Here's a small End of May Dev Update to let you all know that development is progressing smoothly! There's not much new to show you this time, as in the last few weeks the main focus mostly lied on technical stuff - Bugs have been fixed, performance has been optimized, game mechanics have been polished, and more playthrough statistics are finally making their way into the player profile!
Still, there has been quite a bit of progress on the game world as well, with new areas and regions added, or previous ones expanded.
With the weather being like this outside, simply staying in bed always seems like a solid option.
Unless you're up for some brave adventuring, that is. This abandoned mine lies just waiting to be explored.
These little creatures really seem to enjoy their favorite relaxation spot!
That's it for now! Have a great day, and until next time!
Demo Release and 1.03 Patch Notes
Yay! The Demo of A Sister's Journey has just launched this week, alongside Steam Next Fest! The festival is already going strong, with so many amazing games to play, and if you want to give the A Sister's Journey Demo a shot, you can right now!
Additionally, as a little heads up: If you want to, but simply don't have enough time to try the demo during this Next Fest, don't worry! The demo will stay up for a while longer after that, so everyone who likes to try the game will have the chance to do so!
There have already been a lot of people trying the demo, and I want to shout out a huge Thank You to all of you, for playing the game, for your positive, kind and encouraging words on various channels, but also your valuable feedback!
I've been working hard on various small hotfixes during the last few days, listened to your feedback to make several adjustments especially regarding combat, and added a few much requested features. There's still more to come and being worked on, but for now, here's the first patch and the patch notes for demo version 1.03 :
Added the option to always dash in the direction you're currently facing.
Added/Fixed that you can now dodge smaller bullets and enemies while dashing.
Added an additional accessibility option (Spiritual Guidance) for weapon shots to cost no energy.
Made several adjustments to the first boss fight, to make it both more approachable regarding managing the adds and your energy, and give more visual cues.
Adjusted the vertical climb section right after the second boss to make it more approachable.
Fixed a bug that could prevent picking up a Battery Core from the ground when facing away from it.
Fixed a bug that caused shots fired with the Rapid Pulse Rifle to not always be able to travel above 1-tile high ledges.
Made slight adjustments to the animations and mechanics so that when firing upwards, the bullets are a bit more aligned to the center of where the player stands.
Disabled the ability to swap weapons until the Energy Core is found, to prevent accidentally switching to the broken Impact Cannon during combat at the beginning of the game.
Made the first cave entrance in the tutorial section more visible. (There's also a minor shader bug going on at this place, which makes the doorway hard to see in some cases, which will be fixed soon as well).
Added a little hint to the first room in Infested Caves.
That's a wrap! There are still a few more rare, and sometimes rather elusive bugs needing to be fixed, and some further improvements I've already planned, so I get right back to work. In the meantime, I wish you all a great time with the demo!
A Sister's Journey goes Steam Next Fest!
Hey everyone!
I hope all of you had a great start in the new year, and we too couldn't wait to hop right into it and start it with a bang!
Announcement Time!
The next edition of the Steam Next Fest is right around the corner, starting on Feb. 6th - and A Sister's Journey will be part of it! That's right, I'm thrilled to announce that in less than two weeks you'll be able to take a shot at the game yourself, when the new and freshly prepared Demo Version launches for the first time!
Keep your eyes peeled for more news in the following days, and if you really don't want to miss anything and be there right when the Demo launches, make sure to wishlist and follow the game!
All Pixels On Deck
My Steam Deck also arrived several weeks ago, and I couldn't wait putting the game on it first thing. It was immensely satisfying to see the game boot up and run almost flawlessly right out of the box - and especially since A Sister's Journey is built with a custom engine, this definitely felt like a huge step.
I've fixed all encountered bugs so far, done some further tweaks and optimizations, and now it feels almost ready to go! There are still some minor issues to take care of, but other than that it feels super satisfying to play A Sister's Journey on the Deck, and playing the Demo from start to finish has been a blast.
So if you own a Steam Deck, you can try it out yourself soon, too!
Main Menu
No game is complete without one - And every project in development truly feels like finally becoming a real game once you give it a proper main menu!
And while it often just functions as a simple stop on your way to start the real thing, it also still is the very first thing players see of a game, therefore I took a lot of care so everyone feels warmly invited and welcomed into this wondrous world, waiting to be explored.
Most of the work in the recent weeks was focused on preparing the demo, testing and optimizing, but a lot of progress has been made on the game itself, too! So enjoy a few more new scenes and teasers, some of which you'll likely be able to directly explore in the demo yourself.
It's probably better to keep your distance when this beam goes off.
Be quick, else you might get trapped. Or worse.
Calm and relaxing, this tranquil area invites for a small break on your long journey.
Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for the next update, the launch of the demo, and the upcoming Next Fest!
Dev Update August 2022 - Caves, enemies, loot and more!
Hey everyone!
It's been a while since the last update post, so it's high time for another one! Development of A Sister's Journey is going strong as ever, and there's a lot to share about the progress that has been made in the last few weeks! Let me show you some new underground regions, more finished enemies, and some shiny items to grab:
Far below the surface, these seemingly endless waterfall caverns lie waiting to be explored. Or to get lost in.
