Hello!
How are you all doing? Greetings from Lima, Perú, this is Jorge, director of Tunche, once more with a new entry to talk about our game’s world, its gameplay features and also about a few very important news for all of our players.
The team is still hard at work, just like last time, and the situation with the global pandemic is still complicated, just like last time; but the show must go on and we are doing all we can in order to keep our development gears turning and making sure the game is as good as we can possibly make it to be.
Without any further introductions, let’s start with the news:
New Release Year
After many months passed since our successful Kickstarter campaign and almost a whole year working from our homes during 2020, we are finally seeing the light at the development tunnel as we have entered the final stretch.
Unfortunately, this good news comes with a small number of bad ones, since Tunche does need a bit more time in the oven and will be coming out next year, 2021, instead of its original release year.
I know you have already waited for a long long time, but on behalf of our team at LEAP, I want to ask you to wait just a bit longer. It will definitely be worth it!
However, there’s one more special announcement that might help make the wait a lot easier for our faithful backers.
Backer Beta
Just a few days ago we invited a few press outlets and influencers to play our current version of Tunche and we couldn’t be more thankful for their time and content. However, this was only the first step.
This version of Tunche (which you can check out in this video by the awesome people at Kinda Funny) will be available to our backers, as promised.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Opu3fYlZsZE
For those backers who paid for reward tiers that include access to the beta, we will soon be contacting you so you can grab your personal steam key.
This beta is just a small taste of the full Tunche experience, but it will certainly be far juicier than previous demos or alphas. Here’s a list of features that you can expect from the Backer Beta:
All five playable characters with many of their skills available to unlock.
New NPCs (non-playable characters) which I will talk about later in this very same log entry.
The complete First Level for the final game.
The first big bad boss of the game: Mapinguari.
The first chapter of each character’s story presented as an in-game comic.
All-new “Challenge Rooms” to test your abilities with modified battle sequences.
We will soon (I mean it, it will be soon) be revealing when the backer beta is distributed and we really hope to see a lot of feedback from you, the backers, to help us make this the best game possible.
Finally, it is time to talk about development and game feature stuff:
Interactable Camp NPCs and their precious little systems
Since Tunche became the current procedural action beat’em up that it is, we knew we wanted to bring some rogue-lite elements to it in the form of RPG mechanics such as acquiring new skills, buying items, collecting signature objects from different enemies, and, of course, simply having a bunch of charismatic characters to talk to.
We realized these things could go hand in hand if we made our different vendors and NPCs interesting characters that you would want to visit again and again, after each run, in order to not only make your character stronger but also learn more about the world of the game.
I will be talking about three of these characters and their roles here. Let’s start with…
Sacha - The Skill Tree Guy -
This wise and knowledgeable warrior has trained many generations of heroes from his tribe. Although he is not exactly a shaman, he has the ability to use shamanic magic in many different ways to improve a fighters’ abilities. He can also be considered the current leader of the survivor band within the starting camp but instead of boasting around, he enjoys a low profile.
Once you have found Sacha, very early in your game, he will be the “go-to guy” when it comes to making your characters stronger. He will be resting on his comfy wooden sofa at the very beginning of each run within the starting camp and you can go talk to him and check out the skill tree, which is where you will spend most of your precious Experience Orbs.
From new abilities such as combo finishers, aerial maneuvers, or even the powerful Super Magic Attack to passive skills like extra mana recovery or more health points, Sacha will be one of the most important allies in your adventure through the amazonian jungle.
Have in mind that each one of your characters will have their own separate skill tree and Experience Orb wallet, so if you want to make them all as strong as possible you will have to play as each one of them and then bring them to Sacha so the master can teach them some of the most impressive, and useful, skills in the game.
Ogi - The Shiny Trinket Collector -
A curious and friendly spiritual creature from the jungle, he likes to explore different areas to find what he calls “shiny trinkets” which can be many things including coins, experience orbs, crystal shards, and other types of currencies you will be able to find while playing Tunche. He loves experimenting with what he finds, only to later trade his inventions for even more trinkets with any explorer he might find.
In the game, Ogi works as your standard item vendor. You can find him at the very beginning of each run within the starting camp or even during one of your jungle trips. He will always be willing to sell you something for the right price. His products come divided into different categories: Consumables, Power-Ups, Upgrades, and World Upgrades.
The first type is pretty easy to explain: These are items that you can buy and consume either immediately or during combat like health potions. The second category is related to a character enhancing mechanic in Tunche, which is the use of Power-Ups. I will talk about this in another dev blog entry, but I can say that these items will make you more powerful in many different, sometimes unexpected, ways.
Upgrades are directly related to Power-Ups since you can make said items even more powerful using a special currency. Finally, World Upgrades allow you to unlock new room types and special types of experiences that will help you through each one of the game’s worlds.
Miski - The Scholar -
Just to round up this first batch of NPCs we have Miski, a small child who is deceptively mature and smart for her looks. She is a passionate investigator and wants to learn all she can about the amazon. She’s also quite the avid collector and is very interested in myths, legends, and magical secrets; a curiosity that has caused her quite a bit of trouble in the past.
In the game, Miski acts as your lore curator. She keeps tabs on every little piece of information you might have come across in your adventure. For example, each one of the enemies in Tunche might drop an exclusive item when defeated, like Spiked Frog Tongues, Monkey Masks, and other collectible objects.
Once you have enough of any of these, Miski will be able to analyze the enemy the object comes from and tell you more about its history and some story bits about it. In a way, she is your best option when it comes to learning more about the creatures that inhabit the world of Tunche.
Have in mind that collectible objects do not only come from enemies, you might also find some of them by doing specific things, completing certain challenges, or even by finding special “Story Rooms”.
Little by little, and after many incursions into the jungle, you’ll “Lore Compendium” will become a respectable encyclopedia of knowledge and you might even learn more about Miski herself.
That’s it for today, hope you liked this little peek into our non-playable characters and I’ll be back soon with more info to share with you!
Stay safe!
Jorge - Tunche’s game director