I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to be sick forever. Thus, these few lucid moments must be used wisely, for in the end I will die and Inaria will be all I leave behind to support my destitute family.
Or I’m just going to give this ONE BIG SNEEZE and cover the wall in front of me in a big black splotch of disease and disgust and then instantly feel better!
I haven’t decided yet.
I’ve been twittering…er, tweeting…er, posting quick updates on what bugs I’ve been working on in Inaria on my Twitter feed, so if you want the latest and greatest info on Inaria’s progress, check http://twitter.com/#!/viridiangames .
Again, complete focus on Inaria development has precluded posting. Beta 3 will be released later today, and depending on what I get into it I may actually rename it Release Candidate 1.
What I’m really concerned about is the level of quality of the content of the game. I’m making another pass over all the maps to do things like fix areas where you can see “off the map” because I expanded the view area, make the geometry more interesting and use the new triggers I’ve created to do interesting stuff.
But we have a hard date now. And when I say hard, I mean set in frickin’ STONE. Inaria WILL go on sale Friday, April 15th.
Oh, lord, I’ve so much to do. Wish me luck.
Here’s a screenshot of the current version of Inaria (click to expand).
And here’s the opening them to Inaria, courtesy of H. Arnold Jones:
[audio:https://viridiangames.com/bin/cfx-inaria_theme.mp3]Slight change of plans (again) – Inaria is going to get a public beta starting this Saturday and running for one week. Everyone who reads this blog is invited to participate! If you want to try it out, please email me at anthony.salter@gmail.com with the subject “Inaria Beta Test”. On Saturday I’ll send you directions for downloading the game and submitting bugs. Feel free to also make any other suggestions you wish.
So yes, I’m missing my date, but for a good reason, and if you’re reading this you’re going to get to play the game anyway so…why you complainin’?
Also, is there anyone out there who could cut together a short (1:00 – 1:30) trailer of this game for me? I’ve tried but a) I don’t have the tools (I’m not willing to pirate After Effects) and b) I don’t have the skill. A price can be negotiated.
Oddly enough, I haven’t been talking on this blog much because I’ve been doing so much. I’ve gotten an amazing amount of stuff done on Inaria. Let’s take a look in three handy lists.
What’s Out:
Party-based combat. Inaria is now officially a single-character game.
Arenas: All combat will now take place on the main map.
What’s In:
“Special” terrain squares (poison fields, locked doors, teleporters, etc)
Tooltips. One of the most common concerns I hear from the CRPG Addict is that he just doesn’t have enough feedback on what’s happening to his character.
Random loot. Yes, I’m putting in random loot. After I started putting in special items named after my contributors it felt natural to have random loot. Don’t think I’ll get around to set bonuses, but hey, you never know.
The size of the screen has been boosted from 512×384 to 640×480 to fit the larger map view as well as the new lists of abilities.
The RPG system has been fixed; all stats are now valuable (though some will be more valuable than others depending on the type of character you want to use).
A new editor is in the works that will allow me to use the new terrain squares quickly and efficiently.
Screenshots to follow. I’ll also be trying to figure out enough of Avidemux to cut together a trailer.
Don’t…don’t give me that look. I can feel your look.
Yes, Inaria is getting pushed back. But there are several good reasons.
First, the deadline was my birthday. How stupid was that? I want to spend my birthday relaxing, opening presents and eating a hamburger as big as my head, not frantically coding.
Second, the game might still be ready on time, but the website is not. I Are No Artist, so my website design skills are limited. I’ve already figured out how I’d like to do the layout, but actually making it look nice is a bit beyond me. Plus, I have to set up everything so that the game can actually be purchased.
Third, if I do get the donations from 8-Bit Funding, I’ll need time to actually use them, since I stupidly put the donation deadline on the same day the game was to be released. (Whether or not I get the donations from 8-Bit Funding depends on whether or not I hit $250 in donations within the next two days. If a project does not raise at least 50% of the money requested before the deadline, all donations are refunded, no exceptions.)
The new date is March 31st. I think this is realistic enough that I might actually come in early.
Don’t worry. You’ll be taking on the Slorn army single-handedly in no time.
OH GOD WHY AM I DOING THIS WHAT MADE ME THINK I COULD GET THIS OUT IN TIME THIS GAME IS SO BUGGY AND I’M ADDING TOO MUCH AND THE DEADLINE IS LOOMING AND THE GAME IS WAY OVERENGINEERED AND UNDERDESIGNED OR UNDERENGINEERED AND OVERDESIGNED I HAVEN’T DECIDED YET AND BASIC FEATURES DON’T WORK AND THE SPECIAL ABILITIES AREN’T IN AND WAAAAAAHHHHH!
Inaria now has a musician in the body of one H. Arnold Jones! The first tracks he has delivered are great, and I think fit the game well. Check out his stuff at http://www.cfxmusic.com/site/.
Again, these things simultaneously delight and depress me.
This is three guys from Cryptic Studios (two programmers and one artist) making a game in about 28 total hours (not counting sleep time) for the 2011 Global Game Jam (which I guess is as close to my Iron Gamedev dream as I’m going to get).
Now, it’s really unfair to compare myself to these guys. They were using a very well-designed framework (Game Library of Victory, which you can actually download here). There were three of them and one of me.
But still…look at them pump that stuff out! I’m starting to feel like I’m doing something wrong. It seems like it’s so much harder for me and takes so much longer than it does for many other people. Maybe my framework just sucks.
