SLARPG: General update March 2020 (Patreon)

In my last update, I explained how we were nearing completion on our next goal, which was to get the next portion of the game following the end of the demo fully playable (if not quite 100% complete). I'm happy to report that we reached that goal several weeks ago, and private testing among friends and family has been going exceptionally well!

There are always things I need to tweak based on playtester feedback, but overall, the game is already shaping up really nicely. My playtesters seem satisfied with the combat and have enjoyed the freedom offered by the range of equipment available after the Basement Dungeon. Of the four playthroughs that have been done so far, no two players equipped the party with the exact same weapons and Spellbooks, which is exactly what I wanted to see! We're also starting to get into some more juicy parts of the story, which is very exciting.

I originally estimated that the entire game would be roughly five or six hours long, but we're already seeing playthroughs that last four hours. I think it's safe to say that this game is much bigger than we originally planned, likely surpassing the ten hour mark for completionists.

Anyway, here are a couple new Patreon-exclusive screenshots of some of the new content!

I've also been working on a very useful new menu.

Presenting... the Quest Log!

While SLARPG doesn't have any MMO-style fetch quests where you have to give an NPC ten boar tusks or anything, there's still a good amount to do and see in the game's world. Sometimes an NPC will tell you to talk to them again later. Or perhaps you just need to be reminded what you were trying to do in the main story when you last played a week ago. The Quest Log is there to help you keep track of these things!

The Quest Log also has something fun for players invested in the story and worldbuilding: a lore tab!

The lore entries here are unlocked as you make progress in the story, and some are unlocked as little extra rewards for players who love to inspect every interesting-looking object. I'm being careful not to go too overboard, though--while this stuff is fun for me to write, it's easy to overload players with too much trivia, and it's more satisfying if most of this information is revealed naturally on your adventure. But for those who want a little more info about the game's world, these entries are here for you!

That's all for now! As for what's next: we're already hard at work on the next part of the story and new areas further along on Melody's adventure. I'm feeling optimistic about getting another build with roughly two more hours of content done early this summer.

We still don't have a release window for the full game in mind, because life keeps coming up when we least expect it and getting in the way of development. But we've been making excellent progress this year, and are very proud of how the game is shaping up.

We'll keep you posted, and thank you all for your continued support!