Hop onto our BGP Discord and our Build Dev @Psyaryu can help sort out any issues with getting the game to run.
YotesMark
Creator of
Recent community posts
👴⚙️💬 NEW New Patch is Out!! [0.5.6]
The hardly-tested new feature we added in the previous hotfix completely broke VS Mode Functionality with a Null Ref error that leaves the game in a locked up state with the wrong UI as soon as you get into battle.
- VS Matches Are in an Unplayable State No Longer!
- General Settings Page has been Added to Options Menu
- Text Speed Control Option is Functional
👴⚙️💬 NEW New Patch is Out!! [0.5.6]
The hardly-tested new feature we added in the previous hotfix completely broke VS Mode Functionality with a Null Ref error that leaves the game in a locked up state with the wrong UI as soon as you get into battle.
- VS Matches Are in an Unplayable State No Longer!
- General Settings Page has been Added to Options Menu
- Text Speed Control Option is Functional
Hey, All!
If you'd like to see us at TrotCon 2023 (or have us invited to more conventions in general) you can do us a solid by filling one of these forms out and let the convention know:
YotesMark (known for Battle Gem Ponies) would be a perfect fit for their video game themed pony party this year!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdv_MCSnAN0LsQecSMGgccUAtfY8H7r0RLOhxBykG35CdAS8Q/viewform
Hey, Guys! We made a big OOF and pushed out a build missing the extremely VITAL ability to swap out your newly caught ponies with the Gem Storage system in Town Hall!
So we patched that up just now and you can download the fixed 0.5.5 build on Itch and GameJolt!
As an added bonus, you'll also get the couple features we've added to the game since Saturday:
- Mid-Battle Dialogs with the Boss in Town Hall
- Extended Keyboard Control Functionality (B, M, and Space Keys now DO something!)
Hey, Guys! We made a big OOF and pushed out a build missing the extremely VITAL ability to swap out your newly caught ponies with the Gem Storage system in Town Hall!
So we patched that up just now and you can download the fixed 0.5.5 build on Itch and GameJolt!
As an added bonus, you'll also get the couple features we've added to the game since Saturday:
- Mid-Battle Dialogs with the Boss in Town Hall
- Extended Keyboard Control Functionality (B, M, and Space Keys now DO something!)
To keep the project organized I use a program/website called ClickUp to write out every task I need to do to finish the game and give each task a time estimate. I tally it up and base the release date guess on that.
Long story short, I made some spreadsheets to chart out exactly how much money I'd need to be able to pay bills and work full-time on BGP for 18 months and based the Funding Goal on that. No such thing as too much money (as far as I'm concerned) and any extended budget beyond what was planned would go towards marketing efforts and hiring professionals to help make the original vision without extending the promised scope. Not getting enough money means I have 2 more months to try again, otherwise surrender the dream for a bit, work a paying job and try again in 5 years once I stabilize money-wise.
At the end of that timeline I ran out of the money, got better at organizing and predicting how long things take with experience and found out I needed another 18 months to actually finish the game. So now I'm getting by using a scary amount of debt with the new DEADline of March 2024 being where I either start to make all the money back or ruin my life financially (great motivation to do the work required).
So it all comes down to experience (from making 7 mobile games), good tools (Unity, Clickup, Discord, Google Docs, etc.), and ALWAYS assuming things will take 3 times longer than you'd originally think.
Something ALWAYS goes wrong and you need to be prepared to roll with the punches. Always have a plan B, C, D, E, & F (heck, even G)
New #BattleGemPonies demo is up! Jam-Packed with improvements based on feedback from #magfest2023!
Play It Here! https://yotesmark.itch.io/battle-gem-ponies…
#monstertaming #brony #fakemon #mlp #ponymon #screenshotsaturday
[Patch Notes for 0.5.2]
- Wild Battles No Longer Freeze When P2 Picks an Invalid Turn Action
- Missing Overworld Interaction Text Has Been Reinstated
- Level 3 AI Will No Longer Force Basic Class Ponies to Go Ultra
- KO'd Party Leader Ponies No Longer Appear in Battle
- Erasing Files Now Fully Resets All Data for that File
- VS Match Menu No Longer Breaks After Returning from a Force Quitted Match
- Move Info UI is Slightly Larger
The full version of Unicorn Training will receive updates and be fully restored onto the App Store, Amazon Apps, and Google Play as soon as we wrap up BGP development and give the Unity project a closer look.
It turns out to not be beyond repair after all, so we can patch-in some fixes for the major game-breaking issues to make the experience more fun and stable all-around.
We plan to fix the magic system that shouldn't level up spells beyond what you're able to cast with your current mana bar, limit the number of Bounce shots you can have active at once, set more forgiving damage values for enemy attacks, and remove the 'Escape' exploit for bosses and dungeon encounters that should've been removed from the start since it was a debug feature.
Look forward to all this alongside some major 10th anniversary announcements in 2024.
Unfortunately, due to a massive file corruption back in 2017 no further patches can be put out for this game.
However, the newly formed Yotes Games team is considering development of a Unicorn Training remake from scratch after our current project Battle Gem Ponies is finished.
We'd like to give this game's concept another shot using some vastly improved talent and production values. More info to come...
Yeah, the mechanics could do with some more in-game explanations. Ideally there'd be a level cap on each spell to prevent it from getting stronger til you had the mana to wield that power.
As it stands now overusing a spell can grow it into using more mana than you actually have until you level up some more.
Got a fresh new demo up, with a smotherin' of Bug Fixes for ya! Every glitch and error we could find since vending at Everfree Northwest.
BGP PATCH NOTES (Sept. 5th 2021):
The Big News
- Passive Pony Abilities & Equips Now Work as Intended
- Menu Issues, Resolved!
