v0.1 Devlog

Hello, readers!

I'm overjoyed to finally be releasing FEARSTRUCK to the public eye. I know it's currently in a very rudimentary stage, but this game has been an idea in the back of my mind for a long time. This version alone has been in development for the better half of a year.

Some history on the game to start. I always knew what I wanted it to be --- a boss rush with enemies themed around fears. Although I actually don't play that many turn-based RPGs (at least, not as many as I feel I should for me to be making one), I always really like when the moves you have are literal, like in Omori. You may also notice that if you ever use a revive, you keep the levels you gained in the failed attempt. This is unconventional for RPGs, but intended! I like to think of it as an allegory to struggling with mental illness, only for your experience in coping with it to one day pull you through.

All that being said, defining the idea beyond those concepts took some work. For one thing, this game is being made in Ren'Py, a visual novel engine. I had used Ren'Py before, for its intended purpose, and didn't see why I couldn't make FEARSTRUCK in it. So I figured, why not use what I already know, instead of finding a different engine that's only theoretically better for the job?

That being said, the original version of this game (from 5-ish years ago) might as well have been made with some sticks and glue. It was functional, but the code was just a mess, and the UI was so ugly because I didn't understand Ren'Py screens yet. Eventually, it got to the point that I wasn't happy with it, and it was just a nightmare to work in.

Beyond that, the game design was also really different. It wasn't a rouge-like, for one. You would start the game and wander around a house to trigger story events and boss fights. The house part was neat, but the bosses, abilities you gain, and the items you have access to were all linear, and it just felt bleh. I wanted replayability, and that was not it.

So I stopped working on that version and let the idea go for a while. Almost a year ago now, Ren'Py came back to mind as I realized I hadn't worked on any game in quite some time. With the most "fuck it, we ball" attitude I could manage, back to Ren'Py I went, only this time, I took the effort to actually learn. I started with the Sinner select screen to learn Screens, then made Perception's fight... the rest is history I don't fully remember.

All in all I'm really proud of this project already because of all the notable improvements I've made. There's still some scuffed elements, visually and in the backend, but I'm hoping that, since I've got the framework of all the major systems in place, implementing more things will be a lot less time-consuming from here on. I've still got a ton of ideas on mechanics, items, and abilities that I just haven't gotten around to implementing yet. In the mean time, feel free to give me all your thoughts and opinions. FEARSTRUCK is a game that I know is far out of my league in terms of balancing, so I would really like some outside influence to make FEARSTRUCK a properly fun and interesting game.

And for the record, on this day of release, it is my birthday. I was setting this as an invisible deadline for myself; as a birthday gift to myself. Maybe I could spend a little more time on the game before the public sees it, iron out the fringe cases, but... meh. Let me tell you, nothing hit harder than playtesting my game before this initial release, and actually... enjoying it. It's fun! I made a fun thing!! And I want people to see that sooner than later.

CHANGELOG

(Can you still call it a changelog if it's the first version of the game...?)

This version of FEARSTRUCK aims to establish the most basic, necessary pieces of the gameplay loop, while also implementing other small things as they are finished. The rest of this will be the patch notes along with my comments on a few things.

Additions & Changes

• Added the Sinner select screen.
  • To this menu, added the "hover", "idle", and "locked" sprite art for all Sinners.
  • The unlock condition for each Sinner is detailed as you hover over them while they're locked. This is not functional yet, as the in-game text describes.
  • Sloth, Pride, and Gluttony may receive updates to their art.
• Added the Ability select screen.
  • Available choices are found by RNG. This RNG is limited by disallowing Abilities that you don't have the MP to use, (with one odd exception), as well as disallowing Abilities you already have from appearing again.
    
• Added the Adversary select screen.
  • Available choices will be found by RNG. In this version, there are only 3 bosses so the RNG is not currently used.
• Added the Battle UI and all of its functionality.
• Added the Revive screen and all of its functionality.
• Added Bosses: Perception, Intrusion, and Time Incarnate.
  • Perception functions as intended.
  • Intrusion functions as intended.
  • Time functions as intended.
• Added the shop menu.
  • It sure does exist right now, but I'm planning a major overhaul that adds: the functionality to sell items; another screen that allows you to alter abilities; and the shopkeeper, who is... currently on vacation.
• Altered the preferences menu.
  • Renamed it "options" instead of Ren'Py's default "preferences" on the player's end.
  • Disabling Incarnates' shaking animation upon being hit was added to this menu and is functional.
  • Added additional screens with text detailing some of the options.
  • Removed the Voice audio bar, since it won't be applicable.
• Added the Tutorial, which automatically starts upon first open and is re-accessible from the main menu.
  • This Tutorial is especially one of the things I'm looking for feedback on. It being the game's introduction, it's really important to get this part right. Please tell me if I could improve it.
• Added Title Screen art.
  • In future versions, the title screen art will change to be the last Sinner you played; always Naught upon first open.
• Disabled rollback on all control schemes.

  Known Issues

• In the Sinner select screen, hovering over one option, then hovering over another option at a certain speed will cause the new option's description text to not appear.
  • This is due to the confirm button's existence, but I'm not sure how I'd fix this as it appears to be a problem with Ren'Py itself not catching up fast enough. It's also easily solvable on the player's end, so not high priority.
• Pride, Wrath, Greed and Lust's locked icons have visible white marks.
• Intrusion's icon in the Incarnate select screen uses her wiggly sprite for the hands.
• The shop item descriptions are wildly inconsistent in size and placement. Right now, I have to size and place each string of text manually. Hopefully upon the shop's rework, I will have found a cleaner method for that...