Chapter 2 Progress Update!
[h3]Hello all!
I hope everyone is taking appropriate measures to be safe and is in good health. I wanted to take this opportunity to give some more detailed info about the next Chapter of Kedemara, set for release sometime this year! Given the difficulties we've all experienced from the recent pandemic, and a few other life complications I've personally experienced over the last 6 months, progress on Chapter 2 has proven a bit more time consuming than I originally anticipated, but I have some excellent news that should make the wait quite worth the time it has taken thus far! The following bullet points will give summaries of milestones already reached (with details below them), another section detailing what's in the works, and some exciting bits to explain what to expect in Chapter 2. I will also make a few feature announcements regarding Chapter 3:[/h3]
[h2]
**COMPLETED**[/h2]
- Major story arcs for Chapter 2 are all accounted for
Though I have the main thread of the story for the entire game already planned/written, I like to pop in some smaller ones per-chapter and some more details here and there as I go. The scale of Deirdre's journey, and the world she is venturing into, will definitely increase in size with Chapter 2. I am looking forward to everyone learning more about her companions and some of the new friends they make along the way.
- All mapping for the game's levels will be completed by tonight
The size of maps in the first half is about on-par with what you'd see in Chapter 1. The part I am currently working on has several maps that are MUCH larger in comparison. One of the cities you visit is close to 3.5-4 times the size of Port Brahma. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say many of the locales are quite unique and fun, while still fitting the general theme of the game.
- The first "half" of the story has already been beta tested
I submitted the first half of Chapter 2 to my beta testers and that portion is in a very playable state, arguably already "completed". A few bugs were found in the process, but overall it came out quite well. Everyone has loved the story and direction thus far, along with some of the new NPCs and party characters that were introduced. More on this later...
- Two new characters already designed/created in the game.
Not as glamorous of an update, but with the level of character development I try to put in the party members, it can take some time to tweak both their combat and character details to make sure they suit the party well. So far the beta testers have loved the new additions in and out of combat, bringing even more balance and variety to Deirdre's companions.
[h2]
**IN PROGRESS**[/h2]
- Coding/Eventing 2nd half of the Chapter.
As stated above, we have an arguably completed first half of Chapter 2 already done, so that just leaves the 2nd half of course. Given the progress made on the Chapter 2 so far, I feel the time and effort put into it will be well worth the wait. I again, have a neat detail which will be mentioned farther down.
- Selecting the remainder of the music tracks.
The first half features a great track made by my colleague Austin, I feel it suits the area of the game perfectly and is intensely catchy. Hopefully we can hear more from him, but with recent developments in the world in general, it has been trying for him to create some new tracks. While Chapter 1 has undergone some switches to the music, I feel the 2nd half should hit just as hard if not more than the first.
- Adjustments on combat stats/items.
I typically leave this for the end to see what the appropriate level and challenge for players would be. I HATE a game that forces grinding to get characters to appropriate levels, so the game should be fine going from point a to point b, or if you'd like a leg up on the competition, you can spend some time grinding random encounter areas. I try to pay a lot of attention to this as it can become frustrating for newcomers and veterans alike.
[h2]The Beta Test Results:[/h2]
One of the big surprises I had about Chapter 2 after my beta testers gave their results, was how big it was so far. When I polled them asking how much playtime they had, the average came out to 6 HOURS! Yes, the first half of Chapter 2 alone has 6 hours of content! Even I was surprised, as I've been lucky to have time to work on the game, much less do a full run-through. This would put my estimate for Chapter 2's length at about 11-12 hours of content in total. Combined with Chapter 1, that's roughly 17 hours of content. A few of them said that Chapter 2 would be fine to end there, but I believe in giving people their money's worth (lol) so I'm going to push myself to maintain the current quality standards and deliver the full story arc I was planning for everyone. I certainly hope everyone feels the same as they did, that the wait is worth it for the final product.