- Glitchy Moves, Fixed!
- Typos, Corrected!
- Particle Effects, Adjusted!
- Background Tinting Animations, Restored!
- Shield Moves Actually Shield You!
- Attack Info is Displayed Correctly!
- Unimplemented Moves that Should Be Hidden, Now Are
- Buffs & Debuffs Go Up & Down Properly
- Pegasi Should Now Fear Flying Rocks
- The Endure Mechanic Works
- Devil Shot Deals Actual Damage Now
- The Hidden Spire Trap Activates on Forced Swap-Outs
- 2-Turn Moves Now Show Relevant Info in Menus
- 2-Turn Moves Don't Trigger Enemy's Impact Side-Effects until they Actually Land
- Made Things More Clear When You're Running Low on Gem Power
- The Badly Poisoned Malady Now Deals Appropriate Damage
- Malady Afflicted Debuffs are No Longer Permanent
The Specifics
- Air ponies can now be hurt by Earth attacks while Burrowed underground
- Ponies hiding Underground or In the Sky can no longer force the enemy's self-targeted attacks to miss
- Pony nicknames won't disappear when you return to Team Select after a battle with custom nicknames
- Move animations that can change the background color now work as expected
- Barrier's reduced Damage Calculation now works
- When restoring HP with a leeching move, the camera will always make sure the healed pony is shown along with the healing text
- Sleep Dust will tell the player when it fails
- Moves not implemented yet have been removed
- Stats Screen won't wig out in the middle of battle when a barely noticeable "null animation" issue comes up (the null animation issue was resolved too)
- 2-Turn Moves display the proper POW number in menus
- 2-Turn Moves exist as 2 different attacks behind the scenes now So we can have unique effects for Turn 1 and Turn 2 that won't get mixed up as easily
- Moves with POW that "varies" show up as "--" instead of "0"
- Sleep Malady can last more than 2 turns
- Change Moves screen used to sometimes show the wrong pony's info. Now it double checks for the most recently highlighted pony
- When rapidly pressing buttons, the game can trip up. We addressed this on nearly every screen in the game
- When out of GP and forced into "Tackle Mode", unusable moves get removed from play
- We can finely control where we clamp the Stat Stage Buffs. (currently set on a -3 to 3 scale instead of the initial -6 to 6)
- Speedster passive ability now works
- Poni-Bot's Battery Doesn't absorb enemies' self-targeted moves
- Thestra's ability activates every 3 turns she's on the field, instead of every 3 turns period
- Life Drain particle effect animation flows in the correct direction now
- Death Glare consistently lowers the same stats each time
- Rock Toss & Rock Riot now harm Air ponies just like the description says
- Star Spurs Equip now works as described
- Hidden Spire hurts ponies that are swapped in after a KO
- Fixed Ember Tornado trap animation
- Yawn no longer resets itself
- Gigazorb now works when used by or used on Mauss
- Bide will only deal damage when the user actually takes damage, not when the opponent uses a move that could/will eventually deal damage
- Venom is now guaranteed to apply Poison
- Devil Shot now makes its POW 1/2 of the user's EATK stat
- The UI will show you when Buffs & Debuffs are applied, right when they happen
- Getting a 9+ Combo on a Multi-Hit Move no longer causes the Hit Counter to stay onscreen
- Exiting Battle now Resets Bonus Value assignments and Toggling "Disable BVs" button won't erase what you assigned them to
- Mini Pony Sprites Animate properly in their little boxes across all menus
Assembled to save any Let's Players & Streamers out there some time!
A whole bunch of Battle Gem Ponies art we use to make our own promotional graphics can now be in your capable hands to make some pretty slick looking BGP thumbnails. Have fun with it!
Let us know if there's anything else you'd like to see added!
- Each pony partner has a name like "Epona" or "Ditzy" that you can change on the Team Select screen. That's you pony's real name. Now each form it can turn into has a species name like Simber or Orscina that you can also nickname to be whatever you want.
- The leftover swirlies is indeed a bug and we'll have to clean that up next patch.
- When a pony runs low on Gem Power it can't use expensive moves like Heavy Attacks anymore. You can see how much GP you have using that diamond bar underneath your health. The number displays how many layers you have left underneath the current row of 10 on display. You get some back each turn so you can eventually use those lost moves again.
In the final game all these abstract concepts like GP, nicknames, and having a single shapeshifting partner will be explained in a tutorial, but for now we're just taking notes on what needs to be explained, what's intuitive enough, and what do players assume when they see something new.
This post was super helpful and we'll be taking this feedback into account to make a bigger, better, clearer BGP!
BGP (September DevLog): Forming a TEAM!
This past month has been the most productive by a mile.
A nice new tradition I'm starting up is putting up 2 Patreon updates a month now. One at the beginning of the month and one at the end. These posts are getting super meaty and full of news now, so the separation gives some breathing room to the avalanche of content to talk about. This month's posts are about finally finding a programmer to help me exponentially speed up development. We got a lot done in just the past 30 days and now the prototype phase is at least 50% complete.
See the full Patreon Exclusive posts here!
Otherwise come back in a month for some big news. Because now that we have momentum going, a new demo you can play will be here before you know it.
Or for now, come checkout a quick summary of October's progress on the Yotes Blog.
BGP (August DevLog): Variables n' Messes!
Long story short, the 600+ variables required to make Battle Gem Ponies work have been put into a new usable form that'll make what's coming next possible. With all the ingredients finally here it's time to whip up a fresh and playable version of the game!
See the full Patreon Exclusive post here!
Otherwise come get a glimpse of the game's upcoming development tasks on the Yotes Blog.