More than one year after official Steam release, I decided to make DEEP 8 free to play. The reason is simply because it is no longer economically justifiable.
Therefore I also added a direct download to the game's bio, in case some of you prefer that.

I'm still convinced of the game's quality and of the fact that it deserves a lot more players.

I spent the last couple of months creating what was announced in the last update: Making a the new artstyle for the character portraits.
It was quite a job and resulted in ~280 new graphics:



They new style can be chosen when starting a new game and can be changed at any time in the options menu.

DEEP 8 is taking part in the Steam Autumn Sale:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1037460/DEEP_8/

Other changes:
- a couple of new upgrades for spells are available - please report any irregularities!
- calling the mod menu with shift/Y should not result in calling the Info, at least if you don't hold the button
- the growth of the characters fury stats was way too exaggerated and has been adjusted, as well as Ramirez Permabilities for Fury growth

Have fun!

Get it now on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1037460/DEEP_8/




Free demo available.
I recommend playing the steam demo, because it's easier for me to update.
(instead of downloading here)

I wrote a long article on reddit, explaining to Battle System in depth. I'm just gonna mirror this here, because a lot of people demanded more information. Articles on other aspects will follow.


Damage Trigger
A central mechanic is what I call the Damage Trigger. You will know a similar mechanic from other RPGs. When you choose to do a normal attack, a bar pops up and you will have to press enter at the right time and hopefully land a bull's eye (maximum damage)! The speed of the trigger depends on the difference of yours and the enemies speed stat. Pressing at the wrong spot or not pressing at all will result in a miss.



Don't worry: The mechanic is not all over the system (like in Shadow Hearts for instance) so it still feels dynamic and fluent. And it has some rather less obvious implications:For instance, if a character is confused, he can be cured with a physical hit. And with the Damage Trigger you can sort of manage the damage output and thus – if you do it right - cure the character with a minimum of damage.

Modsystem
The most important part of battles and maybe one of the more innovative systems of the game is the Modsystem. I've noticed people having a hard time, wrapping their head around that, but I hope I can make this clear. Otherwise don't hesitate to ask in the comments!
Mods (modifications) are like weapons, armor and accessoires. Means, there are 3 different types and you can euip one of each type at a time. But then there are 2 big differences:
1. You can change the equipped mods at any time in battle.
2. All mods are useful throughout the the whole game. They are not like weapons that you sell or throw away after you used them in one dungeon.



You start easy. Since you only got few mods at the beginning, it's not too complicated. For instance you will have to adept to certain statuses enemies have like "Flying". So it's a good idea to learn "Long-distance attack". Over time it'll get more complex and interesting interdependencies between the different mods and even characters emerge. Across all characters there are around 80 Mods to choose from!
Another interesting one is "Blitzblow". It costs some MP but in exchange there is no Damage Trigger and you hit the enemy with regular damage. Useful, if an enemy is super fast and you can't seem to hit them. Also with Blitzblow your normal attack becomes bolt-elemental and you deal double damage to water enemies and those affected by the status wet.
Now let's take a look at an interesting combination consisting of all 3 types and a mod of a second character:
Ramirez equips: Long-distance attack, Counterattack and Doubleslash
Chloe equips: Dark Companion

Ramirez can now defend and wait till he's hit by a physical attack from a flying enemy. This will result in triggering the Counterattack with 2 hits (Doubleslash). Additionally Dark Companion adds more damage and the dark element to every hit. Very strong for instance against the earth elemental WienerWorm. :D



Summons
Chloe is the only character who can use summons. They actually also play a roll in her personal backstory. In battle they can use either a big attack that is of course quite MP intense or something called a groupmod. Not much more explanation needed I guess, since groupmods affect the whole party. One for instance enables every character to inflict a status with a normal attack. Another one increases the bull's eye damage significantly.




Balancing
My philosophy is, that you should be able to make it through most of the battles without grinding much. I don't want to force the player to grind but I do try to encourage them to play wisely and use mods efficiently in order to succeed. It's hard to be objective about this tho.
The enemies are designed in a way that they are quite demanding, if you first encounter them. Also every single enemy or group has a certain mechanic that, if you don't watch out, will wipe you out or at least get you in serious trouble.
Yet, if you rather like being on the safe side you can fight a few extra battles and will have a bit of an easier time. That surely is possible, but only to a certain extend because after you pass a certain level, expierience will get reduced gradually.

Life in dangerous areas is difficult sometimes because you need to watch your resources. But over the time you can make it easier by learning certain skills. For instance "Hunting" that will result in healing a certain amount of HP after every battle. Also consider the fact, that every level up heals your HP by 50% and unconscious characters get revived automatically and they still get EP! :D
I hope this gives you an idea. Drop your questions and other comments below please!

Steam Link:https://store.steampowered.com/app/1037460/DEEP_8/

Check out my latest Devlog on DEEP 8!
LINK

Hey,

just added a new file with some minor bugfixes.

Also please notice, that the demo is now available on steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1037460/DEEP_8/

Check out our latest Devstream:



and this timelapse of a world map mapping process: