Blind Monkey Games

WOW! I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated this site. It doesn't feel like almost two years have gone by. I'll be honest, didn't think many people visited the site and mostly kept up with the development of Legendary Journeys through Steam or the Discord channel. So, I let updates of the site go to the wayside with plans on updating at least once a month. Well, I failed to do that! I got my website traffic report for June, I was rather surprised by the number of people that visited from the Steam summer sale. With that said, I'll be sure to keep the site updated more frequently.

Since the last update, much has been completed with the game. The main story quest is in place. All zones have been put in. All items, spells, melee abilities, etc are in game now. I've been fixing bugs, typos, etc as reported or found. The most recent update (07/15/2023) involved fixing an issue with the main story quest that allowed the party to move to the final act. I thought I was close to leaving early access at the end of 2022 when a major game breaking bug was found by several players. After many hours of trying to figure out what was going on, I reached out to the RPG framework developer (ORK Framework if anyone is interested). As it turns out, the author had fixed the issue already. My problem - I was about 13 versions behind since I did a version freeze. Well, I had to upgrade to the latest version earlier this year to fix that problem. Needless to say, that broke a lot of my custom code plus the database. I tried to upgrade Unity afterwards (I'm running on a very old version of unity). There were so many things broken it wasn't worth the effort to try and fix.

So, here we are 6 months after the framework upgrade. I've gotten the majority of those issues fixed and running on the new ORK version. A few things cropped up recently that I had missed. Once, they are found, I can get them fixed pretty quickly. I get a batch of them fixed before pushing an update unless there is a game breaking bug. If that is found, the fix goes out as soon as possible. Game breaking to me could be anything from the inability to access a zone to not being able to finish a quest.

I hate to jynx myself; but, the number of bugs being reported have started to dwindle. Most of the things being reported have been a messed up spell desciption or a typo. Recently a game breaking bug was reported which was just fixed and the updated pushed out. If this pace keeps up, I believe I'll be able to finally leave early access as early as September; most hopefully by the end of the year. I have a criteria in place that must be met before I can say the game is ready to leave early access. I'm almost there!

I'm planning on getting new gameplay videos up on the youtube channel. I'll probably do that when I'm ready to leave EA. I haven't updated that at all. I used the videos for the Steam site. I had a few new followers added to the channel. So, I guess I will need to keep that updated as well.

You can find the game on Steam If you want to support, GREAT! But, if you are interested in the game and want to keep up with news during development, please wishlist and follow. You can check out the PDF manual on the store site as well. Also, a DEMO is available for those who wish to check out the game before hand.

This update is LOOOOONG overdue. Development continues. The latest version of the game - ea v0.2.2 -(and demo) was released today. Pace is a bit slower than I wanted originally. But, the initial 2 months of Early Access release had me tracking down bugs; and, I added a few new features that I had not planned on adding. For instance, a mini-map was added, a zone-map was added recently, combat was re-vamped, a few of the initial zones were revamped, etc. All-in-all, good additions which should lead to a better overall experience.

The first part of the main quest is now completable within the game. The final part is currently being worked on. The game will now take place within the Umbrea realm. Orignally, I had planned on a MUCH bigger world to explore. The reasons for the change is:

• The world was too big for the framework that I am working with (technical reason)
• I never would have finished the game trying to create the entire world of Farmoor and populate it
• Umbrea turned out to be big enough to hold this adventure

Yep, over-ambitious with the world size. However, that does not mean future adventures in the other realms are out of the question. An updated version of the framework that I use is in beta. I plan on using that version (along with a newer version of Unity) for any future adeventures

Most zones have been added to the game. I still have 3 overworld zones and 2 dungeons (possibly 3) to complete. As I work on the final part of the main quest, I will be working on these zones to complete both at the same time. Once that is done, I will be able to go back through cleaning up any issues, adding side-quests, resource nodes, etc to the world.

I've updated the media section with some new screenshots. Here are a few samples:

You can find the game on Steam If you want to support, GREAT! But, if you are interested in the game and want to keep up with news during development, please wishlist and follow. You can check out the PDF manual on the store site as well. Also, a DEMO is available for those who wish to check out the game before hand.

You can find the game on Steam If you want to support, GREAT! But, if you are interested in the game and want to keep up with news during development, please wishlist and follow. You can check out the PDF manual on the store site as well.

Here is the development roadmap planned for the next six months. Note: December will be a slow dev month.

09.07.20 - 10.07.20 Early Access Release

• Fix any critical bugs discovered
• Completing the Novice spell lists for magic schools
• Completing the Expert spell lists for magic shcools
• Completing the Master spell lists for magic schools
• Listen to player feedback-make adjustments accordingly
• Add trainer location entries to journal
• Populate Vargan's Tomb

10.07.20 - 11.07.20 EA Update #1

• Populate Arathi Highlands
• fleshout Bard class
• create Meririch Valley zone
• Setup Blacksmithing stations (including component access)

11.07.20 - 12.07.20 EA Update #2

• Populate Tower of Shadows
• create bard songs - Orin's Crecendo for example
• Setup tailoring stations (including component access)
• fleshout Monk class

12.07.20 - 01.07.21 EA Update #2b - small update due to holidays

• critical bugs
• fleshout shadow knight class

01.07.21 - 02.07.21 EA Update #3

• fleshout Paladin class
• Create Edgefair
• create special Monk abilities - Eagle Strike for example
• Create East Western Lands zone

I have setup a discord server if you would like to chat about the game and its progress. You can access it here

I will be uploading a finalized demo of the game on Steam and over at Itch in the next month or so. I Want to give the demo (Nerha’s Landing zone) a final once over before I release. Love demos!

Steam Early Access goes live September 6, 2020! You can find the game on Steam If you want to support, GREAT! But, if you are interested in the game and want to keep up with news during development, please wishlist and follow. You can check out the PDF manual on the store site as well.

I've not posted in a while because I've been polishing the game, testing all core features and game play loop to push for Steam Early Access. Steam provides a great way for pushing regular updates so, you as the player, only needs to download the updates vs. the entire application. Also provides Cloud saves (not active yet) and for those that like such things – achievements (will be added in a future update).

There is still plenty more to do. I have more zones that need to be created, populated and itemized. I am currently re-working how the main quest line unfolds (world map helped me see this from a better angle), crafting needs more fun things to craft, etc. It’s a work in progress. Now, it has a better defined end in sight! I will call the game finished when the main quest line is completed and in game. However, there will be additional content updates until the side content is completed.

I have setup a discord server if you would like to chat about the game and its progress. You can access it here

I will be uploading a finalized demo of the game on Steam and over at Itch in the next month or so. I Want to give the demo (Nerha’s Landing zone) a final once over before I release. Love demos!

It's been a while since I have posted anything. Day job sucked the life out of me with a big datacenter migration which we finished up Valentine's Day weekend. Despite the long hours, I still managed to get some dev work done with the game! Most of the work that I have been doing is creating and populating the needed zones for the game. I've added some screenshots of the a few of the new zones for your enjoyment. Note: some of these are early shots and are still a work in progress.

You can see screenshots of the new zones in the media section. Here is a sample:

Now, I have a certain art theme that I've been trying to maintain; so, this isn't Assasin Creed Odyssey level graphics were talking. This theme is based on the art that I have available and my abilities as a level designer :) So, if you like state of the art graphics that makes your GPU cry, sorry to disappoint.

I have figured out a better way to handle the mob's AI. It's a faster method vs. deciding which spells/abilities a mob has access. Now, I assign based on their level and what skills they should be using. I still consider any special abilities/spells a mob may have and assign those individually. This has helped in speeding up mob design consideribly.

The run system has been revamped! I have added code which will select the nearest run point instead of retreating to your starting location within the zone. Currently, Nerah's Landing is the only zone that has been updated. I'll be updating all zones to include the multi-evac spots. So, within dungeons, you will no longer retreat to the beginning. You will retreat to the nearest safe spot within the dungeon.

