The party must visit Freya in her home before proceeding (various dialogues were updated to reflect this)
A new cutscene with a new character was added to Freya's home
A new flashback cutscene featuring Ruthea was added after leaving Katti Town - the "end of demo" message was moved here alongside the Kickstarter pitch
If you've already finished the demo, you can still view both scenes by re-entering Katti Town, visiting Freya's house, and leaving Katti Town.
Besides a frustrating memory leak that's causing lag after a certain point, the demo is now (mostly) complete! It will be featured in the Steam Next Fest starting on June 13 as well!
As a reminder, if you plan on buying Absinthia on launch, please consider purchasing a key from the Kickstarter instead - that way you help the game come to life, and the project gets a bigger cut of your money than if you'd bought the game from Steam!
Absinthia Kickstarter: One-Week Update
Hello everyone! Hope you're doing well this week!
In the first week of Absinthia's Kickstarter campaign, we reached 43% funding with 202 backers! We received a solid boost today thanks to a shout-out from Something Classic and their Quartet Kickstarter. That campaign ended some time ago, but if you're into jRPGs, feel free to stop by there and give their Steam page a wishlist while you're at it!
My goal for the 2nd week is to pass above 50% funding. That might sound like a low goal, but we're heading into the "slow" period of the campaign, and it'll likely stay that way until the last week or so. If you'd like to help, I encourage you to share our campaign amongst any friends or social circles who'd be willing to help us out.
If you haven't pledged yet, here's the link!. If you plan on purchasing Absinthia on launch, please consider making a digital key pledge on the Kickstarter instead. This way you help guarantee the game's success, and the project gets a bigger cut than I would if you'd bought the game from Steam instead.
In addition--as I've said in my previous updates--if there's a reward I could add or a pledge tier I could adjust to bring in higher-tier pledges, feel free to let me know. My last two Kickstarter campaigns were much smaller in scale than this one, so when it comes to higher cost reward tiers I'm still learning the ropes!
Tier 1: Digital Key Tier 2: OST + Desktop Wallpapers Tier 3: Digital copies of Celestial Hearts and Knight Bewitched Tier 4: Absinthia Early Access (~1-2 months in advance)
The following tiers also include tiers 1-4 and a unique Discord server role:
Tier 5: Leave a message! (on a poster, grave, or book) Tier 6: Design a legendary weapon! (5 slots) Tier 7: Become an NPC! (40 slots) Tier 8: Design an enemy! (10 slots) Tier 9: Design a boss! (5 slots) Tier 10: Design a quest & NPC! (3 slots) Tier 11: Become a dungeon master! (Design a dungeon, boss, NPC & Quest)
If you're strapped for cash or just want a digital Steam key, no problem! For the first 24 hours you can pick up an Early Bird Absinthia key for just $12 (normally $15).
FAQ
Will there be digital keys offered for other platforms (namely the Nintendo Switch)?
I'm working with my publisher to see if I can offer Switch keys, but in all likelihood I won't have a definitive answer until Absinthia is finished. Unfortunately, the answer at this time is "I don't know". My publisher is handling the console porting and publishing, so whether or not I can obtain console keys is entirely up to them.
Are there be any physical rewards?
Nope, not this time! For context, the physical rewards offered with the Knight Bewitched campaign were a total wash (I actually lost money from them, and they were a huge time sink!)
Is Absinthia a sequel?
Absinthia takes place some time after the events and features some characters from my previous game Celestial Hearts. That said, Absinthia's story was written to stand alone, so you don't need to play Knight Bewitched or Celestial Hearts first to enjoy the story.
Is this game SFW?
Yes. The story features sapphic/yuri elements, but there is no nudity/NSFW content.
If you have any further questions, feel free to comment here or on the Kickstarter page itself! Once again, here is a link to the Kickstarter. See you there, and have a great week!
5-22-22 Demo Update & Kickstarter info
Hello! The Steam demo was updated this evening to version 1.6:
Lilith's Barrier (and all barriers) will no longer display long decimals
Minor optimization updates
Jake's Shuriken will no longer KO mobs (this was changed to prevent an edge-case bug, eventually I'll revert it)
Stretch modes were re-implemented into the options menu
I'm still looking into the cause of lag spikes during Lilith's boss fight.
If you have any issues or suggestions, feel free to comment or contact me at Jkweath (@) gmail.com.
