This is a long awaited update that brings my previously released roadmap to completion.
What it's about:
Besides typing up patch notes, I want to emphasize that Crypterion is dialogue and choices heavy and is becoming even more so with this update. In most cases, you will not know it's happening, unless you were to play the game over with different choices.
I have about 400-500 pages of dialogue lumped into this small universe. Much of the reading is unique to your playthrough aside from the main story quest.
Crew Events! This image depicts a crew event that may occur in the game. I've used some generated images as placeholders during these events to add visuals to the story. Rest assured, apart from these event images, all graphics in the game were either artist-drawn or purchased assets.
Crew events are discoverable and can be overlooked. For example: You may discover a unique ship on the galaxy map, but don't have the crew required. Or you just might not see it because you didn't read the newspaper to give you a heads up.
More Choices than Any Visual Novel:
That's a big claim, and granted I haven't played many visual novels, but it turned out this way because that's what I always wanted in a visual novel.
In this update alone, I've included 95 amazing choices! I'm seriously insane! Some of these choices carry HEAVY weight... and some small... and some play like mini-games. They can be the difference to finding a new artifact or not. I'll never mention this again, but it's fair to those following the game to get an idea of the fun things you may or may not encounter:
- Learn about Lora's family - Engage in military missions with James - Go on dates with other crew members (even if they don't call it that) - Take a Part time job to earn money with Juniper - Cook with Thurgium - Discover corruption with Erand - Learn Nanami's past - Combine your wits with Malthus ...
It's hard to see all that is going on. And some things are not apparent on surface level. I should mention that if you are married before you experience some events... they will turn out slightly different :) As does other dialogue based off your choices.
If I may be able to stake my claim that I'm proud of the interactive choices in the game, I will give one more example. At one point in the game you make a choice out of six that leads to many more. As such I describe the choice link as: 6-3-5-5-5-5-1-1-2-2-2 <------Give or take. lol!
BIG Patch Notes:
(not sweating the small stuff)
- Several new items to find like this slime - 100 new pages of dialogue - Medical license update - Several new visual backgrounds - New silhouettes for new non-important characters - 51 news headlines - 15 general/faction news headlines - All characters enhanced and graphical improvements
- 14 crew specific events *Note: Because these events are discoverable, sometimes it's hard to balance dialogue with your relationship/story progression and fit perfectly. But I do sometimes put triggers that record your game progression to help. So it most always turns out right :D. Further triggers are coming with optimization.
- 1 new powerful artifact - Further text corrections and optimizations - A way to evolve and avoid all taxes and passenger fees - Made higher power level more attainable --->Huge boost if you become emperor - Made Empress power level more easily passible - No longer lose coins going into events - Fixed all Achievements to trigger correctly
Fixes & Troubleshooting: Fixed - prevent player from leaving ship early Fixed - Events from repeating Fixed - Taxes and passenger rates not saving correction Fixed - Mind Melt game event unlocking early Fixed - Nanami wrong avatar at fairgrounds Fixed - Many achievements not unlocking properly Fixed - When being able to hire fun zone representative Fixed - News snippets not appearing in Progress - Sometimes petitioning empress will give wrong responses In Progress - Adding achievements to unlock in steam (1.0 release)
[IMPORTANT] 1) Because the game saves automatically, if you ever encounter a major bug, please ctrl/alt/del the game and load back in so you don't corrupt your game progress.
2) I continually add markers that record what type of choices you make and then sometimes go back to previous conversations to implement reactions to these. As such, when continuing an older save, you miss out on some of these although I try to future proof it as much as possible.
Upcoming Sales:
I have some sales coming up to get a discount on the game. I could not schedule it for today because I just wanted to get this patch out. There will be two sales upcoming and then of course the 1.0 release date sale.
Crypterion Voyage Update!
Starting today from Jan 8-15 is the Steam Capitalism and Economy Fest. Besides the heavy discount, I am working on a major update.
What it's about:
Crypterion is perfect for this festival! The primary goal of the game is make money. That money is then spent to make even more money... and then that money is spent on in-game treasures, building and acquiring assets, gifts, and unlocking memorable moments with your crew.
Crypterion is heavy on adventure, dialogue and choices. You go on T.V., become a celebrity, build a small business from the ground up, go on vacation, add paintings to a gallery, attend auctions, and make friends and enemies.