[h2]WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN CHAPTER 3!![/h2]
- I believe in taking the "soft introduction" route when it comes to game mechanics, starting off with very simple implementations of a concept or challenge and then gradually increasing the difficulty in following areas. There will be much more of that in Chapter 2, but Chapter 3 will be where much of this comes to fruition and begins asking more of the player in terms of puzzle solving and other various concepts I'm working into the game. Expect some of the concepts introduced in Chapter 2 to be present in Chapter 3!
- More "quests" will be available in Chapter 3, there are a couple that are introduced in Chapter 2, but it is not a major part of the game at that point. In Chapter 3, these quests will often result in either sizeable monetary rewards or very unique/powerful items only acquirable in that manner. Since some of these will be of task-oriented nature they will be completely voluntary and not required to progress in the game. Some minor story elements may be revealed or accessible by these means, but it should not hinder the main story in any way by skipping.
- Overworld exploration will introduced in Chapter 3 (finally, I know lol), but I have had a few reasons to hold off until then. The first being that you're going almost everywhere on foot, so simply walking across a large continent reduces the sense of scale you have for Aetheria...something I'd like to avoid. I have to withhold story spoilers, but lets just say there is little point to traversing backwards at this point in the story. Overworld exploration will make much more sense in regards to the story during Chapter 3, you will also have more means to travel quickly so the sense of scale should feel maintained by then.
- Character outfit changes will also be happening in Chapter 3 for all your party members . Again, I feel this change makes a great deal more sense at this time in the story, it will also seem more rewarding when the change has meaning behind it. I am currently waffling on whether or not to have a wardrobe change for one of the characters at the end of Chapter 2, but we'll just have to wait and see where it heads. Oh, and yes, Tessa will finally learn where Marsha got her hat from ;-)
Well, I want to thank everyone for their support and patience with me thus far. It is honestly a joy to work on this and hearing from players about their enjoyment of the game makes me so happy. Hearkening back to my D&D days as a Dungeon Master, happy players make me a happy DM....so happy gamers make me a happy dev. I certainly hope experiencing Deirdre's story remains something I can continue enjoying with you guys for many days to come. Thank you all so very much! :)
- Andrew (Creator)
I hope everyone is taking appropriate measures to be safe and is in good health. I wanted to take this opportunity to give some more detailed info about the next Chapter of Kedemara, set for release sometime this year! Given the difficulties we've all experienced from the recent pandemic, and a few other life complications I've personally experienced over the last 6 months, progress on Chapter 2 has proven a bit more time consuming than I originally anticipated, but I have some excellent news that should make the wait quite worth the time it has taken thus far! The following bullet points will give summaries of milestones already reached (with details below them), another section detailing what's in the works, and some exciting bits to explain what to expect in Chapter 2. I will also make a few feature announcements regarding Chapter 3:[/h3]
[h2]
**COMPLETED**[/h2]
- Major story arcs for Chapter 2 are all accounted for
Though I have the main thread of the story for the entire game already planned/written, I like to pop in some smaller ones per-chapter and some more details here and there as I go. The scale of Deirdre's journey, and the world she is venturing into, will definitely increase in size with Chapter 2. I am looking forward to everyone learning more about her companions and some of the new friends they make along the way.
- All mapping for the game's levels will be completed by tonight
The size of maps in the first half is about on-par with what you'd see in Chapter 1. The part I am currently working on has several maps that are MUCH larger in comparison. One of the cities you visit is close to 3.5-4 times the size of Port Brahma. I don't want to spoil anything, but I will say many of the locales are quite unique and fun, while still fitting the general theme of the game.
- The first "half" of the story has already been beta tested
I submitted the first half of Chapter 2 to my beta testers and that portion is in a very playable state, arguably already "completed". A few bugs were found in the process, but overall it came out quite well. Everyone has loved the story and direction thus far, along with some of the new NPCs and party characters that were introduced. More on this later...
- Two new characters already designed/created in the game.
Not as glamorous of an update, but with the level of character development I try to put in the party members, it can take some time to tweak both their combat and character details to make sure they suit the party well. So far the beta testers have loved the new additions in and out of combat, bringing even more balance and variety to Deirdre's companions.
