📜Dev Diary #5 & Demo Patch 1.7📜
[h3] “Know this, she who deigns to speak for a god. To seize my[/h3][h3] power, to invoke a majesty as grave as it is divine, is to[/h3][h3] sacrifice a part of what makes one human. For when you stand[/h3][h3] on the precipice, no mortal can check thy might.”
[/h3][p][/p][h3] -Inscription carved in marble within the [/h3][h3] Cerulean Shrine of Aordhos.[/h3]
Dev Diary #5[p]Greetings everyone! I hope this article reaches you in good health and good cheer. My name is C.W. Hendricks, lead game developer for Sunflowers and the Goddess of Death, and today I am very happy to bring to you an absolutely massive patch to the demo alongside some exciting news for our game’s development![/p][p][/p][p]First off, a special thank you to all who have played our demo and given us feedback and/or wishlisted our game on Steam. Your support means the world to us and we will strive to continue to earn it by delivering an RPG truly worth playing.[/p][p] [/p][h3]Development Update[/h3][p]Let’s first dive into some news about the progress of game development. I am very pleased to report that we are just about finished up with Act II of Sunflowers and the Goddess of Death! Here is a sneak-peak into what we're building within the Act:[/p][p][/p][p]🌻Act II is roughly 4 times the size of Act I in terms of content and scope. A typical playthrough of Act I is about 2 hours. Expect 8-10 hours of content for the average player in Act II. If you are the type that likes to explore things thoroughly, however, there are many little secrets to discover and it will likely take you considerably longer. 😊[/p][p]🌻There are two additional party members that will join throughout the story. All party members learn at least two unique Artes, have a mix of equipment specific to them, and have their own character classes.[/p][p]🌻8 character classes are fleshed out and playable: Priestess, Witch, Dryad, Mistweaver, Pyreknight, Abyssal Lord, Theurgist, and Alchemist.[/p][p]🌻It contains 2 core “dungeons” to conquer, along with several large regions (including a homely port town, a deep magical forest, a rocky highland riddled with caves and climbable areas, and more!) to visit on the map. There is, additionally, an optional dungeon to explore with some really cool story content and a challenging boss encounter for those able to discover it![/p][p][/p][p]![]()
A little preview of the optional dungeon that can be explored, the Doom of Kazarakh. A certain wraith is none-to-happy about your visit… [/p][p][/p][p]🌻All of these areas are reachable through an old-school style explorable world map. Here is a little preview of the isle of Pharsus in all its glory. Please note that this is still a work in progress, but we wanted to give you a taste of the scope and design of Urdin's world map.[/p][p][/p][p]![]()
This is just one island of two you’ll be able to visit during Act II! All the buildings, caves, and groves are visitable and the roads all lead to areas of importance both for the main story as well as for the Act's side quests.[/p][p][/p][p]That’s all for now for the preview of Act II. Next up we have a list of all the new updates to our free demo. Grab a snack before reading, as the update is quite extensive: [/p][p][/p]
[/p][h3]Battle Mechanics[/h3][p]🌻AP gain from damage taken reduced by 50%.[/p][p]🌻All actions now give 10 AP across the board, including standard Attacks. This is a general buff to AP gain from doing stuff.[/p][p]🌻AP gain from AoE spells is now 10, making their AP generation equal to single-target spells. Previously, AoE spells like Wild Growth generated AP for each target hit, which resulted in a very high amount of AP on boss fights like Galgam’yrth who spawns adds or any encounter with more than one enemy on the board.[/p][p]*These changes are made with two main goals: making class choice more important (as you’ll be relying more on your chosen class' abilities over Artes) and reducing the Arte spam that was part and parcel in the demo. We want Artes to be these big, battle-defining abilities and/or smaller cost skills that can be combo’d with class-specific abilities for powerful results. While this is a nerf to how often Artes can be used, you’ll be getting more bang-for-your-AP when you do decide to use one.[/p][p]🌻All damage over time effects (Infection in the demo) now both scale-up and are reduced by character parameters. The base damage of Infection also ramps-up the longer the status effect lasts on a target.