So, everything's been kinda sorta functional now. Still some minor issues and oversights, but nothing particularly game-breaking lingering about. However, there's a few plans for the future and a critical colour conundrum you ought to know about…
Migrating to 64-bit
From R55 onwards, this game'll only be targeting x64 on all fronts. Still ain't clear how functional the 32-bit version was on Linux, but for the longest time the game just didn't launch without debug on Windows… which may or may not have leaked in to a few older revisions. If nothing else, it'd be good to not have that (DEBUG) text in the window title at all times.
The Updates
So, there's two big updates in the works set for releasing sometime around late August and December, the latter of the two hopefully kicking off the transition from Early Access to Full Release. There's still at least one more Minor Update to sift through first before Summer kicks off, if only to clear up some plain unfinished things like unique area backgrounds, species-specific speech lines and more actually usable/non-passive items.
There's not too many big things set in stone for now, but here's some features to look forward to…
- Better Battling: As is, both regular and quick/connection battles are totally automatic without any input from the player, or any effects in the former sort of battles beyond damage modifiers and recoil. One thing that's sure to be in the next major update is proper commanding, status effects and and other, mainly Duty-related events during regular battles.
- Extra Battle Facilities: Beyond the pre-set Tourneys and waves of Night Raids, there's also a proper tournament mode in Arenas with a range of regular and special NPCs alike, and a great gauntlet in the Tower, using your entire party to face the entire roster... once the final major update of the year hits.
- Timed Events: With the date system already in place and really not used for much beyond expiring quests and moving party members at work/school/whatever, there'll also be some new in-game events to watch out for, be it parties, special minigames or outbreaks of something rare during Ventures...
- Roamers: While you're idling at home, taking quests or Venturing out, other Reverians may appear to challenge your teammates or ask for assistance - and may still linger around once the deed is done as a rival, friend, or potential new recruit.
- Creature Creators Update: Here's a fun fact - out of the final(ish) roster of 220, 20 of them are just are variants of one specific species. More to the point, there's 20 reserved spots for… goodness knows what, really. One day, I'd like to call in some fan-made submissions to fill in some of these unused slots, perhaps during or after this year. More on that some other time.
- Some Other Things™: Also soon to be includes gardening at home, visiting other homelands, relations/breeding and..?
Full Colour Sprites
This feature's the one's been requested above all else, and honestly? I'm not at all chuffed about that. Still, while I'm not opposed to implementing this, there's only one little problem…
…each species has two colour alts, but only one sprite sheet per species. Couple that with goodness-knows how many sprites are already completed (even including items), and it's all maybe a bit much to ask. In other words, colour sprites aren't completely out of the question, but they're just gonna take a while.
…That's about it for now. Thanks for looking, and look out for more revisional updates starting next month.