Some time has passed so let's do another small Hi-Lights Post! There are some changes we can show off, but also some news about Gamescom! Because yes, we'll be there!
Recent Progress
Lots of stuff happened since the last update! There is just a little problem: we don't want to show much of the recent progress to avoid spoilers! So if it seems like there is little new stuff... that's why.
Anyway, here are some of the things we actually can show off:
We work on the new area Sapphire Ridge. While the tileset is pretty much derived from the area of the intro, we added couple more tiles and details.
Sapphire Ridge will feature densly grown bamboo trees, but there will be hidden gaps where you can wander through!
There will also be more plants to destroy! The destruction of nature shall continue!
Another thing we worked on is the new Trophies menu! And yes, eventually some of these trophies will be connected to Steam Achievements!
...And yeah. That's all. Again: Lot's of stuff happening in secret! Really!
Gamescom
Gamescom, that massive trade fair for video games, will be next week in Cologne, Germany! And we'll be there as well!
We plan to attend Gamescom on August 22 and 23! We won't have any booth but will be there as visitors. We'll also bring CrossCode stickers! If anybody is there as well and wants to meet up, just let us know via E-Mail, Twitter or Discord. We'll also use Twitter and Discord to potentially organize meetups while we're there.
And yeah, that's all pretty much! Until next time!
Hotfix Release 0.9.5-5 + Contest Winners!
We spent the last week fixing smaller and more nuanced bugs, but also managed to squeeze in a few new features and additions! All of this is now released with Hotfix Version 0.9.5-5! Also the boss contest just ended and we've already chosen the winner!
Hotfix Release 0.9.5-5
The newest version should fix another batch of smaller issues, including:
But that's not all! We also worked on a few new additions that also made it into this hotfix release:
Boss Contest Solution
Yes, the Boss Contest is over! We asked you to win a certain PvP fight in front of Faj'ro Temple and most of you probably already guessed who the opponent was.
Do you accept, blue-haired Spheromancer?!
Yes, it was Apollo waiting for you!
We had a total of 61 Submissions for this contest, which once again sets a new record!
A lot of you fought Apollo honorably with appropriate level, equipment and just owning the fire element:
Apollo is pleased.
You fought honorably, like a true Spheromancer!
However...
There have also been... other submissions.
What?
As it turns out, we had quite a number of cheaters among us! Some of you just cheated a little. You merely had the ice element and your stats have been just slightly above the norm at most:
We can let that slide, right?
...
But then we have a long...
....loong....
...loooong list of players with level 40+, all 4 elements, overpowered equipment... All of it! Now you can hardly call that a chall-
CHEATERS! YOU DIRTY LITTLE CHEATERS! DO YOU HAVE NO HONOR?! HOW CAN YOU EVEN CALL YOURSELF A SPHEROMANCER?!
... Well, anyway! There was no rule against any of that. So all of these submissions are still valid. Sorry, Apollo!
This is madness!
Oh, but we also got a number of submissions that did quite the opposite and went for a true hardcore challenge
We're quite blown away to see that level of skill from our players!
... Alright. I admit it. Very impressive.
Now, the winner is randomly drawn from all of these submissions! We did so live during yesterday's gamedev stream (just ignore the mistake where we've chosen the wrong person at first...)!
And the winner is...
稍等等
Congratulations, you won a guest NPC somewhere in CrossCode! We'll make sure to contact you once we start implementing those NPCs.
Of course, one of the cheaters. There is no justice. I'm outta here.
And that's all for today's post! This was likely the last CrossCode hotfix for 0.9.5... unless even more unexpected issues come up.
That means we'll now focus on content for version 0.9.7 and beyond!
Until next time!
CrossCode: New Gameplay Trailer + Hotfixes
With all the stuff going on for the 0.9.5 release we forgot about a little thing: we have a new gameplay trailer!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKHAu5u2ho0
This trailer shows off the new battle theme and combat arts and was once again made by MultiMedia AMDG! Big Shoutout to them for another amazing collaboration!
