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Announcement

Castle Oblivion: Remake is now on Game Jolt!

Yo-yo-yo! I've finally decided to take my next step as a developer to join the somewhat huge indie website called Game Jolt! The first game I have posted is this one (mainly since it's the game I'm most proud of so far). You can check it out right here: Castle Oblivion: Remake - Game Jolt Edition.

I also want to let you guys know that I am indeed working on my 5th game ATM, which should be revealed pretty soon (it's a pretty short game, so it won't take too long for it to release either!). If you're a fan of Adventure games, then make sure to stay tuned!

Thanks for all of the support and kind comments so far! I really feel like I need to do something to celebrate for the amount of downloads the game have received. Keep it real, yo, and I'll see ya soon!

Announcement

Yes! I (we) did it!

7 years have passed since the original, and now it's here, as it was meant and rightfully deserves to be.


I'm so glad that I managed to finish the game this year after all! Due to the scope and overall meat of the game (30-50+ hours of content), I'm a little surprised that I managed to have this done in less than a year. The thing is though; I could've never done this without the wonderful help that I've received. Here we go:

Adena:
My good and inspiring Indonesian friend, what would I've done without you? If it weren't for your technical help, this game would suffer from the weird graphical glitch with the Caterpillar script that was evidenced in CO3. Your early testing reports were of great help as well. Thank you for everything and especially for being such a good and supporting friend. Our talks motivated me a lot to buckle and keep working hard on the game. I hope everything goes well for you in life and I can't wait to play your upcoming games!

amerk:
It's been very nice to have an old fan of the originals still sticking around. Your critique on the early parts of the demo has been very helpful. Overall, your support and kind comments have meant a lot to me. I hope you, as an old fan, will be able to enjoy revisiting the Castle again after all these years. Thank you.

boos405:
Your comeback truly awakened something in me. Something that I thought was long lost, together with the passing of the YT community. There's no doubt that your return motivated me. Thanks for your kind and supportive comments! I hope you'll find the game to play the game sometime. Take care and I hope your gets better!

captainregal:
Your review gave me a lot of things to think about. I've gone back to it everyone now and then, making sure that I put the feedback I agree on in practice to the game. Thanks for taking your time to review and I hope to hear what you think about the game as a whole. An updated review for it would be really interesting.

Dalph:
Thank you so much for kind comments and support. It really means a lot to me. As you are another fan of the originals, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the remake. I sure hope it will live up to your expectations, and perhaps even beyond!

Frogge:
I'm very proud to have you on-board as the game's official Pun Writer. Your puns have brought me (and others) many good laughs. Your constant support has also motivated a great deal. Uploading screenshots felt more meaningful, since I always knew that they would be followed by some form of pun (or in some cases useful critique). You are without a doubt the kindest frog that I've ever met. Hopefully, we'll be able to work on some games together in the future. Duo think that we'll make a good team? Ha! Caught you off guard with that one, didn't I?

GreatRedSpirit:
This awesome scripting wizard has helped me out numerous time. If it weren't for your help, the Auto-Life state would've been a buggy mess. I'm
also pretty sure that you helped me out with adjusting the game's max level
cap. The help I've received from you have done wonders to the game on the technical side. I'm still not sure how I'll ever repay you, but I hope I get
the chance to do so sometime in the future. Thank you so, so much.

kelarly
One of my biggest idols and not just in RM, but life in general. Without you, this remake wouldn't even exist! I'm glad to see you happy with this remake and I can't wait to hear the original Lord of the Castle's thoughts on the game.I owe a lot to you, buddy! Thanks for everything.

kenlan
A big THANK YOU, my fellow Swedish buddy. Your overall interest and observant beta-testing has been crucial to the game's completion. You've truly done an amazing job and I hope that you'll continue to enjoy my future games. Cheers!

ksjp17
Your critique (even from CO3) has been very helpful. I tried to take as much from it as possible and use it to make this game even more polished. It's all the little things that count, right? I hope you'll have some time to replay this game sometime. I'd love to hear your wise thoughts on the finished product. Thank you very much for sharing your valuable thoughts on my games.

