As a side note, the Capsule Dragons website should now be back online (website maintenance).

Anyway, here are some notes about the development of “Infidemia”:

Infidemia is more of a personal project than an actively-developed game, and so, the timing of when I decide to work on it, when I decide to update this website, is technically random…?

The reason why there are no screenshots, no gameplay footage, and no demo of the game, is because this is a personal project that I’m not sure of publishing/releasing yet. I know it’s probably going to fail to deliver on many aspects of gameplay and have an inconsistent story, but, in case I decide to release it, that will be the “first draft” of the game, and player feedback will help to revise the game.

At first, I think there was a possibility that I wanted to keep revising the game until I thought it was good enough to release, and use that as the first draft, but, now that I’ve realized how that would only lead into the same development cycle and still be an unfinished “first draft”, I think (assuming that I do decide to release this game) feedback and suggestions, as well as general responses, will be taken seriously, and are required in order to get past that “first draft” of the game.

So, in case Infidemia is officially released or available or something, I’ll make sure to use this post as a reference as well. For now, though, I still consider this game a personal project that I’m working on in my free time, for my own enjoyment, so, it is unlikely that this game will be given as detailed updates as something like the Capsule Dragons series.

The game is not cancelled, although there are aspects that I have decided to pause working on (not cancel, but, pause) and resume at a later point. I’ve recently made some changes to the game that were planned a while ago, but I chose to delay in favor of getting the current parts of the game done for now. I might think of another feature that I could quickly add, but, if it breaks the game, I will usually add it in later, and try to focus on what was currently being worked on before that. Choosing what to prioritize and what needs completed first can be frustrating, but, doing so helps with making sure the gameplay loop and systems work as intended.

Development updates:

• Mostly bugfixes and (a minimal amount) of some story stuff.
• Some grammatical/grammar fixes to some of the story stuff.
• Fixed a bug where the game would not progress past a certain day, forcing the player to close the game.
• Fixed a bug where the game would get stuck repeating the same tutorial, despite having already cleared it.
• Changed some aspects of how movement works.
• Fixed many bugs where the game would crash due to missing resources (or placeholder content).
• Fixed a bug where using a certain kind of battle command would cause battles to crash the game.
• Began testing the game on another platform, and working on some custom stuff to help with development.
• Changed something in the game that should make the repeating events less annoying (faster).

Until the next update,
-ZoruaAl

It’s been a while since the last update.

Here are some things that have changed since then:

• Fixed bugs where a certain vehicle wouldn’t properly appear in some scenes (if there is more than 1 party member, this would usually fail, now it is mostly fixed)
• Finished up the latest dungeon, this one took a while due to working on other aspects of the game
• Placeholder music tracks for most of Infidemia’s playable maps are now properly looping, and load (still have to fix some, but it should probably work for now)
• Worked on prototyping tracks for various parts of the game, not sure which ones will be used or not
• Fixed a glitch where a character would be given an item at the wrong point in the story
• Added a missing weather effect to a certain place; it will now properly appear/disappear instead of displaying incorrectly inside interior rooms.
• Made sure some details in the story matched up with gameplay (as an example, descriptions of what an item is, and how it functions in the story, does that match up to how the player can or cannot use it in the items menu?)
• Worked on a custom tool that makes it easier to keep track of development

Not much development has really been going on with Infidemia, though there have been some delays in getting another update for the game posted (so, this will likely be the last post of 2022, considering it is almost the end of December 2022 and it’s almost the start of January 2023).

As this is a project I’m making for fun and not really part of anything else, I’m not constantly working on the game (although I probably should focus on it more!). Been considering if I should ask for help with this project, but, for now as the development is going fine so far it appears that may not be a concern (yet??).

There might not be more updates for a while again, though whenever the next update is posted, there will probably be something to update or write about there…

…Been working on some other projects as well (which probably won’t be mentioned here), so maybe there will be an announcement later about the “Capsule Dragons” series (which is what this website was initially created for, as a blog about a game I was working on in it). However, that will probably be posted in the Capsule Dragons related parts of this website, and not in the Infidemia Development Updates (so i won’t include any more info here).

