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8-Bit Adventures 1: The Forgotten Journey Remastered Edition News

March Update - Discounts, IWOCon Playable Convention, and Consoles/Progress!

Hi everyone! It’s been a while, but I’m back to share some news and highlight a very exciting playable event that 8-Bit Adventures 2 is taking part in!

[h2]The IWOCon Digital Indie Convention Begins![/h2]

8-Bit Adventures 2 has appeared at Gamescom and Toyko Game Show, but it’s never been at an event like this. IWOCon is a fully digital, online, playable game convention – basically a playable theme park for Indie titles!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1422300/IWOCon_2021/
You can download the game here on Steam, using the link above! Create your unique pirate character and set sail for the IWOCon Islands with your very own vessel (you can even fire the cannons, or dive your vessel underwater to see what lurks beneath the convention!).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3PUfCkByP8
Every island features a variety of Indie Game Booths, and you’ll fill up your in-game passport as you explore all of the different titles that the convention has to offer. 8-Bit Adventures 2 has an awesome 3D booth situated on the Love Islands (clearly the event organisers recognised our game’s romantic soul haha), but you’ll have to discover it yourself in the IWOCon app to see what it’s like (no spoilers here!) ;)



The event will be live from March 26th through April 2nd (during which a bunch of great streamers will be covering it), but the IWOCon game on Steam will remain online even after the event is over. You can find a bunch of the amazing indie games featured in the event at the link below – some of them are even discounted, too!

https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/indieworldorder/sale/IWOCon2021

If all goes according to plan, I’ll be in the chat for an 8-Bit Adventures 2 Demo Stream being held by CDI Arcade on Twitch at 11:30 PM on Monday EST. So come on by to say hello and asks questions if you’re interested! =D

https://www.twitch.tv/CDiArcade

It’s truly incredible what the team behind IWOCon has achieved, and they’ve done it all completely for free and purely to support indie developers. It’s the most unique and creative convention I’ve ever seen, and I’d sincerely appreciate it if everyone would check it out and support them! They really deserve it.

So download the IWOCon game on Steam and set sail for adventure! =D

[h2]IWOCon Sale![/h2]

From 10AM on March 27th through to 10AM on April 3rd (Pacific Time), you can get 8-Bit Adventures 1 at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/370300/8Bit_Adventures_The_Forgotten_Journey_Remastered_Edition/

Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/461710/Tales_Across_Time/

As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy if you're interested in checking these games out and supporting the final phase of development on 8-Bit Adventures 2!

[h2]A New Milestone![/h2]

I’m sorry I’ve been so quiet this year – I’ve had my head down working very hard, and we’ve also had a bit of a family health scare, so things have been a little bit hectic haha (not to mention the Steam Festival that we participated in earlier this year).

Before we get onto the progress update, though, I want to say a massive THANK YOU to all of you. Not just for your continued support and kind words, but for helping us hit a new milestone. 8-Bit Adventures 2 has now been Wishlisted by more than 13,000 players!! That’s an absolutely incredible number, and far beyond what I ever imagined when I first put the game’s Steam page up (I remember I was amazed when we broke 100 haha).



I know wishlisting seems like a small thing, but it makes a massive difference – the more wishlists a game has, the more opportunities it gets for visibility on Steam once it’s released. So hopefully we’ll continue to grow even more from here, but the 13,000+ Wishlists we have puts us in a really good position. So thank you everyone – it really means a lot!



[h2]Progress Update![/h2]

So first things first; a lot of my time so far in 2021 has been spent sorting out arrangements to get 8-Bit Adventures 2 onto consoles. It’s involved a lot more time and work than I’d originally expected to get each platform organised (I’ve filled out a *lot* of paperwork =P), but I’m happy to say that we’ve been even more successful than I’d hoped!

Please be patient a little longer for the announcement of the exact platforms, but I can say with confidence that no matter where you play, everyone will be really happy with what we’ve achieved. I think we’ve managed to meet pretty much every player’s request, so I’m really excited about revealing more =D



Our team has also invested a lot of time recently working on something pretty special…that we may or may not ever be able to share with all of you haha =P I realise that’s incredibly cryptic, but I unfortunately can’t say anything more. It’s something we’ve all put a lot of hard work into for a long time now, is related to 8-Bit Adventures 2, and would be absolutely incredible if we could make it a reality for players. There are just a lot of very difficult factors at play, and it all depends on whether or not things work out. But stay tuned – we’re working hard on a lot of things and trying to make the release of 8-Bit Adventures 2 as special and successful as we possibly can!

