It's Been Awhile!
Terminal Error has now been in development for several years with many ups and downs in the process. It's been about half a year since our last major update, and an update is definitely overdue.
Looking at the response and feedback from our previous updates, it was clear that the state of Chapter 1 was not good enough even for an Early Access. We don't want to disappoint with our game, and have put in our best effort in perfecting Chapter 1, fixing mechanics, improving UI, tidying the story up and adjusting bugs along the way. However, this is a very difficult task for our team of 2, and we're still crawling to the finish line on this one.
However, the future is bright! We've made strides in our progress, and we're aiming to finish Chapter 1 completely by this Summer. A Major Update will be release somewhere around Early to Mid June, pushing out most of the content for the Chapter. We then aim to spend the rest of Summer tying up loose ends before declaring Chapter 1 complete!
We're also considering Fully Launching the game after Chapter 1 is Complete. The development process has been hard and difficult on the 2 of us, and we don't want to aimlessly build the game without a community and audience behind us. As a result, we've opted to fully launch at the end of Chapter 1, leaving it as an open ending. If the game is able to hold its own and bring in the crowd, then we'll continue working on Chapter 2 as a Different Launch.
So What's the Progress?
Our main focus this round was making the UI and Inventory System better. We wanted to streamline the system and bring us back to our PC-98 and Point-and-Click roots, opting for a clearer and more classic look. All the useful items appear on-screen with no complicated inventory systems, ready for the player to use on the go.
The Gun system has been updated...
The Torchlight system has been updated...
Even the Medkit system has been updated...
And we've also changed the way you Connect to and use devices in the game
The maps have been upgraded, BUT they are not finished yet! We're happy with the architecture and layout of our adjusted maps, but Lighting and Shader upgrades are on the way. For those who played through our Demo, we're bringing back some of the Outline effect, Collage effect and dramatic colours to really upgrade the aesthetic.
Here's a peak at the Guardhouse...
At the Flesh...
The Offices...
And the Boss Fight Arena...
What's in Store?
Currently, we're in the process of fixing up all the Minigames and Mechanics. We're almost done, but still have some kinks to work out. Hopefully, we'll be done by the End of April and have a new Devlog to share on that!
After that, we're going to finish up the Monster and Boss Behaviour. This has already been planned out and in the process of building too. However, we're taking a bit more time than expected as we have to test out and tweak the behaviours slowly. This should be completed somewhere in May.
We then aim to complete the Shader and Lighting in May as it's just a matter of reattaching some old code and manually adjusting some of the colour and lighting in certain spots.
The rest of the time up until our update in June will be adding a new Animation System, settling the Storytelling and carrying out some quick Player Testing.
When are You Going to Update Us?
We know we've had pockets where there is little update on our content. Most of our regular updates are posted on our X/Twitter account. But if you're a Steam Page Only sort of person, look forward to another post at the End of April, and somewhat regular updates every 2 to 3 Weeks until Terminal Error is Complete.
This has been a long process, but we're nearing the finishing line for now. If you've followed us this long or are new to this development, please lend us all your support. We really want to make an amazing game for everyone! Thank you!!!