About Infidemia development – there have been some new features and edits to the game, although at this point it’s mostly about testing which features to focus on, and which ones to remove or scale back as necessary – I noticed a lot of things in the battle system that seem to be more redundant than interesting, and generally try to approach this with a way to focus on simple mechanics that have multiple uses, which has been a change from the initial plans for this project. I personally think simplicity and/or complexity in game mechanics can both be interesting, but it really just depends on how the game is designed around those mechanics, and if the gameplay style benefits more from one, maybe it’s worth trying to focus on that? There are many good examples of simple or complex games, and also of games that manage to balance both. though i’m working on this as a personal project so it’s probably not going to have anywhere near the same level of consideration about game design as a professional project might… …meaning this project will most likely not be enjoyable to play.
maybe in the future i’ll think about this kind of stuff more when working on it, for now, it’s about working on a functional prototype.

Anyway, there will probably be some updates again in the future. Maybe like some time in early or mid-2023? Until then, there might not be a lot of changes to this website. Thank you for reading the latest update!

-ZoruaAl

• added missing dialogue to an encounter (there was already dialogue made, it just wouldn’t appear in a certain version of that encounter because it was used for the other one)
• added dialogue to other encounters (progressing through battle this way will now be possible for earlier random battles)
• secretly working on something for this game
• made a custom tool to convert music tracks im making into the proper formats
• made a custom tool to catalog changes in development faster
• prototype “victory” music (should really be called “battle results” music because there are three versions of it, depending on how the player wishes to approach conflict, this music for those different results corresponds. will there be music for the intentions of the player, though…? i’m not sure)
• getting to a part in the story that i haven’t been sure how to write so far, so i’m still working on figuring this part out. in the mean time, working on a puzzle for the latest “dungeon” (is it a dungeon?).
• recorded some dialogue typing sound effects for the text boxes

That’s about it for today’s update. Sorry about the vague descriptions of what’s changed so far, I’m trying to balance a way of technical/story changes without typing up the story…

…speaking of the story, though… …Most actions the player can choose in this game are inconsequential, although because there are some actions (and perhaps items..??) that may change the path the story takes, technically, it’s a “choose your path adventure”, although the way I’m working on it so far is by writing the default path first (if the player were to do nothing that would change the flow of the story in any direction; essentially the game without the “what if”s). I’ve been taking notes inside the game about how the story could change depending on the chosen actions, and have a general idea of how to implement these changes, although to be honest I’m not sure when to start adding those paths, so I’ll probably provide more updates to this component once I feel that the story is somewhat consistent and understandable (in its current state, character dialogue just feels off).

Because Infidemia is being made with the potential for different player-defined goals in mind, there is no “definite” or “correct” way to play the game… …There are certain preset paths that may suggest what goal to take, but, the point of adding these choices is so that the player can experiment and play Infidemia how they would like to.

So, on that note, I’m not quite sure how far I am in the game’s story, or what the ending will be, or if there will be more than one ending. I have a rough draft of one ending for Infidemia that has since become part of the main story, though this doesn’t mean the game will be significantly longer – the goal is to provide 2 hours of gameplay, from “New Game” to wherever the game ends (credits, end sequence, etc.).

Thanks for taking the time to check out this update, and showing interest in Infidemia’s development.

I hope to eventually have a demo ready sometime, and collect feedback, though perhaps I will release a demo when the rest of the game is ready? I don’t know yet -_-

Until the next update,

-ZoruaAl

It’s been 3 months since the last development update…!
What’s really happening with Infidemia’s development??

• About the update schedule
  Previously, there would be a new update once every week (though the update schedule hasn’t been that way since at least a year ago…). However, development updates about Infidemia will probably continue to spontaneously appear (though not disappear) whenever that is.
  While working on the game, I don’t write updates about it, though when I’m not working on it, I do write updates about Infidemia… …I can’t write an update about Infidemia while I’m working on it, and I can’t work on Infidemia while I’m writing an update about it.
  So, there have been a lot of changes to the game recently (in comparison to progress made between the weekly development updates).
  Most of the intro for the game is at a prototype stage – the first few major story events, 3 boss fights, dungeons, are mostly working. There are still some weird bugs going on, but for the most part, the battle system is functional (no more dialogue/move description errors; there was a thing where the “Poison” status and the “Burn” status had the same attributes, despite what they were supposed to do…).
  Additionally, one of the seven playable characters who did not have a player sprite before now has a prototype set of animations for the overworld and battle, so they’re kind of playable now (no longer an invisible sprite hiding somewhere on the screen).