As for the game itself, new fixes and tweaks are getting introduced, player feedback is being implemented, and it’s in a really good state – it just needs more balancing, polishing and play-testing. The main issue has been that I’ve been trying to do a bunch of these massively involved, extra jobs and have been spreading myself very thin (especially dealing with family as well). But with consoles just about sorted out, I’m looking forward to hunkering down and getting this last portion of development finished and the game (finally, FINALLY) ready for porting and release!



So we should have a lot of exciting announcements as the year goes on. We’ve been able to take 8-Bit Adventures 2 further than I ever imagined when I started development five years ago, and that’s largely thanks to everyone who’s supported the game. It’s because of your comments and wishlists and enthusiasm that we’re able to get the game released on consoles - so from the bottom of my heart, thank you everyone! =D



I know it’s been an incredibly long wait, but we’re going to make this release worthy of your faith, patience, and support - I promise!

In the meantime, please give some of that amazing support to IWOCon this week and I hope to talk to you all soon! If you ever have any questions or comments you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to hit me up ;)
~ Josh

For more information and updates, please:

December Update - Autumn Sale, Plans, Consoles, and IndieDB Vote!

Sorry for the lack of updates everyone! I’ve been incredibly busy, and I felt like my time was better spent on the game rather than writing updates at this point (especially as I don’t really want to spoil anything more than I already have XD). But I have returned to deliver a final round-up for 2020 and explain what’s going on, as well as deliver some (hopefully) exciting news about getting 8-Bit Adventures 2 onto console!

It’s a big update, so let’s start off by getting the easy stuff out of the way!

[h2]Steam Autumn Sale[/h2]

There’s just 11 hours left (sorry I’m so late!), but you can get 8-Bit Adventures at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/370300/8Bit_Adventures_The_Forgotten_Journey_Remastered_Edition/

Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/461710/Tales_Across_Time/

As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy if you're interested in checking these games out!

[h2]How Do I Jump Podcast Interview[/h2]

I also wanted to shout out the How Do I Jump Podcast who interviewed me back in September! If you're excited for 8-Bit Adventures 2, or just love RPGs, please check it out here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/how_do_i_jump/8-bit-adventures-final



We talk a lot about 8-Bit Adventures 2 and RPG design, but I also get to ramble on about Final Fantasy and Legend of Dragoon! Talking with Peter about this stuff was a ton of fun, so I hope you all enjoy it =D

[h2]Vote for 8-Bit Adventures 2 in the IndieDB Top 100![/h2]

IndieDB is currently holding their annual Top 100 Indie Games of 2020 competition, and if you’re able, I’d sincerely appreciate it if you’d consider voting for 8-Bit Adventures 2 =)

The competition is designed to “make sure great games get the attention they deserve, without being buried under a mountain of asset-flips and achievement grabs” and in an increasingly oversaturated market I think that’s a fantastic idea!

8-Bit Adventures 2 actually made into the Top 100 last year thanks to your votes and it gave us some extra exposure and visibility. So if you have a moment and would like to support the game, I’d be ecstatic if you could head over to the 8-Bit Adventures 2 IndieDB page and click Vote Now before December 11th!

https://www.indiedb.com/games/8-bit-adventures-2



You can also win some PC games like Chivalry, Total War Warhammer, Subnautica, and many more just by voting. So whether you vote for 8-Bit Adventures 2 or someone else’s game, I’d definitely recommend getting involved!

[h2]Changing Plans, Releasing the Game, and Consoles[/h2]

Okay, so with all that out of the way, let’s talk about what everyone really wants to know.

If you’ve been following 8-Bit Adventures 2 over the course of this year, you’re fully aware that things haven’t gone as planned. This has been a very busy year, and lots of things have taken a toll on development. That includes some not so nice things like the death of a close family member at the start of the year, the whole 2020 pandemic situation, a team member contracting COVID (he’s okay now, thankfully!), and so on.



