Wait a second, a monthly update that's actually *in* the month it's named after?! To answer your first, and frankly most obvious question: no, I'm not some shadowy impostor who's killed Josh and begun wearing his face as a kind of grotesque mask in order to usurp development of 8-Bit Adventures 2 - I just had the extra impetus of the Steam Autumn Sale to get this out a little sooner than usual! The December update will probably be a lot earlier than usual too, so please keep an eye out for it =)
Without further adieu, let's charge into the fray!
Autumn Sale Discounts
For the next week (until 10:05 AM on December 3rd Pacific Time), you can get 8-Bit Adventures at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/370300
Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/461710
As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy!
As has always been the case, every purchase goes towards 8-Bit Adventures 2's development. Most things are now fully paid for, but we've still got a few things to cover, so any and all support is greatly appreciated!
Bug Report 2: Electric Bugaloo
I'm not actually going to bore you all with bug reports haha, but that's definitely continued to be a big theme in November. Unfortunately Sufyan (our programmer) hasn't been able to address any of the bugs I've been dealing with this month due to personal circumstances. To make matters worse, due to a fix that didn't quite work at the end of last month, battles have been left a tad broken. So the situation hasn't been ideal, but I've still been making progress and am basically at the end of what I'd call Act 1 (assuming we break the game into the traditional 3-Act Structure). Once we squash some of those battle bugs, things will definitely be a lot easier to test, but for now I've just been doing what I can.
Sebastian (our composer) just sent me his final track - a whopping 6 minute long Credits theme - which plays over the ending of the game, and is utterly beautiful. It conveys the emotions of the characters so well, and I couldn't be happier with it. I think that when everyone gets to the ending, it'll make you feel exactly the way the end of a grand adventure should make you feel =)
A lot of the work I've been doing is pretty steeped in spoiler territory, so I won't say too much (and I'm trying not to show much either!). One of the jobs I've tackled is trying to make the Processor (the environment from the First Look Demo) a little more lively. Tanks roll around on the roads, Clockwork Soldiers guard street corners, and the bodies of poor, defenceless worker robots litter the city.
It's actually a little crazy how much things have changed since the old demo, and working on this area really drove that home. And that's in regards to menus, animations, fonts, the removal of random battles, the addition of sprinting, plus battle system and story tweaks. Honestly, it feels good to see!
I'll also note that I got past the point in 8-Bit Adventures 2 (around the 5-6 hour mark, depending on your speed) where the player gets the final additions to their tool-set; specifically party switching (as now you have more than 3 characters), the Robot's 'Part' system (he doesn't have normal abilities, but instead equips 'Parts' to extend his repertoire), & Augments (a special equippable which can enhance a character's stats & provide all kinds of unusual effects). Basically, my intention was that by the end of 'Act 1' (as explained above) the player should have complete access to all of the game's mechanics; with the final two dungeons of this act allowing them to start exploring these mechanics. Thankfully, that's worked out pretty well!
Thanks & Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving naturally isn't celebrated in Australia, but I hope everyone who does partake enjoys the holiday and has plenty to be grateful for this year. I know I'm certainly grateful for all of you - especially for sticking by me in this long, long development cycle! And I'm also so, *so* grateful for Sebastian, Jerram, and Sufyan - without them, making this game would've been impossible, and they've all done such incredible work. Thanks guys =)
I truly thought there was no way in the world 8-Bit Adventures 2 wouldn't be released in 2019, and grappling with that reality has been a little crushing these past few months. To spend such a large chunk of your life working on a project like this is kind've terrifying haha. But we've come this far, and I'm trying to be as transparent and open with all of you as I can be (while also not saying anything stupid or super spoiler-y =P). I'm gonna get it right and I'm gonna get it out there.
To recap on the year a little, the content's pretty much all there; all I'm doing is just testing, polishing, tweaking, balancing, and bug fixing. All graphical assets are done; all music is composed; the game is playable in some way from start to finish. Hey, we even have a decent website now! 2019 has been the year where all the pieces have really, finally come together and it's made me very confident in the quality of 8-Bit Adventures 2. Has the year been challenging? Yep. Has it gone the way I wanted? Definitely not. But I've worked hard, done my best, and I think it's all paid off.
...I'm definitely making a smaller game next time though XD
That’s All Folks!
To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!
You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev
And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!
I think I covered most things above, but as you can see from my image choices, I'm trying to really avoid big spoiler content at this point. Hopefully these updates are still interesting to read, and give you a solid insight into where we are/what I'm doing. As I said, I should have the December update out much earlier than normal too, so please keep an eye out for that!
Oh, and have you guys been watching the Mandalorian? It's like a live-action Genndy Tartavosky production (i.e. Samurai Jack); so precisely paced, allowing everything room to breathe and developing its characters with minimal dialogue. Its plot isn't going anywhere fast, but I'm really enjoying it! His Dark Materials has also taken me by surprise. As someone who knows nothing of the books, I've gotten really invested haha.
...As you can probably tell, I never have any idea how to end these things XD But I hope everyone has an absotively splendificus start to the holiday season!
~Josh