Howdy folks! BIR is long overdue for a development update, so here it is.
I could write paragraphs upon paragraphs detailing exactly what I've been working on the past several months. BIR continues to surprise me with just how herculean of a task this is to work on solo with the support of some freelancers. So with that in mind, I'll keep it succinct and highlight some of the biggest tasks currently in progress and planned for later this year.
Act 1 is the focus of development for the foreseeable future, and it's about 40% complete if I had to put a number on it today. The tasks completed have been numerous! Including but not limited to:
Script rewrites and additions
Map updates / reworks
Sprite designs
Progression QA and testing
Documentation
Illustrations
Gameplay additions
One of the biggest areas of focus this year has been illustration work. For major scenes and various lore implications, I have several planned flashback sequences. I've worked with the incredibly talented Solry to produce these illustrations and I'm stoked with how damn well they're turning out so far. I'm hesitant to share tooooo many of these illustrations for spoiler reasons, but here's one of the less "spoilery" ones ;)
This flashback sequences shows a young Jamie grasping at her injured eye (you're telling me she doesn't wear the eyepatch purely for fashion!?).
With another artist, Jorge Jez we also completed a few different battle backgrounds:
This particular background image is used in Dani's dreams, and the battles that take place there. This illustration is a huuuuuge improvement over my old background which used some slightly modified default assets:
This old image thematically didn't really fit the design of Dani's dreams in the first place and was essentially a placeholder until I finally got around to creating a proper background. And it's at long last complete!
That's it for this update! One of the primary focuses for the remainder of the year is locking more scenes and events in place for the script. I've had the bones of the story completed for a very long time, but due to the nature of the project, I often have to "work backwards" a bit, and cement scenes from Act 2 and beyond into place in order to make sure they gel with Act 1 content. Continuing illustration work for remaining scenes and character designs will also be a priority for similar reasons (plus I just love seeing these amazing illustrations come to life so it's super fun haha). In the next update, look forward to some highlights on recent gameplay additions and tweaks. Those who have already downloaded and played the latest demo will have experienced some of these changes already!
- Taylor