Linkis:
Thank you for your continuing support. I'm really happy to see familiar faces sticking around. :) Let's hope that the game won't be too hard, eh? Let me know if you'd ever get stuck or need help with anything in particular.

Matseb2611
Like ksjp17, your critique and inputs has helped me a lot to shape this game into something even shinier and more enjoyable. Feedback is so crucial, since you're always very biased with your games as a developer. I'm looking forward to hear your thoughts on the finished game and I really hope that you'll see it as a step up from CO3. Thanks for your feedback and overall support. I'm looking forward to play some of your games. Hopefully, I'll be able to return the favor.

Riff:
Thank you for beta testing the game and finding those small errors in the dialogue. Everything counts! :)

the13thsecret:
Working with you have been a blast! Overall, I think we did a good job at working together. We faced many trials together, which we thankfully managed to power through. If all goes well for us in the future, I wouldn't mind working with you again. Cheers and good job! The remake wouldn't have been as good if wasn't for your awesome talents! Cheers, buddy!

WalkerMage102:
Thank you for bearing with me during beta testing. I know a lot of patches were made, but I think they'll all be worth it in the end. Also, thank you for your kind comments and support!

Zachfoss:
My fellow Canadian Mango, how can I ever forget about you? Even though we may not talk as much as we used to do nowadays, I'm still thankful for the talks we've had every now and then. Thank for your love and support, bro. I haven't forgotten about OR by the way. ;) Good luck with it!

Zephire98:
Your support truly motivated me during the game's development. I hope that you'll enjoy this game, as I know I'll enjoy DoR and CD. Just remember to give me a call when you need a tester/or some help with your game(s). Keep at it, you'll have your games finished soon enough!

Zodiac12:
Thanks for your feedback on the demo! I hope you will find attacking more useful now than it was before. I'm also glad to see another fan of the original. Cheers and let me know what you think of remake!


I'd like to thank everyone else that have helped/supported me. If you feel left out, then don't hesitate to let me know! For now, it's time for me to take a little break and refuel my batteries.
I want to wish everyone here a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! This game is my Christmas gift to you and I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I had making it!

Progress Report

Ladies and gentlemen, we've reached the Top Floor!

Yeah, that's right! Some of you old comers who played the original know what I'm talking about, but for those who don't: the Top Floor is the last Floor of Castle Oblivion. Everything I've worked on has led up to this point!

During my absence, I was able to finish 1 Floor each week + the stuff that happens in between, as well as some optional stuff. All I can say right now is that we're getting close. This close:

Total Percent Completion: 92%

This is not the only news I come bearing. The Lord of the Castle aka the Mad Philosopher himself finally got himself the badass portrait that he deserves!

The Mad Philosopher, the architect who built the Castle itself, brick-by-brick and memory-by-memory, and the Castle’s current Lord. Dilan has lived a long life in the Castle running experiment after experiment. Trifles like “ethics” won’t stand in his way of advancing humanity. He’s far too busy to deal with Vincent.
More awesome character descriptions can be found here.

Not only does he have an awesome portrait, but he also has a couple of facesets with fitting expressions. He also has an awesome sprite, of course.
And that's not all! Our quiet and lovable character, Azen, has received an upgrade more fitting his role as a Dark Knight.

All this is thanks to the talented writer (and franken-spriter?), the13thsecret, who I'm working with on this project. The game would be nowhere near as engaging and hooking if it weren't for his pure awesomeness.

Screenshot Time:


Yes, just look at those sparkles, Celcia. Believe or not, those sparkles might actually sell the game on their own.

From the looks of this monster, it might just be called 'Fury Seeker'. But what do I know?

Welcome to the Deep Void. How tough are ya?

Thank goodness I still live up in the Overworld.

This guy means business. You should see his HP!

No, but we're almost there, Vincent.

Serious Talk:
So, I'm guessing that most of you are just wondering: "...when the heck is this going to be released!?".