These maddened Fungal Slimes can cause quite the havoc in numbers, so better plan your actions with care, else you might get overwhelmed quickly!
Loot!
Overcoming challenges and defeating dangerous foes is only half the fun if there's not some shiny loot to grab! You might have already spotted some of these items in other videos, here are some more details about what they're used for:
Power Crystals
Collecting these from defeated enemies will increase the power level of your currently equipped weapon. This is a quick way to become more powerful on the fly, even in the middle of an intense battle - but take care: if you take damage, you'll lose a big chunk of that power again!
Components
These shiny cogwheels can be found all around the world, often hidden in secret areas, or as a reward for good platforming, solving little puzzles, and of course for defeating powerful foes. They are used to permanently upgrade your guns, and with over 100 upgrades being obtainable for the guns alone, it's always worth keeping an eye out for them - especially the rare, golden ones!
Soul Shards
Once reaching a certain point in the game's story, these mysterious shards can be acquired from defeated enemies as well. And while I don't want to reveal much of the later parts of the game yet, you will be able to exchange them for some powerful perks later on!
Crystal Scarabs
These shiny valuables are a special currency used in certain regions of the world, and are often used for purchases or trades. Can't have enough of them!
Health Crystals
These rare and powerful crystals can be used to permanently increase your total health. Rumors are that powerful bosses often have them in their collection, others tell that some of them might be well hidden across the world. Definitely a valuable find.
I hope you enjoyed this small collection of some of the many items you'll find on your journey, and these were only the beginning. Many more wondrous items lie hidden out there, waiting to be found, with the rarest of them granting powerful perks or even complete new abilities. I'm looking forward to show you some more of them next time!
Finally, I want to give a huge shoutout and Thank You to all of you for all your amazing, ongoing support towards the game! I know many of you are eagerly waiting to get your hands on the final game, and so do I!
Originally, I hoped to have the game ready near the end of the year, however I feel that a release in 2023 is much more feasible at this point, and while I'm truly sorry to have you all wait yet a while longer, this feels like the better choice to make. There's still a bit of work to be done, plus I absolutely want to make sure to bring everything in this game to the level of quality where I imagine it to be. I want to take the time needed to deliver the best experience possible with this game, not to rush it, and leave you all with a well-polished, final product to enjoy and have a blast with! I'm sure many of you know that game development requires a lot of hard work, with new challenges around every corner - especially if you're working on all of it solo, and on such a large and ambitious project. I poured many years of hard work and love into this game, so I hope you're bearing with me just a while longer!
The entrance to an ancient and mysterious forest.
On the plus side, I can confirm that there will be a playable demo coming up as well! I heard many of you asking for one, and it's definitely planned to bring a demo out there, and to Steam Next Fest too! The upcoming fest is already around the corner, so it'll likely be the one after that, which should be around February. And with this, a full release hopefully might not be too far off after that point too!
Additionally, my Steam Deck will likely arrive soon-ish as well, which finally means testing and optimizing the game for the deck, getting it verified, and ensuring a smooth launch! I'll keep you updated!
Until next time!
Dev Update May 2022 - Lots of progress!
Hey everyone!
A lot of progress has been made on the development of A Sister's Journey in the past few months, and I gladly want to share some of it with you today!
New Areas
Many additional of the lush and vibrant areas and biomes you will be able to explore on your journey have finally been brought to life, making them no longer rough concepts or crude level layouts only, but actually something real, and alive. Something truly inviting to be explored and to play around in, and most importantly, to share with you all!
Here's a small selection, hope you'll enjoy:
There are still some more zones to come, so stay tuned! But most of the general layouts are finished by now, and the only thing missing is filling out the remaining levels, and creating some more (and then some!). And lastly of course, populating the remaining areas with life: friends, enemies, bosses, challenges, puzzles and secrets and cool things to discover - which definitely is the most fun part to design!
Weapons and Effects
All the powerful and unique weapons you will come across during your travels are now fully implemented, have all their graphics done, all effects and animations designed, and all upgrades and functions are, well, functional! There's a lot to be discovered about them in the game - with many upgrades, special mechanics, unique gameplay and rewarding progress accompanying you throughout your journey.
It's way too much to show here in this little update, and after all, it's much more fun to discover them by yourselves once you'll be able to play! But here are a few teasers of some of them, and their newly added animations and effects:
And while dealing some serious damage definitely is their primary function, it won't be the only area where they will prove useful. With this game being a metroidvania, and all the weapons playing a major role in it, you will not only progress through the game and unlock new areas by learning new skills and movement abilities, but of course through clever use of the unique weapon mechanics and abilities as well!
Here's an example of the Bubble Gun, which absolutely is one of my favorite weapons to play around with right now, allowing you to traverse over (dangerous!) fluids in a pretty stylish way.
I will have more of the weapons and their mechanics to share in the future, and if you'd like to see even more of A Sister's Journey and its development, you're very welcome to follow on Twitter for more weekly updates, teasers, screenshots and videos!
That's it for now! Thanks so much for reading, and most of all for your tremendous support towards the game. It really means so much! Me, I'm hopping right back into work now. First on the list for the next few days is completing the remaining UI elements for the inventory, map, and game menu, as well as finishing some more of the enemies and boss encounters - On which I hope to have more to share in the near future.
