We're back again to deliver you guys more news and talk about game progress! Everyone has been anticipating the endgame patch (so are we!), so we thought we could shed some light on the current game situation!
Current Development State of The Game
General Progress
Experience Points and Total Removal of Potions Implemented properly
General experience is obtainable by defeating enemies. Elemental EXP is acquired by collecting the cartridges, and healing replacement of potions will be provided via the grimoire system (obtainable early by defeating Elizabee or Kudalina).
Removal of Chests and Replacement with Collectibles
Chests will no longer be a part of the game, since they were associated with currencies, something that got removed from the game. In its place, will be fixed location collectibles that will lead to the unlocking of many costumes!
But what will happen to the old chest progress of existing players? Well, we have found a way to convert old chest progress into collectible progress! Players that have managed to gather all chests from the current EA version will automatically unlock the outfits associated with the collectibles upon reading the savefile!
All Dialogue Voice Acting Lines are Implemented!
All dialogue voices are implemented! We are still working to add voice sound effects to fights. You can also adjust voice volume on game settings without affecting regular sound effects. We'll have some cool showcases in the near future, specially when combat sounds are finally implemented!
Suspension of editing gamepad and keyboard control schemes
We're still having issues with this particular situation due to how control mapping is working in the game and bug reports involving gamepad and keyboard issues with multiple settings. We'll continue to look into it, but there is a chance this feature might be completely dropped. We truly apologize for the inconvenience.
Paid Outfits
We have given you guys a heads up about this in the past, but we believe it's best to clarify once more that some costumes will be DLC.
While some of them have fun extra mechanics, they are not a requirement in any way, shape or form to beat the game. The game will be beatable with the base content. The game will be beatable without using any of the outfits, whatsoever. All internal game testing is always done with base outfit.
We will also be making all paid DLC free for the Early Access players. We'll work out on the logistics at a later date.
Outfit Mechanics
The game possesses 16 outfits in total, to which 12 will be unlockable by playing the game normally. Some will be unlocked by story beats, and others will be unlocked via the new collectible system.
All outfits can be seen in action in the video below! Outfits posesses different mechanics, the vast majority being passive bonuses to sources of damages, suiting different playstyles. Below is a table containing information for the beta effects of the outfits. We will rely on the feedback of players to adjust these accordingly.
Boss Fight Overhaul Progress
We have developed a new system to speed up progress on boss fights, which basically makes reworks and implementations of art, sounds and boss skills much faster to develop. Our previous pipeline was a bit more complicated and slower to work with. So far we feel this new method is helping us coming up with better fights overall.
Let's give a few explanations of the state of the game's boss fights. Be wary of spoilers.
Kudalina, Nephelle, Elizabee and Rosalia will remain the same as seen in the EA build. We are reconsidering minor tweaks on Elizabee's behavior due to player feedback, but it will depend on how her fight holds up in final testing. We assume for now she will remain the same.
Sphinx is on rework status. A lot of this boss fight was meant to be a joke fight but it ended up really rough around the edges and presented no challenges at all.
Felicity boss fight will remain mostly the same but we are working towards improving the visual aspects of her fight. A lot of the VFX was done poorly and we really wanted to add more polish and better flow to her visuals.
Dullahan is on complete overhaul status. We are replacing the spine boss with a sprite version, with completely different redesign (a more gladiator-esque style). We felt the way Dullahan behaves was really clunky. His old armor design will remain in the game in the Spirit Grimoire splash art as a visual homage.
Isabelle and Isadora are being finalized. Isabelle is complete and plays out a bit more dynamically than her old spine counterpart. Isadora is a beast of a fight, and has the highest amounts of unique attacks bar the late game bosses and the final boss. We went ham on this fight but we are having a great time making it crazy, and we'll be showing you guys footage of this fight at the end of this month, if nothing crazy comes up in our schedule. Best fight ever.
Sophia's fight is in incognito mode, due to a few complications. We have postponed the rework on this fight for the time being, but it is likely we'll return to it soon to fix all of it's issues.
Sierra's fight will hold a surprise for you guys. Her current fight stays as is, yes... But let's just say she'll have some extras! The lead developer was bullied into accepting this change by the art director.