• Features / size of the game world
  I noticed some inconsistencies with the planned size of the game world and what areas would be explorable – to address that, there are some areas that won’t be in Infidemia despite having some temporary maps and background music ready. These areas might make it into the game later, but the game world’s overall size is narrowed on the fictional city where most of the story takes place.

• Bugfixes
  Fixed an issue where the bus would split into two halves and not properly animate
  Fixed an issue where the “0th” day of the month would appear instead of the correct date
  Added battle rewards that were supposed to be added earlier
  Fixed typo of “resistence” (incorrect usage of “resistance” compared with “resistence”)
  Rename stats to consistent names
  Fixed an issue where a story event would repeat indefinitely
  (Described above) Rewrote status descriptions for “Poison” and “Burn” (these aren’t the same statuses)
  Prevented the player from walking through tables if an item was on top of the table
  Fixed an issue where the bus wouldn’t stop when it arrived at its destination

• Other updates (for debug/testing purposes)
  Also added support for running the game in some Linux distributions. Not sure if Linux will be a supported platform or not.
  Tried to reduce lag on some Android devices, not sure if Android will be a supported platform or not.

• end of update description text
  Infidemia’s still being worked on, though update announcements will probably continue to be infrequent. Overall, it’s been interesting to experiment with this project, and I’ll still work on it.
  
  
  until the next update,
  -ZoruaAl

(Please note, this is an April Fool’s Day article for April 1 2022. This isn’t meant to be taken seriously, so please take this with several grains of salt, or however many you deem necessary.)

Infidemia’s latest update includes an all-new game mode, called Infidemia MSE. What does “MSE” stand for, anyway? Well, you’ll find out, soon enough…!

All your favorite masculine protagonists from Infidemia can obtain this special outfit that is sure to increase their stats in battle!

Of course, as being part of an entirely-new mode to Infidemia, Male Swimsuit Edition alters the default sprites and character portaits, for the playable characters whom have the MSE Outfit (Male Swimsuit Edition Outfit).

Even on the first day of the summer school year, all male protagonists in the party at the beginning of the game will wear these stylish swimsuits! Playable characters that join the party later in the game will show up in their MSE outfits as well!

This update will come as a free pre-order bonus to anyone that purchased Infidemia on March 32nd, 2021.

However, this update will also be uninstalled from the game’s internal files on April 1st, 2022, so, this should give players enough time to experience Infidemia’s Male Swimsuit Edition.

Since Infidemia is still in development, I’m not sure when or if this mode will be available, but, it should improve the user experience of the game and provide an enhanced entertainment value.

i might add this as an actual feature in the game… …though it’s time for me to work on the actual gameplay now

Until next time,

-ZoruaAl

Updates this week:

• The battle system is fully working.
• All current battle commands intended for use in the game are usable.

I’ll be pausing development updates until I can work on the game again, but for now I’m still planning to work on the game a little bit whenever I figure something out for it.

-ZoruaAl

This update sure is late!

I’ve been busy with things besides working on Infidemia, so the game has been… …a lesser priority for me right now.

However, I was working on it recently, and started to add in some things I didn’t add yet.

–> Added a new command to the “Wagers” list… …this one was supposed to be added a while ago, but now it’s working

–> Cleared up some weird explanations

–> Fixing bugs with the “Combo” system

–> Making new features easier to work with

–> Focusing on getting each feature working, rather than leaving everything unfinished and half-done. After I’m done typing this update, I’m going to get those features I mentioned complete (these are the last things I was working on).

A weekly update is kind of an unrealistic timeframe for me, as there are times when I can’t post an update exactly towards the end of each week (or start of the next week). I think it’s been clear that this is a timeframe that hasn’t been working well, although I’d really like to keep working on my game, just know that it’s not always possible for me to give an update on how things are going every week.

So this time I’ll try to answer some hypothetical questions.

(questions below)

When does Infidemia release? Is there a demo available?

At some point in the future. I don’t have a definite release date planned and will not share any information about this.

No demo is currently planned; there is no demo available.

How much will Infidemia cost?

Once I announce a release date, I’ll figure this out later.

What’s the game’s content rating?

Rating pending. It hasn’t officially gone through any review processes yet and this is something I’ll have to figure out later, as the game is nowhere near ready for a demo or a full release.

