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Progress Report
Game Design
Soma Spirits Battle System - Spirit Abilities
Soma Spirits has been an interesting game to work with so far, due to the fact that it involves just two party members using largely the default RPG Maker battle system. Of course, this would make for some very strained combat if it was using more traditional mechanics, so a dynamic has been made to give both characters different abilities in different situations.
If you have played the demo, you'll definitely have noticed that Heart and Soul take on certain roles in combat depending on where they are. Heart is able to use Power abilities in the World of Joy, and Soul can do so in the World of Sorrow. And whichever character has access to Power does not have access to Support.
The arrows denote who is taking on which role at any given time. In this case, Heart has access to Power, and Soul has access to Support.
Both Power and Support skills cost MP, which works like MP in most other games. But throughout the course of the adventure, Heart and Soul gain access to a third type of skill called Spirit. These skills cost SP; you start at 0 SP in each battle and it is generated at the rate of 1 SP per turn. A maximum of 10 SP can be stored at a time, although you'll rarely find yourself hitting the cap outside of boss battles.
Spirit abilities can be used regardless of role, and consist of moves that are unavailable to the Power and Support schools of magic. But since SP generates slowly, you won't have as many opportunities to cast them. And obviously, the more useful a Spirit ability is, the more SP it is going to cost. Will you run the risk of casting a weaker one at the risk of taking longer to charge a potential supermove? Think carefully about how you want to approach it!
If you have played the demo, you'll definitely have noticed that Heart and Soul take on certain roles in combat depending on where they are. Heart is able to use Power abilities in the World of Joy, and Soul can do so in the World of Sorrow. And whichever character has access to Power does not have access to Support.
The arrows denote who is taking on which role at any given time. In this case, Heart has access to Power, and Soul has access to Support.
Both Power and Support skills cost MP, which works like MP in most other games. But throughout the course of the adventure, Heart and Soul gain access to a third type of skill called Spirit. These skills cost SP; you start at 0 SP in each battle and it is generated at the rate of 1 SP per turn. A maximum of 10 SP can be stored at a time, although you'll rarely find yourself hitting the cap outside of boss battles.
Spirit abilities can be used regardless of role, and consist of moves that are unavailable to the Power and Support schools of magic. But since SP generates slowly, you won't have as many opportunities to cast them. And obviously, the more useful a Spirit ability is, the more SP it is going to cost. Will you run the risk of casting a weaker one at the risk of taking longer to charge a potential supermove? Think carefully about how you want to approach it!
Progress Report
March Progress and Development FAQ
Hey everyone! With the demo out the door, I hope everyone has had a chance to give it a go and enjoy what the game is like so far. And I'm sure there's quite a few of you wondering about a few particulars. So in addition to this month's progress report, I'll also provide a short FAQ at the end of this. Although, I'm not sure if the "F" stands for "frequently" in this particular scenario.
Development Progress
A lot of the work this month included getting the demo version polished up and available for everyone to play. For my last project, Brave Hero Yuusha, I decided to release the demo somewhat close to the release of the final game. This turned out to be something of a double-edged sword: while it ultimately got people interested in the game and didn't allow enough time for players to gradually lose that interest, the timing also didn't really let enough hype and word-of-mouth to build up between the release of the demo and the final game.
So this time, I'm trying a different approach: release the demo version earlier in development. Whereas Yuusha was about 70% finished when I released the demo, Soma Spirits stands at around 30%.
So what has been done?
As of now, the first 20-25 minutes of the game are complete and fully playable. Some of the maps for areas thereafter are also complete, sans gameplay. The UI is complete, as are some additional tilesets, monster graphics, and other visuals (remember: I have to have two versions of each!) In short: not a terrible whole lot beyond what the demo contains but the basic framework for the game is largely finished.
The soundtrack is about 80% complete. Please give SpecialAgentApe a round of applause for the amazing work he's done so far!
While it may not seem like much now, Soma Spirits does have a little extra stuff going on under the hood. There are a number of switches and variables being tracked, depending on your actions, and there will be a number of variations of particular character interactions based on your choices. You might find some dialogue changes in the demo depending on who you talk to!
Right now, I'm primarily focusing on giving each area a distinct aesthetic without compromising the overall style. Take a peek at an upcoming area below:
Quite different from the forest, huh? Including the forest, I have about six dungeons planned over the course of the game's 2-4 hour story, and I want each one to be distinct.
Development FAQ
It's time to answer a few questions about the game!
