Ah, March. Little I can show right now since the main concern last month was reworking on stuffs made as well as writing the continuation of the plot. Chapter Two is a beast; the contents are massive, the characters are many, the places? They're plenty.
Aside from the later iteration of Void Rift where the Scout and party will traverse, there are plans to add more Book Realms (like the Nordborough Keep introduced in first chapter) so some characters can be introduced in their own setting. That's a story for another devlog, tho. Have a look at the concept of Void Rift's third iteration.
Based on feedback from several players, I decided to make some reworks on the battle flow, characters, and enemies. Iris and Theo got major treatment since, after some recent playthroughs, they have less viable skill set to boot. As one of prominent characters, they deserve more than they had. For example, Theo's Shackle now becomes a trap-based skill.
Or if you fancy more impactful action (or if you're a JoJo fan like I am), here's a revamp of Howl's moveset.
Who's Howl, you may asked? He is the boss in first level of Nordborough Keep, and if you can persuade him after a brawl, you can make him join your party!
The maps also gained some revamps, like the bookshelves in the Library. Now the bookshelves have four directions, which is nice.
Talk about the Library, there's a plan to expand the Library which is incorporated in the main story. To be noted, the story revolves around the Great Library despite the plot sometimes throws the Scout into some other realms like Nordborough Keep.
And the biggest catch comes not from in-game stuff, but from the drawing board. I have decided to redraw all the characters with more proportional style. Would be surprised when spotting the difference between the old artwork and the new sketches. Yea, sketches, apparently. Here some example as a comparison between the new style and the old style.
That's all I can say in this devlog. There are some stuff I'd like to tell/show here, but I'll keep that for later. Like a saying, "A good book never reveals all of its secret at once." Cheers!
If you wonder where's the April devlog, well, I didn't make it because I focused myself more into the character art (which has been mentioned in March devlog). Anyway, there are some new stuffs added into the game, so it's an even.
First of all, let's talk about the biggest catch of last month (and this month as well, since there are some character arts still in the making).
Here's a sample of the result of what I've made in a couple of weeks. By the way, I've committed myself into redrawing the entire characters as a result of an extensive training months prior. Put a little bit more effort into redesigning their looks as well. The process took a little bit more time than I've expected but the result is worth it; I can pull of better portraits for the characters, which is a thing even I can appreciate myself.
As for the game stuff, there are not much things changed aside from the addition of the story. The outcome of Chapter One opens a way to reveal hints that will be Chapter Two's main feat. What hints, you may asked? Well, that's a story for another day--the first hint, however, is a revisit to Grand Library.
Gotta admit I'm still working on King Dnas' new character art but this will do good for a moment.
Who is Leictor? What is Pars Mythos? Well, fella, those questions are yet to be discovered, but let me tell you something to help you figure iot out: the Pars Mythos cult is Kingdom's nemesis. The followers of Pars Mythos want to see the world burn and they'll take any means necessary to meet their goals. What will they do in the island--and Rift in particular--is yet to be discovered. That's what the Scout will find out in Chapter Two.
Also, there are some additions worth to note, such as some potential allies which will help the Scout in their journey in the mysterious island--and the Rift. I won't reveal their identity for now; have some sneakpeek so you can figure out what kind of allies the Scout will meet in Chapter Two.
And that's the devlog for now. Cheers~
Oh, I forgot about Leila's tavern. She told me to tell people about the cozy tavern located in the middle of nowhere. Where is her tavern? Right down the road--can't miss it!
Surely, since there's still no discernible clues about what's happening around the Rift, the Scout has to dig deeper and see whether they can find something significant. At this point of the story, the clues are sitting there in between the shelves, waiting to be found..
While the story seems like hitting a roadblock--which isn't really--several side contents added so the Scout can explore the Rift with more reasons. The Rift's newly found anomaly causes the appearance of several strange, if not unique people with unique traits and skills who may take shelter in the Sanctuary. They might have their own business but hey, they'll lend a hand if the Scout asks for assistance.
Now, the Scout is opted to either getting into the chase or taking some detours to get additional manpower; to get those people into your list, however, some conditions are required. This also means more possible alternatives in party arrangements, which will always come in handy.
In current sprint, sometimes glitches produce interesting result. One of those glitches is this. Note that the title logo at the bottom right is supposed to be not there after the chapter's intro ends.
Talk about the 'side quests', I've elaborated with some people who also contributed in the project for a while. Not only the stories; we've made several interesting backstories for the characters, like shown below. Surely it's great to have people backing you up.
This Rachel girl is one of the collaborate works done in the project. Maybe you've seen her around whirling her minigun or munching cakes, but here's a GIF of her enjoying a slice of cake for refreshment.
In combat department, nothing much visible changes can be shown here--there are, however, interesting interactions that I'd like to show in these GIFs.
And here's some character designs for the project. To be honest, these are the reasons why the development took a little bit more time than expected.
The scout girl with... who's that archer girl? Well, I'd like to introduce her and her friends, but that's a story for another devlog.
The prominent characters in this point of progress. Mostly are girls but hey the guys will have their spotlight soon!
The last one, I can call it as a big deal since the couple came from one of the old projects ever conceived (and released) back in RMID. They're making an appearance in this project, yes, but I can't tell what are their role in the story... yet.
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And well, that's all for now, fellas. Don't forget to visit Leila's Tavern as well. If you're going there, please pay attention that she has quite a harsh bouncer there. If you ever mess things up there, prepare for some beatings. Thank me later.
