The Cyriaan Chronicles #10 Update (Patreon)

What we're planning

Right now, I am planning on entering alpha phase sometime early summer.  Alpha phase means the initial development is done.  But the game is probably buggy in places, could use some more love and interaction in spots, and certainly could always use some balance fine tuning amongst the classes to ensure they're all viable.  This phase will just be me and the producer(s) testing the game.

I want to enter beta phase by late summer.  Our Patreon supporters will receive beta invites to the game.  I am hoping at this stage the game is stable and only small bugs remain, although there could be many of them.  I will be adding new features based on user feedback.  I will be leaning on beta testers heavily for feedback, as this is the first time the game will be opened up to a larger audience.

I want to fully launch the game by winter of 2022.

So how are we tracking on those goals?

Overall, production is running ahead of schedule.  This week, I hit two big milestones on the way to releasing the game into its alpha stage.

First Milestone - Successful test

Last week, I finished my first playthrough of the game.  That is a pretty big milestone, as it now works.  There were a lot of continuity and bugs, but the first playthrough made sure all the critical errors were removed, and several bugs were cleaned up in the process.

In theory, it means a player could play the game from start to finish as of today.  I wouldn't say it would be an amazing experience, but it could be done!

Second Milestone - Economy revamp

Before I play test the game a second time, with different classes, I wanted to add several features to the game.  I added several minor features to make the game feel more alive: better sound (fires and clocks will make noises, louder and quieter as you move closer/further away), better weather effects, interesting lighting setup (some dungeons are underground and pitch black, except for some torches lighting the way and the player's torch).

But the biggest change to the second playthrough will be a complete economic revamp.  I need complete.  I gutted the entire system.

I didn't think the first iteration was very "fun."  It was functional, and worked a lot like traditional RPGs.  You get stuff, you sell stuff for money, you spend money on upgrades.   Nothing wrong with it, but it lacked a certain polish.

I am really simplifying the economy so wealth will be measured in tens and hudreds of gold instead of hundreds of thousands.  Players can still spend gold to buy baseline armor and weapons.  They won't be exciting, but they will be upgrades.

More exciting than this is the ability to craft your own weapons, armor, and consumables.  So let's take each of these in turn:

Consumables are things like healing potions, mana potions, attack buffs, etc.  These are learned by finding recipes in the world.  Some characters joins your party and likewise share their expertise in how to make new consumables, which you then learn how to do for the rest of the game.  The ingredients are found all over the world, and are drops from monsters.

Weapons and armor now come in sets that you can craft.  There are a dozen armor/weapon sets in the game.  Once you collect enough pieces and equip them, a character will start to see improvements in stats and abilities.  For instances, if you equip enough mage equipment, your character's mana and magic attack abilities will increase, the more they equip.  And if your entire equipment load is of the same set, the character will get a powerful and unique ability to take into battle!  Armor and weapon receips are found all over the world, with some coming as characters join your mission.  The materials to create them are found all over the world, in chests, and and also dropped off boss monsters.

I am really excited for these changes, and can't wait to playtest them in the second play through.