But it’s also included some really wonderful and exciting things – specifically a bunch of online opportunities which 8-Bit Adventures 2 never would’ve had under normal circumstances. We released a brand new demo in the Steam Summer Festival, participated in Gamescom where I debuted the game’s final trailer on IGN (and was interviewed by German gaming website Gamestar), 8-Bit Adventures 2 got selected to take part in the Tokyo Game Show, and we’re participating in IWOCon in the near future (an indie focused digital convention that you can actually explore like a game)!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HlDLMlHeGMM
Before this year, I’d never been able to participate in any kind of events (as I live in Australia, so the cost of travel and set up made this sort of thing impossible). And what I learnt is that events like this take a *tremendous* amount of work – far more than I ever expected!

I went from creating a polished demo in May/June (along with preparing for the event, setting up a Discord, etc.) to preparing multiple videos and a demo update for Gamescom in July/August (which also required dozens and dozens of lengthy emails to organise things), to handling Tokyo Game Show in September (and my first brush with translating promotional material for 8-Bit Adventures 2).

I’ve also tried to respond to every single comment about the game that I’ve been able to find, so that’s taken some doing (especially since Youtube kept marking my replies to the several hundred comments on the IGN videos as spam, so I had to rewrite them all three times XD). And that doesn’t even include the six or so other events that 8-Bit Adventures 2 didn’t get into (but all of which required a lot of time to submit – for example, putting together submission videos or writing pages and pages about your game).



There’s also been a ton of behind-the-scenes work and communication on things that I can’t share yet - but hopefully will be able to at some point ;)

To be clear, none of that’s me complaining – I am BEYOND grateful for the opportunities I’ve been given this year! The fact that over 100,000 people saw the IGN videos and social media posts combined genuinely blows my mind – especially since almost every response I’ve seen to the trailer and demo has been highly positive =D It’s all just to say that this year has seen me taking on a lot of new jobs/challenges, and consequently a massive amount of time was spent on taking advantage of these promotional opportunities rather than actually developing and finishing the game.

On the one hand, I’m incredibly frustrated with myself for not being finished yet. Truth be told, I’ve been afraid of writing this, as I sincerely hate letting everyone down – especially those of you who have been so incredibly patient with me these past 5 years since 8-Bit Adventures 1 came out. To all of you, I am deeply sorry.



But on the other hand, there is a silver lining. Thousands more people know about 8-Bit Adventures 2 now and are interested in the game, and that’s going to lead to a much more successful launch. Additionally, I received a massive number of comments and messages from people requesting a console release. Switch was definitely the most popular, but Playstation and Xbox had plenty of interest too!

Consoles had always been a long-term hope of mine, but I figured that stuff would have to wait until after the PC version was released. Thing is, after getting all of that extra attention, I’ve started to rethink that approach. As a small developer with a few games under my belt, I know that if you get any chance to make your game a success (through reaching games media, Steam algorithms, etc.), you only get one - and that chance comes at release. Obviously there are some games like Among Us which get a second go around, but you definitely can’t count on that. So having 8-Bit Adventures 2 available on consoles *as well as* PC on day one would mean that everyone interested in the game can immediately pick it up and play it. I’d also say it increases the likelihood of reviews and media coverage quite significantly.



As such, I’ve been speaking to a porting company, who have developed specific software for transitioning games developed in RPG Maker MV from PC to console and have very reasonable turn-around times. Additionally, the way they approach the conversion means QA testing and bug fixing for the ports shouldn’t be nearly as big a challenge as it otherwise would be.

[h2]So my goal is now to release 8-Bit Adventures 2 in 2021 on both Console and PC, on the same day. [/h2]



To be clear, this isn’t an announcement of specific consoles (I’m not able to do that yet); rather, a statement that this is my goal and I’m working on making it a reality at the moment.

Now I know that the things I listed above are all really business reasons about why this approach is better. If you just want to play 8-Bit Adventures 2 on PC, there’s not really a benefit for you to this change, and that really sucks – I know =/ I’ve felt a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place on this one. I sincerely don’t want to disappoint anyone, but after spending 5 years of my life on 8-Bit Adventures 2, I also want to reach the maximum number of players and make it the biggest success I possibly can. Especially since that’s the only way I’m going to be able to continue making games in future =P



The responses I’ve had from players and fans this year has convinced me that 8-Bit Adventures 2 has the potential to be a success, and I’m *SO* grateful for that. All I can ask is that you all please give me the extra time needed to finish the game once and for all, as well as get it on as many platforms (and to as many people) as possible.