I've worked on my melee abilities. These abilities are tied to a specific skill. So, if you have the sword skill and a sword equipped, you will be able to use those abilities that you have trained. You gain access through combat books similar to spellbooks. What you can train in is based on your current skill rank and level. I have been contemplating adding ranks to each ability like there are with spells. The idea, you will need to seek out trainers to increase your rank within that ability much like casters need to seek out spell tomes to increase their spell's rank. I have decided yet; but, I really like the idea.

I'd like to say thanks for those who are still interested in this little game. It has kept me motivated to finish it. I will admit, this was not what I set out to make. I originally wanted to create a single-player (maybe with co-op) MMO style of game including the tab-targeting combat system EQ and WoW uses. I was moving right along. Then, one day during testing - the game was not fun for me. So, I backed off of development for a while and started playing some older RPGs that I wasn't able to play during their heyday (either the PC was lacking or I was playing EQ at the time :)). Well, I discovered Might and Magic 6-8 and loved the party development aspect of the game. And, that's how I got the idea to meld MM6 with EQ/WoW style of play which I found fun. My biggest fear, no one else would like the idea.

I have my PC specs figured out for the game. I have a few PCs and laptops available. What I discovered: this game wil NOT run on a potato. I originally was targeting my laptop with an integrated graphics chip (an old intel chip). I cranked everything down to the lowest settings. It ran - barely. Specs are at the end of this post. I did this because I needed that info. Plus, after many arguments with myself, I decided to put the game on Steam. I'll be creating the page soon. It makes sense to do so. I liked the cloud save feature of Steam and the SDK was easy enough to integrate. I'll probably create some achievements for those that enjoy them.

	Minimum	Recommended
OS:	Win 7	Win 10
CPU:	Quad Core 3.5ghz	i7-6800 3.4ghz or better
GPU:	GTX 11050ti	Geforce 1070 or better
RAM:	8gb	16gb
Resolution:	1920x1080	1920x1080
VRAM:	4GB	8GB
HD Space:	5GB	5GB

As always, you can grab the demo from indieDB

This version of the demo will become the official demo once completed.

You can grab it from indieDB

This version of the demo will become the official demo once completed.

This release includes various bug fixes, polish, and the re-addition of the Beastiary. This will become the official demo of the game. As such, you cannot complete the quest to leave the island in this version. The demo includes the starting zone and 2 dungeons which are accessible from this zone (don't recommend going into them - have fun if you do)

One of the biggest bugs that, I think, I finally squashed was an odd combat bug. It didn't happen often; but, it required an ALT + TAB and close of the game. This resulted in lost progress since your last save. Tracked it down to the window that I display post-combat that displays your spoils and a message indicating the party gained experience. Well, turns out, if the party didn't get any loot the window didn't display which is fine; except, the condition had the window waiting for the player to close the window. Should have seen that sooner. Took a while to figure out the no-loot condition.

Polish includes replacing a lot of placeholder text for spellbooks, spells, items, etc. Going through this, found some spells that hadn't been finished. I need to make another pass or two to make sure all things have been cleaned up.

The beastiary is working correctly now. An entry is made when you encounter a monster in combat. However, the details are not filled in. You will need a party member with the Lore skill which gives the ability to ID Monster (in combat). If successful, details about the monster will be filled in. I don't have them in game yet; a spell and a couple of items will grant the ability to ID monsters as well. There is a trainer on the island for the Lore skill.

I have added a few more quests on the starting island. By doing all the quests with some monster bashing (or lots of monster bashing if quests don't interest you), the party should be level 2 when leaving the island for Druinport. I have added more shops to the island which were necessary for crafting, buying spells, and combat books.

Alchemy is the only tradeskill available at the beginning of the game. There is a trainer on the island. You will need to find an Alchemy workstation (or buy a portable workstation) to brew your potions. The fennel plants have been "turned" back on for gathering. Thought about getting rid of them and just buying your ingredients, some people like to gather their ingredients when possible. I do it sometimes in other games that provide the mechanic.

You can grab it from indieDB

The updates for this release include

• New DRUID class
• New Options Menu - includes graphics, audio, and controls
• New dungeon: Temple of Solaris - this is in the starting area.
• Improved Battle AI
• Of course, I squashed some bugs that were brought up during testing.