And yes... Version 0.9.5 was released and as usual there are bugs.
Since yesterday we already released 2 Hotfix versions fixing many of the critical issues.
And we've already prepared another Hotfix. Version 0.9.5-3 will fix a couple more issues including the following:
Unfortunately we're currently unable to set this version live! ... due to some technical issues with Steam. Servers are not responding.
We're already constantly trying and also notified Steam Support about this. Hopefully we'll be able to set the new version live within the next few hours or tomorrow latest.
We'll make sure to extend this post once the new hotfix is live!
Sorry for the delay.
UPDATE: The new Hotfix 0.9.5-3 is now finally live!
CrossCode 0.9.5 Story Time!
Yes, yes... It's finally time to continue the story of CrossCode! And boy, did we take our sweet time with it. Though we did also release some cool new stuff in between, so it's all good, right?
Anyway, this update doesn't just continue the story but also adds in new features, balancing and so on. We also got another Contest for you! Let's get right to it!
Finally More Story
This is the big one. The story continues in Ba'kii Kum. C'tron will be properly introduced and you get to spend more time with the First Scholar guild. In case you already continued playing you have the option to get set back to the previous end of the story. We strongly encourage you to do so since the game will most definitely break otherwise! But don't worry you can keep all the loot you obtained.
This story will also take you into an area some of you might already know...
Extending Autumn's Fall
Autumn's Fall got a bit bigger! The area felt a bit small at times and since we wanted story to happen in the area we decided to add a few maps all neatly tight together with a quest that is required in order to progress.
Prepare for a real mischief maker!
Also for the first time ever, Rookie Harbor North opens up! The map is still Work-in-Progress but we already have a lot of happy people strolling about.
Equipment Level
We often had the feedback that players felt under-powered, even when the enemy level matched the player level. Usually the reason for this was that players used equipment that was outdated relative to the foes they were facing. Equipment plays a huge role in your stats. Much more than skills or level-ups. It was our mistake to not properly communicate the importance of equipment enough. Now with showing a level for each equipment piece we feel it's much easier to notice when it's time to upgrade!
So as you can see, each piece of equipment now shows you which level it is best used at. No worries: the level is only a recommendation, not a requirement you can still wear whatever gear you can get your hands on! Additionally we added a small UI in the equipment menu that shows both the player- and average equipment level. Your equipment level should always be above or equal to the player level. Colors indicate how well the levels are aligned. Here's a small clip showing how it looks in action:
And lastly we made small change to how the colors are displayed when checking out an enemy via your Seeker Senses. Instead of just comparing your level against the enemy level it now also includes the average equipment level. This means that when fighting an enemy at the same level you might still get a red color indicating that his enemy is stronger than you are.
We hope that these changes will help players in the future. It could be said that this feature was implemented thanks to the community, so thanks everyone for the feedback!
MORE QUESTS
What? You thought we would release a major update without new quests? As always we tried to come up with interesting ideas as well as stories. New Quests can be found in Ba'kii Kum, Basin Keep (Remember the Galaxy Spiral Drill Trader? Visit him again. However his quest is not finished right now.), Bergen and Rookie Harbor.
But this time we also removed quests! Namely those tedious and boring fetch-quests you could get at the Rookie Harbor Questhub. Instead the Faction-Indroduction-NPC and a new quest NPC will be in front of the desk. Hopefully this gives a better first impression of quests!
Finally, you might notice that we added new UIs for quests too. Like a nice countdown or a dedicated score UI for quests including mini games.
Controls
A common request we had ever since we released the game was the people would like to have a dedicated Melee- and Guard-Button. Well, guess what? We finally implemented it! Mouse & Keyboard users can setup the button inside the bindings section of the options menu. Gamepad users can use X/Square for a melee attack and B/Circle for guarding.
We added some additional options to disable the melee/guard actions for the previous input methods in case you want to go all out on the new setting.
