Cacildes Adventure - Major Development Update for 2025
Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well. :-)
After a few months of reflection on the future of Cacildes Adventure, I have reached a conclusion. The sequel, which already has a fully outlined story from beginning to end, might be better suited as an expansion rather than a completely separate new game.
Here are some reasons why I believe it's best to keep everything centralized within Cacildes Adventure 1:
- When I started developing Cacildes Adventure 2, I found myself improving several systems from Cacildes Adventure 1, from UI enhancements to a complete implementation of dual wielding for combat. Seeing these improvements happen in the sequel without being able to bring them into Cacildes Adventure 1 started to create some mental friction, to be honest.
- As a programmer and creator of a product, it would be very difficult to maintain two separate projects. If bug fixes were needed for Cacildes Adventure 1, I would have to go back to a different codebase than the one I'm currently working on and then update the other codebase as well.
- For players who have already purchased Cacildes Adventure 1, I believe it would be much more beneficial to continue receiving updates for this game, which, in my humble opinion, still has plenty of room for improvement at all levels!
For these reasons, I have been considering returning to active development of Cacildes Adventure 1. My plan is to keep improving it so that in your next playthrough, you'll experience a better game. New players will also benefit from a more polished and continuously improving experience.
I believe the best decision is to pause the sequel, enhance Cacildes Adventure 1, and eventually release a version 2.0 of the game with all the planned improvements (and there are many). After that, I will begin the development of what was going to be Cacildes Adventure 2, but this time as an expansion for Cacildes Adventure 1.
That said, development is resuming for Cacildes Adventure 1, and these are the planned improvements for the first half of 2025:
Inventory Improvements
Item IDs: Currently, it's not possible to have duplicate weapons/armor or equipment because items do not have unique IDs. For dual wielding to work, it must be possible to have the same weapon twice in the inventory. It would also be great to collect duplicate weapons—whether for selling or for future customization with a weapon modification system (like Bloodstones in Bloodborne or infusions in Dark Souls 2). Having unique IDs will allow for all of this.
Shared Items Between the Player and AI:
As with many other systems in the game, items currently have two versions—one for the player and another for enemies. In reality, the concept of items doesn’t truly exist for enemies. When they use a health potion, it's simply a graphic of a potion with code that restores their health.
Now, a potion used by the player will be the same potion used by the AI. This means the AI will have its own inventory, and all the items available to the player will also be usable by enemies.
Why does this improve the game? It's much more immersive and fun if an enemy has access to the same equipment and items as the player. If I defeat an enemy with too much health and discover that they were wearing a ring that increases their HP, I can take their ring.
It also saves me work as a developer—by creating an item once and using the same code for both the player and enemies, fewer bugs will occur.
Combat Improvements
This same logic of item sharing will apply to weapons, spells, and even armor. If we defeat an enemy, we can take their weapon, armor, etc.
Boss weapons will no longer have two versions (one for the player, one for the boss). From now on, there will be only one version—if we defeat the boss, we directly obtain their weapon.
Spells will also be shared between AI and the player, as well as equipment. If an enemy can use an ability, we can use it too, and vice versa. That will be the philosophy from now on!
Dual wielding will be fully implemented, along with the ability to equip shields in both hands.
Archery mechanics will be significantly improved.
The current card system will be replaced with a skill system, similar to Elden Ring’s Ashes of War. Skills will vary and may be contextual depending on the equipped weapon.
Blocking and parrying might become equipable skills, but this is still under consideration.
UI Improvements
The UI will be redesigned to be more accessible for gamepads and visually enhanced using the Synty Fantasy HUD Pack (https://syntystore.com/products/interface-fantasy-warrior-hud).
A highly requested feature: dynamic gamepad icons. If you're using an Xbox controller, you'll see Xbox icons; if you're using a PS4 controller, you'll see PS4 icons.
Story Improvements
I'm considering making the introductory quest involving the chickens optional, allowing players to start the game and roam freely. I believe this would be great for players so they aren't locked out of the entire game until they complete the first quest.
A quest system is also planned but will likely come later this year. My plan is to add better quest descriptions and a way to track the next destination for players who prefer more guidance—this will be implemented alongside a compass system.
I also have plans to improve dialogue by keeping it external to Unity using JSON files. I believe this could significantly improve the writing and make it easier to add more dialogue options. Honestly, working within the Unity Editor for dialogues (or any text, really) is a terrible development experience.
Final Thoughts & Community Involvement
The game may not receive updates for a while, but that's okay—the current version is likely stable enough that you can enjoy playing without any major issues!
These are the planned improvements for the 2025 roadmap. Without revealing too much for now, I hope these updates are exciting for you, and I look forward to your enthusiasm!
To stay up to date, I invite you to join the game's Discord server!
➡ https://discord.com/invite/JwnZMc27D2
Feel free to suggest improvements you'd like to see—this is the best time to do so, as the game will be going through major changes. :-)
Thank you all for your support!
Update:
I've setup a sort of blog / thread where I will be posting the development progress for version 2.0. Please check here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2617740/discussions/0/591767767138451473/
Thank you !