Graphics options are small right now. I plan on adding more advanced options in a future release. Also, all option settings are stored in the registry. I will be moving these to a file in a future release as well. It was just faster to save them to the registry right now.

Battle AI got a revamp. Most mobs use the threat meter when choosing a target. Fights that I mowed through earlier have required me to watch my tactics. I had one fight where the mobs systematically destroyed my party because I was not managing my threat levels. When my cleric went down, I knew I was in trouble. Needless to say, that required a re-load :)

You can see screenshots of the new dungeon in the media section. Here is a sample:

You can grab the latest on indieDB

January's build includes a new class - the NECROMANCER. The necromancer is the only class that can master the Death Magic skill. Three death magic spells have been added to the game as well. The following races may choose the necromancer class:

• Human
• Half Elf
• Half Orc
• Khoth

Melee abilities have been introduced. The abilities are governed by their skill. Trying to use the ability without the appropriate weapon will result in a nice warning message. The abilities get more powerful as your character's grow in rank.

Invigorate spell has been added. It is part of the Healing Magic skill line. It works like a heal spell except it recovers lost endurance.

During my play testing ran across a bug with the Exhausted state effect. It wouldn't go away when it was supposed to. This is now fixed. Also, it no longer causes a character to lose their turn. The exhausted character can use potions allowing them to recover from their exhaustion quicker.

Your party no longer starts with abilities. Melee abilities and spells will need to be learned from the appropriate book. Look for them in your inventory.

Fixed some odd pricing choices. Things make a little more sense now.

Floating damage and the health numbers have been removed. If you want to see a mob's current health while in combat, press the EXAMINE key (F by default) and hover the mouse over the mob. A window will appear with the mob's health. In a future version, more info will be displayed such as status effects and stats.

I'm targeting another update in two weeks. If I miss that deadline, definitely by the end of February. That will include some more bug fixes, fixing some oddities that I discovered through my play through of the current build (didn't want to hold up release as they are not game breaking bugs), and the DRUID class addition (already in the works)

Here is the layout of the Window Selectors in case you haven't played around with them. I increased the size of the images (thanks to suggestion from a tester).

You can grab it from indieDB

Races have been added for this version!

• Human
• Dwarf
• Elf
• Half Elf
• Half Orc
• Khoth

• A mostly functioning mini-map (not working in dungeons)
• Mort art makeovers(weapons, items, armors, mob portraits, and PC portraits)
• Some bug fixes
• Key rebinding is now in (select CONTROLS from the in game menu)

A little late on the release. However, I got it out there for you to try. You can grab it from indieDB

I opened up maps that were previously closed off. I added 3 new dungeons, items, mobs, and trainers. In this release, I added weapon abilities. These abilities are locked until you have the appropriate weapon skill level and rank. Poor quality weapons, such as rusty weapons, do not allow you to use these abilites (currently - this may change).

It's been a while since I posted. Well, day job got in the way (crunch and post-release); then family vacation, getting the kids ready to go back to school, excuse, excuse, excuse. Hehe, yeah, real life got in the way. During the time of slow development, I was working on world planning, some design ideas, anything I could work on paper. I realized, during this time period, my original game size was just TOO BIG! So, I re-worked my main quest to fit within a 7 overland zones and 13 dungeons (some are side dungeons).  I still have 3 overland maps to create. I have most of the dungeons left to create. I'm re-working a few which I had created early on (some new art assets helped here). You can see some new screenshots here So, it's back to work on the game! Right now, working on dungeon layouts. 

Look for a new alpha demo (v0.2) within the next few weeks!

The alpha demo is ready. Well, as ready as it can be. One thing to note, combat is pretty generic right now. The Skeletons are using the threat system. Please be assured, combat development is NOT complete:) This is a WINDOWS only version.

