Dear gamers,
The Horn of Balance Kickstarter has ended.
And I can happily report that it was a success!!
You can read about the Kickstarter over here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance?ref=discovery
There were several gameplay and lore reveals shared during the campaign so feel free to check out. And, if you're itching for more Zelda-like goodness: I also published several interviews with zeldalike fellow indie developers over there as well.
So, what's next for this project?
Development has been fully funded and is planned to conclude at the end of 2026.
While that may sound like a long wait, I do want to highlight that the final release will contain a massive 12 (!) large sized dungeons and 2 interconnected overworlds. This game is big, intricately designed and filled with secrets. So it WILL be well worth your time. (And for those that do not know: I'm essentially a solo developer with a daytime job on the side. So that also factors in).
Expect more updates in the meantime
In fact, I have just recently updated the demo (as seen below) and continue with smaller periodic updates as the engine, world and backer rewards get completed.
And of course I'm occasionally sharing all sorts of teasers and development information over on Discord and Twitter/X, if you want to stay updated on the week to week progress.
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Latest demo update:
- Made a few early demo puzzles slightly more intuitive
- Outside signposts can no longer be destroyed with the sword (but can still be picked up)
- Game now starts in full screen WITH screen stretching (upon first starting up the game), to accommodate modern widescreen monitors
- Adjusted the “controls” menu pages to not show the run option until you collect the required option.
- Added backers section to the credits page
- Removed Kickstarter link from the menu
- Tweaked animation of the wooden sword's special attack
- Improved diagonal movement on stairs vs walls corner
- Controls now also displayed on the title page
- Implemented more new sound effects
- Adjusted music volume per track
- Tweaked demo dungeon key colours
- Updated wall ceiling dithering style
- Updated text on the final stats screen
- Fixed typo in main item menu
- Fixed collisions while running into hit switches / breakables
- Fixed small tiling issue in demo dungeon
- Fixed bug: boomerang not bouncing properly of some specific types of wall
- Fixed bug: being able to trigger demo dungeon crash switch multiple times in sequence
- Fixed bug: option to mirror HUD not working fully
- Fixed bug: overlapping music when playing the credits from the start menu multiple times in a row
- Fixed bug: able to clone some caught sprites if used when already at full hp/mp
That's it for now. Happy gaming and till next time.
Greetings,
Martijn