The Voyage Update:
Over a year ago, some files of mine corrupted. That was supposed to be part 2 of Voyage update (found in the old roadmap). In December I set out the daunting task to re-create that content and that is what I'm working to deliver next. These are the details:
The voyage update was meant to provide players with scenarios uniquely their own. As such, you may discover events that other players may not. To do this, I'm expanding the Sunny Dae newsletter to include 52 unique scenarios. Many of these scenarios will appear in the game world to find (most on the galaxy map)
In the current build, you will sometimes notice ships or other objects roaming the galaxy. Clicking these will give you experiences:
- Each event averages 6 pages of dialogue. - Most events have choices leading to several alternate pages of dialogue. So even thought this will be a content heavy update, there is no guarantee you will find the event, or you will miss half of the content because of a choice you made. - Events can have rewards
Known events:
Small Update - More events to enjoy
This small update introduces a few more things to do:
Added:
- 8 new events - Changed dialogue for a few events based off player feedback. - Rewrote Soro artifact event - Three discoverable photos of a crew member when they were younger
Fixed:
- Not being able to select Nanami as your option for vacation event - Other small bugs
Upcoming:
- Sometimes it's hard to know what triggers events, so I'll be adding a helpful feature to discover story moments.
Face to Face - Community questions
I'd like to include more T.V. content in this next update. One such show called "Face to Face", has our host asking questions to the crew members straight from the audience. These are "Your" questions that have been submitted to me.
Ask the crew anything:
For a modest fee of cryptos (in game currency), you can participate in the game show and earn celebrity points, which may be necessary later if you fail in the Mind Melt game show challenges. The topic of the question is up to you. Please keep it clean. Address your questions to the following Crew Members (listed in alphabetical order):
1) Astra 2) Erand 3) James N. 4) Juniper/June 5) Lora 6) Malthus 7) Millie 8) Moxie 9) Mr. String 毛球大人 10) Nanami(Suzumi) 11) Thurgium
You may post your questions in the forum. I'll create a new thread for this, or you can post them below. Follow the format so I know who the question is addressed to. Some such questions ask by the community discord have been these:
Crew: Astra Question: How did you and your captain meet?
Crew: Juniper Question: Where did you go to get your medical license?
Crew: Moxie Question: If you had to choose another crewmate with whom to be stranded on a habitable planet, who would it be?
Crew: Lora Question: If you had to choose any one sight you've seen before to see again what sight would you choose?
Don't hesitate to think outside the box. For example: you might ask Malthus to solve a riddle since he's a genius, or a question you don't think the game will ever provide you an answer for... etc.
Faction update - Astra's path
This Faction update is only part of what I want to update because of a few things I was not able to fix in time for Thanksgiving. But there is a lot in there; it just gets lost in the mix and is not as flashy.
--> This build should not require a new game start from the last update.
Main Story:
Advances to the main story line or other dialogue: This image was posted in Discord years ago when the channel was formed.
Those with a keen eye may have noticed faction leader Jagaimo's shadow did not match his person. It's now time for this mysterious shadow to make an appearance.
The Faction arc, which is started through Astra's end-game romance option, is now complete. There are some things about it that I had a hard time deciding on because it impacts one character quite a bit. I'm still not sure if a later patch I will change the ending to my other idea.
There are 27 news pages of single-space dialogue mixed in this update. This is what they cover: - Faction arc (Astra's rout) - New celebrity event in the media room - Malthus's information shop (name pending approval) - Numari Vacation - Empress dialogue ending - Two more "cursed witch" events - End credits mini-game
If you were to skip both Astra and Moxie's routes, you would miss a lot of content. My game would have been a lot longer had I put everything mandatory, but this makes choices carry weight. New players will come across many instances where this is the case. I will continue to add more content so that you can pick your path, but be aware that even in this last update of 27 pages, you may only encounter half or less of that.
Marketplace:
- Buy and use the camera shop item in a special event. That's right! You get to take pictures in a mini-game. *I want the camera to be fun, so I'm creating other scenarios where you can use the camera for the second patch
Treasury/Fun zone:
- One new artifact appears in the treasury if acquired and will be used later
Good news, the shop in the Fun Zone is opening. We asked Malthus what he is selling.
Malthus: "Knowledge of the crew, information, and secrets."
We asked, "Are you sure your information is accurate?"
Malthus: "I assure you are getting the best and most accurate information. I've processed all the data through a highly sophisticated computer... also known as my brain.
This will be the place you can learn more about the crew to help prepare you for the 'Mind Melt' episodes or just fun information in general.
What information are you hoping Malthus will sell?
Media Room:
- New Mind Melt game show! > A second show appears for all 6 representatives. If you win, you get to advance a rank. It was hard testing all the combinations of results that you can make with your partner. *crosses fingers that there are not bugs
Achievements & Troubleshooting:
[IMPORTANT] While I am fixing the achievements to work in-game, I am also designing them and the cards and emotes I want to release with v1.0.
