Updates this week:
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 (30) | Capsule Dragons
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)
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:
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:
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