New Music
Of course this update also includes a few new themes composed by Intero himself. You listen to them on his Twitter account through these links:
You can now finally see what each buff item does! Just hover over an item, press H/Start to open the help screen and select the icon in the bottom left corner. As you can see, you will get a nice overview over what each icon means. Plus, the buff icons now look much better. Thanks T-Free!
Also you can now place Pins on your map, choosing from a number of symbols! That should help to keep track on things you find around the area.
We also spend a lot of time balancing equipment and enemies again. Spoilers: HP Regen got a nerf! It was just way too powerful! But on the plus side, enemies now have new damage ceilings preventing them from doing too much damage to the player at once! (Looking at you Mr. Snowman.) Overall equipment has also been buffed. Especially the trader gear which sometimes felt weaker compared to the base equipment you could buy.
This new language selection UI has also been added to make it easier to add more languages later on. As you can see you get a nice flag icon now! Doesn't it look slick?
More changes can be found in the changelog inside the game as usual.
Contest: Win the PvP Fight!
Another Boss contest? Sure why not! In fact, version 0.9.5 comes with several new boss fights!
What we want you to record is the PvP Battle that you will have in front of Faj'ro Temple!
Show us how you win the PvP battle in front of Faj'ro Temple!
Just create a public video (Youtube, Twitch, doesn’t matter) and send us a link to contest@radicalfishgames.com.
You can add your live reaction or leave it out, whatever you prefer!
Among all people who send us a video, we’ll draw the following prize:
You get your personal NPC guest role somewhere in CrossWorlds - you decide the location! You can be an Avatar, a regular citizen or maybe something else? We’ll work together to figure out the details!
Deadline: Saturday, July 8, 23:59 PST
Alright, that's it. Quite a lot, we know. It's time for you to play now! And once you're done, tell us what you think about the new stuff.
Until next time!
... Let the bug reports commence!
2 Years Early Access + Release Schedule Update
Woah, has it really been 2 years already? Indeed: CrossCode started Early Access back in May 2015. To celebrate the occasion we have a Daily Deal today on Steam!
Now before some of you might be tempted to take the offer we thought it would be fair to talk about the ever-so-important question:
When is CrossCode finally finished?
Back in 2016 we posted our release schedule and at that time, we estimated the final release for June-September 2017. We're now very close at this date and unfortunately see that there is still too much left to do. Yes, most major locations and dungeons have been finished and you can already gather all 4 elements. The only major thing that is now missing is the story. And story is difficult. It's important to us that the plot will leave enough space for character development, will be able to surprise you and most important of all: will have a satisfying conclusion. All of this unfortunately takes time, more than we estimated.
The only way we could release on time would be by cutting content, making the game shorter than intended. This will of course leave the final product lacking and we really want to avoid this.
The good news is: financially we can afford to develop the game until it reaches the intended conclusion. That of course means we have to postpone the release. We fully understand that some of you might be angry about that. But we also believe that, in the end, nobody wins when we release an incomplete game on time. We owe it to you to give this game a satisfying conclusion and we believe this is what most of you want us to do as well.
With all that being said, we now target a release of CrossCode in Early 2018. Yes, this is big step, but this should give us enough time to finish the story and make sure it reaches a satisfying conclusion. It will hopefully be the last time we have to postpone the release to such an extend.
Since it will be another half a year, we plan to add a few more releases in-between with more content to play.
New Release Schedule
CrossCode 0.9.5 Release Date: June 2017
This update will finally extend the story! By quite a bit as well. It will slightly expand locations around Maroon Valley, Rookie Harbor and Autumn's Fall, include several smaller boss battles and plenty of interesting plot developments. It may also be leaving you wanting more story, so be warned.
Includes:
CrossCode 0.9.7 Release Date: Autumn 2017
This release will add the new area Sapphire Ridge with new enemies and puzzles included. You may recognize the area from another part of the game you've already played.
We'll also finally work on all those backer perks we promised back during our Indiegogo campaign.
Includes:
CrossCode 0.9.9 Release Date: End of 2017
This release will implement the new level 3 combat arts so you can try those out and give us feedback for balancing!
