Hey everyone, Purple here.
It's been a long time since there's been an update, and I know many of you have been itching for an update.
There's no better way to phrase this, so forgive me for being so blunt:
Abalyte is going to enter closed beta. That means not everyone will be able to play the game.
People who request access and are granted access will still be able to play Abalyte. Expect the 2D version of Abalyte to be completely over-written by the 3D one around November. That means the current copy of Abalyte, the 2D one, will still be available to play for the next four months.
Abalyte is going through changes, it could be for the worse, but it's most likely for the better.
Here are some of my plans for the changes:
- Port Abalyte's entire system from Gamemaker 2 to Unity
- Change the gameplay from 2D-platformer to Third person RPG
- Change the game from 2D pixel art to 3D low-poly art style
- Develop the game with multiplayer already in-place
Abalyte will still be an RPG, a rogue-like, and a fantasy dungeon crawler.
I hope that many of you will continue to play Abalyte when you receive your respective copy.
Personal Thoughts:
It definitely feels like a waste for me to throw away nearly three years of work on Game Maker, but after investigating Unity for a while, I found it to be the more suitable game development tool for me. I've also been contemplating whether a 2D-platformer was really the way to go for an RPG dungeon crawler, and I decided that I only made it 2D for the sake of nostalgia regarding Maple Story. However, in order to achieve the true "feel" that I believe Abalyte should have, I think both the port to Unity and the change to 3D is needed. It also means that there won't be a playable game for a period of time, but using Unity, I'm sure that Abalyte will bounce back in a few months.
For me, this is the sad ending of 2D Abalyte, and the hopeful beginning of 3D Abalyte. Perhaps in the future I'll put in 2D Abalyte as a fun mini game or easter egg.