Steam still has not approved my game for cards, backgrounds, and achievements. The reason being the engagement overall for the game. You may notice that Steam hasn't even gotten enough reviews to rate the game.
I do apologize for slow updates. I've had many trials this past year but keep developing the game despite setbacks. I'm at the mercy of Steam and its algorithms for acceptance concerning achievement approval, but I'm sure this will happen at full release. No worries :)
I do have about 3 months of work into the "Endless" secret arcade found in Crypterion that I hope to release at some point. I pray that that will happen because it will add tons of content to the game in a very unique way. It's like making a second game to put into Crypterion, so I stopped to focus first on reaching 1.0.
- As far as troubleshooting, there was a bug I discovered in Altear's route where if you helped her with all the Empress duties, you may not be able to attend the Numari vacation. I have fixed this but am hoping this will not be the case for previous players that reached that point.
- Sometimes, drawing the money you collected from planets has an error.
Faction Arc details and future plans
I'm getting closer to the 1.0 release, and there's just one more update planned before that. Let me share what I hope to achieve.
Dialogue Choices & Story:
Crypterion has been a unique challenge due to its open-world approach as a visual novel. It's quite rare to describe a visual novel as open-world, but that's what Crypterion feels like. While it follows a linear storyline, players have the freedom to explore and run their business. There are also significant story moments that offer pages of completely different dialogue based off choices.
I came across a statistic mentioning that the average visual novel consists of around 90,000 words. The last update of Crypterion reached approximately 124,000 words. I estimate that at least 24,000 of those words will remain unread unless players make different choices during another playthrough. For example, the first vacation event features six distinct branching story moments, and the business rep. events have six different branching storylines.
Once the main story is finished, players can delve into two additional arcs: the Empress Arc and the Faction Arc. These add an extra 1-2 hours of gameplay. Various significant events contribute another 1-2 hours each, creating a rich and expansive experience. While I aimed to provide players with freedom and choices, it did pose a challenge for those who prefer a steady pace and straightforward content consumption.
The Empress Arc Update addressed story pacing for the initial 6-10 hours of gameplay (time depends on how fast you read and if you get into the Tycoon aspect), but beyond that point, players will need to engage in some exploration with the help of their crew (the Informant) to uncover new content. The achievements also serve as a guiding tool.
Final story moments and events:
My goal is to complete both arcs and introduce events related to the objects players have purchased with their hard-earned money. (* = finished / # = in progress)
- #Faction Arc - If pursuing Astra's ending, you are locked into the Faction Arc. A new challenge awaits as you face off against the Factions. They are seeking power, and a life is in danger. - *Vacation with the Numari's (a plant like species) who are universally loved by players :) - *2 New minigame activities - *Digital Camera available in the shop - *Interactive Ending credits - #Umbrella event - #Computer access terminal - #Fun Zone Store - #Discover Iclantia
Additionally, I am aware that the crew of ten characters requires more screen time, and I am actively working on addressing this.
In progress: - Fan art book - Steam cards and achievements - Auction house changes
The achievements will be released with the 1.0 version.
Patch Release Date: Ideally, I would like to release the patch in June or early July, but setting precise dates is challenging.
My concerns and 1.0 release thoughts: Crypterion has been in early access for several years, and during this time, it has reached only a limited number of players. Unfortunately, I have been too focused on developing the game to allocate enough time for promotion. Since the last build, the game has reached a state that I am satisfied with. However, I recognize the need to invest a significant amount of time in distributing keys to garner press coverage before the 1.0 release. This process may cause a delay. I'm open for suggestions.
The positive reviews have been incredibly encouraging, and I have made game improvements based on the feedback provided by critics. My intention from the beginning was to create Crypterion as a game and story that immerses players completely. With the upcoming 1.0 release, my hope is to deliver that full and captivating experience.
Crypterion May "Conquest" Update Deployed
In a lot of ways, the May Conquest update is my favorite. The story has better pacing and I've added significant quality-of-life improvements. There is so much going on in so many areas. I did my best to solo-test this build, but please be forgiving if bugs are found.
