Anyway, about a year or so ago, I began working on developing a tile/map editor that would eventually be used to create the immense variety of large game areas that will compose the game's world because for me, this seemed like the most logical way to handle the game's maps given that many of them would be very large and I stand by that decision. Unfortunately, I didn't understand some of the concepts initially and had to overcome these obstacles slowly, nor did I have the foresight to include many features which I now realize are almost invaluable to include in such a program. I was working on this project for a long time and as I was just about finished with the code, (some 1200 lines of global text) I started thinking about some aspects of integrating it with my actual game and after discussing the issues I was challenged by with Skydereign for a bit, I decided to start the whole thing over again in order to manage everything properly and include new features which make it more versatile plus I now have all the added knowledge of having gone through the process once already. Which is where I stand right now. I have already begun working on the new version, and I am confident it will be feature complete by mid-October to November.
Also, some interesting information I recently became aware of is that the Penny Arcade is expanding the PAX event to Texas this year with PAX South, which is where I live. Coincidentally, I aim to have a moderateIy playable demo prepared by that time (probably only the first town or so) and hope(keyword: HOPE*
) to showcase it there and launch my Kickstarter project hand-in-hand so to speak at the very same time in order to hopefully generate buzz as well as to gain support for the Kickstarter's funding, assuming this is allowed, I am working on obtaining this information from a PAX spokesperson, as well as what would be required of me etc,. I have many other responsibilities and obligations to attend to, so my free time is very limited for the time being but I am optimistic that my Kickstarter project will be successful, and afterwards I will be able to take some time off of work and perhaps even school if I find myself able to in order to devote my full attention towards the development of this project. However, I have not worked on any of the art since I began working on the tile editor so this aspect of development has been at a stalemate ever since, though the artistic style will most likely remain consistent with the prototype's graphics. I am keeping storyline information and ideas confidential for the time being, but the gameplay experience will most likely vary drastically from player to player depending upon the choices they make. I aim to have a minimum of at least five different endings, with as many as fifteen if things like funding, progress, etc., go exceedingly well, as well as a minimum of 60 hours of main quest gameplay, 60 different towns/ areas for the player to explore (with as many as 100), 1000 different NPCs, 1000 different items, 250 different enemies, and much, much more. Expect a lot of adventure, humor, wit, charm, satire, suspense, allusion and just overall wackiness. It will most definitely release at some point on Windows/ Mac/ Linux and will be sold on Steam, and perhaps eventually even ported to PS4/ Xbox One/ 3DS. Assuming the Kickstarter is successful, I would estimate the expected release date sometime around 1st quarter 2016.
Unfortunately, I have nothing of worth to share with the community in terms of a demo or anything like that yet at this point and for that I apologize, though in a couple of months I will release the map editor here on the forums when it is code complete, and when the game is complete but before it is released I will upload it publicly for the forum to enjoy and comment on for a brief time before it is put up for sale. I want this game to be the absolute best it possibly can be, which requires my utmost care and patience at every step of development, in the meantime I thank you for your interest and patience!
I'll resume working on the artwork afterwards, things should really start coming together then.