Zolvatory
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Update Post 12/09/20
🕑 Added 2020-12-09 22:25:16 +0000 UTCHello, everyone! Avan here.
So, we thought it would be a good time to update all of you on the progress we have made, plans we have set and similar things in a bit more detail. This way you know what to expect for the next update and even a little further than that. We really want to be rather transparent with our thoughts and if there are any questions feel free to ask them in the discord or as a reply to this very post!
First of all, we've had a great influx of people that are interested in our game and we're incredibly thankful for that. To get everyone up to speed we'll also include some of our overall plans in this post just to get everyone on the same page! This might be a long one but without further ado... here we go!
Overall plans
As most of you already know by playing our game, we're in a very early development! So far we have the very basics (movement, enemies, scenes, ...) implemented and in the coming months we will focus on adding quite a bit more functionality into the game. This will for example include the shop/inventory in the next update which we are already working on as you know. To understand why we are doing it this way and do not just wildly add new characters and adult scenes just yet is to understand game development as a whole. We first need to build a very solid foundation before we add all the glitter. One can't really put great furniture into a house that isn't built yet. Now does that mean there will be no adult scenes added in this time? No, it doesn't. You will get a few more scenes while we are doing so, just keep in mind that they will not be the main focus of these early updates.
Now, I'd like to get into more detail of the upcoming update and even shortly tackle those that come after. For now I'll call the next update (1.1) the Item Update.
Item Update (1.1)
This next patch is planned to be the start off point for our work on items, inventories and shops. So let me get into more detail of how the shop is going to work. Some of you already know where to find it in the alpha level. Once you get into that area you will be kept secure from those naughty fairies while in there, meaning they wont be able to attack you while you do your shopping.
When speaking to the shopkeep you will have a few options. You can either Buy, Sell, Talk, Quest or Leave. Talk is subject to change as it might be replaced with quests completely. Next I will go over what these options do briefly.
Buy - You can buy items from the shop that will then be added to your inventory. Think healing items and the likes. The amount of items might be sparse still, but this is about setting the foundation with which we can add items more easily down the line as well. Every time you buy an item, the shopkeeper will say something small about it (1 of 3 text boxes).
Sell - It also does what you'd think it does. Sell items you've found or even bought from the shop. The shopkeep will also shortly comment on things you sell.
Talk - Currently it just makes the shopkeep spout single text boxes but it could be expanded on later. We're thinking of having this go alongside Quest or be replaced by it.
Quest - The shopkeep will tell you to for example gather things or kick the butt of monster girls and will give you neat rewards for it!
Leave - Leave the shop again. Simple.
Now! That's it for the update, right? No.
Obviously there's more to it. When buying something, you need a place to put it and that's where your inventory comes in. You can store items there, use them, discard them and so on. We are also working on a quick access function. Something that could be bothersome is opening the menu and selecting the item every time you want to heal, so we're trying to find a way to get around it. Like making you able to set these items to specific hotkeys (with limitations).
The inventory will also for now differentiate between Item, Drops & Key.
Items - Consumable items that you can simply use and attach to a hotkey (or any other function we'll implement). Healing items, utility items and the likes count for that. (Might rename it to consumables depending on what you think)
Drops - Special drops from enemies that can be sold or are needed for quest. We also thought of something special they could be used for further down the line but that wont happen with this update.
Key - Items that are important for the story/progression and therefore can't be simply used.
To get everything to actually function is a lot of work especially when it comes to programming, so be aware that a lot of progress is not directly visible when looking at the game and is hidden in the strange world of code that Masker calls his home.
We are planning on releasing this update later this month so please bear with us! Keep in mind that currently we can't live from this project alone but are trying to put as much time into it as we can.
This update will also not include a new adult scene with the shopkeep just yet. Part of that is because we want to focus our efforts in art on the other things that are needed, like the different menus, icons and more. But...
Night & Day Update (1.2)
...this one will include another enemy and with that new scenes! More to that in a moment, let's just get to the content of 1.2! Although I will not go into as much just yet.
This update is planned to include an option to change between day and night in the city and by doing so open paths that have been closed before. The lighting and sky will be different depending on if its day or night and that will help us with another thing we have noticed: our resolution. So we've seen a lot of people forcing our game to full screen and by that have our background bug out. Veila is planning to redo or at least expand the current background (the one with the sky and clouds) so it can be scaled properly and be made fit to all your needs. The reason why we had it at a resolution like this was to emulate older metroidvania titles but we've come to realise that others might prefer to just simply play it their way. We hope to fix that issue in this update.
Our next enemy will also appear in 1.2, which is the wolf girl (which won the first character poll) and she's also the one receiving the adult scenes in that update. So we hope you look forward to that.
As for the updates afterwards, I do not want to go into detail just yet, but I hope you liked this little update post and are just as excited for the future as we are. Yet again - Thanks for your support!