[/p][p]🌻All heal over time effects (Rejuvenation in the demo) now scale-up with character parameters. [/p][p]🌻All beneficial status effects now last 5 turns, up from 3. This means, for example, that the effects of Coniferous Word last 5 turns now, reducing the amount of “buff upkeep” that was needed on boss fights.[/p][p]*Previously DoT and HoT effects were based on a percentage of max HP. This is no longer the case. Instead, character parameters will directly increase (or decrease in the case of negative statuses) the potency of these types of effects. As examples, a higher Spirit increases the strength of a caster's HoTs and a higher Fortitude decreases the damage taken from Infection. On the flipside, a higher Intellect on the caster of a spell that inflicts Infection increases the damage of the resulting DoT effect.[/p][p]🌻All hard-crowd-control type negative status effects (none in the demo) have had their duration reduced to 2 turns.[/p][p]🌻Soft-crowd-control type status effects (like the new Terror) now last 3 turns.[/p][p]🌻Terror (the status effect encountered in the basement of the Verdant Temple) is no longer a hard-cc effect. It now blocks Artes from being used for the duration.[/p][p]🌻Infection can no longer be reapplied during its duration.[/p][p]🌻All spells and equipment that increase character parameters now stack additively (so having two accessories that increase Critical Rate by 5% means you now have +10% Critical Rate); previously they were stacking multiplicatively, which is not intuitive and caused some confusion when multiple percentage increases were applied to a character.[/p][p]🌻Various Artes and Magic have had their power, cost, or effects adjusted.[/p][p]🌻Class growth rates have been adjusted across the board for better game balance and uniqueness. Generally, the top-end parameters for classes were brought down and the bottom-tier parameters were brought up. Einno will, for example, feel a little tankier while having slightly less Intellect and Max MP. She will still very much fulfill the role of a squishy, high-utility or high-dps mage (depending on class choice) and her class options reflect this; however, she won’t feel quite so vulnerable to anything and everything dealing physical damage.[/p][p]🌻The encounter with 5 Corrupted Sylph in the Verdant Temple has been reduced to 4. Since AoE abilities aren't available when you can encounter them, this particular battle never felt that great because of it.[/p][p]🌻The casting and special attack "windup" animations have been removed from all enemies.[/p][p]*The goal here was to make battles a little faster paced, particularly battles with 3+ enemies at once or encounters which had add spawns. We received feedback from multiple users about wanting a bit faster pace in battles and after testing and trying out different things, we decided to go this route. We're very happy with how battles "flow" now and we hope you will be too. 😊[/p][p]🌻Fixed a bugged where sometimes the battle HUD would "shake" immediately following a victory.[/p][p][/p][h3]General Game Mechanics and Features[/h3][p]🌻Tutorials have been redesigned with a fresh coat of paint and you can now move forward or backward to each page while viewing them.[/p][p]🌻A new menu feature has been added that allows one to view past tutorials.[/p][p]🌻New, advanced tutorials that deep-dive into game mechanics have been added once one has progressed far enough into the demo. Further advanced tutorials unlock throughout the game. These do not interrupt gameplay, but rather the player will receive a pop-up message saying new tutorials are available. We think this is a great balance between keeping game mechanics transparent while also not spamming the player with tutorials.[/p][p]🌻Some old tutorials that explain basic mechanics have been merged with others to create general “Adventuring Tips”. This reduces the amount of tutorials players encounter early on while still ensuring core game mechanics are explained.[/p][p]🌻Game difficulty can now be changed after the initial selection when starting a New Game. Simply go to the Options section of the in-game menu to change it.[/p][p]🌻Interacting with climbable objects has been made consistent across object types (e.g. ladders, vines, rocks, etc.).[/p][p]🌻A new accessory, the Cloak of the Conjurer, has been added to the demo as a reward for defeating the hidden golem boss![/p][p]🌻Buying and selling in shops has been redesigned to allow the player to exchange things other than simply silver. No real impact in the demo other than the new UI, but those Chieftain’s Coins will have a use in Act II![/p][p]🌻All choice windows now display the previous message in the conversation so that the context of the choice can be read again as needed.[/p][p]🌻A new treasure and a new inspectable location have been added in the Verdant Temple - Exterior area.[/p][p]🌻Some items and equipment have been adjusted in power or effect with the ultimate goal to have just more fun diversity in items and gear.[/p][p][/p][h3]Artwork[/h3][p]🌻Wedelia, Cormac, and Einno all received new animations for their in-battle sprites that add more unique character to each.[/p][p]🌻Every monster encountered throughout Act I had some touch-up work on their sprites. These are generally pretty small differences to shading but it brings their designs more in-line with one another.[/p][p]🌻Cassius’ character art, both 2D sprite and portraits, have been redrawn to reflect his age a little better. He now looks more the battle-hardened warrior he was always meant to be.[/p][p]🌻Cassius, Dwynwyn, Galgam’yrth, and others have received new portraits or have gotten portrait touch-ups throughout the story to better express themselves.[/p][p]🌻During various cutscenes and story beats, there is now more motion by character sprites. Wedelia will kneel down to inspect Dwynwyn, rush to Cormac’s side and throw out her arms to heal him, etc. We worked really hard on the new artwork for these scenes and we hope you enjoy them. 😊[/p][p]🌻Map shading has been completely redrawn on every map. Gone are the days of abnormally “edgy” shadows. Shading in areas is now more smooth and gradual.[/p][p]🌻Every single map in the demo and beyond has had sections redrawn and polished up. The world of Urdin has never looked better. In some cases these are extensive map expansions, while in others it is a more minor touch-up of the area.[/p][p]🌻Brand new art assets have been created for the demo and peppered throughout nearly every zone (particularly outdoor areas).[/p][p]🌻Characters now have shadows in all areas of the world. Previously character shadows were only projected in outdoor areas, but we decided it looks better to have them everywhere as the shadows add depth to character art when they are present.[/p][p]🌻Environmental water effects have been spruced up throughout the game.[/p][p]🌻Objects within and on top of water now float or move along with the water.[/p][p]🌻The title screen for the game has been improved with new graphical assets and effects.[/p][p]🌻Weather effects throughout the game have been redesigned and improved.[/p][p]🌻Updated the shadows cast by some objects throughout the world.[/p][p]🌻Updated save pictures throughout Act I. Some pictures were outdated and no longer reflected the zones accurately after multiple iterations and new art.[/p][p]🌻Updated the battle background for Amuniai (used for a particular fight at the end of the Act). Better matches Amuniai now.[/p][p][/p][h3]Story Beats[/h3][p]🌻The opening quote and Act quotes have been redesigned into movies rather than regular windows. They look much more cinematic now, check them out![/p][p]🌻All interactions with Imsha in the mortal plane have been adjusted. Without spoiling anything, expect a little bit more intensity where Imsha is involved.[/p][p]🌻Various story scenes have had their writing adjusted. There were a few weak points in the demo we were never too happy with, and these have now been improved.[/p][p][/p][h3]Game Engine/Background Processes[/h3][p]🌻Updated code in a variety of areas and scenes for faster processing and a faster boot-up of the game. Expect quicker loading for low-end machines and smoother transitions between areas for everyone, for both sounds and visuals.[/p][p]🌻Created a custom mouse cursor for the game. You'll see it whenever you drag the mouse over the game window. It's pretty cool. 😊[/p][p]🌻All in-game windows, from the menu to messages, have had their transitions reworked to have a smooth fading animation instead of the block expansion they had before.[/p][p]🌻Iterated on and improved NPC pathing issues that could result in some strange movement patterns by NPCs. You should see smoother NPC movement throughout the demo now; we've targeted and fixed all issues that have been reported and that we've seen.[/p][p]🌻Fixed a crash that could occur during and immediately after the Incandescent Bard movie when the game was launched.[/p][p]🌻Fixed a crash resulting from using other apps while leaving Sunflowers and the Goddess of Death on the title screen in the background.[/p][p][/p][h3]Other[/h3][p]🌻Truthfully, there so many tiny tweaks and elements of polish in this update, we may have left something out. This patch is basically meant to lay the groundwork for Act II and bring it up to speed with our current game design, and in many ways will feel like a totally upgraded gameplay experience.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]That’s all we have for today. I sincerely hope you’ll give our updated demo another (or a first!) playthrough to see all the new additions and features, and as always, we would love to hear your feedback to help guide us through our development of Sunflowers and the Goddess of Death. We can be reached anytime through our email at [email protected].[/p][p][/p][p]Stay tuned for further news in the near future! We have more in store that we are very excited to share with you all, but that will have to await our next meeting~ [/p][h3]
May summer's billowing warmth embrace you as each step in your journey brings you that much closer to achieving all that you adventure for.[/h3][p][/p][p]-C.W. Hendricks[/p]
[/h3][p][/p][h3] -Inscription carved in marble within the [/h3][h3] Cerulean Shrine of Aordhos.[/h3]
Dev Diary #5
Patch 1.7
[p]This patch is absolutely gargantuan and brings the demo and Act I up to the standard we've set for ourselves with Act II. We've also fixed every bug we've had reported to us by our players; a huge thank you to everyone who reached out and let us know of issues and bugs you've encountered.[/p][h3]Battle Mechanics[/h3][p]🌻AP gain from damage taken reduced by 50%.[/p][p]🌻All actions now give 10 AP across the board, including standard Attacks. This is a general buff to AP gain from doing stuff.[/p][p]🌻AP gain from AoE spells is now 10, making their AP generation equal to single-target spells. Previously, AoE spells like Wild Growth generated AP for each target hit, which resulted in a very high amount of AP on boss fights like Galgam’yrth who spawns adds or any encounter with more than one enemy on the board.[/p][p]*These changes are made with two main goals: making class choice more important (as you’ll be relying more on your chosen class' abilities over Artes) and reducing the Arte spam that was part and parcel in the demo. We want Artes to be these big, battle-defining abilities and/or smaller cost skills that can be combo’d with class-specific abilities for powerful results. While this is a nerf to how often Artes can be used, you’ll be getting more bang-for-your-AP when you do decide to use one.[/p][p]🌻All damage over time effects (Infection in the demo) now both scale-up and are reduced by character parameters. The base damage of Infection also ramps-up the longer the status effect lasts on a target.[/p][p]🌻All heal over time effects (Rejuvenation in the demo) now scale-up with character parameters. [/p][p]🌻All beneficial status effects now last 5 turns, up from 3. This means, for example, that the effects of Coniferous Word last 5 turns now, reducing the amount of “buff upkeep” that was needed on boss fights.[/p][p]*Previously DoT and HoT effects were based on a percentage of max HP. This is no longer the case. Instead, character parameters will directly increase (or decrease in the case of negative statuses) the potency of these types of effects. As examples, a higher Spirit increases the strength of a caster's HoTs and a higher Fortitude decreases the damage taken from Infection. On the flipside, a higher Intellect on the caster of a spell that inflicts Infection increases the damage of the resulting DoT effect.[/p][p]🌻All hard-crowd-control type negative status effects (none in the demo) have had their duration reduced to 2 turns.[/p][p]🌻Soft-crowd-control type status effects (like the new Terror) now last 3 turns.[/p][p]🌻Terror (the status effect encountered in the basement of the Verdant Temple) is no longer a hard-cc effect. It now blocks Artes from being used for the duration.[/p][p]🌻Infection can no longer be reapplied during its duration.[/p][p]🌻All spells and equipment that increase character parameters now stack additively (so having two accessories that increase Critical Rate by 5% means you now have +10% Critical Rate); previously they were stacking multiplicatively, which is not intuitive and caused some confusion when multiple percentage increases were applied to a character.[/p][p]🌻Various Artes and Magic have had their power, cost, or effects adjusted.[/p][p]🌻Class growth rates have been adjusted across the board for better game balance and uniqueness. Generally, the top-end parameters for classes were brought down and the bottom-tier parameters were brought up. Einno will, for example, feel a little tankier while having slightly less Intellect and Max MP. She will still very much fulfill the role of a squishy, high-utility or high-dps mage (depending on class choice) and her class options reflect this; however, she won’t feel quite so vulnerable to anything and everything dealing physical damage.[/p][p]🌻The encounter with 5 Corrupted Sylph in the Verdant Temple has been reduced to 4. Since AoE abilities aren't available when you can encounter them, this particular battle never felt that great because of it.[/p][p]🌻The casting and special attack "windup" animations have been removed from all enemies.[/p][p]*The goal here was to make battles a little faster paced, particularly battles with 3+ enemies at once or encounters which had add spawns. We received feedback from multiple users about wanting a bit faster pace in battles and after testing and trying out different things, we decided to go this route. We're very happy with how battles "flow" now and we hope you will be too. 😊[/p][p]🌻Fixed a bugged where sometimes the battle HUD would "shake" immediately following a victory.[/p][p][/p][h3]General Game Mechanics and Features[/h3][p]🌻Tutorials have been redesigned with a fresh coat of paint and you can now move forward or backward to each page while viewing them.[/p][p]🌻A new menu feature has been added that allows one to view past tutorials.[/p][p]🌻New, advanced tutorials that deep-dive into game mechanics have been added once one has progressed far enough into the demo. Further advanced tutorials unlock throughout the game. These do not interrupt gameplay, but rather the player will receive a pop-up message saying new tutorials are available. We think this is a great balance between keeping game mechanics transparent while also not spamming the player with tutorials.[/p][p]🌻Some old tutorials that explain basic mechanics have been merged with others to create general “Adventuring Tips”. This reduces the amount of tutorials players encounter early on while still ensuring core game mechanics are explained.[/p][p]🌻Game difficulty can now be changed after the initial selection when starting a New Game. Simply go to the Options section of the in-game menu to change it.[/p][p]🌻Interacting with climbable objects has been made consistent across object types (e.g. ladders, vines, rocks, etc.).[/p][p]🌻A new accessory, the Cloak of the Conjurer, has been added to the demo as a reward for defeating the hidden golem boss![/p][p]🌻Buying and selling in shops has been redesigned to allow the player to exchange things other than simply silver. No real impact in the demo other than the new UI, but those Chieftain’s Coins will have a use in Act II![/p][p]🌻All choice windows now display the previous message in the conversation so that the context of the choice can be read again as needed.[/p][p]🌻A new treasure and a new inspectable location have been added in the Verdant Temple - Exterior area.[/p][p]🌻Some items and equipment have been adjusted in power or effect with the ultimate goal to have just more fun diversity in items and gear.[/p][p][/p][h3]Artwork[/h3][p]🌻Wedelia, Cormac, and Einno all received new animations for their in-battle sprites that add more unique character to each.[/p][p]🌻Every monster encountered throughout Act I had some touch-up work on their sprites. These are generally pretty small differences to shading but it brings their designs more in-line with one another.[/p][p]🌻Cassius’ character art, both 2D sprite and portraits, have been redrawn to reflect his age a little better. He now looks more the battle-hardened warrior he was always meant to be.[/p][p]🌻Cassius, Dwynwyn, Galgam’yrth, and others have received new portraits or have gotten portrait touch-ups throughout the story to better express themselves.[/p][p]🌻During various cutscenes and story beats, there is now more motion by character sprites. Wedelia will kneel down to inspect Dwynwyn, rush to Cormac’s side and throw out her arms to heal him, etc. We worked really hard on the new artwork for these scenes and we hope you enjoy them. 😊[/p][p]🌻Map shading has been completely redrawn on every map. Gone are the days of abnormally “edgy” shadows. Shading in areas is now more smooth and gradual.