4-24-22 Demo update, Discord server, and Cover art update
Hello! Alpha demo 1.5 was released today:
"Stretch Screen" in the Options menu was updated to allow the player to choose between four full-screen options: "Off" (no stretch), "Pixel Perfect", "Soft" (filtered stretch), and "Stretch" (no filter) -Temporarily removed "the Stretch Screen" option as it's causing lag spikes. Full-screen will default to Filtered Stretch until this is fixed
Some skills, items, and location names were changed to prevent text oddities
All interactable objects had their floating text replaced with "?" symbols to fix a similar problem as the one above
Many sound effects (mostly tied to skills) were replaced with new ones*
*Absinthia still uses some stock sound effects from the RPG Maker library. I'm in the process of replacing them so the game can be safely ported to consoles--after I secure a publishing deal
Absinthia's cover art is being updated with a new look that more accurately reflects the story's theme. Here's a sketch - the full illustration should be ready by next week!
Lastly, here's a reminder that I'll be launching a Kickstarter campaign for Absinthia in late May-early July. Click here to be notified when it goes live. Help me reach 200 followers so we can set a launch date!
As always, if you encounter any bugs with Absinthia or have suggestions, feel free to comment here or say something on the Discord server. Have a great week!
4-11-22 Demo Patch Notes
Hello,
An update to the public demo was released today:
Removed anti-aliasing from text. This will enable text to appear sharper, especially in full-screen (where the text would originally become horribly blurred). If you notice any text-related oddities or crashes as a result of this change, feel free to contact me and I'll look into it ASAP
Fixed the cutscene in Jake's mancave not triggering properly
The box in Sera's bedroom was replaced by an interactable armor stand. The box was moved into Erma's room and still contains gold
A small bit of dialogue hinting at Absinthia's sapphic nature will trigger if the player interacts with the letters in Freya's house after defeating Lilith
Fixed enemies not being KOd immediately after reaching 0 HP as a result of Jake's Shuriken Toss
The buttons in the title screen were re-arranged slightly. The Kickstarter button is much larger (to encourage c l i c k s) and room was made for a Discord server button in the future
After defeating Lilith, the ensuing scene will ask the player if they'd like to follow the Kickstarter pre-launch page and direct them to the URL if 'yes' is selected
The cavern backdrop in Jake's Mancave and Katti Cave has been enlarged. It looks much better now
A Kickstarter campaign will launch within the next couple months to fund Absinthia. Click here if you'd like to be notified when it goes live!. The tentative plan is to launch the Kickstarter after reaching 200 followers and after securing a publisher deal for a Nintendo Switch port.
If you encounter any problems with the demo or have suggestions, feel free to comment here or email me at Jkweath (@) gmail.com.
3-24-22 Demo Patch Notes
Hello,
The Demo for Absinthia was updated to 1.1 today! Here is the changelog:
Fixed a couple tileset passability issues
Slightly toned down language after speaking with Dom (Thomas's father) and reading the sign in Northwood
Lilith will now cast Barrier a 2nd time after she reaches 25% HP
Fixed the aggro/threat system so party members (esp. Thomas after using a healing spell) won't suddenly get ganged up on
Almost all ally skills had their damage buffed slightly so they feel more impactful to use compared to basic attacks. Enemy HP was bumped up slightly to compensate. End result is that difficulty should be about the same as before
If you encounter any problems or have suggestions or feedback, feel free to comment here, DM me on Twitter or email me at Jkweath (@) gmail.com.
Kickstarter Pre-Launch page is up! Demo coming soon!
Hello everyone!
A crowdfunding campaign for Absinthia will launch in mid-late April and run through May. If successful, we're looking at a release window around January 2023. Feel free to click the link so you can be notified when the campaign goes live!
A demo containing the first hour or so of gameplay for Absinthia will be available on March 22 and can be accessed from the game's store page.
Similar to our campaigns for Celestial Hearts and Knight Bewitched: Enhanced Edition, we're crowdfunding to cover the cost of assets. The artwork is being done by various talented pixel artists, while Jazz Stewart is making a return from the Enhanced Edition for the original soundtrack.
We're looking to raise about $23,000. This is significantly more than our previous campaigns - but with a higher funding goal comes better rewards, such as:
-Digital keys, OST, desktop wallpapers and credits -Digital keys for Knight Bewitched and Celestial Hearts -Early Access -Leaving your own message in an object in-game -Having your own NPC complete with name and dialogue -Designing your own legendary weapon, enemy, boss, or even your own quest!
If you have any questions about Absinthia, feel free to ask here or DM me on Twitter.
