If you’ve ever wondered what Deluded will bring to the table in the future, we have a Roadmap for you to look at! And a series of posts (including most recent 0.9, 0.8, 0.7 and others) that cover each of those anticipated updates (minus the minor ones)—like this post! That means, Roadmap posts are about what we plan to add to the game, not what’s already featured in Deluded. Basically, it doesn’t say “hey, you can already test it out in the game!” , it says “hey, we want you to know what happens in v1.0!”, although it’s still some time away.
So, today we are talking about our plans for v1.0, also marked in our Roadmap as More Lindcliff quests and surroundings! It’ll be a logical continuation of v0.9, expanding on the Lindcliff village we’d introduced.
We are doing it Q&A style—easier to compile, easier to comprehend.
What does Lindcliff actually entail as an open-world location?
If you’ve played the Prologue, you’re already familiar with Lindcliff—that’s where Alisa’s family lives on the outskirts. If you follow our development progress, you can see the work never truly stops, and you’ve probably been piecing together the bigger picture of Lindcliff bit by bit.
Unlike meticulously designed yet rather exploration-limited Alisa’s parents’ House, Spring Mansion and Intercity Mall (all currently available as of v0.4.8), Lindcliff is your first actual taste (more like a full meal!) of the open world. Think of it as a densely populated village that's split into two big sections: Lindcliff itself (the centre, the residential area) and Park-Slums (now partially available in the open-world prototype).
After the Prologue you start off in Park-Slums—a sketchy area full of shady characters and hobos—and try to make your way to Lindcliff. This is where the (social) survival starts, with all its ruthless challenges. As of v1.0, Lindcliff is fully yours to explore, which means you are welcome to complete quests, follow the story or try all the features we’d implemented.
What’s new in Lindcliff for 1.0 compared to 0.9?
There is less polishing, more adding new stuff. Expect more quests, new locations, interactions, additional NPCs and various side activities! Our designers have put a ton of work—and they’re still at it—into mapping out every nook and cranny of Lindcliff, so it will feel like a real, living town.
v0.9 is planned to have about 65+ hours of gameplay, and v1.0 is planned to add roughly 23 hours more (total of ~85-90 hours for you to sin and enjoy!).
Will Lindcliff be fully finished by v1.0?
Yup! Of course, if any minor polishing is required, we’ll get right to it, but other than that—you are all settled in for a good time.
Can players’ feedback still affect the game after v1.0?
Right now Deluded, being a closed beta game, really takes all kinds of feedback into account. What you guys want to see in the game, what you like, what you don’t like and so on. We, on the other hand, are currently testing pipelines, polishing logic, implementing new systems… The list is long, and your attention span is probably too short to read all of it. Check the Roadmap, really.
What I’m trying to say is, now is the perfect time to share your thoughts on the game. Once the core systems and mechanics are in place (that’s expected by v0.9) we won’t be making any changes to the backend—this is important for save compatibility. That being said, we’ll keep an ear out for what you want to see in terms of content, characters, and quality of life improvements!
What about the main story?
The core gameplay loops will be fully implemented by v1.0, making Deluded a game ready to be played, but the main plot will continue to unfold in future updates. We’ll leave you on a solid cliffhanger, but it won’t lock you out of exploring and enjoying the game.
Will there be romanceable characters?
Some of you have asked whether romancing certain characters will be an option: yes, it will! We’re planning to start testing the romance game loop around v0.6! That, of course, is going to be a very rough, bare-bones prototype.
We’ll kick things off with just a couple of romanceable characters, and over time we’ll add more. By v1.0 we plan to have a much larger selection of cuties! But that’s something to discuss in a separate post 😉
You’ll see much more of Lindcliff locations and activities as our development progresses, but for now this should’ve given you the idea of what to expect!
Next Roadmap posts will cover Acreton—a bigger city with a downtown and multiple points of interest. Compared to Lindcliff, it’s less survival, more try-this, try-that! The good news is, we’ll start working on Acreton earlier than you expect it, so it won’t get in the way of v1.0 release.
Any questions? I’ll be in the comments section if you need me!
Faithfully yours,
Lantsova