What is the game actually about? Story, gameplay, etc.

I don’t want to share any specific information yet, as some parts of the story rely on not knowing any context of the game beforehand.

For gameplay, these updates have probably hinted at what it is.

How long has the game been in development?

I forget when I officially started development, but the first room you could walk around in the game was ready in around the timeframe of September 2019. Planning for the game started a few months before.

What software are you using to make the game?

For Infidemia, I’m using RPG Maker MV ( Credit goes to GOTCHA GOTCHA GAMES/YOJI OJIMA , ©2015, mentioning the copyright to give credit to RPG Maker MV).

I’ll credit any plugins and reference scripts/materials used throughout development, once I have a completed credits page. For now, I’m still working on the game, so I won’t list all credits yet until it’s finished.

What’s the gameplay look like (demo, trailer, etc.)?

Right now, based on how many glitches there still are with the battle system, I don’t want to show gameplay until I have a version of the game that is working and playable. There is no demo available and I do not currently intend on making one, either.

I know I haven’t shown any actual gameplay yet, so because of that there’s no “proof” that the game exists… …though it is possible to go from the title screen, start a new game, and play it, it’s just that there are a lot of things changing with the game which would make gameplay footage inconsistent throughout these updates.

Why aren’t there any screenshots/explanations of gameplay??

I’m still working on creating custom sprites and plugins for the game; I’d prefer to not show any gameplay until I have enough content ready to show.

How much of the game is currently done?

The core battle system is almost done, but there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Most of the game’s story has been planned, but I’m focusing on getting the gameplay working right now, so instead of story, there are a few debug rooms for everything.

Map design has changed and has been inconsistent; I’ll probably have to start that over even though most of the overworld is connected.

I’m also trying to limit the issues with planning out too many features and adding none of them that work; the goal is to simplify the gameplay mechanics and get a gameplay loop working.

One thing I learned from development is that it’s easier to start with a small idea that I can manage, and then add on features onto it, once I get the basic (as small as possible) version of my game working. I don’t know how to decide the scale and what counts as a good starting point, but I think that the plans for this game have gone very far outside the range of how much of it that I can work on at a time.

I also learned that even if a lot of things end up being unused, I can always reference the unused content in some way and use it to make something that I’ll end up using in a later version of the game.

Can I playtest the game?

There is no demo currently available, there are no plans to launch one right now, and there are no plans right now to set up a feedback form for the demo either.

If I consider publishing or releasing this game, maybe there will be a way for people to playtest the game and review what’s in it so far, but, for now this isn’t the plan.

Will Infidemia actually be released?

I don’t know if I want to publish this game or not. In working on it, I’ve been trying to get it to the quality of a released game, but, I don’t intend to discuss release dates, publishing plans, etc., as those are all irrelevant to me working on the prototype right now.

Will weekly updates end??

I’ll probably change these updates to once every 2 weeks or later, but the timing of trying to get out an update on a specific day each week has been annoying and that’s why this one is late too. I can’t really stick to one timeline of releasing updates, so there might be some really late updates… …but there will still be updates!

These updates aren’t meant to build hype for the game (that’s what demos, trailers, events, etc. are for) though if you’re interested in it, check in to the website if you want.

Where can I get more info???

welcome to the capsule dragons website

the Capsule Dragons website has more information, check the list of development updates which should be listed.

thanks for reading, sorry that there’s no decent gameplay to show right now

-ZoruaAl

This is a list of updates for a game that I’m working on in my free time.

New updates will be added here, and will remain visible in Recent Posts, as well.

I added this page as a top menu to navigate through the rest of the posts easier, without every update being listed at once.
Here’s how I ordered this list.

Top: Most recent update (current)
Bottom: First update

Updates don’t really have a schedule as to when they’re posted, though usually if there hasn’t been an update for a while that means there may be a longer update the next time an update is posted.

Infidemia Development Update (29) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (28) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (27) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (26) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (25) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (24) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (23) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (22) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (21) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (20) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (19) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Updates (17 + 18) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (16) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (15) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (14) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Updates (12 + 13) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (11) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (10) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (9) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (8) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (7) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (6) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (5) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (4) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (3) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update (2) | Capsule Dragons

Infidemia Development Update | Capsule Dragons

Other pages related to the game’s development: (Before Update 1)

Infidemia’s Infinite Delay | Capsule Dragons

This week’s update brings many bugfixes and is also the point where I’ve started taking last week’s plans on how to change the game going forward… …meaning that work on the core game continues.