And if you want to get in touch and let me know your thoughts, please feel free to do so! You can reach me on email, Twitter, Discord – wherever! Time zone troubles aside, I’m pretty much always around =)

Anyway, I sincerely apologise for any disappointment and trouble this might cause. As always, I’m honestly just trying my best. And you know, I’m actually pretty excited about this – we’re going bigger with this launch than I ever imagined! It’s crazy to think of how far we’ve come since the first game’s release in 2015…and I sincerely owe it all to you guys for your incredibly kind words and support, without which I wouldn’t have even made a sequel!

Thank you everyone =)



Regardless of current circumstances, I hope you all stay safe, healthy, and have the best possible December 2020 you can. Let's all put the year behind us and make 2021 something special!
~Josh

Big Sale + 8-Bit Adventures 2 at Tokyo Game Show 2020!

I'm thrilled to announce that 8-Bit Adventures 2 was selected as one of the indie games to be exhibited at Tokyo Game Show 2020! Operating as a digital event, TGS will run for the rest of the week - from the 23rd to the 27th of September (Japan Standard Time) - and there'll be a ton of great games on show, everything from indie to AAA!



It's a genuine honour to be selected for TGS, a game show that - especially as a fan of JRPGs - I've excitedly followed every year since the early 2000s. Its always been one of the most storied events in the industry, so I hope you'll check it out!

You can learn more about TGS 2020 here: https://tgs.nikkeibp.co.jp/tgs/2020/

Or check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Exhibitor Page: https://tgs-online.eventos.tokyo/web/portal/309/event/1214/module/booth/33324/21477

And don't forget - anyone can play the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Demo, available on Steam right now!



[h2]TGS 2020 Steam Sale[/h2]

Steam's also holding their own Tokyo Game Show 2020 event, and in celebration of this I've put several of my old games on sale!

From 10AM on September 24th through to 10AM on September 28th (Pacific Time), you can get 8-Bit Adventures at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/370300/8Bit_Adventures_The_Forgotten_Journey_Remastered_Edition/

Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/461710/Tales_Across_Time/

As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy if you're interested in checking these games out!

[h2]Soundtrack Samples[/h2]

I'd also like to give a quick plug to the 8-Bit Adventures 2 SoundCloud page! So many people loved the music in the recent 8-Bit Adventures 2 trailer and wanted more. Well, we have 20 music samples for your listening pleasure already on our SoundCloud, so please feel free to check them out: https://soundcloud.com/8bitadventures2

The soundtrack is composed by the wonderful Sebastian Cruz (also known as Carfonu). He composed the music for the first 8-Bit Adventures as well, but he's absolutely outdone himself this time - creating a phenomenal 78 song soundtrack. If you like 8-bit or RPG music, you won't want to miss it!



Finally, if you’d like to support 8-Bit Adventures 2, please consider adding the game to your Steam wishlist – it might seem small, but it genuinely makes a big impact on Steam’s algorithms and will help us gain more visibility as we approach release!

Thank you all very much for your support (especially after the Gamescom trailer launch - that's been amazing!) and I hope you all enjoy TGS 2020! I'm excited to see what the week brings =D
~Josh

For more information and updates, please:

8-Bit Adventures 2 Trailer Premiere at Gamescom 2020!

You can watch the premiere of the brand new 8-Bit Adventures 2 trailer LIVE on August 30th at 7:40am Pacific Time, exclusively on IGN's Gamescom Studio show!

For the full schedule, you can check this link here: https://www.ign.com/articles/gamescom-2020-schedule-date-start-time-how-to-watch?sf127367411=1

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
If you miss the reveal, please check out the video above (it'll go live after the trailer airs on stream). I couldn’t be more excited about this opportunity, so I hope you’ll all watch along with me if you’re able!

And for German speaking fans, 8-Bit Adventures 2 was featured on Webedia's Gamescom stream – presented by the wonderful Ann-Kathrin Kuhls, with new footage and a message from me talking about the game's art direction/what we hope to achieve.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
After watching, don’t forget to check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Demo, available on Steam right now!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/733110/8Bit_Adventures_2/

And if you’d like to support 8-Bit Adventures 2, please consider adding the game to your Steam wishlist – it might seem small, but it makes a big impact on Steam’s algorithms and will help us gain more visibility close to release!

