July Update (Patreon)

Hey everyone, sorry again for the lack of updates last month. I've been incredibly busy trying to finish up the first area in Moontide, and have mostly been keeping to the Discord server for small updates. Development has been a little slower than expected, but I still aim to have the playtest build ready sometime this month. (Hopefully before I turn 20 on the 15th.)

The game is really starting to come together now in terms of mechanics however, and things are beginning to take shape. Last month I focused a lot on adding the last few essential mechanics before starting work on the first dungeon of the game. This includes Isaac's blacksmith shop, the residents of Rogue's Rest, a map system (finally) The only mechanic not yet in the game is death and saving, however I'm planning on working those in as well after the dungeon is completed. (Check the attachments for footage of the blacksmith and map system) I also did some slight tweaks and visual upgrades, such as leaves falling from the forest canopy and a windmill that (sort of) simulates wind.

As for the dungeon itself, it's still in a very rough state. It's currently mapped out with full collisions/enemy placement, however it's made up of placeholder tiles for the moment. I'm working on adding dungeon-specific enemies and mechanics, and am hoping to finish the rest of them by the end of this weekend. After that's done, I can move on to doing the dungeon's visuals and adding a few more optional areas in it, then I'll work on its two boss battles and it should pretty much be done.

Hopefully after the dungeon is finished I can polish up the game and have it ready for playtesting, but it may still take a while. Either way, I'm definitely going to have it done sometime before the end of this month. As for sounds and music, it seems like there won't be any for a while. PSI won't be completely free until October, which means there wouldn't be much point in implementing the sound system at the moment. (Also, again, this playtest build won't be fully public. I'm only planning on sending it to some people in the Discord server, but I may create an application form for potential testers to help gather data)

Aside from game development, I'm thinking about getting into drawing Digimon. Poco and I have designed new Digisonas for us to use, so that might be interesting to play around with. I'd also like to open commissions later this month, ideally after the playtest version of Moontide is released.