A monologue, if you will:
It's been a philosophy of mine for a while to do my very best to not force save file resets, however sometimes it's impossible to avoid. On August 6th, 2021, version 4.2.0 was released and with it was the most recent forced restart for players. New save files were required also on 09/09/20, 08/06/20, and 02/06/2019. Because of my lack of knowledge with developing using the RMMV engine, as well as database management as a whole, I could not foresee what would cause a forced restart to become required. Due to this thought process, I hadn't released the idea of seasons and limited time events for end-game players even though I had detail for them lied out. At this point, I've basically abandoned the idea of the 'season pass model' for the DLC model instead.
In my quest to not intentionally force restarts, I've also had to inhibit some of the intended game design. One thing I detected to guarantee the need for new save files is the addition of new plugins. While I do already have a mass of plugins in use for CoA, I still feel as though I'm missing out on desired core functionality for the game.
So, let's not mince words and get right to it -
Effective immediately, I will be working on the 6.0 version of the game which will require new save files for all current players. The leading cause of this is the addition of new plugins which will change some core functionality of the game's flow. Here's what you need to know:
- Until 6.0 is complete and ready for public distribution, the current version of the game will remain as the default branch. However, for anyone wanting to opt in to see construction as it happens, a branch titled "prerelease" is now available in the Betas tab of the Cross of Auria Properties on Steam. As a quick refresher, to opt in (and back out), use the following steps:
1. Right click Cross of Auria in your Steam library. Select Properties.
2. Navigate to the "Betas" tab.
3. Select "prerelease - Game Ver 6.0 Alpha-Beta" from the drop down menu to opt into the development build, or "None" to opt out.
4. Confirm the game version on the Info tab on the title screen of the game.
Please note that until you see an update post here on the Steam forums, no 6.0 beta version is currently available. There is a great deal of work that needs to be done before that happens.
***Swapping between the prerelease build and the default build with the same save file will cause game crashes. However, it's perfectly acceptable to have save files from each.
- At the end of 6.0 development, I'll be looking into deploying a "complete edition" for iOS and Android users, as well as reinstating the OS builds. I'm still not 100% sure what caused the deployments to break for MAC, but hopefully they've been fixed since then.
- I'll also try to fix whatever underlying issue is preventing the Greenworks plugin from connecting to Steam Achievements. For those of you who were here at the beginning, you may remember that CoA originally had achievements until the plugin stopped functioning. Additionally, I'd like to see the Turn Order Display make a comeback, which shows in battle actions in the order they will occur based on AGI and other speed changes. The end result of both of these is effectively out of my hands, but I'll do everything I can to do it if it can be done.
A complete game version 6.0 looks like this... mechanically
Items with a * in front indicate an update that would have forced a save file restart on their own.
- Story extends to the end with a clear "point of no return".
- Terra Anatis (city west of Auria), Castalia (city south of Auria), and Sha'ri (town south of Lvell) are complete and explorable at all points of the game's story.
- Focus is transformed from party to single player experience (Ruby doesn't appear with party followers except in cases where they're interactable as NPCs)
- Multi-map area design is completely removed (Den An'ura versions 1 & 2, and anywhere else currently using this concept)
- Progress through the main story is untangled from The Rabbit's Foot. Ruby could progress through the story without ever getting involved in RF affairs.
- The Quest Log is completely removed and all lingering code referencing it is omitted.
*- Back end item and skill list follows a logical progression and is overall organized.
*- Back end enemy and troop lists follow logical progression and are organized.
*- New plugins from the Yanfly library added to the mix, changing the core design of certain skills and gear.
- Scarlet Fire Colosseum event is added to the game's optional challenges.
- Class ascension DLC is prepared and ready to ship.
- Yuelslain's Village is completed.
- Yuelslain's Monarch DLC is prepared and ready to ship.
A complete game version 6.0 feels like to play... relative to 5.X
- Game can be played start to finish with all quests being completable and final save before the ending sequence.
- There are discoverable things to do in the world which reward treasure of some kind.
- The world feels alive yet confused.
- Ruby feels pushed to move the story forward rather than pushed to do side-quests.
Questions from me to you:
- Do you prefer to see an enemy's level alongside their name?
- Were you interested in the limited Veil events?
- What did you want to see more of? What did you want to see less of?
- Is there anything else you want to say? Now's the time!
Final Thoughts
This is a fairly significant undertaking that may take several months to complete. Not every update shipped to the prerelease build will have its own post here - so check the Info tab each time you open the game to see if it's changed since last time you logged on.
If you're reading this and found yourself asking "why", the shorted TLDR of all of this is - for new players. I've seen a lot of people start playing the game and stop less than an hour in. I'd like to increase the amount of people who play the game from start all the way through to everything that's available by at least 20%.
Edit: Follow Up
- After installing 5+ new plugins, re-enabling some old stuff, changing some internal things, and seeing the game not explode, I'm confident that I'll have a prerelease build out for testing by this weekend. Not to get anyone's hopes up, but I usually would have run into a crash by now and haven't.
In the event that I can install the new plugins without forcing new save files, I'll omit the back-end rearrangement and we'll just keep pushing forward with some major changes instead but with our own save files