Q: Brave Hero Yuusha was too easy. Will Soma Spirits be harder?
A: Perhaps the most common complaint I received about Yuusha was its low difficulty. I wanted the game to be accessible, but it ended up being something of a cakewalk. My goal for Soma Spirits is to make it a bit tougher, with better enemy AI, steeper leveling curves, and more complex attack patterns for bosses.
Will it be balls-hard? No, but it won't be a walk in the park like last time, either.
Q: Will Soma Spirits be commercial?
A: In my heart, I want the game to be free for everyone. But at the same time, I also feel like I've put a lot of time and love into this project, so I'm looking at possibilities. I'm thinking I may put the game on itchio with an optional donation/pay-what-you-want option for those who would like to support me. Again, nothing is set in stone, but you also never know if your game is going to explode in popularity and you never end up making a cent. Anything can happen these days.
Q: When will the game be released?
A: I don't have a concrete release date yet. But the game is about 30% finished and I've been working on it for about 5 months. I want to say it will be ready by the year's end, but no promises. If it's any consolation, I often find myself ahead of schedule.
--------------
And that's all for now! Thank you everyone for following this project. \o/
Development Progress
A lot of the work this month included getting the demo version polished up and available for everyone to play. For my last project, Brave Hero Yuusha, I decided to release the demo somewhat close to the release of the final game. This turned out to be something of a double-edged sword: while it ultimately got people interested in the game and didn't allow enough time for players to gradually lose that interest, the timing also didn't really let enough hype and word-of-mouth to build up between the release of the demo and the final game.
So this time, I'm trying a different approach: release the demo version earlier in development. Whereas Yuusha was about 70% finished when I released the demo, Soma Spirits stands at around 30%.
So what has been done?
As of now, the first 20-25 minutes of the game are complete and fully playable. Some of the maps for areas thereafter are also complete, sans gameplay. The UI is complete, as are some additional tilesets, monster graphics, and other visuals (remember: I have to have two versions of each!) In short: not a terrible whole lot beyond what the demo contains but the basic framework for the game is largely finished.
The soundtrack is about 80% complete. Please give SpecialAgentApe a round of applause for the amazing work he's done so far!
While it may not seem like much now, Soma Spirits does have a little extra stuff going on under the hood. There are a number of switches and variables being tracked, depending on your actions, and there will be a number of variations of particular character interactions based on your choices. You might find some dialogue changes in the demo depending on who you talk to!
Right now, I'm primarily focusing on giving each area a distinct aesthetic without compromising the overall style. Take a peek at an upcoming area below:
Quite different from the forest, huh? Including the forest, I have about six dungeons planned over the course of the game's 2-4 hour story, and I want each one to be distinct.
Development FAQ
It's time to answer a few questions about the game!
Q: Brave Hero Yuusha was too easy. Will Soma Spirits be harder?
A: Perhaps the most common complaint I received about Yuusha was its low difficulty. I wanted the game to be accessible, but it ended up being something of a cakewalk. My goal for Soma Spirits is to make it a bit tougher, with better enemy AI, steeper leveling curves, and more complex attack patterns for bosses.
Will it be balls-hard? No, but it won't be a walk in the park like last time, either.
Q: Will Soma Spirits be commercial?
A: In my heart, I want the game to be free for everyone. But at the same time, I also feel like I've put a lot of time and love into this project, so I'm looking at possibilities. I'm thinking I may put the game on itchio with an optional donation/pay-what-you-want option for those who would like to support me. Again, nothing is set in stone, but you also never know if your game is going to explode in popularity and you never end up making a cent. Anything can happen these days.
Q: When will the game be released?
A: I don't have a concrete release date yet. But the game is about 30% finished and I've been working on it for about 5 months. I want to say it will be ready by the year's end, but no promises. If it's any consolation, I often find myself ahead of schedule.
--------------
And that's all for now! Thank you everyone for following this project. \o/
Announcement
Progress Report
Mutually exclusive... treasures? And progress report!
So here we are at the end of February. Hard to think that thee holidays were just a little over two months ago. I'm sure we'll all be drinking eggnog again before we know it. Uh... but that's not what I'm here to talk about today.
A choice of Treasure?
In Soma Spirits, shifting between the two worlds will give a few different options to the player, such as story-related choices, as well as what monsters to fight. But everyone in the world of Soma has a counterpart in the other world, and treasure chests are no exception!