Nanami's fight is one of the weakest and we are putting in a lot of work on adding a second phase to it. A few days ago we had shown some of the designs and a sneak peek of one of her attack motions. She will have an ascended miko form, and mostly perform water attacks while being a lot more mobile.
Astral Knights will remain as is, but the art director has been pestering the lead developer to let her embelish their visuals. Denied! Perhaps this is something to consider after endgame patch is out...
Aldebaran is the worst fight in this entire game and we are seriously considering discarding her entire fight. She will receive fixes not only on her initial phase, but also receive a second phase as well. We want this to be the hardest fight bar the endgame content.
The rest of the endgame bosses (A total count of 8), won't be mentioned here for spoilers reasons. What we can say is: These fights need a lot of work before we are happy with them. We realize this is the biggest factor for the game's delay but we also believe it would be a major disservice to not work on these properly.
Here is a sneak peek at some new boss animations for Nanami, Dullahan and Sierra!
And here is a concept art of Aldebaran's ascended form, which will feature in her second phase:
Parting Notes
In hindsight, scope creep became our enemy. Upon reflecting our mistakes, we realize this game has an abnormal amount of boss fights. That being said, we really love all these bosses and want to make sure they make it to the game. It means we have to commit and see it all through the end. At this current time, it's mostly two people developing this game, and only one of them - the art director - has total time availability to dedicate to the game. Real life job and other commitments have been getting in our way.
To that effect, we really don't have a concrete release date of endgame patch, nor the final game. We realize this is a massive letdown, and truly apologize for it.
All we can say is that we'll continue doing our best, with all that we can.
That's it from us today. As always, thank you for the amazing support! Stay safe, and until next time!
Steam Summer Sale 2024 - 50% Off!
Hello Everyone!
The Steam Summer Sale has arrived! From June 27th until July 11th, Gastova: The Witches of Arkana is 50% Off!
Those who purchase Gastova during the Early Access period can also acquire the Gastova: Festive Hat Witch costume for free!
Please make sure to add it to your game library, since there is a nice little surprise associated with this costume that will be present in the next game build!
News about the Next Patch?
Next week, on the 1st of July, we'll be posting another update. We're hoping to show everyone more substantial progress as well as presenting a more-in depth discussion of the game's situation. We understand the importance of transparency so we'll do our best to assure everyone that the game is still going strong despite the several setbacks.
That's it from us today. Let us know if you have any questions or requests for the next devlog next week!
Thanks everyone, and happy Summer Sale!
Development News and Game Progress
Hello Everyone!
It's been awhile since we had a development news here on steam. We apologize for the long wait! Let's discuss the state of the game, its future and how we shall go forward with completing the development of Gastova: The Witches of Arkana!
Current Development State of The Game
We need to be upfront with you guys: We had a lot of setbacks in the last few months that have not only delayed things further, but have also impacted the progress considerably. At one point, we truly believed the game was near ready until we came to the realization that it needed a lot more fixing before we could launch Endgame Patch.
That is not to say this is bad news for the game. We have managed to implement many things so far that we never thought we had the ability to, which gives us massive motivation to keep going. We will be showing gameplay footage today for the new menu overhauls and the finalized Grimoire system. Some things still need to have their descriptions and functions updated/tweaked but for the most part, we're comfortable with showing them in their current form!
We will break down the progress below!
New Menus and UI Implemented
Below is a video showcasing the new fixed UI in comparison to old UI. Some functionalities are still missing and we'd love some feedback from you guys regarding the added QoL!
Grimoire System
We have finished the new Grimoire System. There are a couple of adjustments we have yet to do that will no doubt happen during beta testing, and we will of course love to hear your feedbacks on these when we launch it with the Endgame patch.
Voice Over and Localization
We are super excited to say we have finalized all the recording and audio post processing required for voice over! And let us tell you guys, what a journey it was. We have over 1000+ lines of dialogues, and we can't thank the amazing talent that has worked with us enough! Of course, the voice over is optional, as we will make sure to include a voice option in settings for those who don't wish to play the game with this feature.