First, some battle system issues were addressed – the reason why Infidemia’s combat wasn’t working in the first place was because I combined a list of all actions in the game, from 2 different versions of it, which overwrote most pre-existing actions. It’s messy to combine database information like this, but the goal was to get as much of the eventing/custom statuses saved, and then rearrange the game’s list of battle actions. Using the events and custom statuses, most core mechanics are back to working, though some bugfixes were required for the wager system to work properly; despite events being made for it, I had to carry over some changes from a test version of the game where most bugfixes were made. I could have probably been more efficient by only working on bugfixes in the core game, and not a test version of it.

Second, the plans for the game’s story are still being revised, mostly because I don’t know what I’m doing. After a few different attempts at how the beginning should work, I decided that the game’s introduction will focus more on a tutorial rather than a prologue, while giving hints of the story. This is meant to be a decision-based story, but I’ve mostly made a story that focuses on one set path of decisions, so the future plans for Infidemia’s story will try to factor in more options.

With this update, though, here are some new features for Infidemia:

• Coffee Time has been added to the game, and is now usable.
• The school and tutorials are being worked on, with the core system and one lesson working. This also means homework has been added.

Although I’ve announced many considerations for features, and bugfixes on some, with this version of the game, these are currently the only two main features, besides another part of Infidemia that I’m still working on. I think I was too ambitious in my initial planning of the game, as I thought of a lot of features and then tried to add half of every feature into the game, rather than a complete version of a few simplified features. Starting with a smaller plan could have helped me get to this update sooner, but I’m still glad I worked on other mechanics, as it helped me learn about eventing, which gave me some practice for working on the core features of Infidemia.

Still, I don’t think anything’s really “ready” or “finalized” for Infidemia yet, as it’s in development and even with working mechanics, finding balance in gameplay mechanics, and in difficulty to reward ratios, is what I’ll have to work on once all core gameplay features are functional.

From a player standpoint, I don’t know if development updates are going to be useful when playing the game. There’s no demo or gameplay yet that can be tested or seen, so these development updates aren’t a fair way to show what the game is like.

Sometimes I use these updates as notes to check what I said I was working on and make sure it’s accurate; from where development is right now as of publishing this post, I’d say this is a representation of where the game is currently.

I’d like to show more of the game (like with the custom text box design) though I think it would be better if I have a working version of it ready; it’s not going to be good by any means, when it is ready, but I would like it to at least be working so getting feedback is possible (compared to previous versions of the game, which had game-breaking bugs that made Infidemia unplayable).

Thanks for reading this,

-ZoruaAl

What’s changed since last week:

• Trying to make new tracks (“practice versions” of some music tracks are being worked on)
• Wrapping up plans for parts of gameplay that are in development
• Writing unclear and vague development updates

I’ve been taking a break from scriptwriting and working on the main game, since nothing has been going well with it, so instead of not working on the game at all I decided to work on other aspects first. Planning music for specific parts of the game has been sort of useful to help plan the story (or in figuring out how to connect the story+music); this helps to establish a background or atmosphere, or setting a mood.

The music for the entire first “part” (for lack of a descriptive word) of the game has its “practice versions of music tracks” ready, meaning that the placeholder music is finished, but since it doesn’t sound good I’ll have to revise it.

The next “parts” of Infidemia will go into planning, but only once I’m done with the script for the first part. A focus in development this time has been to remember what I’m working on, without having to re-read my notes (and find out those were for a previous version of the game).

With the unused content that’s come up, primarily from testing a feature before planning it and deciding it wasn’t ready to use, I’m still planning to use resources I’ve made for the game, in some way, likely for other projects.

There were some issues with extra content, specifically in having made this in advance and how I didn’t make it work well with what was currently working. Instead of piling up all the extra content into Infidemia, I tested these extras in smaller projects I was working on alongside Infidemia.

Although Infidemia started out as an over-ambitious project, I think focusing on what’s reasonable to work on (and what’s reasonable to challenge myself to work on as well) has helped.

Thanks for reading the latest development update,

-ZoruaAl