This is the best time to jump in for new players! It provides a complete story driven experience. The build requires a new game for returning players. I guarantee they will notice the changes quickly:
Main Story:
Advances to main story line or other dialogue: - An expanded tutorial - Better story pacing and four news characters: > Bad Robot - Gives bad advice, take it or leave it. > New antagonist character - Appearance won't trigger until Faction Arc > Thora Tempest - Celebrity > Clay Snipson - Celebrity - Meet many characters earlier and see your questionnaire choices impact dialogue. - Empress Arc - Enjoy a new story arc that will allow you to become emperor. It includes multiple challenges and events. - Speak to Andy (loan agent) and Jagaimo (faction leader) in the loan room. Introduction to side stories about your origin and a lost planet.
Gallery/Marketplace:
- New Marketplace update allows for trade to make you much more money with a chance to make huge profits. Still a work in progress. - Finally eat your ''million cryptos'' Ice Cream! > I've prepared a special event for this expensive treat. If you are a fan of werewolf type mystery's, you get to experience one during this event. - 2 new fan art pieces - 1 new fan art variation. Depending on choices. - Useable computer to view gallery credits - A small Easter egg
Treasury:
- Two new artifacts - 1 usable artifact for special event - What is that suspicious package? - Photograph of Numari seedlings in Vault - You can now own planets and collect income from the collection room
Media Room:
- New Mind Melt game show! > After finishing your business rep. events, the show unlocks. Since you can invite 6 different crew members to join you, the show as a ton of variety.
^ This is a teaser of your Fun Zone shop which will be opening soon (next patch), courtesy of Malthus. You will purchase from here your most important asset... information. You will soon come to realize that such a thing is very important if you want to become an 'S' rank celebrity. You may want to hit this shop before going on the Mind Melt T.V. show.
- New "Thrive or Dive" game show. Participate in them at your leisure if you have the money. - New popularity system. Earn points and fans during live shows to become a celebrity. - Newspaper reflects advancement in celebrity rank. - Added: Normal game shows and a few events outside media room give fans.
Character & Events:
- Throne room end-game events. Depending on your chosen path, a new icon will appear in the Throne Room. Clicking this will allow you to perform your Emperor duties. Currently, you are rewarded with one event a week.
- Diamond ring can be used - See the exterior of Tip's shop. - New event, "your first passengers" - New event, "the merchants". - New event, "tips shop". - Fixed and extended Nanami and Malthus storyline - Extended several existing events - Find Juniper's medical license and if she has one. (a fan's special request) - 15+ new events
Other:
- Huge quality of life with mouse pointer. Now know what objects you can interact with and who you can talk to. More mysteries to find and click. - Characters will react differently to you and remember choices you've made previously. (this is constantly being expanded) - Early game hint system - get suggestions on what to do - Your Informant crewmate Erand is extremely useful for advice when you are stuck or need to find endgame content. - Updated James conversation with Millie - Updated phone conversation with Nanami - Edited several new conversations. Still working on old ones.
Troubleshooting:
- Old save games will load, but will not trigger most new events - Noticeable choppiness when entering some areas. This is because I've focused more on content over optimization. But, some changes I can make later will really speed things up :)
Example of how I find errors or bugs: I was so good at paying taxes in the game, that I didn't realize a bug could appear mid-story if I didn't pay taxes after I made a specific dialogue choice earlier. This game is very complex for me to test.
Fixed: - Fixed a bug that prevented profits from fun zone being added to treasury - Taxes update properly after becoming emperor - Choosing your romance now properly cancels other characters dates. - Adjusted the amount of coins (stock market) you can sell and buy per visit. - Travel between some planets would return you to surface instead. - Shortened encounter logo animation - Lava pepper not appearing for Astra - Mini-game flight conversation ends properly now - Can't petition Empress if married to her. - Hiring representative and Mind Meld show is paused if a specific character is kidnapped - Ice cream event paused if not all crew present.
Future Improvements & Changes Coming:
1) Faction Arc is first on the list. 2) Changing the way the auction works so you can visit it any time as long as requirements are met 3) Each crewmember has a special quest line and help needed. For example: Millie can't breath without gum, Nanami and Malthus are seeking someone, Lora is ultra shy, James is keeping his military background secret... why? Engage in quests to find out more about your crew. 4) Endless Arcade revamp - More polish and fine tuned gameplay.
Crypterion May "Conquest" Update Preview
The May Conquest update focuses on the Emperor story arc, with significant quality-of-life improvements also included. It's important to note that most of the features I've listed today are ready for prime-time, but it doesn't include everything coming in the patch.
Main Story:
Advances to main story line or other dialogue: - An expanded tutorial - Better story pacing and two news characters: > Bad Robot - Gives bad advice, take it or leave it. > New antagonist character - Meet many characters earlier and see your questionnaire choices impact dialogue. - Empress Arc - Enjoy a new story arc that will allow you to become emperor. It includes multiple challenges and events. - Speak to Andy (loan agent) and Jagaimo (faction leader) in the loan room. Introduction to side stories about your origin and a lost planet.
