BOSSGAME

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