Hi Swappers!
Happy New Year! The holiday decor is stored, snacks eaten, and we are under 30 days (!!!) until we launch Spirit Swap.
Ahead of the launch, we wanted to share our plans for the game: what you can expect upon release and beyond! It’s -- hopefully -- also our chance to share a little bit more behind-the-scenes and what we’ve learned as we’ve done this first game together as a team for those interested in a little of what it takes to make a game in 2025.
[h2]Our major post-launch update will include Fashion 🌸[/h2]
With this update, you’ll be able to dress up Samar in a selection of outfits to swap in style!
While we wish we could have included Fashion in the game's 1.0 launch, the reality is that making a game is expensive—even more so because one of our tenants as a co-op is to pay all of our contractors living wages, thus expanding our costs a bit more. Adding this feature in post-launch content allows us to get that final bit of funds to help pay our contractors and get the feature to you in a quality state.
We already have some of the outfit concepts from our Backers done -- while we won’t show you what we ARE using, here’s an example of two that didn’t quite make the cut…and one that did!
Our plan is to get this post-launch update out in 2025, and once we have a more solid date, you bet we’ll be shouting it from the rooftops!
[h2]We had to say goodBHY to BHYG mode [/h2]
One of the realities of game development is scope. It’s one of the tried and true tenets that if you’re making a game, you should scope down…and then scope down again. While we initially thought our scope could account for a BHYG Mode (an 8-player versus frenzy), once we got into development and discussion over it these last few months, it ended up not panning out in terms of what we could finish -- and polish -- to the quality that we hoped to achieve.
Now, will BHYG Mode someday make its way back into the world of Spirit Swap? We won’t lie: we’d love to try our hand at it again in the future, perhaps if the funding, time, and stars align. But, at the moment, we’re saying goodBHY to this game mode, and plan on focusing more on making the features we DO have in the game as solid as possible!
[h2]Continuing to Finesse[/h2]
Some of the things we have been spending our time finessing include ensuring we have a variety of features to help folks play how they want to. So, we thought we’d spend a little time checking out the Settings tab!
One of the first settings we have to help folks out is the ability to manipulate saturation -- to help ease eye strain.
We’ve also included text animation! The game’s text waves, shakes, and even changes color to help ensure that visually -- not just auditorily -- you can sense how the tone of the conversation is going.
The story log is also implemented if you need to take a look back at what was said in the latest scene:
We’ve even included a different style of spirit (harkening back to the OG Panel de Pon days) for folks who prefer that visual style.
Finally, we’ve also added the “Skip this Round” button to the pause screen. We know sometimes you just wanna get to the story, or perhaps you’re just not feeling it that round. You can always skip and move on to the next round (or just skip them all and not do the match entirely).
These are just a few of the additions we’ve included, and we’re continuing to polish polish polish! Our main priority right now is going through and playing the game as much as possible, trying to catch everything we can ahead of Feb 3rd.
[h2]Say hello to an IRL Froggo [/h2]
We do have some exciting news on the Froggo front! Over the past few months, we’ve been working with the Makeship crew to design a Froggo plush so you can have a FamiliarZ of your very own to chill with. Check out the page here (and be sure to visit it on Feb 3rd if you’d like to pick a Froggo for yourself)!
For those unfamiliar with Makeship, it’s a crowdfunding campaign-based plushie company. During a campaign, if we reach our goal of pre-orders for the plushie, then it becomes a reality! They will take care of all the manufacturing, shipping, and fulfillment. We’ve already got an adorable design, and can’t wait to share the unredacted image with you all soon.
That’s it for this month’s update! We’re working hard and can’t believe the day is almost here! Feb 3, here we gooooo~
