Tales of Vastor - Progress #4 - Alpha recap
It's been a while since the alpha version got released. Don't worry, after the game is before the game. As usual, I want to cover the future of the game as well as the progress.
Content
- Alpha recap
- What's done?
- What's next?
- Off topic - environment
Alpha recap
In case you missed the alpha version, you can download it here.
I got some feedback of friends, as they wanted to give it a try. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to deliver everything I planned, since the refactoring of the code took too much of my time. That's the reason I decided to deliver small versions frequently.
In order to make the game even better, I still need your feedback. If you liked the game (or disliked it), you can PM me, write an mail or check out my Twitter.
Later on, I want to have a group of people, willing to beta test Tales of Vastor. I want the beta version to be available for a closed group. Besides the beta version, a demo version will be covered as well with less content. Of course, you can ask me to join the closed group. I would love to hear from you.
What's done?
UI adaption
As I already was refactoring the controller, which handled the whole fight, I refactored some stuff as well. Most important was a good UI handling. The camera zooms to the character you can choose an action for. Additionally, the action buttons will be displayed on the right side of the character.
Animations if a character is defeated
One of those important things, that were missing before the alpha release, was the "death animation". For every character, I covered an animation if it is defeated. Here are some examples:
Camera improvement on world map
Before the alpha release, there was an issue regarding the camera on the world map. As it always focused on the player pointer, you were not able to see parts of the map which were farther away, resulting in unreachable way points. This issue got fixed and is already covered in the alpha, so don't worry about finding the way points.
What's next?
Working packages
I created the working packages needed for the game as I started planning it (may not be completed yet). The green stuff is already finished, the yellow packages are WIP and the other ones are not yet started. That information is quite handy in order to determine the progress.
The actual amount of time needed is stored in a table and will be updated every Sunday, since it is my "Project management day".
Beta version
I covered the beta version before. Currently, I need to plan the issues and working packages which will be covered in the beta. The beta version is the next milestone and will be released by the end of October. Until then, I want to have Tales of Vastor almost completed.
The beta version is planned for a closed beta tester group. As mentioned before, I would love to see you as a beta tester.
Off topic - working environment
As you can see, there's not much needed to create an amazing game. I use to plan my whole week with the small calendar on the right. There, everything is covered, which has to be done on a specific day.
The small note book on the left is used for quick ideas, planning those weekly articles, drawing some artworks and different other stuff.
In order to create the characters, landscapes and other game related things, I use the XP Pen tablet on the right. The software used is Manga Studio, because I really love the UI and functionality. In addition to Manga Studio I also use GIMP to draw some assets. I always liked to work with GIMP as it covers a great range of functionality and it is free.
Last but not least, I have a nice Acer notebook for coding purposes and other stuff. If I am not playing The binding of Isaac, I do a little bit of coding with Eclipse. Well, I code the game with Eclipse. Deal with it.
If you have feedback, I would really appreciate reading it. You can contact me via mail or direct message whenever you want.
Thank you!