I...may or may not have an answer to that. Due to the 'Gam Mak Flow' I've been having while working on this game, I'm happy to tell that the release date I hoped and dreamed for might have come to fruition. Yes, this means that the full game will be released THIS year, before 2016!

This is not final or anything, but I'm hoping to release the game by the 21st of December. I won't pull modern industry approach, everything, including all Optional Bosses, Sidequests and whatever, will be ready from Day 1. Think of this as an early Christmas gift from me.

While the game probably will be finished pretty soon, it won't be able to reach its 'final form' without you; the Beta Testers.

Call out for Beta Testers:

Yes, it's that time of the year development. Before I can release the game officially to the public, I'll need you guys/gals to help me test this beast. I'm currently looking for any beta testers in general, but mostly, those who'll be able to have some spare time in order to test and give feedback before the planned released (who knows, if things turn out really well, this might happen sooner than expected).

Current List of Beta Testers:
Adena
kenlan
Zephire98
WalkerMage102
(Hopefully my writer, the13thsecret, will join here as well.)


So if you want to be a part of this final stretch, as a Beta Tester, please, lend me your voice, either by commenting, PMing, or whatever you prefer. I'm all over the web! Any and all help is immensely appreciated!

(I will most likely make a new blog later about this matter alone sometime in the near future.)

At the moment, I'm not the only one playing testing the game. My good Indonesian friend, Adena, has taken his time to Alpha/Early Beta Test the game. This means that the Beta Version of Castle Oblivion: Remake will be even more polished and bug-ridden! We've already found some small bugs/errors which have been fixed.

Last Words:

While I've been playing and testing the game, I've grown to enjoy it a lot more than I first expected (mainly because I'm the creator, and creators always hate their own work the most, no matter what everyone else thinks.). I can honestly say, as a developer, game designer, creator and human being, that I'm really proud of my work. I'm carrying strong belief and hope that this game will really be 'something'. It feels like if I'm being able to enjoy my game myself, there's a good chance the players will as well.

This may or may not be the third-to-last blog post before the game's release. Look forward to that.
(Let's hold our thumbs that this will be worthy enough to make its way to Best of Blogs #010!)

Progress Report

Getting even closer!

There's been a lot of work dedicated to Castle Oblivion: Remake this week. For starters, I've finished the entirety of the 7th Floor. I have some optional content planned for it, but I'm not sure what to do with it ATM. Remember the last % of the cutscenes I had still to wait for and finish?
Well, those scenes are now finished! There are a few changes in the main script here and there due to an interesting addition to the plot. Thankfully, it's not too much as to get the game delayed.

I've also finished most of the map transitions for the game, which will make the final work much easier.

Also, my writer is currently working hard to get a a custom portrait and some facesets for our main villain. At the moment, he doesn't have a face.

Besides that, there's not a whole lot going on. I'll basically keep working on the game till it's done and ready for beta (you'll know when the time comes).

Expect random screenshots (and maybe videos) popping up every now and then!

Total percent completion so far: about 75%

Progress Report

Getting some stuff done

Smallish update:

I recently decided to get some specific stuff out of the way before moving on to work on the main gameplay for Floor 7.
Here's a few things I've recently finished, more or less:

- Finished ALL weapons of the game, including stats, descriptions, icons, prices, effects, animations...
- Finished almost ALL of the Armor stuff (shields, headgear, body armor, accessories).
- Finished Floor 6 completely, except for an optional dungeon which I'll work on once I'm there.
- Received an updated version of the main script from my writer.
- Started working on the new cutscenes of Floor 7.
- Fixed/updated all transfers between maps up till' the 9th Floor. Reason I'm doing this is to make the map transitions more smooth when a fog is/has been used.
- Mapped most of the last interiors in Port Brinks. These are all optional, but will become very helpful, especially end game.
- Added a weather change for Port Brinks for the sake of variety and fresh atmosphere. I'm planning on adding a few more weather changes to the town as I progress on my playthrough.
- Added new Skills to Celcia and a few OVERDRIVES as well.


