I'm making this post mainly so you don't think this project is dead, since I haven't posted any updates in a long time.
Why the silence?
When you develop a video game on your own, you face many challenges, and things can get even more complicated depending on your personal situation, since you don't have a team to delegate to or rely on.
That's what happened to me. I've been (and still I am) going through a difficult personal situation that has made it hard to focus my efforts on the project. So, although Thumps & Blows was initially scheduled for release at the end of 2025, it has had to be delayed.
Precisely because of this uncertainty, it was difficult for me to share updates and news regularly, as I was worried about creating expectations and making promises I might not be able to keep.
Now I can confirm that I'm getting the development back on track, so little by little the situation will stabilize, and I'll be able to share updates and make announcements with confidence and certainty.
If this situation has caused you any inconvenience, disappointment, or anything like that, I apologize. If you'd like to stay up-to-date on the project's progress, I suggest you follow me on social media or join the official Discord server, as I'm able to be fairly consistent there. You'll find the links on the game's page.
How's Thumps & Blows going?
Good, although slower than I'd like.
Thanks to the in-person events I've attended and the people who have joined the playtest to find bugs and areas for improvement, we've managed to solidify some things and upgrade others.
I've also been focusing on quality-of-life improvements and basic functionalities, so there haven't been many new content updates, which might give the impression that we haven't made much progress, when that's not the case.
These are the main new features:
Of the 10 available characters, some have received substantial changes, and those that haven't have had their different areas for improvement identified.
Added basic changes, such as a simpler grab for each character, and changes to the bounce that allow for different combos and gameplay styles.
Sound improvements, new musical arrangements.
UI changes.
Visual adjustments to the environments.
Restructuring and redesign of the menus, although a couple of adjustments are still pending.
Added multilingual support, currently with translations into English, Spanish, and Galician.
Online mode enabled (it's a bit cumbersome, but it works).
Basic structuring for the arcade mode.
Creation of the amazing and overwhelming minigame of keeping the ball in the air.
Steamworks adjustments.
Bug fixes and general adjustments.
Bug fixes within bug fixes.
Communication issues (yes, besides developing the game, you have to promote it).
etc.
As you can see, a lot has been done, but most of it isn't immediately apparent, and if it's not communicated, it can easily go unnoticed. Now that so many fundamental issues have been resolved, it's likely that future updates will increasingly focus on game content.
Even so, if you'd like to participate in the game's playtest and experience it firsthand, all you have to do is join the Discord server, and I'll send you a Steam key as soon as I can. You can find the link on the store page.
What are the future plans?
This section contains some spoilers.
As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, development is now much more on track, so there will be more and more frequent updates soon. You'll likely see several things in April.
The goal now is to create a good public demo to start introducing the project. I'm aiming to release it in late April or early May. The demo will include the following:
All game modes seen so far
4 fully developed characters (SFX, FX, voices, settings, etc.)
4/5 fully developed stages (environmental details, music, etc.)
Basic arcade mode (opening sequence, battles, 3 minigames, etc.)
I'd love to add more languages and improve the AI for the demo, but I don't think I have the time or money for that. Even so, the idea is to keep updating and fixing the demo, so those features will probably be added eventually.
I'd like to release the full game in the summer, sometime after Steam Next Fest in June, so I have time to promote it and see if any changes are needed based on user feedback.
And after launch?
Well, I'd love to continue updating the game with new content and improvements.
I'll probably add anything I can't include on launch day later with a free update, and I have a lot of really cool plans I'd love to implement, so I might keep updating the game for a long time.
Logically, this will depend on its reception and sales. As a solo developer, I don't need hundreds of thousands of sales to make it profitable, but its success or failure will determine whether I can dedicate more time to Thumps & Blows, move on to another project, or start working on something else.
But hey, that's all pure speculation. If you've read this far, thank you very much.
I remind you once again that if you want to stay up-to-date on all the development details, you can follow me on social media or join the Discord server, but I hope to post some news here as well. You can also leave a comment here if you want to say anything.
Thanks again, and let's fight in Thumps & Blows!
Widijou