Instructions

Once you have downloaded the file, double-click the file to extract the game contents to a directory of your choice. To play the game, double-click on the LEGENDARY.exe file

The core mechanics of the game are in place. The alpha consists of 3 overland zones and 1 dungeon. As I mentioned in an earlier post, this is an alpha. And, as such, it will contain bugs, unfinished items, unpolished look, etc. IF you expect a game, at this stage, to be release day perfect, I wouldn't advise playing. However, if you can overlook the unfinished state and want to provide feedback, please, download the game and enjoy.

If you find any bugs or just want to provide feedback, send an email to Blind Monkey Games Support. post on indiDB post on RPGCodex Bugs: if you are reporting a bug, if possible, please provide steps to reproduce the issue, as much detail about the error as possible. Feedback: if you are going to provide feedback, please make it constructive. "This Sucks" doesn't help me make a better game. Tell me why it sucked; and, maybe, I can correct the issues. Finally, if you feel comfortable in doing so, please provide your system configuration.

Here we are at the end of April. Be on the lookout for May's newsletter later this week. It will recap March and April's newsletters. I will also lay out the plans for releasing alpha v0.1 this month. It will be rough, buggy, and unfinished. Hopefully, for those that download it, it will give you an idea of where the game is headed and how far along development is. And, don't be afraid to leave feedback! Feedback instructions will also be included in the newsletter (don't worry, this information will be on the website as well).

This week I added injuries and a threat meter. Injuries are sustained upon resurrection (ala Dragon Age: Origins). They remain with the character until healed. That means multiple resurrections can lead to multiple injuries. A character cannot have the same injury more than once. The effects range from lower experience gains to half your maximum hit points lost. Now, your thinking that sucks! Well, yeah, dying is supposed to suck. Good thing though, you have a way to lower your chances of sustaining an injury during the resurrection process. A higher BODY score will lower the chances. Also, seeking a highly skilled shaman or priest will reduce the chances as well. If my calculations were correct, utilizing the best shaman,priest,or cleric (including player characters) and a high body score, you can reduce your chances of an injury all the way to 25% from the initial 95% (normal body score and using Maggie Smokemask (local shaman on the starting island of Nerah's Landing).

The other combat feature that I added was a threat meter. Now, this is highly experimental for the alpha. I wasn't even sure if I wanted it. But, after seeing it in action, it made combat a little more intersting. Currently, I don't have any means of reducing threat(except resting) or increasing threat on a specific member of the party. However, that is planned. For instance, you could increase the threat of your warrior and reduce the rest of the members in your party to get the beasties to target your warrior only. My cleric was using Smite (a divine direct damage spell) which generates a fair amount of threat. I wasn't paying attention and Alendria was the main threat over my warrior, Elrin. Next round, skeletons laid waste to my cleric - caught me off guard which I like.

This feature has been in since the beginning; but, I have not mentioned it yet. Endurance is used for ANY melee attack. Once a character's endurance drops below 25%, there is a chance that charcter will become exhausted. While exhausted, the character cannot attack and defenses are reduced making them a prime target. You can recover by resting (can do this during that character's turn), potion use, or spells (not implemented yet). Still debating if monsters should suffer endurance loss as well. I have one monster type with this active. I'm on the fence.

Finally, I gave another pass at how I want to present the map to the player. Right now, it's just an overview of the zone. As you explore the zone, points of interest, such as a village, dungeon entrance, etc, will be filled in. I don't have that part turned on (currently working though) because, I haven't figured out the best way to save this information when you load a saved game or switch between zones. I may, also, provide a way to see nearby enemies through some sort of spell or class ability. Haven't decided yet (I liked Wizard Eye in the Might and Magic series).

Added some game play videos to the media page

You can view them here

The past two weeks I have been preparing for a small alpha demo release. I have been cleaning up UI, descriptions, fixing bugs, etc to make it look a little bit better. The videos are to show off some of the game play. Right now, I am looking at mid to late May for the alpha demo. It will not be polished. It will have bugs. This alpha is to start getting feedback from the players like you.

Wow! It is April already. Where does the time go.

I have been finishing up the functionality of the skillbooks this week. Spellbooks took longer than anticipated. Skillbooks are taking about the same amount of time it seems. I'll be finishing these up in the next couple of days.

