It has been a while but I am finally working full time on the newest upcoming Adventure To Fate title. To help myself stay focused and motivated I have decided to post a development blog as this game shapes up. This is very very early in the games development (just settled on a name yesterday haha). -Background- I have been out of the development space for about 2 years now and am attempting to get back into development full time again. Long story short I got laid-off from full-time job and have missed development so I am giving it another shot. This is step one in getting back on track. I am sure some of you have noticed my older games have become dated and iOS updates have broken them on some devices. The idea here is that I am going to make this new game and then use the updated framework to re-release the older games on the new updated game engine. Most wont see a difference but Adventure To Fate has a large vision impaired / blind following since its built to be accessible. The relaunch of the old games will not only make them playable for all but when they come back they should be as accessible as my latest lunch Adventure To Fate : Future Arena ! -Adventure To Fate - Lost Island- Again the new game is in the very early stages of development but since I am working on this full time and building off a old yet sturdy/complete game engine development should move pretty fast (knock on wood). This will be a new story and this time I will focus a bit more on the story (my older games were rather lacking in story). Other than that the game play will stay for the most part the same and some of the elements in my last game Adventure To Fate : Future Arena will be expanded (item forage and choose your upgrade / path). This will be a paid premium game since the last was free with IAP. I know there are often different crowds that prefer one over the other so I try to alternate. If you guys have any questions comments or suggestions please feel free to post! I will be starting the hopefully daily blog on the next post! Thanks for the support!!!
Day 1 (June 7th): Updated Mac to Ventura Updated Xcode Pulled framework/game engine from Adventure To Fate : Future Arena and updated to run on iOS 16 natively (fixed bugs/errors that naturally happen when reopening a project that is 2 years old). Landed on Name Adventure To Fate - Lost Island (for now?) Started in on story design and game direction.
Day 2 (June 8th) Started mapping out the starting area a bit and playing with some layouts. Fixed up some code for movement between floors. The idea here is that you arrive as a prisoner on a boat that wreaks on the lost island. So the first area is going to be the sinking boat and trying to find your way off that. Here is the first screen (keep in mind it’s likely to change as ideas develop and new npcs / classes are created).
Day 3 (June 9th) worked on relearning and updating locking and npc giving system. This should make for more dynamic interactions and the ability to add more puzzle type rooms and interactions. this has certainly been a challenge since my old code was so bad but it’s getting there and I should have this wrapped up soon as well as it implemented in the starting area.
Combat will still be turned based but there will be new skills and tactics involved. I’m leaning towards a skill tree rather than just acquiring skills as you level up. This way there is a bit more tactic and diversity in your builds.
Day 4-5-6: Spent the weekend relearning / rewriting how doors / npc interactions happen. It wasn’t fun and didn’t mean much progress but it had to be done and should open up the game to more interesting rooms / puzzles. Also finished up the starting area spent some time mapping out classes and skills.
Day 7. Fleeing world npcs added. (Npcs move around on the screen depending on your movement) Created some new art for the starting zones. Created layout and design for second zone. Broad layout of game story.
Update 8: Added the ability for multiple npcs to show and interact on the world / floor view (Before it was just 1 per floor). Finished general layout of first zone (on paper). Mapped about half of it into the game. Next working on new pirate npcs, pets and skills.
Update 9: Today was a great day for activity. Got all but 1 room mapped in the first zone. This means I got the story / layout for the zone pretty much completed as well. I’m pretty happy with the results and just need to polish everything up then it’s on to npcs, skills, drops for the zone. Created some art that I am pretty happy with even thought my pixel / art skills are not anywhere near great.
Update 10: Finished up mapping the first zone. Decided how it will play out and the options players will have going through it. Added some hidden / bonus features as well. Really happy with how it turned out. Compared to the previous games this is quite a bit more dynamic and ties the story together much more. Created 4-6 npcs and their pixel art. Spending the weekend figuring out how I want them to act and how their skills / drops will work.
…Wow. You’re really hammering this thing out huh. Just here watching your progress bro. Instabuy for me anyway, I loved the Adventure to Fate (even though I can’t play it anymore )
thanks! And yes it’s my fulltime job right now so I’m spending a good amount of time on it. After it’s complete I will use the updated code base to rerelease the versions that apple has taken off the store. thanks for the support!!!
Update 11: Polished up the starting zone and zone 1 mapping. Trying to balance a more interesting puzzle like approach without making the area overly hard or difficult to figure out. Spent time testing and refining the area. I’d say I am 80% happy with it now. Still feel like it needs something or a bit of polish but I plan on moving on to zone 2 tomorrow and revisiting the first as ideas come to me. For those following the first zone is a cove / pirate area which has been a lot of fun. The second zone is likely going to be a jungle / native creature zone. I’m thinking a bit like a maze. One thing is for sure a lot more work and thought is going into the overworld this time around.
Update 12: Put the finishing touches on the first pirate zone. I feel happy with how it turned out and all the added things to explore in it. Also finalized the starting story and how all the zones will link up. Made good progress on art and mapping the second zone over the weekend. Nothing playable yet but last I remembered testflight was pretty easy to handle so my goal is for a beta test in late July. This will prob just be the first 2 zones as polished as possible. Next up. Finish up mapping out the second zone then I’ll add npcs balance etc. Once I have the first 2 zones complete with monsters / interactions etc I’ll put some work into the starting classes. Thanks again for the support!
Update 13: Got the second area mapped in game. Since it’s a bit of a maze this was more challenging than expected but I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I’ll be testing and tweaking the area over the next week to make sure I am happy with it. I also got forges added to this game. For those who didn’t play the last these allow you to create your own weapon, armor or jewelry. These will be spread out and hidden throughout the game. They will be called idols to match the island theme. Magical idols you that allow you to create an item. Again I’ll be spending the rest of the week polishing the first 2 maps and making sure they all work and feel great. Then I’ll add monsters skills drops etc.
Update 13. Recoded some systems to work properly with the new game. Improved traps Monster encounters World item find World pet find Polished up the first and second zones a bit as well. at the moment things are a bit scattered so I am trying to make a clear path of what needs to be done again I’m trying to get these first two areas completed as well as a few classes by the end of the month so I can start up the first round of testing.
Update 15: spent some time over the weekend working on the third zone map, design and layout. I mostly spent time on the pixel art for the world blocks but also drafted a few layouts on grid paper. Still a little unsure of how the zone will lay out but that is what today is for.
