Crysalis Progress report (2023-06-08)

Little bit of updates here.

There was a bit of stuff happening, since last time, which was also close to a month ago. So what's going on?

Well, I am still busy with comms as well, as the game, so things are still a bit slow in general, but there are some interesting things happening.

First of all, I am working on a trailer, for the game, as well as ads, to promote this Patreon a bit and also get more people interested in the project.

That trailer should be released soon!

On the other hand, I worked a bit on the character insert designs, so that's also good. Those I'll show off when they're done though.

The last thing, is a new user interface and slight change of game genre.

I won't go into too much detail about what the elements mean, but I will go into detail on why the shift.

First of all, what changes? Well, I am moving from a turn based RPG (formerly turn based rogue like) to an action RPG.
The shift is pretty small, so it's easy to do. But I backed up the old project, so I can pick it up again, if need be!

But why?

Well, the reasons are many. First of all my engine, GameMaker Studio 2, isn't designed for turn based stuff.
Yes, you can make turn based games in it, but you have as much support for that, as using any other engine.
I was thinking of switching to RPGMaker, as other RPGs used it and it is more tuned towards RPGs and turn based ones.

But then I played more old Zelda (Link to the past and Link's awakening, to be precise) and realized that those are more what I would like.

Also GameMaker Studio 2 has much better support for free movement action games (as it's primarily made for side-view platformers). So that's a bonus too!

A lot of code, I had in place to make turns work and was pretty fragile, is gone now and the game is a lot more robust than before! Also development speed picked up again.

What are the actual changes?
Combat is a bit simplified, but I try to keep the type system and also add a moral system. Both influence damage done and taken (more to that later, but it's usually in the player's favor, without making things too easy).
You can move freely now, which makes it's very nice and responsive to play.
Story wise there won't be any changes, same with general looks. This was an important aspect for me, to consider the change anyway.

So, what to expect?
The prototype for combat should be out next week, what you get is to be able to fight some kobolds and dragons inside of a dungeon, which you can reset and which resets when you are defeated.
It's pretty much just going to be a demo for the combat, for people to try out.

Also again, the trailer for the game will be coming as well.

Past the combat prototype, I will see what happens. As I am not sure what system I want to tackle next. But we'll see!