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Progress Report

Status Update 1: Completionist Run

Hi, everyone! It's been a while! I've been meaning to post a status update, but I wasn't sure what to put, so I putzed around about it. But I'm getting antsy and I'm sure you're curious, so, let's catch up!

Status & Progress

BOSSGAME is coming along well! In the past month or so, I've written a lot of dialogue - something like 20+ small VN-style cutscenes - and began implementing them in the game. I've also made lots of little tweaks to combat, specific bosses, skills, and executed on a lot of polish that needs to be done. This is all for a playtest build that I want to send out to a small testing group ASAP. I got hung up on the writing in particular. I have a lot of faith in the characters I've written and the themes of BOSSGAME, but I'm generally nervous about my writing, and pushing through that to put words on the page took some getting used to.

Opportunities

To be honest, I had forgotten I set a completion date when I originally posted about BOSSGAME here, and it just flew by, so... whoops. Progress is coming along! However, a couple (good!) things have happened that have made me consider BOSSGAME's future - which has in turn made me slow down my pace a bit, instead of diving into "get the game out the door" mode, which I'd normally be entering about now.

The first is that I've had some contact with artists who would be able to spruce up some places where BOSSGAME's art still relying on the VX Ace default (backgrounds, battlers, and such) and would really benefit from a matching style :) I've also been hunting for a musician!

The second is that I've been approached by a few people who would love to see the game go further and possibly find a place as a commercial game. I've talked to a few people about publishing and it's something I've been considering! BOSSGAME is pretty unique in its format, and I think there's a lot of people who would really enjoy it. But, if I was going to sell the game at a price, I would personally want to make the best game I could manage. This means I'd spend more time working with artists, bugfixing, and polishing it up to a mirror's sheen - which means longer development time.

(For what it's worth, if I did sell the game, I'd definitely come up with a free version or something that I could post here on RMN, as well!)

What's Next

So I'm at a crossroads! I would love to finish up the game as soon as possible and show it off to people. I think it's a lot of fun, and I know you would all enjoy it. On the other hand, I've been trying to push myself as a developer, and part of that is:

I want to release more complete games! I've made dozens of scrappy games in the past 8 years or so since I started in games, but I have never really trained my patience on a larger project. Until BOSSGAME, the biggest game I made (in hours spent on dev) was It'll Look Great On Your Résumé, which took me about 4 months from start to finish. In comparison, I've been working on BOSSGAME steadily since March 2015 - like, 15 months now. Woof. I've never had the discipline to focus on a single project for so long. It's been a strange and great experience and part of me wants to push it farther!

That's where I'm at! I'm steadily pushing forward. This weekend I plan to send out a small playtest and get feedback on a zillion changes I've made since the last one. I'll do my best to keep you all updated as much as possible. Thank you for listening and thank you for your BOSSGAME love!


~slash

Miscellaneous

Devlog 3: Our Crew

Hey everyone o/

Today I’d like to introduce you to the cast and crew of Bossgame! These are your friends, your party, the people you’ll be hanging out with the most! And here to introduce them all is none other than: Derek!

Yo, how’s it going? Anna dragged me in here to do some of the promotion work… I guess it could be fun.

So, let’s get started!



THE BOSSGAME CREW


LILY

Lily, huh? She’s alright, I guess. She started hanging out with Anna a while back. Before that, she was a town guard, or something? I dunno. She’s nice, but she’s such a goody-two-shoes and she likes to act like she’s our leader. Jeez. No idea what Anna sees in her, they don’t match at all. But, as far as fighting goes, she’s cautious, clever, and knows how to take a punch.


ANNA

This is my sister, Anna. She is a pain in the ass. She’s loud, she’s impulsive, and she likes to start fights. We hated each other when we were kids, but it’s a little better now, maybe? In the ring, she uses a bunch of crazy powerful magic, but it tends to leave her pretty beat up. She’s stubborn and she doesn’t know how to hold back.


MIRROR BOY

This frickin’ kid. This is Mirror Boy (what a dumb name) and he is just… Ugh. He never wants to fight, and all he does is whine. Why did he even come out to the Wilds? I guess Lily knows him? Anyway, he sucks at fighting, but he has a bunch of tricks he can pull with that mirror to shield us and screw with our targets. It’s useful, but… come on. A mirror?


DEREK

This guy. This bastion of manliness. This steel colossus. Have we met? I’m Derek. I don’t mess around, and I call ‘em as I see ‘em. I was a professional boxer for a few years, and then I came out to the Wilds to catch up with my sister. And, of course, she needs me to bail her out of trouble again. I’m fast, I’m versatile, I can take a punch and I can punch back harder. Sometimes I’m a bit reckless and my teammates end up paying for it… but maybe they should just get outta my way and let me do my thing!


Anyway, that’s the whole crew! We’re kind of a frickin’ mess. But, if we get our crap together, maybe we can pull this off! Later!


Ugh, I knew letting him do this was a mistake…

A pain in the ass, huh? Come back and say that again, brother dearest~



(Bossgame development presses on! With our teamwork and clever strategy, there’s nothing that can stop us! See you soon!)