You will also, for the first time, be able to enter Rhombus Square. You might only be able to enter certain parts of the city in the beginning, but we intend to expand the place over time, even beyond the 1.0 release.
Includes:
CrossCode 1.0 Release Date: Early 2018
This will be the big release of the full version! It will include a (hopefully) satisfying conclusion to the story.
Includes:
Note that versions 0.9.7 and 0.9.9 will have less content compared to previous releases. That's because a lot of content for the final version will be developed in parallel to those versions but only released with the full game.
Post Release Content
Of course we still plan to develop the game beyond it's final release adding more post-game content and remaining backer perks we didn't manage to implement on time.
This includes:
And this is our new schedule! Again we're very sorry we have to postpone the release once again, but we really hope that all the wait will be worth it in the end!
Localization
Two weeks ago, we released the Chinese Localization with help of our partner WhisperGames.
We are now also happy to announce that we're working on a Japanese Localization with our new partner Dangen Entertainment to be released sometime during Early Access, possibly with version 0.9.7.
Now many of you asked for translation into other languages, be it Russian, Spanish, French etc. We're still in the process of looking for potential partners for some of these languages, but if nothing comes up, we do plan to involve the community to help up translate CrossCode to other languages. However, we plan to start those community translations later once we're closer to the version 1.0. This is mostly because working with more people to translate the game early on may further distract us from developing the game itself and we really don't want to keep postponing the release!
Back from BitSummit
We're back from BitSummit in Kyoto, Japan and man... what an event.
We met a lot of other cool developers including Konjak (Iconoclast), Bomb Service (Momodora), Kayin (Brave Earth: Prologue), and Stellar Jockeys (Brigador) among many others!
Our CrossCode booth got a lot of visitors by all kind of folks... and also the press!
And now you we nice articles by IGN Japan and IGN USA! There was also a Famitsu articles that disappeared... but maybe it'll show up again!
Traveling all the way to Japan was quite exhausting and so was standing at the booth all day long, but overall it was definitely worth it and we'd gladly do it again next year!
We also want to say thanks to Dangen Entertainment for organizing a great deal of the whole thing and taking good care of us in general!
See you at Dokomi!
This Saturday and Sunday we'll be at Dokomi in Düsseldorf, Germany presenting CrossCode! You'll find us in Hall 4, Booth L12! If you're there, feel free to drop by, say "Hi!" and get a sticker!
And that's all folks. Until then!
CrossCode 0.9.2 with Chinese Localization + Faster Startup!
We got a small little update for you! CrossCode version 0.9.2 now features a complete Chinese translation done by WhisperGames!
Chinese on the title screen. Such nice characters.
Chinese dialogs. I can't read anything.
Chinese menus. Yupp. This reminds me of old times when I tried to play imported RPGs.
...So yeah! Let's hope that WhisperGames does a good job with the localization! It's not like we can check it! :D
Another change: CrossCode should now start much faster. Previously, all game assets have been shipped in an archive that had to be fully extracted before the game could start. Not only did this take long it also spammed your hard drives with the extracted files over and over again. Yeah, that was a bad idea. Sorry for that! Anyway, this is a thing of the past and from now on CrossCode should start right away without any archive extraction!
Oh... and in case you're wondering about other localizations: we're about to fly to Kyoto, Japan to attend BitSummit so maybe you can guess what other translation we're currently working on...
And that's all! Now let's wrap up this post with Lea wearing a cheongsam!
再见！
Hi-Lights + Upcoming Events
We're about to enter May so it's time to talk about recent progress and upcoming releases!
New Game Artwork and Logo
Something we've been working on for quiet some time now is finally done. Introducing: the new game artwork:
We decided to go for a different theme compared to the previous artwork, focusing on different characters. We also put a lot more effort into the whole thing overall!
You also might notice that we changed the Logo of the game to something that stands out a little bit more. We plan to adapt the logo inside the game as well.
