A Letter for 1st Anniversary! and Dev Log #052: 2023-03-17
Hello everyone!
I'm Dr. Z. It has been a year since the launch of Journey to the West EA. Thank you all for your continuous support, encouragement, and urging. On this special day, I want to chat with you all about the status of the project and studio, and our plans for 2023.
Journey to the West is our first commercial product at Z Studio, which consists of only 2 people. For nearly 3.5 years now, we have been pouring our hearts and souls into this game, self-funding every step of the way. We haven't taken a salary, and have even had to spend nearly RMB 2 million on outsourcing expenses. We made plenty of mistakes along the way, especially with our lack of experience in gameplay and art, which unfortunately resulted in sales not being proportionate to our effort.
But despite all of this, we've never given up. I personally have been working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to make this game the best it can be. The journey has been tough, but there's nothing more enjoyable or fulfilling to us than developing games. And even though sales have been poor, we're not going to let that discourage us. We're determined to keep improving the game so that we can bring everyone out there a high-quality, enjoyable experience.
We plan to release the official version in May. The last character, Faithful Devil, is now available for closed beta testing, while there are still balance, bug, and art improvements needed. After that, we hope to develop three or more DLCs and adjust the development period based on funding.
Developing DLCs still requires a lot of outsourcing for art, so we plan to launch crowdfunding campaigns on both Momo and Kickstarter in May 1st, the same day the official version launches. We hope that players who are capable and enjoy the game can provide more support.
Yours,
Dr.Z
Please see our regular weekly update below:
Faithful Devil is now available for beta testing! Please switch to: [h3] “FaithfulDevil2023” [/h3]branch to play and test! Currently, Faithful Devil’s card assets, initial artifacts, and talent icons are still being designed, and some text is being localized. During the beta testing period, we will constantly optimize the card logic, adjust values, and fix bugs. Please provide us with your feedback and opinions!
We have also made many art optimizations:
Thanks for everyone's feedback, we have done a round of concentrated strengthening of Goku's attack power:
[h2]Other Optimizations[/h2]
[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
I'm Dr. Z. It has been a year since the launch of Journey to the West EA. Thank you all for your continuous support, encouragement, and urging. On this special day, I want to chat with you all about the status of the project and studio, and our plans for 2023.
Journey to the West is our first commercial product at Z Studio, which consists of only 2 people. For nearly 3.5 years now, we have been pouring our hearts and souls into this game, self-funding every step of the way. We haven't taken a salary, and have even had to spend nearly RMB 2 million on outsourcing expenses. We made plenty of mistakes along the way, especially with our lack of experience in gameplay and art, which unfortunately resulted in sales not being proportionate to our effort.
But despite all of this, we've never given up. I personally have been working 14 hours a day, 7 days a week, trying to make this game the best it can be. The journey has been tough, but there's nothing more enjoyable or fulfilling to us than developing games. And even though sales have been poor, we're not going to let that discourage us. We're determined to keep improving the game so that we can bring everyone out there a high-quality, enjoyable experience.
We plan to release the official version in May. The last character, Faithful Devil, is now available for closed beta testing, while there are still balance, bug, and art improvements needed. After that, we hope to develop three or more DLCs and adjust the development period based on funding.
Developing DLCs still requires a lot of outsourcing for art, so we plan to launch crowdfunding campaigns on both Momo and Kickstarter in May 1st, the same day the official version launches. We hope that players who are capable and enjoy the game can provide more support.
Yours,
Dr.Z
Please see our regular weekly update below:
Faithful Devil is now available for beta testing! Please switch to: [h3] “FaithfulDevil2023” [/h3]branch to play and test! Currently, Faithful Devil’s card assets, initial artifacts, and talent icons are still being designed, and some text is being localized. During the beta testing period, we will constantly optimize the card logic, adjust values, and fix bugs. Please provide us with your feedback and opinions!
We have also made many art optimizations:
- we have replaced the card frames of Wukong, White Dragon, and Holy Monk with more exquisite new ones
- optimized the card art of Wukong's Shapeshifting
- updated the battle background of the combat with Hell Emperor.
- added special effects to the game-over screen
Thanks for everyone's feedback, we have done a round of concentrated strengthening of Goku's attack power:
- Monkey King’s bar: The original attack bonus of 50% under the heavy status is changed to an additional 100% damage.
- Talent: The "Advance Fighting Method Vol. I" now adds extra defense.
- Talent: The "Advance Fighting Method Vol. II" now adds an additional 100% attack power.
- Purple Gold Crown: An additional 100% damage, up to a maximum of 400% damage.
[h2]Other Optimizations[/h2]
- Star Dart applies 3 Vulnerable at start of combat.
- Lowered the requirement of experience points needed for redeem a trial level.
[h2]Bug fixes[/h2]
- Fix a bug where Omen will summon player killed companion.
- A lot of Faithful Devil related bug fixes.