Hello Everyone!!!
I hope everyone is doing well, as things seem to be improving on many fronts as of late. Knowing it's been months since my last update, I feel this post is LONG overdue. With so much to cover...let's get right into it! :)
Chapter 3 Update and ETA for Release
I hesitate to title this section so confidently, but I have a few points to state before digging too much into a release date. Namely, I am "reallocating" what parts of the story are in what chapters AND taking the game from being 4 chapters to 5 chapters total.
I recently had one of my Alpha testers run through the rough draft content for Chapter 3, and I (once again) grossly underestimated how much content was actually there. What I originally thought was 4 hours turned out to be closer to 6.5-7 hours of content...and I'm at about the halfway marker for my originally-intended story milestones. In short, by the time I'd run through all the story content I originally planned, I would be looking at 14-15 hours for Chapter 3 alone. I ended up making the same decision for Chapter 2, which would have been a similar situation had I not decided to let the story "breathe" by not squeezing it all into Chapter 2. In the long-run, I think it helped a lot with the flow on Chapter 2 and was the right choice.
I came to this decision on Chapter 3 due to the following reasons:
- The Chapter 2 release was in September of last year, and I'm at mid-way through July with only half the planned story milestones completed. To finish the story layout I originally planned, I would need another 6-8 months to get the story content down, and that would be with allocating very little time to "polish and fluff" the game content. It would either be an exorbitant amount of time to complete and/or the content would suffer in quality. I really don't want to make either concession. The game and story naturally "grows", so it's not as if something was missed or "mispaced" during the development cycle, the content comes out at the speed it does regardless of the story layout. 10 hours of content will take the same amount of time regardless of how the story was planned. It's a pain to gauge when developing, which is why I can only know for certain when someone else playtests the game.
- There will honestly be plenty of content for Chapter 3 already. The 6.5-7 hours thus far doesn't count the remainder of the story content to the new chapter end (which I'm estimating is another 1.5-2 hours). This also doesn't include random encounters, boss fights, and doesn't account for the speed at which people read the dialogue. Some people may also want to replay cinematics or try different branching options for various quests, so it may be even more. I also plan on adding in more things to interact with and do in present areas, so you can expect another 15-30 mins tacked on because of that as well. With all this considered, Chapter 3 will probably come out around 10 hours of content like Chapter 2 did, which seems a pretty reasonable length for a release.
- Bugs, mistakes, and glitches happen...even with as much preparing and testing is done, one wrong click or typo can tank things pretty hard. You can almost never spend too much time testing the game for glitches and mistakes, and given the length and complexity of Kedemara, it takes a fair bit of time to go through and test everything before a release. I want to spend more time working in person with my testers (as health conditions in the past made that more difficult) and also focusing on enhancing the current content for Chapter 3...refining the dialogue, adding little touches to spice up the experience, and even adding in more sidequests or fun unlockables and such.
Time is a very valuable thing!! Please bear in mind, I have friends who will playtest the game for me, but all development is done by me in my own spare time, when not at my full-time job or attending to general life tasks/responsibilities which I manage alone. I try to not "George Lucas" the game too much by making excessive revisions, but sometimes it's necessary to smooth over the rough edges I can't always devote time to improving. The more development time I can focus on making the game as enjoyable as possible, the better. Having the extra time to focus on this will yield a much better end product. Though a labor of love, the game is still labor! :)
With all that said, my target release date for Chapter 3 is going to be October 30th 2021, the original release day for Chapter 1. It seems only fitting!!
More Chapter 3 Sneak Peeks!!
A video may be coming in the future (I still need to redo the old game trailer on the Store page), but for now here's a few new screenshots! There is much more to show, but I don't want to bog this down with too many pictures!
"State of the Game" Address (...lol)
I find myself retroactively improving older content from time to time, which I believe holds merit as I have been floored at how many people are checking out the game for the first time, thus far. A lot of the streamers I keep in touch with like to play through the previous content before checking out new portions to get themselves up-to-date on any improvements or get a refresher on the story. I like to add in new things for them to uncover or make the process more exciting.
The biggest change since Chapter 2's release was the Widescreen Mod I made to the game. Instead of a 4:3 aspect ratio (roughly), we're at 16:9 with a resolution of 1280x720. I've yet to hear any complaints and the game seems to run roughly the same as before. The daunting task that still hangs over me is reformatting the text for a widescreen-sized text box. When expanding the playable screen area in the game, you also get more room for text in the dialogue boxes. This is good and bad, since I can space text out visually, making it easier to read...but will now have ~15 hours of text content to go and fix (and another 1 or 2 hours of early Chapter 3). This is going to be a work-in-progress task for some time. All the text is visible as-is, it's just not as pretty. My method is going to be reformatting major dialogue interactions and cutscenes first, then moving on to main character dialogue before reformatting all the smaller encounters with NPCs and objects. Your patience and understanding is appreciated...it is quite the undertaking, but will be worth it in the end.
Besides this, the other major news will be the expansion from 4 total chapters to 5 total for the game. I'll be noting this change on the Steam store page, but felt it bore repeating as some people may be confused at the end of Chapter 4 wondering why the game didn't conclude yet.
What to Expect Regarding Chapter 4
There is still some FANTASTIC content that is yet to be completed for Chapter 3, so don't be dismayed...some of the best is being saved for last. In regards to Chapter 4, we'll see the world "expanding" yet again, as we did in Chapter 2 and in Chapter 3. You'll see more open exploration and movement around the world on a large scale in Chapter 4, as well as an increase in city size. You run into a huge capital city in Chapter 3, but you will encounter at least 2 or 3 more in Chapter 4. These are multi-map cities (have to do a screen transition to access different areas) that should be thick with environment and ambience.
This was another reason why I feel cutting Chapter 3 where I will is the right decision. There is a great deal of mapping yet to be done and that also takes a lot of time. I am not particularly great at this aspect of game design, but I do want to put as much in as I can. The cities in Chapter 4 should be VERY distinct in their tilesets and themes, making for a good change of pace while being thematically-consistent given their locations in the world.
While we have a new member joining Deirdre's crew in Chapter 3, there will be no new additions past that. A party of 7 should be plenty and adding another permanent team member adds exponential difficulty to balance. You will see some friends temporarily joining for certain quests or events, so that should be a fun addition when we get there!
My apologies on the wordy update, though there was a lot to cover. I've reached out to testers, friends, and streamers about the Chapter 3 release and they are excited to experience it in full. There's never a dull moment in the company of Deirdre and her friends, so expect nothing less as you embark with them once again. I should hope that this chapter in their journey proves even more engaging than the previous two, and I believe it will. I appreciate the support from all of you as you play the game, monitor its progress, stream its content, and send your messages of encouragement and enjoyment! I wish you all well and look forward to sharing the next part of Deirdre's story with you! :)
- Andrew (Creator)