Hello ladies and gents!
So for the past few weeks I've been working on polishing the magic academy, fixing holes, animating large gears, and implementing some features I'll talk about later in the post. I've also been brainstorming on how to go about the elven city and the final chapter at Enox. I've managed to populate the facebook page with a consistent stream of... streaming game dev if you haven't checked that out lately. I tend to only show art/animation, eventing, and scene creation/playtesting since dialogue and thinking aren't very fun to watch. You can always find them here:
https://www.facebook.com/youarenotthehero/
I wanted to elaborate on something I decided to implement a while ago. Usually in RPGs, when you die you get a big fat "game over" screen with an option to start over or load. Well, it's basically true for every game, but why stop there? This is an entertainment medium, so unlike the real world where when you die (according to some) you're gone for good, in this world we can keep going and see what happens. I personally loved the multiple endings in those "choose your own adventure" books, and I think a lot of RPGs have touched on this well by having multiple endings at the end of the game.
In our case, whenever Petula dies you'll be able to read about what happens afterwards, whether that's about the heroes, the people in her immediate vicinity, or her corpse. Aside from that, there are multiple paths throughout the game that will lead to an 'ending ending'. These are the type that will lead to a real credits roll, an overview of what happens to most of the characters, and how your choice(s) leading up to that have affected the world. These aren't restricted to the end of the game, but from the very beginning onwards. Yes, you'll be able to make choices that 'finish' the game within the first 10 minutes.
I'd like to share one of the snippets you may happen to read if you're not shrewd enough to escape the ghosts in chapter two:
"And so, Petula died of fright by the malevolent spirits on a moving train, setting a new world record for high speed 'freight' death. Her lifeless body hung limply off the edge of the train for an hour before being caught by a large protruding root, knocking her down into a large pool of water. Her body fed the algae which grew into a beautiful overgrowth, expanding into a nearby cave where a young Kobold couple conceived the future king upon her grassy remains. This is not the ending you were meant to see."
I also wanted to share some new achievements that'll be showing up on the Steam version.
Completed Chapter 1 (all the way through 6)
Don't Bother Me, I'm Sleeping
Good Things...
Couch Potato
Petula Like Big Boom
Death Collector
I Am The All Seeing
You Can Call Me Mr Ponzi
Master Ladysmith
Master Alchemist
Master Armorer
Crafting Perfectionist
I Don't Care, I'm Rich
Some people have asked about other builds of the game, particularly for Linux. Truthfully speaking, I haven't looked further into porting the game lately as I've been focusing on the game in general. Many updates ago I settled on using a wine skin to port the game for release, and possibly getting a native port after release. Focusing time and money on a native port isn't all that important at the moment as there are no special features that require a native build; The game isn't graphically intensive and there is no internet connectivity.
Anyway, I'm aiming for the next build to release this coming presidents day weekend. I just need to playtest a bit more to get through to the end of chapter 4. I've found a renewed vigor working on the project as much as I am again, and I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Looking forward to it!