We have been having an interesting discussion about the game over on RPGCodex. As a result, I have started thinking about a Front Row/ Back Row positioning of the party during combat. I did work on a front/back row system once before with Wizardry 8 in mind. I found it to be too slow, just like Wizardry 8, and there were a few technical difficulties that never could figure out how to over come. So, I dropped it. The discussion over there led me to a new way of thinking about the system without going Wizardry 8. Once the skillbooks are done, I am going to take a little time to experiment with it. If it looks like it might take to long to implement or "get right", I'll post-pone it for an update post-EA release or scrap it all together. I really would like to get the game into interested player's hands within the next few months.

This week involved work on how skill books and spell books work. This involves functionality and database entries

For spellbooks, there are checks in place for the character to see if they posses the proper skill and if they already know the spell. A message is now displayed if you know the spell or lack the skill.

Skill books work the same way. There are checks to verify the reader of the book has the skill. Currently, these books are empty and just provide the skill-up. I plan on adding flavor text to the various books for your reading pleasure. Each book's flavor text will revovle around the skill. These take time to write. So, for early access, the books will be empty. I plan on having these filled out when the game is released

The Haggling skill has been finalized in game. I liked the way it works. This skill is on a per character basis. So, if the only character in the party with the haggeling skill dies, no more discounts for the party until the character is revived. Originally, this was going to be a group skill. The skill could not be increased like other skills. But, it didn't feel right with the rest of the skill system. And, I like the idea of losing the discount if you only have the skill on one character (normally how I play). One more thing to plan when developing the party in game.

While this involves a lot of behind the scenes stuff, the game is moving forward. Many of these tasks are small and may seem inconsequiential; as a whole, they make the game better.

One final note, This month's newsletter includes an overview of the combat system. I'm going to speak on the various systems in the coming months. If you don't want to sign up for the newsletter, you can read about the systems on RPGCodex or IndieDB. If there are other forums you visit(and are releavent), feel free to send me an email from the contacts page.

This week involved adding resource node functionality. New skills were added as well. Nerah's Landing got fleshed out a bit more with a couple of new shops and trainers.

Resource nodes are no longer being placed by hand (yay!). Using a system which places them based on parameteres such as terrain height, terrain type (Fennel doesn't grow in sand for example). The biggest change: Herbalism skill is now used when harvesting plants. A dialog will now ask which character in the party will harvest the resource. There is a base chance that is checked when harvesting. If the character has the Herbalism skill, when harvesting fennel for example, bonuses will be applied based on the rank and skill level increasing the chance for success and the amount that is harvested.

Learning skill has been added. This increases experience earned for anything that might give an experience reward. The bonus amount is based on the skill and rank. The starting bonus is 30% and maximum is 200% This rate may be adjusted as this is tested over the coming weeks. I don't want the party to be max level in a few hours of playing. What fun would that be?

The initial workings of a Haggling skill has been added. If the shopping character has this skill, a discount when buying and a markup when selling will be applied. This bonus is dependent upong the rank and level of the skill.

I didn't get a whole lot done this week due to day job and family things. Not to mention, I lost a whole night working out the code algorithm to apply the learning experience bonus. Turns out, it was already in the framework that I am using (ORK Framework if you are curious). I just quitely rapped my head on my desk when I saw the feature.

Finally, the coming week will involve more database work. So, nothing exciting to show. However, it means there are more things in the world.

This week involved adding the new Beastiary. I added the ability to read books, notes, scrolls, etc.

The first resource nodes were added to the game. You can now collect Fennel plants and their seeds which are used to brew potions. I'll be adding additional nodes ores and additional plants over the next few weeks. Currently, I am hand placing the nodes on Nerah's Landing (small map to begin with). I have plans to add a system that will procedurally generate nodes. This will make it fun for me to come across them during my play testing!

The first pass at the beastiary has been completed. I have been putting this off for quite some time; simply put, I hate GUI work. Right now, you learn everything about a beast once you defeat it in combat which is good for developing. I'm going to add abilities tied to the Lore skill that you will be able to use on a creature. I still need to clean up the look (particularly the category window). It's a good start.

