CoA Alpha v0.0001 Information/ News (Patreon)

BM: Hey guys! So progress on the first playable test version of CoA is going very well!

I've gotten a lot done so far, been workin hard on it the past couple days especially since we have a sprite sheet for Sally, motivation has peaked and I'm having a ton of fun with making it!

So without further ado, I wanted to give ya'll detailed info on what this playable version is going to be. The first bit of information to share, is that it features only Sally as playable currently! As this is meant to test her in battle and her moves/playstyle, as well as test other various things in the battle system and game, we want the first build to be simple. 

Now, the second thing I want to talk about is what is playable exactly. It's going to be a dungeon. Nothing too big or detailed. Something placeholder ish for the time being, but it'll be enough to test how often random battles occur, general time exploring the size of the dungeon, and stuff like that. Minor events will be included too like checking out an object or finding a spring water to heal yourself. The end of the dungeon will feature a boss to fight. ;) It shouldn't be too hard to beat it if you level up to max level!

Which brings me to subject 3: Sally's level and battle style. So with this game I wanted to incorporate more than a simple "attack" "Magic" "Defend" playstyle. Instead there will be combo moves and unique commands that fit the character's role(aka Job). Sally is a Damage Dealer and minor Support, so her focus is mainly doing damage to enemies while providing a few buffs and heals to her team mates. She isn't a healer by any means but she can help in a pinch if the healer is KO'd or busy healing as it is. 

In this build the max level is going to be 10, as there is no need to go any higher for the time being. I want to make sure everything from 1-10 works, is balanced, and has no bugs/issues etc. Sally will have plenty to do from 1-10 however, as she learns her first primary Role skills in these levels.

So how does Sally play in battle? Specifically she has a unique Command called Gadgets. Sally specializes in using various and often home-made gadgets like makeshift grenades, bombs, and even throwing rocks. Much like SatAM and early archie, Sally is gonna rely on gadgets to do damage to enemies, and she does it damn well to boot. Her normal attacks are punches and kicks, and she'll have a couple of combos for this in the future(Maybe). Now, at level 10, Sally will unlock her first Role skill(Job skill), which will really show off her unique playstyle. The skill is called Slingshot, as one of Sally's major weapons early comics/SatAM is a slingshot! The cool thing about this skill is when used, Sally will prep her slingshot for one of her gadgets. Meaning she could sling her grenades for major bonus damage, and even rocks and other gadgets! This is her main playstyle, at least early game, and I think it'll be a lot of fun to combo Slingshot with her skills to make powerful new abilities. 

When Slingshot is used, it unlocks a new Command "Slingshot" underneath Gadgets, here you will pick what to use with the prepped Slingshot ;) and when you use it, the command will disappear until you use Slingshot again. It's a 2-turn combo but the added power from using a slingshot makes up for the extra turn! 

Another interesting mechanic is that Sally's Gadgets cost her PP or Power Points(MP basically), and each character uses PP to cast powers(Nicole) or use skills(Bunnie/Sally) or heal(Fiona), and in Sally's case, Slingshot costs RP rather than PP. RP, short for Role Points, are points used primarily for skills/powers that involve the character's Role as a primary mechanic. This means that to use Sally's Slingshot Skill, you have to first have the required RP. RP is in a LOT less supply than PP, as you can only have up to 100 RP max, and you dont start with 100 in battle, but at 1-20 usually. It builds as you attack and especially when you get hit. When Characters will reach a certain level, they will also unlock their Limit Break abilities, but it's too early to talk about those ;P They will use both PP and RP though, that's for certain! and even more likely they will have to be unlocked by completing the specific character's side quest(s). 

Anyway! There's still more to come and more to learn on your own! I wanted to give you guys some details on what I'm working on atm and what to expect come June 29-30th when the alpha demo is released. I cincerely hope you guys enjoy Sally's playstyle! It's still very early in development so things are likely to change, and all animations for attacks are from RPG Maker until we can make our own. BUT we gotta create and design the attacks and their mechanics FIRST before we get into making animations for em, y'know? :P ALSO! We do have a sound designer workin on a few original sounds for us! Which is exciting. Anywho, that's all for now. If you have any questions, please ask in the comments! Any regular comments are also very appreciated! We always read em :)