Development Progress
CrossCode Version 0.9.5 was originally scheduled to be released sometime April to May this year. This version will add a big chunk of story that will cover the whole Maroon Valley, Faj'ro Temple, as well as Autumn's Fall. Now as it turned out... developing this story and everything connected to it took longer than expected. That's why we most likely won't be able to finish version 0.9.5 in time. The way things look right now we might have to postpone the release by another month to June 2017. Of course, the release of version 1.0, originally scheduled for June-September 2017, will likely also be impacted by that.
That of course doesn't mean nothing happened. To the contrary! Here some impressions of recent development:
We started adding new effects when changing your element mode.
We finally finished that Maroon Tree Quest...
...including a lot of battles against those sand worms.
Some more stuff happening in Ba'kii Kum! Who might they be talking about?
Our party finally reaching Faj'ro Temple...
...and the new area at the top of Faj'ro Temple!
Also included: more dreams!
Something else we're working on: Quests. More Box pushing!
And here we have the comeback of the infamous target bots! Note that this quest is still heavily WIP.
In addition to that Intero has worked on several new music tracks!
Upcoming Events
In 2016 we focused 100% on development and essentially stayed home permanently, working with the exception of a few CrossWeeks maybe. Or at least somewhat like that.
Now in 2017 we're getting close to finishing the game so we thought it's about time to start visiting some Event to promote CrossCode!
Thus here two upcoming events we'll be attending within the next two month:
We'll be attending bitSummit from May 20-21 in Kyoto, Japan!
And two weeks later, not quite as far away:
We'll also attend Dokomi from June 3-4 in Düsseldorf, Germany!
If you happen to be around, feel free to drop by and say hello! We might also bring a little bit of CrossCode Merch with us!
And that's all for now!
And sorry that things take a bit longer once again.
CrossCode now with Voice Acting!
Note: the Voice Acting Feature was a prank for April Fools Day. Read more about it at the end of the post
Today we have a very special release for you! CrossCode version 0.9.1 now adds Voice Acting for most of the main characters. That's right: You can now listen to the voice of Lea, Emilie, Sergey, Apollo and many other characters!
CrossCode is all about its characters and their story. Giving those characters a voice has the potential to further elevate the whole experience - if done right! That's why we took extra care to assemble the most qualified team of professional voice actors.
And so we proudly present:
The Voice Actors of CrossCode
Lea voiced by Florian ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Emilie voiced by Fleur ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Sergey voiced by F10514N ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Schneider voiced by FloriNEIN ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Shizuka voiced by Furorian-chan ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Satoshi voiced by Furorian-kun ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Carla voiced by Flow ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Captain Jet voiced by Floriarrrrrrn ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Apollo voiced by Flowright ‘Teflo’ Justin Justitian
Shady Adversary voiced by Fl*rian ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
Strange Blue Guy voiced by Florilord ‘Teflo’ Valentin Valerius
More Voice Acting for other characters is planned for future releases! Probably.
And that's all for version 0.9.1! Have fun!
Note: For those players who simply don't appreciate high quality voices acting, we added an option to disable it.
UPDATE: Happy April Fools Day!
Yes, the high quality Voice Acting was a prank. While we'd love to have proper voice acting, it's not something we can easily afford to do. So this is about the best you'll get.
With the release of Hotfix Version 0.9.1-1 the Voice Acting has now been removed again - at least by default. If you truly miss those voices, you can enable them again with the Bonus Code "Best-VA". You can use the same code to disable it again. Also note that Voice Acting will always be disabled by default when you restart the application.
Krys'kajo Boss Contest Results + Hotfix Releases
About two weeks ago, we released CrossCode version 0.9 and, once again, hold a small contest for everyone to beat the new boss enemy within a week and send us a video of it. And today we announce the winner! Also, a small note on recent hotfix releases
Boss Contest Result
This time we got a total of 46 submissions which is more than we ever had before!
The boss of the Grand Krys'kajo was somewhat special in that it was the first time you had to fight two enemies at the same time. It's also special in that you can decide which of the two bosses to defeat first. While most player went with the obvious approach of getting rid of the whale first, there are some submissions that managed to defeat the ape before the whale!