Small treasure chests may be opened normally, and do not have a counterpart in the other world, so these are safe to open at your own leisure. Large chests, however, have a counterpart. And opening one for its contents will cause the chest in the other world to be emptied, too! Meaning that two versions of the same treasure chest exist, but you may only take the contents of one of them.
Of course, it wouldn't be fair if the game forced you to take whatever item you found first, so you'll be given the opportunity to decline it and check that chest's counterpart. And in the case of equipment, you'll be able to preview what that equipment does before taking it, as well.
Progress Report!
I'm hard at work assembling a short demo of the game, and hope to have something out for you all to play within the next few weeks! I've been working on the project for about 4-5 months now, and the content of the demo is roughly 2/3rds of the way done. I hope you'll look forward to the day when you can get a taste of what the full project will be like!
A choice of Treasure?
In Soma Spirits, shifting between the two worlds will give a few different options to the player, such as story-related choices, as well as what monsters to fight. But everyone in the world of Soma has a counterpart in the other world, and treasure chests are no exception!
Small treasure chests may be opened normally, and do not have a counterpart in the other world, so these are safe to open at your own leisure. Large chests, however, have a counterpart. And opening one for its contents will cause the chest in the other world to be emptied, too! Meaning that two versions of the same treasure chest exist, but you may only take the contents of one of them.
Of course, it wouldn't be fair if the game forced you to take whatever item you found first, so you'll be given the opportunity to decline it and check that chest's counterpart. And in the case of equipment, you'll be able to preview what that equipment does before taking it, as well.
Progress Report!
I'm hard at work assembling a short demo of the game, and hope to have something out for you all to play within the next few weeks! I've been working on the project for about 4-5 months now, and the content of the demo is roughly 2/3rds of the way done. I hope you'll look forward to the day when you can get a taste of what the full project will be like!
Miscellaneous
The Worlds of Soma - And Development Update!
Hey everyone! I'm glad that so many people jumped on board to subscribe to this project so quickly! While the game is still pretty early in development, a lot of the groundwork for the project has been established and I wanted to share one of the basic concepts of Soma Spirits with you today.
The world of Soma Spirits is a world called Soma: a land once ravaged by hatred and war, now divided into two equal parts by greater beings. While the idea of an RPG with two parralel worlds is certainly nothing new, Soma Spirits isn't exactly a game about your typical light and darkness, or good and evil.
The Two Parts of a Whole
The first of Soma's two worlds is the World of Joy. Everyone here is happy to be alive and always optimistic, no matter the situation. Heart resides here as the Spirit of Joy and is this world's guardian spirit.
The adjacent world is called the World of Sorrow. While some may be quick to write off the world of Sorrow as a place of misery, everyone here tends to be realistic and practical. They despise wanton escapism and prefer to live life carefully. Soul resides here as the Spirit of Sorrow.
The worlds interact with eachother in various ways. The decisions that you take in one world will ultimately affect the other.
Development
Things have been coming along pretty smoothly in terms of development! A lot of the work over the last couple of weeks has been remodeling the UI, and that's nearing its completion. I've also been doing lots of little bits here and there, mostly graphics-related. Once the UI is done, the next big thing will be drawing up more character sprites, portraits, and working out the finer details of the game's story.
SpecialAgentApe is also hard at work on the musical score, and I know everyone will love what he has to offer for the OST!
The world of Soma Spirits is a world called Soma: a land once ravaged by hatred and war, now divided into two equal parts by greater beings. While the idea of an RPG with two parralel worlds is certainly nothing new, Soma Spirits isn't exactly a game about your typical light and darkness, or good and evil.
The Two Parts of a Whole
The first of Soma's two worlds is the World of Joy. Everyone here is happy to be alive and always optimistic, no matter the situation. Heart resides here as the Spirit of Joy and is this world's guardian spirit.
The adjacent world is called the World of Sorrow. While some may be quick to write off the world of Sorrow as a place of misery, everyone here tends to be realistic and practical. They despise wanton escapism and prefer to live life carefully. Soul resides here as the Spirit of Sorrow.
The worlds interact with eachother in various ways. The decisions that you take in one world will ultimately affect the other.
Development
Things have been coming along pretty smoothly in terms of development! A lot of the work over the last couple of weeks has been remodeling the UI, and that's nearing its completion. I've also been doing lots of little bits here and there, mostly graphics-related. Once the UI is done, the next big thing will be drawing up more character sprites, portraits, and working out the finer details of the game's story.
SpecialAgentApe is also hard at work on the musical score, and I know everyone will love what he has to offer for the OST!