Right now, I'll focus on the gameplay for Floor 7. In between the work there, I'll also work on the evolution of Port Brinks: adding ex-Castle inhabitants to the town while updating dialogue for some NPCs.

Miscellaneous

This game has Story AND Characters too!

It's actually true! I was planning for a more minimalist approach towards the game page, but I can't forget that a lot of you value Story and Characters, sometimes above all else.

Let us start with the Story:

Vincent and Azen, two knights stuck in the rain, discovered a strange Castle. Their host was gracious enough to offer permanent refuge by kidnapping Azen with an overwhelming power. Not wanting to be next, Vincent abandoned his friend. After drifting through decades of guilt and wanting to redeem himself, the Castle returned. Vincent will find new friends and foes as he traverses the Castle’s memory-made worlds to rescue Azen, but can everyone overcome the shameful past?

Last, but not least, we have the Characters:

Vincent:

A straightforward knight from Kingdom Threas. In a desperate moment, he chose to save himself and abandoned his closest friend Azen to the Castle. It was a decision that cost him his self-respect, but it also spurred him to become someone better. The Castle has reappeared after decades of training. Can Vincent take the opportunity to make amends?

Tikal:

A quiet witch living in the Cemetery Woods on the first Floor who provides better hospitality than the Castle and Gilgamesh. Tikal and Hanz are determined to find a way out of their bleak home on the first Floor. Not much is known about her past, but she seems to know a lot about the Castle. Her magical talents will be a great asset.

Hanz:

A loyal knight from the turbulent country, Asmen, he’ll stick through thick and thin. He’s also stuck on the same Floor as Tikal. Uninterested in living the rest of his life in the Castle, Hanz has been toiling to explore and prepare a way for everyone to leave with him. It’s too bad that most people lack his dedication and decisiveness.

Celcia:

A thie--treasure hunter from the archipelago country, Tynedis. She’s stuck as a captive on the second Floor. In contrast to the three other silent types in the party, Celcia is by far the most bubbly and wears her heart on her sleeve. Her constitution isn’t the greatest, but where there’s a treasure, there’s a way!

Gilgamesh:

The Castle’s host and Dilan’s apprentice. He has the task of welcoming visitors with the Castle’s finest hospitality whether they want it or not. With Vincent’s return, Gilgamesh also has the task of monitoring his progress. Perhaps Gilgamesh will learn something from Vincent’s inspirational quest.

Dilan:
The Mad Philosopher, the architect who built the Castle itself, brick-by-brick and memory-by-memory, and the Castle’s current Lord. Dilan has lived a long life in the Castle running experiment after experiment. Trifles like “ethics” won’t stand in his way of advancing humanity. He’s far too busy to deal with Vincent.

There are of course more characters in the game. These are just some of the main important ones.

As far as progress goes: I'm currently working on Floor 7, which would mean that the gameplay is about 60-70% done so far.

Till we meet again!

Progress Report

Been pretty sick for a while...

...BUT I think I'm starting to get back in the room groove!

I got a nasty cold that's lasted almost 2 weeks now. During that time, I was sadly to tired and fatigued to progress on the game. Fear not, since I'm back and almost done with the 5th Floor now!

I haven't forgot about the trailer I mentioned earlier. After being sick and restless for about 2 weeks, I thought it would be nicer to come back and make some actual progress.

About the end of 2015 deadline: I still think it's quite possible. These last parts are the toughest in a way, since every progress from here on out are followed by heavy amounts of testing and tweaking.

I'm estimating that I will have about 1 Floor finished every week and if I work extremely hard, I might even finish 2 Floors somehow.

I know that I'm bad at updating you guys on what's going and I am sorry for that. At this point though, it feels more important to just have the game finished in time for my deadline.

I might start to add progress scores (with % of completion) so that you guys can sort of be there with me for the final ride.

Once I've finished the 5th Floor, I promise you that I'll go straight to work on that trailer. For now, let me leave you with some screenies:







Look forward to further updates and a trailer coming SOON!