Game Design

Devlog 2: Skills are Boss

Hey everyone! It's been a couple of weeks, and BOSSGAME progress is still going smoothly. I'm currently working on getting a final playtest out before I dive headfirst into the final sprint. But today, I'd like to talk a little more about Fighting Bosses.

CHARGE and UNLEASH


Hey, what's up? I'm Anna! Last time, Lily explained Taunting and defense. Today we're going to learn about the cool stuff - fighting!

In addition to taunting, each of us can use one skill a round. We can equip four skills at a time, and as we defeat more bosses, we'll learn more skills. Switching our skills around to match our next fight is gonna be important!

In BOSSGAME, our skills fall into two types: Charge skills and Unleash skills. Charge skills raise your Energy, and Unleash skills use all of that energy to power a super-cool ability! Unleash skills are the most powerful moves we have, so saving up Energy to Unleash at the right moment is clutch! Got it? Okay!







All of us have a good mix of Charge and Unleash skills. Charge skills grant you 1 EN, and Unleash skills use all of your EN to power themselves. An Unleash skill with only 1 EN won't be any more powerful than a Charge skill, but at 3 EN, they're pretty frickin' impressive!


Okay, you probably get it, so let's skip to the fun stuff ;) I made a chart of a few of the skills you'll see in the game!

~Shieldblade~

Deal damage and gain SP.

~Lily's Embrace~

Gain SP per EN. Intercept all attacks that would hit allies this turn!
~Passionbolt~

Deal damage and increase your ATK for three turns.

~Go! Go! Go!~

Massively boost an ally's ATK for one turn, based on EN!
~Ruin~

Deal damage to an enemy over the next three turns.

~Fountain of Light~

Shield one ally for a lot, then shield all allies for a little, based on EN!
~Jab // Cross~

Jab: Deal light damage, then become Cross.

Cross: Deal heavy damage, then become Jab.

~Haymaker~

Deal massive damage based on EN, but hurt your friends as well!


The first skill for each hero is used to charge up so you can unleash the second one! Unleash skills are super powerful, and we can use them to counter the bosses' plans or to flip the battle around!

Okay, sweet. We did it! That covers the basics of skills in BOSSGAME. Next week... idk! We could let Derek talk about something... maybe... or we could bring back Lily! That sounds like a good plan :D


Game Design

Devlog 1: Surviving Bossgame, Taunting, and Shields

So! BOSSGAME has been officially officialized and I'm here to talk about what to expect!

BOSSGAME jumps off of the traditional JRPG in new and totally exciting ways! I've been a fan of JRPGs for a long time, but one aspect of those games that is overwhelmingly ignored is the battles. You wouldn't think so! With all the custom battle systems out there, cool mechanics like Bravely Default's BRAVE and Chrono Trigger's Dual Skills and Final Fantasy 7's Materia, you'd think we have all the tools we need to make battles interesting!

But - while those games are great - the battles are kind of samey! Even when fighting the bosses, you as the player don't make that many choices. You probably go into each battle knowing what attacks you'll spam and what spells you'll use. Sure, you'll cast a heal when you need to, but combat - fighting! It could be so much more exciting!

In BOSSGAME, you'll be asked to be clever and make tough choices. You'll be forced to decide between healing a dying friend, disarming a bomb, or finishing your foe! Your decisions each turn will affect the next, and you'll have to think several turns in advance. Strategy is the name of the game, and you'll have lots of tools at your disposal. So, without futher ado:


TAUNTING and SHIELDS


Ah! Hi, everyone! I'm Lily! It's nice to meet you!

Okay, so, I'm here to give a lesson on TAUNTING! Taunting is the best way to protect my more vulnerable friends. When one of us uses the TAUNT skill in battle, that person will take the brunt of the enemy's attacks! Anyone can use TAUNT in addition to their other actions, but only one of us can TAUNT at a time!

Super easy so far, right?


Most of the bosses we fight will rely on heavy attacks that harm whoever's currently taunting. These attacks are predictable and frequent, so it's important to protect whoever's currently taunting as much as possible. If they get too weak, we should definitely have someone else TAUNT for a while!

Speaking of protection... Mirror Boy, it's your turn!


Ah! Oops, sorry... Okay!

Um. Hi. Hi! I'm Mirror Boy, and, um... let's talk about SHIELDS! Shields are really important to keeping everyone safe in a fight! Normally, if we take a hit from a boss, we'll lose HP, but if we have Shield Points (or SP!) we'll lose that first, instead. There's no way to get back lost HP in a fight, but our skills can generate lots of SP, so we should be okay! Probably.

Like Lily said, whoever is taunting is going to take the most damage, so we'll want to make sure they have lots of SP... But if there's too much pressure, we really should switch to someone else for a while, especially if they have a reserve of SP.


However, bosses won't only target whichever of us is taunting. They're, um. Not that nice.

Some Bosses will use Area of Effect spells that harm all of us, or they might inflict harmful status effects like Poison or Bomb on any one of us... because of that, we'll have to pay attention to the way they attack. Anyway, it's really good to have shields on EVERYONE!

Keep our SP high and we should be safe! Let it get low, and... um... well, you can see...

Please, well... Good luck out there?





That wraps up the basics of BOSSGAME battles! Thanks for reading and stay tuned, I'll be sure to post more details as development continues!
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