Greetings Marked Ones
I come with bad and good news. First of all I want to apologize for being silent about Fincester Tower for a while now. As some of your know I develop this game completely by myself on my own time and sometimes things don't go exactly or even close to how they're planned. And Fincester Tower has unfortunately been influenced by both real life as well as my own limited skillset as a developer. And that last bit is what I want to talk to you about.
First let's start talking about the bad news
Fincester Tower, as it is right now, will not be released. The reasons for that are plenty but I'll try to go into detail about everything I can. First off, Fincester Tower was a very ambitious idea coming from not only a Solo Developer, but also someone who hasn't worked on many games before that. I have worked on multiple prototypes that I've always had to cancel because somewhere I've coded myself into a corner. I started Fincester Tower when I thought I was experienced enough that these things don't happen anymore but I was unfortunately very wrong.
While every bit of gameplay that I've added does work it is being held together by soggy duct tape and bubble gum. Minor changes to the gameplay that would take a few days tops (were my code written well) take multiple weeks or even months, and that's entirely on me. If only fringe features like the status effects or the food were affected that wouldn't be much of a problem, but unfortunately the entire combat system and the character generation as well as the inventory and chest systems are all affected. Too many systems aren't modular enough for me to quickly change some things or for me to easily replace them.
At this point there are two options: Write each element anew or start over completely. Unfortunately I don't think I can take it on me to write each part anew, because most mechanics interact with each other one way or another, so it would be a lot easier to start from anew, which will - ultimately - be what I am going to do.
The other big problem Fincester Tower faced was the sheer amount of ambition I've gone into the development with. I started out planning big and taking away building blocks after building blocks to lower my own expectations and make the game a lot more managable. However in the process the game lost many features and mechanics that made the concept of it fun and in the process it lost its soul as well as its gamefeel. By the end of it all, Fincester Tower was but a husk of itself that - if we're completely honest - I wouldn't wanna release into the public.
That whole ordeal has made working on it very frustrating and I've lost almost all passion that I had for the game. And I personally don't think that I can make a good game if I myself don't believe in it any longer. All of this has culminated to me building up the courage to finally "give up" on Fincester Tower. At least the way it is right now.
Now to the good news
Fincester Tower is not dead, but it will be different. I will build it anew from ground up albeit with a few changes. I will take a lot more time planning this game, making a roadmap that I will make publically available. I will change most everything about the game, maybe even the branding, while trying to keep the general tone of it intact.
I still want the game to give early 2000s nostalgia and I don't wanna stray away from the dark, victorian gothic fantasy setting. My biggest goal with the games' setting was to alienate the players, make them feel like they could live within this world for years without ever feeling at home. And I plan to keep it that way.
The game will probably undergo a graphical overhaul because in the time between the screenshots and the early prototypes of Fincester Tower and now a lot of time has passed and my 3D art skills have changed for the better.
Apart from that I can not fully tell you where this journey is taking Fincester Tower or if by the end of it it's even gonna be called by that name. I have a lot of ideas floating around in my head that I need to manifest and workshop a touch until I'm happy enough with its scope and what it offers. However in the meantime I will take on a few more smaller game projects and gamejams to hone my skills until I believe that I am ready to actually make a game I feel happy to sell. Due to financial reasons I'll only upload these smaller games to my itch io page but be sure to check out Fincesters Steam page often for updates on this game.
Thank You!
Thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way and to everyone who still supports me! I am sorry to have come to you with such negative news but I felt the need to be open and honest about how things are going. I wish you all a very happy Pride Month and hope that life treats you well!