Progress Report

Still alive and kickin'!

Most of my development time has gone towards the gameplay since my last blog here. So far, things have been going pretty smoothly.
I have to admit that it really does take time to work on things, such as balancing, enemies, skills and everything in between.
Reason is because this stage requires a heavy amount of testing and tweaking before I can move forward.
I still am working hard on the game, it's just that I'm also taking extra time making sure everything flows correctly and in quality.


Battles, Equipment, Items & Puzzles:
Right after I've finished this post, I'll start working on the battles on Floor 4. I'm pretty satisfied with how it's turning out so far. I've fixed some bugs and done some overall polishing on the way. I'm also pretty happy that I've made it to the point where all party members have joined. Adding to that, I've also finished the biggest Floor in the game as well. If I had to guess, I'd say that I've so far finished 40% of the gameplay.

This is the last stage I'm going through, if you don't count the beta testing, that is. I'm estimating that the 4th Floor will be finished sometime next week. If I keep up with this pace, I'll probably be able to have one Floor finished every week.

I'd really like to go into more detail on how the game is playing so far, but I think it's best that I'll wait with that for a future blog.

By the way, I got this cool idea about the trailer. Any of you remember the old trailer of the original CO?



I'll most likely make the exact same trailer as the old one, but this time, well, it'll be the remake.
Cool idea, huh?
I think so, since it will not only come out as a trailer, but a nice little comparison between the two games.
I'm sure it'll be fun. :)

Progress Report

I can't believe I've made this much progress in just about 2 weeks...

Howdy y'all! Big updates incoming (see below)!

Writing:
Still waiting for a minor update here. It's more or less complete, nonetheless. I'd say it's around 99.9% finished.

Mapping:
I spent an entire week working hard on my maps. In that week, I finished 100 maps, which concludes all of the games story maps! For numbers, I've made 349 maps so far, which means that roughly 100% of the maps have been finished (except a few small puzzle maps I might add).

Cutscenes:
The next week, after I had finished the maps, I started focusing on the story and its cutscenes. All cutscenes except a few in F7 is complete. Pretty much 99.7% of all cutscenes are finished, I'd say.

Battles, Equipment, Items & Puzzles:
This is the next step and what I'll be focusing on for the rest of the games development. I have finished most, if not all of the puzzles already. About 25% of the gameplay related stuff have been finished, I'd say.

It's kind of a shock to me that I've managed to get this much done in just about 2 weeks. Keeping this up is a good sign that the full game will be available by the end of the year.

Even though it may be just a little early, I'd still like to inform you that I'll be looking for testers pretty soon. I know, I still need to add all of the remaining battles etc. and test it myself, but I'm just letting you guys know. If you think that you'd be interested in testing the game before its full release, please, don't be shy about your voice. Let me know! ;)

(I'll upload more screenshots in the next few days. A screenie a day keeps the doctor away!)

Take care and look forward to the full release which hopefully will be near the end of the year!

Miscellaneous

Game Page Feedback & Updates

I was aiming for a short and to the point presentation of this game page. Rather than going into detail about the story, characters, mechanics etc. I felt like taking a more simple approach with the page.
That way, the game would feel more fresh when people would play it and let the actual game itself handle the presentation.

My question to you is: do you want to know more about the game before its release?

I'm simply asking if you think something is missing, like a character page for example. If you're wondering why there are no videos as of yet, it's because I've had troubles with my computer and my lost video recording program (RIP Fraps!). Don't worry, there will be videos of the game soon enough and maybe a trailer soon-ish as well (since I've actually made that much progress on the game already).

But let's stick to present: what do you think of the games presentation in its current form? Is it good, if not, then what's bad about it?

You might have noticed that this page and CO3s have received quite a drastic change of theme. I personally think the new theme looks a lot more appealing. It also fits the general mood of Castle Oblivion.

Please, let me know what you think. Expect a FANTASTIC progress report in the next few days!
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