Gallery/Marketplace:
- Finally eat your ''million cryptos'' Ice Cream! > I've prepared a special event for this expensive treat. If you are a fan of werewolf type mystery's, you get to experience one during this event. - 2 new fan art pieces - 1 new fan art variation. Depending on choices. - Useable computer to view gallery credits
Treasury:
- Two new artifacts - 1 usable artifact for special event - What is that suspicious package? - Photograph of Numari seedlings in Vault - You can now own planets and collect income from the collection room
Media Room:
- New "Thrive or Dive" game shows. Participate in them at your leisure if you have the money. - New popularity system. Earn points and fans during live shows to become a celebrity.
Character & Events:
- Throne room end-game events Depending on your chosen path, a new icon will appear in the Throne Room. Clicking this will allow you to perform your Emperor duties. Currently, you are rewarded with one event a week.
- See the exterior of Tip's shop. - New event, "your first passengers" - New event, "the merchants". - New event, "tips shop". - Extended several existing events - 15+ new events
Other:
- Huge quality of life with mouse pointer. Now know what objects you can interact with and who you can talk to. More mysteries to find and click. - Characters will react differently to you and remember choices you've made previously. (this is constantly being expanded) - Early game hint system - get suggestions on what to do - Updated James conversation with Millie - Updated phone conversation with Nanami
Fixed: - Choosing your romance now properly cancels other characters dates. - Adjusted the amount of coins (stock market) you can sell and buy per visit. - Travel between some planets would return you to surface instead. - Shortened encounter logo animation - Lava pepper not appearing for Astra - Mini-game flight conversation ends properly now - Can't petition Empress if married to her.
Future Improvements & Changes Coming:
1) Changing the way the auction works so you can visit it any time as long as requirements are met 2) Each crewmember has a special quest line and help needed. For example: Millie can't breath without gum, Nanami and Malthus are seeking someone, Lora is ultra shy, James is keeping his military background secret... why? Engage in quests to find out more about your crew. 3) Endless Arcade revamp - More polish and fine tuned gameplay.
Next Update this May!
Hi everyone. I'm excited to tell you what's coming next for Crypterion.
The Big Stuff: - Compete against the Empress for the throne - Discover a new adversary with ill intent
What makes these two specific events interesting is you can only choose one and they are completely different. They also complete the main story of the game.
It's now time to face-off against the Empress through dialogue challenges. If you have your wits about you, you may succeed. Becoming Emperor has it's perks. You can purchase planets for instance and intimidate people just by looking at them.
In the other event, you will discover a mysterious figure with a devious plan. It's hard to say anything about this event without spoilers. The event focuses on the use of a specific artifact that is meaningful to you.
The Small Stuff: - A new character and events to help new players - Story polish, fixes, and better pacing - Finishing the content found in game, but not useable (like store items) - Fan art book - Steam cards and achievements
This update will come out in May. The game was a huge undertaking and I'm sorry for delays. The auction system, T.V. and celebrity system, games-shows, etc. still need more content.
Full Release Date: There is no release date yet. A release date announcement may come shortly after the May update and 100% will happen this year.
Questions or Content Requests: Feel free to ask, suggest, or request something. What dialogue events between characters or the player you'd like to see? Or anything else that comes to mind that I can add during early access.
Early Access - 60% discount
I've decided to lower the price of Crypterion by more than half until the launch of the full game. Going by average playtime, there is at least 7-10 hours of gameplay there, but I want the value of the product to outmatch the cost.
Crypterion's next update was heavy with dialogue (60 pages). You may have noticed the new ships and space elements appearing on the galaxy map. By clicking on these, you would have been treated to different scenarios involving your crew for huge rewards. But I lost all this work through file corruption and not properly backing up files.
I decided to work on some gameplay elements to take a break from writing. I'm waiting until it's near finished before patching the game, but there will be a preview build later people can download if they want. All I can say is that your hard-earned company money will be worth spending.
For new players - What can I find in the game? The story of Crypterion, is your story. A complete first story Arc is there and you have a small business to build to completion once unlocked. You'll do some trading between planets and earn some extra coin through a stock market or picking up passengers. There is a gallery you can fill with fan art. You'll meet unique characters and make friends and solve problems. I've hidden a few easter eggs (one that hasn't been discovered yet). In future updates, I'll need to throw in the mix a few harder decisions. Like having to choose between friendship or money ha ha ha.
