Asc progress was tad slow and unstable around Christmas time and beginning of January, but it's looking better again. For the time being I'm facing some problems with the hardware again, eh, but I've been able to work on my old pc temporarily.
I've been spending time writing and planning things down, now that I'm not able to work the game directly. Seems it always works better this way for me however. I've been able to fill in several gaps that always form at some point when I'm running out of ideas. I guess I should change my methods of working, because it seems linear progress is not very productive for me, really.
Maybe to prevent any of frustration forming, coming in between me, and finishing things for the game, I should just change my way of working to even more "flexible" manner, and switch the area of game I'm focusing at, whenever I've got fresh new ideas, so I can keep the creativity rolling.
Anyway, pouting aside. Lately I've been able to get several of the vague ideas and gray areas shape up quite nicely, including now pretty much of the intro (A.R. time), finally rest of the dialogue for escort scene which introduces Quinn Dasstar, and some other things. I'm still going to keep up with the thinking for now, instead of direct work. When I separate planning and producing stages, they're both a lot more effective, and I don't run as much out of ideas and get my progress blocked, whatsoever.
Mostly this means I'm able to move onto fresh new area and gain some extra boost on my motivation also, even though I don't feel like I'm short of it at the moment.
I've also finished a lineart of Lin sometime ago, as well as new mountain chipset compilation for a mountain passage where you gain control of Cyrus and Quinn for the first time.
DEMO RELEASE DATE:Release date of the first Ascendence demo alpha is also now confirmed. It'd be
Mar 20th when
Release Something! VI: Return of the Jedi takes place, IN CASE this is the organised release day, and not the beginning of the event itself. If the date the games are aimed to be released for the event changes, so will Asc's release date.
For now I can't say how "complete" the content released for this alpha will be, because there's various aspects and factors requiring still lots of work, but I'm aiming to fill in most of the gaps and whatnot, so that there's still at least something that you can complete for it's length.
It's unlikely I'd be able to finish all of the factors which make Ascendence's actual gameplay, like the character customization for example, because I'm still doing math for the system and planning it down, because it needs to be scaled for the entire game, so I can't promise you'll see anything in it's full potential, of course because it's not ready.
It will be just something, an alpha, a very incomplete version. Don't get your hopes too high, though I'm not trying to talk you down either, but just keep that in mind. =)
So yes, because there is an assigned release date, I will be releasing what I've got then, not something that's polished to extent or completed. What I mean by this, is that it's not certain if you'll get a demo, or just something. Demo would mean for me a release of content I'm happy about, and something, just a release of what I've got (which is not like me.)
I'll be doing my best to get the content in shape which I'll be pleased about and hence make it a solid demo release, but there is also a chance you'll get a release which ends to a same point in game, but with less of content. We'll see!
Also that this release will be an "Alpha" means it haven't been beta tested or it hasn't received any feedback yet. This is what the Release Something day at
Rpgmaker.net is for.
In conclusion, what I wanted to inform, is that I'm very motivated, the progress is steady, things are rolling, and a release is coming!
And here's the lineart of Lin, btw:
