it should increase dramatically once I get out of school for the summer. Basically, I'm doing what I did before, and mainly focusing on implementing the major cutscenes and setting up new towns and dungeons. Battle stuff is usually the last thing I do. However, I did change up Lee's skills a little. Instead of being able to absorb an infinite number of enemy skills and literally becoming an unstoppable god, I've changed it so he can only absorb up to 5. If exceeds that number, he will have to choose a skill that he wants to let go. The max number of skills he can hold can be increased, but I'm still trying to figure out how I want to go about doing that. That aside, Lyonell Manor is nearing completion (finally) and I've begun work on the Northern Continent and all of its locales.

There is one cutscene in particular that I've been looking forward to creating for a long time. It's a scene that's been on my mind for well over a year now, and I'm really excited to finally be starting work on it. It has the potential to be one of those scenes that truly hooks players in and doesn't let go until the final credits roll. Here is a screenshot from said scene:



I also have a few questions I want to ask you all:

1). For the party system, would you prefer for the members who are not currently being used to still get full experience from battles or does that make it too easy? I want to encourage replay value, but I also don't want to make it a pain in the ass if your are forced to use other characters. I'm pretty against having them gain zero experience while not in the party, but perhaps 50% or something?

2). Some of you may have noticed that the Monster Notebook I showed off in the screenshots section wasn't included in the current version of the demo. I've been trying to decide whether it is really necessary at all, seeing as its absence didn't seem to bother too many people. Here are the pros and cons:

Pros

You can easily see a list of every monster captured/scanned, what abilities they have, and where the can be located. It may also help in planning if there is a specific monster with a certain ability you want to use in a later battle.

Cons

I will have to spend more of my time making it. I could just make a dumbed down version, but that's still time I could be spending doing other things.

If you all want it, then I will do it. It's up to you.

3). I've heard a number of things about battle difficulty. Some are saying it's too easy, while others are saying it's just right. I don't really plan to change any of the old battles too much, but I do want to plan for the future ones. All I know about is what people have mentioned in reviews. If you've played the game, what did you think of the battles? Were you challenged at all? I just want to gauge how quickly I should increase the difficulty level before proceeding.

Well, that's about it for now. Thanks for reading and please comment and throw me some feedback!