I've been neglecting the Steam update feature, let's change that.
I've been making progress posts as Kickstarter updates and posting stuff on twitter but didn't thought of also updating this, sorry about that, I'm juggling a lot of stuff and gets overwhelming, I just want to work on the dang game!!
So, this update is a little summary of things present in those updates to keep y'all updated.
Kickstarter
The Kickstarter went well, it was a tough fight and for the better part of it I thought it wouldn't make it but I kept pushing, making posts and sending emails and thanks to a lot of cool people it got a good boost in the final week even went a bit beyond the goal.
While the KS was running the game was present in Steams October Next Fest 2023 and that brought in a lot of players, the forums were very active and, have to say, that was a very positive experience. People were having a blast, asking questions, reporting bugs too with good reason but overall it was pretty great to see a bunch of threads every day and get to answer them. It brought in a bunch of wishlists of course but after bug reports and feedback the game has become better too.
FlyKnight
After October I was drained, the whole experience might've taken 5 years out of my lifespan so I took my first break in a year... during which I entered a gamejam hosted by some friends and for 2 weeks I had fun making a different game. I made a bugs themed Kings Field style game with Old School Runescape style graphics and it was an absolute blast to work on something fresh. I've been wanting to try some stuff and work on other style of games for a while but of course I have a responsibility to see Sorceress through, now to my backers too, and getting sidetracked is a very dangerous thing to do as a game developer, but this was a limited time gamejam so I had a decent excuse.
Check it out!
Don't get your hopes up about this project, if I ever decide to pick it back up it's going to be after Sorceress and likely a somewhat different type of game, perhaps with online stuff? Who knows.
Sorceress
About time we talked about the main event huh, progress has been going steady, important features like control bindings, a minimap, more weapons like Guns, a new level being done and more, let's review.
Control Bindings
Sounds like a basic thing to have but the truth is that is incredibly annoying to code, specially if you want to do it neat with a menu and all. On top of this I've added the feature to be able to hold the "Use" key to equip a weapon on the off hand so you can dual wield shields or do whatever it is that you want to do with your weapons, I'm not judging.
3D Map
Not a lot of people got lost playing the demo but I want to have a map that tracks every room you've been and every door in that room so you can know if you haven't seen that door or if it's open or blocked. Just in case.
On top of this I added a feature that lets you drop a marker, place it where you want it and even add text to it, I'm not saying that Sorceress is a metroidvania but I with every metroidvania game had this feature, I've been missing it since System Shock 1.
It's a bit clunky to use but it'll get better someday.
Guns
I've added two types of temporal weapons which are a 1-handed revolver and a 2-handed rifles. These weapons are one of the many Object Weapons you can pick up and use in some limited capacity but once spent you'll have to toss them, which is great fun.
These are not the only guns that will appear in the game but they are likely to be the most basic ones.
Robots
Now, I know what you might be thinking, why are you adding robots and guns to your medieval fantasy game? Well, truth is, they've been planned for a long time, in fact robots have been a feature in previous builds of the game many years ago. The thing is, the setting of Sorceress is not generic medieval fantasy, which is something we have hinted at in many places, and the first witch you'll be fighting is an avid inventor of robots and gadgets, more details about her to be revealed later down the line.
You can expect them to be tougher than the scarecrows and of course react differently to the elements, but there are more surprises about them that I'll show off some other time.
Their voice is a placeholder btw.
The Workshop
The Workshop is the 2nd proper level in the game. It's a place of industry and machinery that contains many grunts doing work on conveyor belts, magnet cranes and other machinery powered by electricity. It's going to take a while to finish but here are some screenshots of visual development:
Armor
For them, not for you.
So far we've all had plenty of fun smacking and kicking scarecrows, they are weak and easy to push around, well, things are going to change (slightly) with this new system. Some enemies can be given now armor pieces that give them some advantages besides blocking incoming damage.
This armor system divides their body in 3 parts and at the moment these are the bonuses they get:
- Lower body: grants immunity to floor hazards
- Upper body: prevents equipped weapon for being dropped when ragdolling
- Head: prevents critical hits with projectiles
Usually they'll be reserved for soldiers or characters of certain importance like those that carry keys or are guarding a side room.
Besides, I'm experimenting with different armor types like a spiky variant that will pop bubbles or a padded/leather variant that makes them resistant to freezing.
Keep in mind that I don't want to get too deep in RPG territory, so it will likely not get more complicated than that.
It won't just give them advantages though, metal armor will be conductive to electricity and spikes will hurt their allies when pushed against them, check it out:
Corruption
One key aspect of Sorceress that was teased in the demo is a fungal parasite that you would encounter time and time again throughout your journey. This parasite has taken home in the walls and foundations of Salguro's Castle and it's developing uncontrollably.
For those that have played the demo, it was briefly represented in a "Mushroom Wizard" enemy type that was extremely annoying to fight. In my defense I'll say that I was running out of time to implement it and making it annoying it's a way of making it distinct. It's not going to stay that way in the next iterations though.
So, how does this corruption element factor in your adventure? Well, the corruption will grow in many different areas around the castle, trying to expand its territory and seize control, it will observe you like a predator, hinder your progress and empower/respawn enemies you find. But any instance of it you find, you will be able to fight back, and after any successful victory Melinda will collect Spore Cores dropped by the enemy that can be traded to Ieronymos for gear upgrades.
It will manifest in many different ways, this is one of them, a camera:
That's going to be it for this update, sorry for keeping you in the dark, will try to be more diligent in the future! Have a nice day!