[h2]
**IN PROGRESS**[/h2]
- Coding/Eventing 2nd half of the Chapter.
As stated above, we have an arguably completed first half of Chapter 2 already done, so that just leaves the 2nd half of course. Given the progress made on the Chapter 2 so far, I feel the time and effort put into it will be well worth the wait. I again, have a neat detail which will be mentioned farther down.
- Selecting the remainder of the music tracks.
The first half features a great track made by my colleague Austin, I feel it suits the area of the game perfectly and is intensely catchy. Hopefully we can hear more from him, but with recent developments in the world in general, it has been trying for him to create some new tracks. While Chapter 1 has undergone some switches to the music, I feel the 2nd half should hit just as hard if not more than the first.
- Adjustments on combat stats/items.
I typically leave this for the end to see what the appropriate level and challenge for players would be. I HATE a game that forces grinding to get characters to appropriate levels, so the game should be fine going from point a to point b, or if you'd like a leg up on the competition, you can spend some time grinding random encounter areas. I try to pay a lot of attention to this as it can become frustrating for newcomers and veterans alike.
[h2]The Beta Test Results:[/h2]
One of the big surprises I had about Chapter 2 after my beta testers gave their results, was how big it was so far. When I polled them asking how much playtime they had, the average came out to 6 HOURS! Yes, the first half of Chapter 2 alone has 6 hours of content! Even I was surprised, as I've been lucky to have time to work on the game, much less do a full run-through. This would put my estimate for Chapter 2's length at about 11-12 hours of content in total. Combined with Chapter 1, that's roughly 17 hours of content. A few of them said that Chapter 2 would be fine to end there, but I believe in giving people their money's worth (lol) so I'm going to push myself to maintain the current quality standards and deliver the full story arc I was planning for everyone. I certainly hope everyone feels the same as they did, that the wait is worth it for the final product.
[h2]WHAT TO LOOK FORWARD TO IN CHAPTER 3!![/h2]
- I believe in taking the "soft introduction" route when it comes to game mechanics, starting off with very simple implementations of a concept or challenge and then gradually increasing the difficulty in following areas. There will be much more of that in Chapter 2, but Chapter 3 will be where much of this comes to fruition and begins asking more of the player in terms of puzzle solving and other various concepts I'm working into the game. Expect some of the concepts introduced in Chapter 2 to be present in Chapter 3!
- More "quests" will be available in Chapter 3, there are a couple that are introduced in Chapter 2, but it is not a major part of the game at that point. In Chapter 3, these quests will often result in either sizeable monetary rewards or very unique/powerful items only acquirable in that manner. Since some of these will be of task-oriented nature they will be completely voluntary and not required to progress in the game. Some minor story elements may be revealed or accessible by these means, but it should not hinder the main story in any way by skipping.
- Overworld exploration will introduced in Chapter 3 (finally, I know lol), but I have had a few reasons to hold off until then. The first being that you're going almost everywhere on foot, so simply walking across a large continent reduces the sense of scale you have for Aetheria...something I'd like to avoid. I have to withhold story spoilers, but lets just say there is little point to traversing backwards at this point in the story. Overworld exploration will make much more sense in regards to the story during Chapter 3, you will also have more means to travel quickly so the sense of scale should feel maintained by then.
- Character outfit changes will also be happening in Chapter 3 for all your party members . Again, I feel this change makes a great deal more sense at this time in the story, it will also seem more rewarding when the change has meaning behind it. I am currently waffling on whether or not to have a wardrobe change for one of the characters at the end of Chapter 2, but we'll just have to wait and see where it heads. Oh, and yes, Tessa will finally learn where Marsha got her hat from ;-)
Well, I want to thank everyone for their support and patience with me thus far. It is honestly a joy to work on this and hearing from players about their enjoyment of the game makes me so happy. Hearkening back to my D&D days as a Dungeon Master, happy players make me a happy DM....so happy gamers make me a happy dev. I certainly hope experiencing Deirdre's story remains something I can continue enjoying with you guys for many days to come. Thank you all so very much! :)
- Andrew (Creator)