As before, we've drawn a random number during our last Gamedev Stream to decide the winner.
And the lucky person is...
WervynAnixil
Congratulations!
We'll make sure to contact you about your guest role, which can be anywhere in CrossWorlds!
Recent Hotfixes
We already released a couple of hotfixes for version 0.9.0. Today we released another one (version 0.9.0-4) introducing a couple more fixes and improvements including the following:
... And with that hotfix we hope to have fixed most of the critical bugs.
Now it's finally time to continue the story! The next release is scheduled for April-May. We'll make sure to keep you updated!
CrossCode 0.9 Final Jungle Temple + C'Tron + Quests
It's done! Just in time. Today we release CrossCode Version 0.9 as promised in February! This updates comes with another new dungeon, a very big circuit update, a new party member, lots of quests and many, many more features, improvements, and additions!
Grand Krys'kajo - The final temple of the Jungle
With the Grand Krys'kajo we release the final temple of Gaia's Garden. Being the follow up dungeon after the So'najiz and Zir'vitar Temple it will combine puzzle mechanics from both dungeons and finish things off with an epic boss fight! Boss fight... are you thinking contest? That's right! Read more about it further below.
Level 2 Combat Arts
The circuit made a pretty big leap with this update: all passive skill, as well as level 1 and level 2 Combat Arts have been fully implemented. That means the circuit is pretty much complete with the exception of level 3 combat arts. Since so many things changed, you'll get the option to reset your skill tree when you load your old save.
Also: we added a new Practice Arena in the Info Building of Rookie Harbor! You can practice all the Combat Arts to your heart's content without being limited by SP costs.
C'Tron - Now ready to join your Party
C'Tron is now finally ready to join party! When you reach the current end of the story, C'Tron will send you a message, allowing you to invite him to your party via the Social Menu. This will also work with old save states. Note: C'Tron is currently only there for you to enjoy the gameplay with a 3rd party member - scenes and plenty of chit-chat will be added later.
But that's not all! Party Members are now much more capable in general, as they will start using elements and combat arts during battle - and are less likely to fall into water... a bit. You also now have more options for your party's behavior via the new and shiny strategy menu!
Lots of new Quests
This update has Quests. Many Quests. 8 of them. You'll find them in Bergen Village, Maroon Valley, Ba'kii Kum, and Basin Keep. They come with many new boss fights, mini games, and other cool challenges! So make sure to keep an eye out for those flashing exclamation marks!
New Help Menu
Remember when you used to look at a trading offer, trying to figure out what a certain modifier does? Help Menu to the rescue! With a simple button press you now can see on screen explanations for all kind of menu content, including stats, modifiers, and many other things. The new help menu is available in most menu views, including Trading, Shopping, Equipment, Inventory, and many more.
Other Stuff
This update packs a lot of smaller cool features that are also worth mentioning
Contest: Beat the Boss of the Grand Krys'kajo!
This is possibly our final boss contest before the full release!
Show us how you beat the boss of the Grand Krys'kajo!
Just create a public video (Youtube, Twitch, doesn’t matter) and send us a link to contest@radicalfishgames.com.
You can add your live reaction or leave it out, whatever you prefer!
Among all people who send us a video, we’ll draw the following prize:
You get your personal NPC guest role somewhere in CrossWorlds - you decide the location! You can be an Avatar, a regular citizen or maybe something else? We’ll work together to figure out the details!
Deadline: Sunday, March 5, 23:59 PDT
Phews! That's all.
Have fun with the new release and make sure to beat up that new boss for good!
And now comes the time of Bug hunting.
Hotfix 0.9.0-3 released
We released Hotfix 0.9.0-3 that should fix a number of issues, including crashes when talking to NPCs, crashes during Jet's Tutorial and more.
Chinese on the title screen. Such nice characters.
Chinese dialogs. I can't read anything.
Chinese menus. Yupp. This reminds me of old times when I tried to play imported RPGs.
