Summary
Hello! It's been a while since the last update. For the past 2 months, I've been hard at work finishing up the game and preparing it for release. In this post, I'll go over what's finished, what's not, and what to expect!
Progress! Lots of progress!
As of, like, a week or so ago, the base game has been fully completed! Here are the specifics of what that means (and doesn't mean):
What's finished?
• All the graphics are DONE!
• All the stages and bosses are complete!
• The entire game is fully balanced on all difficulties!
• All dialogue is either finished and/or drafted!
What's left now?
• Just waiting on a few more songs... (final boss, ending themes, and a few additional SFX)
• Also, waiting to give the game to testers until I get the final assets^...
• Big: Designing the third character's gameplay and finishing writing the story & dialogue for their route (the first draft is done, though).
• Finishing up a few bonus features, unlockables, and achievements.
... We're almost there!
A sneak peek of what's to come...
The demo features around 20% of the game. And very soon, you'll get to experience the remaining 80%!
Exciting new stages!
NNFF's late-game stages are a massive jump in quality from the ones featured in the demo.
Some of the things you can expect
• Super polished graphics for bosses, animations, backgrounds, bullets, effects, and more!
• Cool background art that changes and is more dynamic!
• Incredible soundtrack, some of Princess Sylvysprit's best work yet! (The stage 5 boss theme is my favorite)
• Surprising gameplay features & twists!
• ... And more!
Also not important, but the bosses make fun of you on Hard Mode for using spells now (lol).
*This feature is not in demo
I'm very excited for people to finally get to see this part of the game. But I'm also a bit afraid of the reaction I'll get from some of the more atypical design choices. I've only shown it to two people, but so far, they seem to like it... So hopefully you will too??
<-- (God)
The story continues!
Not only will the second half of the game feature all-new gameplay twists, but it also marks a major shift in the story. The dragons you'll meet are a lot more serious, and are willing to do anything to stop you. Because they need the necromancer to succeed. No matter what...
"Finally. I can finally save everyone... I can finally save HER."
The last half of the game features a lot more story, and even has a few cutscenes (don't worry STG fans, it's all skippable). Also, this part of the game has my favorite characters, and I'm very excited for everyone to finally see them in action!
Other news
Some things will be cut...
Recently, I got a new job with a long-ish commute, so my time to work is a lot more limited. BUT I love the environment, so I come home with a lot of energy at the end of the day, which is cool. Still, I have less time and must use it wisely. This means a few things need to be cut if I am to keep to my deadline, but they will more than likely be added in future updates for free after the full release.
A major one being the Spanish translation
The initial release will be English only (at least for a while).
I had originally promised that the game would release in both English and Spanish. Things have changed, and I don't have a Spanish translator at this time. More importantly, I also need to rework how the game stores and loads text before it can be smoothly translated (it's a nightmare. the tech debt... the tech debt......). My top priority right now is releasing on time, and to achieve that, I will have to push the translation to the bottom of the to-do list.
There is no specific ETA for any of the translations at this time.
That's kind of it for stuff that will be cut, actually.
NNFF posters?!
(These are really cool, and I need to show them off)
A few of my friends decided to make a bunch of super nice poster designs advertising the game. One of them even went around pasting them all over downtown LA!
(credit to Tenzing for the bottom two, & [ph]illosiphy for the top one)
Future plans & closing thoughts
Development is going very smoothly, and the game is still planned to release this year (yay!). I'm currently looking at either a summer or fall release. If that changes, or if I'm able to get a specific date, it'll be shared in an announcement post on Steam, itch.io, and on the official NNFF social media accounts. Anyway, thank you for reading this update! I hope you are looking forward to what's to come...
To see more development updates and announcements like this, make sure to wishlist & follow! 