[/p][p]🌻Every single map in the demo and beyond has had sections redrawn and polished up. The world of Urdin has never looked better. In some cases these are extensive map expansions, while in others it is a more minor touch-up of the area.[/p][p]🌻Brand new art assets have been created for the demo and peppered throughout nearly every zone (particularly outdoor areas).[/p][p]🌻Characters now have shadows in all areas of the world. Previously character shadows were only projected in outdoor areas, but we decided it looks better to have them everywhere as the shadows add depth to character art when they are present.[/p][p]🌻Environmental water effects have been spruced up throughout the game.[/p][p]🌻Objects within and on top of water now float or move along with the water.[/p][p]🌻The title screen for the game has been improved with new graphical assets and effects.[/p][p]🌻Weather effects throughout the game have been redesigned and improved.[/p][p]🌻Updated the shadows cast by some objects throughout the world.[/p][p]🌻Updated save pictures throughout Act I. Some pictures were outdated and no longer reflected the zones accurately after multiple iterations and new art.[/p][p]🌻Updated the battle background for Amuniai (used for a particular fight at the end of the Act). Better matches Amuniai now.[/p][p][/p][h3]Story Beats[/h3][p]🌻The opening quote and Act quotes have been redesigned into movies rather than regular windows. They look much more cinematic now, check them out![/p][p]🌻All interactions with Imsha in the mortal plane have been adjusted. Without spoiling anything, expect a little bit more intensity where Imsha is involved.[/p][p]🌻Various story scenes have had their writing adjusted. There were a few weak points in the demo we were never too happy with, and these have now been improved.[/p][p][/p][h3]Game Engine/Background Processes[/h3][p]🌻Updated code in a variety of areas and scenes for faster processing and a faster boot-up of the game. Expect quicker loading for low-end machines and smoother transitions between areas for everyone, for both sounds and visuals.[/p][p]🌻Created a custom mouse cursor for the game. You'll see it whenever you drag the mouse over the game window. It's pretty cool. 😊[/p][p]🌻All in-game windows, from the menu to messages, have had their transitions reworked to have a smooth fading animation instead of the block expansion they had before.[/p][p]🌻Iterated on and improved NPC pathing issues that could result in some strange movement patterns by NPCs. You should see smoother NPC movement throughout the demo now; we've targeted and fixed all issues that have been reported and that we've seen.[/p][p]🌻Fixed a crash that could occur during and immediately after the Incandescent Bard movie when the game was launched.[/p][p]🌻Fixed a crash resulting from using other apps while leaving Sunflowers and the Goddess of Death on the title screen in the background.[/p][p][/p][h3]Other[/h3][p]🌻Truthfully, there so many tiny tweaks and elements of polish in this update, we may have left something out. This patch is basically meant to lay the groundwork for Act II and bring it up to speed with our current game design, and in many ways will feel like a totally upgraded gameplay experience.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p][p]That’s all we have for today. I sincerely hope you’ll give our updated demo another (or a first!) playthrough to see all the new additions and features, and as always, we would love to hear your feedback to help guide us through our development of Sunflowers and the Goddess of Death. We can be reached anytime through our email at [email protected].[/p][p][/p][p]Stay tuned for further news in the near future! We have more in store that we are very excited to share with you all, but that will have to await our next meeting~ [/p][h3]
May summer's billowing warmth embrace you as each step in your journey brings you that much closer to achieving all that you adventure for.[/h3][p][/p][p]-C.W. Hendricks[/p]
This spot is my personal favorite area with the new spatial audio. You can faintly hear the crashing of the waterfalls alongside the gentle bubbling of the river.
Leave it to Niall to highlight his newly redrawn stock, front and center. You may notice some new information in the TLDR panel on the right; we did a light redesign pass on every item and the windows they bring up to more clearly define what that item is or does and what about said item is important.
Niamh wishes to gently remind you that you need to speak to Niall to advance the plot. We very strongly recommend you do not disappoint her…