You can now read notes, books, and scrolls(if setup to do so) in game. I know, standard RPG fare, but, again, it was GUI work that I had been putting off. I will admit, I'm glad I got it done this week. It's nice to read the note you start with instead of its description.

I took some time to experiment with a few other combat model ideas that I had in the beginnging of this project. It was similar to the Wizardry 8 combat model. In the end, I decided to stick with what I am using now. Even with sped up movement, it still seemed to slow. I'm not looking for real time or quasi-real time combat; but, I don't want it to crawl either.

Finally, the coming week will involve fleshing out Nerah's Landing more and revisiting Druinport; the first major city encountered. The fleshing out includes adding a few more trainers and shops. I will be starting the "flavor" dialog from the locals. And, more GUI cleanup(Yuck). The GUI clean up has been lingering far too long. It was just me and didn't matter. With the push for EA, this stuff needs cleaned up! Console support is being considered as well.

This week I spent some time play testing the game. It was needed as I had not done this in a while. I had to fix a few issues as the build was broken (had not made a build in some time). The play testing lead to the discovery of a few issues which needed fixed. Monsters spawning on top of your head when combat begins is not a good thing. After fixing these annoyances, I started looking at the UI. It's still a work in progress; but, coming along.

Another feature has made it in. You now have the option of a Quick Start. As you can see from the screenshot above, you can create your party or take the stock party and jump right into the game. This is an early layout. I'll look into making it more pleasing to the eye. Me personnally, I think I have used a quick start option once; but, that was during a second play-through of the game. I think there are many out there that likes the quick start. Also, it provides a nice way to jump into an cRPG if the player is not familiar with the genere.

This week and the next couple of months are in preperation for making the game available on Steam Early Access. I'm looking at June - August time frame. I'm thinking the EA price would be $5 USD. And, I know many out there refuse to buy anything in EA; I myself have this rule. So, I am thinking of a way to provide alpha demos outside of Steam as well.

The basic crafting system is now in place. I'm able to craft light healing potions to my hearts content. Well, there are plenty of other items to craft; light healing potions are rather trivial. The hardest part, as a developer, was coming up with the formula for determining whether or not a character succeeds in their attempt to craft an item. I'm toying with the idea of critical successes during crafting. Your character's meticulous eye for detail during their crafting process would lead to a more potent potion or a more durable sword. I might put that in for a few recipes and see what kind of feeback I get. I have added more detail on the crafting page.

One of the nastier bugs that I have been dealing with for a while now was the camera disconnect anytime a blocking event occurred. For instance, when combat starts (player cannot move, you can rotate the camera though) the camera would move forward a bit. This would occur whenever you interacted with items in the world like a treasure box. It was annoying to say the least (not game breaking though). I finally track down the issue to the player controller code. Whenever this component was disabled (blocking event), camera code would still be updating causing the camera drift. Well, no more! Camera stays in place as it should.

Work continues on item and crafting recipe entries into the database. Yeah, not much to show as far as screenshots, but, it is a necessary evil. Without those entries, the world is empty! This week I've been adding regular crafting recipes such as potions, weapons, armors and enchanted weapons and armors. I had to create the enchanted items since they are new. I've added the various crafting materials needed to craft these items. Next up, I'll be adding these to loot tables and shops.

Today was devoted to crafting recipes. We can't have crafting without the recipes to construct our new items and potions. I constructed the initial crafting recipes for Blacksmithing, Tailoring, Alchemy, and Enchanting. Next up, I'll need to get these into the database.

Here is an early pre-alpha game footage captured a year ago. Much has changed since this was recorded. Expect a new recording soon!

Thought it was time to start a website for those interested in the game. From here, I'll post updates about the game's progress. The game, in its current state, is playable. Unfortunately, the world is rather empty. Plenty of monsters to give you trouble. Various trainers and shops in Druinport. A few quests to keep you busy. Even a couple of dungeons to explore. The main questline's chapter one is in place. There is enough in place for someone to get an idea of what the game is about; and, that's about it. When I get the crafting done and some more itemization, I'll consider moving to Steam Early Access or releasing an early demo for you to try.