Thanks so much for all your support! It’s been a lot of work to prepare for Gamescom 2020, but I absolutely can’t wait for everyone to see the trailer! Let me know what you think ;)

Click on the blue button next to this news post to set a reminder for the trailer premiere time. I hope to see you there!
~Josh

For more information and updates, please:

July Update - Gamescom, Interview, Upcoming Trailer!

Hey everyone, it’s been a while! Sorry for the radio silence. I’m wearing a few too many hats at the moment and have been struggling with time management – most of which I can’t talk about, but it’s all related to 8-Bit Adventures 2 (fingers crossed everything will work out and I’ll be able to explain in future!). Regardless, I didn’t want to miss the July Monthly Update! …In August, just like always ;)

Gamescom 2020 + Upcoming Trailer!


But let’s start off with some exciting news – 8-Bit Adventures 2 is going to be showcased at Gamescom 2020, as part of their digital event! I’m sure most people reading this already know, but Gamescom is one of the largest gaming events in the world. It normally takes place in Cologne, Germany, but due to the current situation was moved online. Not only did this mean that I could submit 8-Bit Adventures 2 (normally travel costs would make it impossible for me to participate), but the move to digital also means that Gamescom 2020 is completely free for everyone to attend!



I’ll also be debuting a brand new trailer for the game! Making a meaningful, exciting trailer that shows off new stuff and keeps the spoilers to a minimum is tricky, but I’m doing my best haha. There might be some overlap with past trailers for anyone that’s been following the game since the early days, but there’ll be plenty that’s new as well. I’m really excited to finally show off some of the animations for Trio Abilities ;)



The event runs from the 27th to the 30th of August, so I hope you’ll check it out and consider showing some support for 8-Bit Adventures 2! =D

Interview with BG4G!


I also want to say a special thank you to an awesome fan - @Zepht on Twitter and Steam – who shared a link to my Twitter account with a website looking for indie games to spotlight. Because of that, I’ve now had the pleasure of doing an interview with the wonderful @Gamey_Jamie of ‘By Gamers 4 Gamers’ (BG4G). We talked about 8-Bit Adventures 2, indie dev challenges, what I learnt from making the first game, how Jerram approached the art design, and more! I always like to speak fairly candidly, so I hope it’ll be interesting to read =)

[h3]UPDATE:[/h3] The interview is out! If you want to get a peek behind-the-scenes of 8-Bit Adventures 2, please check it out here: https://www.bg4ghub.com/8-bit-adventures-2-interview-with-critical-games/





Demo Updates


Also a big thanks to everyone who’s streamed or recorded videos of themselves playing the demo! It’s been really helpful and insightful to see other people actually play the game. I learnt a few things, but the most important was that a lot of people out there have way more modern, powerful set-ups than I have access too! XD



Several videos show the game running super fast, and this seems to be related to the refresh rate of the player’s monitor. There is an option that fixes this in the Options menu called ‘Synch Monitor FPS’, however no one turned it on haha. So I’ll be updating the demo to turn this feature on by default. This won’t change existing players’ configuration settings, but anyone new who downloads the demo will have this option turned on for them. If you notice any issues, this can be easily turned off from the Options menu, but theoretically turning this on should just result in a smooth, correct-speed experience for everyone - without any detriments for players with lower tier hardware.



This upcoming update will also fix a bug with the Defend command, as well as make a couple of adjustments to the Prologue’s organic tutorials (these tweaks were also inspired by watching recorded playthroughs).

None of this really makes much of a difference if you’ve already played the demo, but I just wanted to let you know! These changes will be made in the coming weeks, prior to Gamescom.



See you Soon!


To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!

Finally, you can also join us on the official 8-Bit Adventures 2 Discord server:
https://discord.gg/aKf2tr4

As always, thanks so much for reading this everyone. I know I didn’t talk about the game itself that much, but rest assured - I’m working on it. Hopefully the images, animated GIFs, and upcoming trailer make up for that. I hope to see everyone at Gamescom! =D
~Josh