We are also looking into finalizing the localization for the remaining languages (Japanese and Spanish). There is a chance the localizations will not be present in endgame beta patch prior to the final release, but we will try our best to make it happen.
What are the plans for the future?
Our most immediate plans continues to be fixing any leftover UI problems and looking into other things that require our urgent attention. Let's go over them briefly:
Game Contents
We still have to work on some boss fights as well as enemies. Most of the bestiary is complete, counting roughly 192 enemies and several bosses. However we still need to playtest and find a way to balance certain things. We will rely on the endgame patch feedback as well when the time comes, so we'll be welcoming everyone's opinion!
Savefile Compatibility
Making sure the saves are compatible has been for sure one of the most limiting factors during this overhaul and fix.
One of the reasons we could not implement bestiary enemy defeat count, for example, is that the old savefiles would definitely break due to the lack of enough variables. We apologize that this feature will be missing because of that.
We will look into converting currencies and upgrade progress into levels and talents, the new systems that replace shop. It's very likely that this will work, thus making old saves mostly compatible without ruining player progress.
Even so, there is still a chance the saves won't be entirely compatible. We will do our best to make sure everyone can use their current existing progress for this game so they don't have to start the game again. That being said, we really encourage you guys start the game with a new data once we release endgame patch, as that would be more beneficial and likely bug free, than an old save.
Release of Endgame Patch and end of EA
We are uncertain of a release date yet. The many times we announced a date, we ended up postponing due to different situations and issues. This time we might end up shadowdroping the Endgame patch, if things continue to seem uncertain regarding an announcement, as we don't want everyone to build anticipation and then be disappointed by another delay. We truly apologize for these past situations.
Parting Notes
We still have much to do. This is our first game and we are looking forward to finishing it! When we started Gastova, we had very limited skills and knowledge regarding game development. As the years went by we have learned as we developed the game, by finding better things we could do in the entire proccess. This has led to many delays and setbacks, and we know the wait can be a little disappointing, but we want to make sure we did the best we could for Gastova.
That's it from us today. Thank you guys for the awesome support. Stay safe, and until next time!
Steam Spring Sale 2023 - 50% Off!
Hello Everyone!
It's time for the Steam Spring Sale! From March 14th until 21st, Gastova: The Witches of Arkana is 50% Off!
As a reminder, those who purchase Gastova during the Early Access period can also acquire the Gastova: Festive Hat Witch costume for free!
We're still working on the game's final update, of course. We'll get in touch again at the end of the month, but to make sure you guys see some progress, let's show our new title screen!
We're very proud of how the game is shaping up currently, and we can't wait to show you guys more stuff soon.
That's it from us today. Let us know if you have any questions or requests for the next devlog!
Thanks everyone, and happy Spring Sale!
2D Platformer Vibes Event is Now Live!
Hi Everyone!
We're partaking in the 2D Platformer Vibes event here on Steam. It's being hosted by our friends from Retrovibe and we're excited to be a part of it!
Come check out some amazing 2D Platformer games, both upcoming and released! There's a few discounts as well.
As an extra notice, we will have another Development News posted somewhere from mid to late March. We'll have some cool stuff to show you guys as well!
That's it from us today. We hope you enjoy the event. As alway, stay safe, and we'll talk again soon!
Next Fest Weeklong Deal - 50% OFF!
Hi Everyone!
We hope you guys are enjoying the Next Fest! We've had the pleasure to have our demo in one of the previous Next Fest, and it was a real fun experience! Make sure to check out lots of amazing games!
To celebrate the occasion, we'll launch a weeklong discount. 50% off!
We hope you guys enjoy the game. Please, bear in mind this build is a bit old and does not reflect our upcoming overhauls, nor the final product. We are working on some QoL we believe are crucial to enjoy the game!
Of course, don't forget to grab our Witch Hat DLC! It's only free for the duration of the EA period, so we really encourage you guys to get it now!
We will soon launch an update with more development news. Likely in mid to late March. Stay tuned!
We'll see you guys soon, for now, stay safe!
More News and Development Progress
Hello Everyone!
We're here once more. A couple of months ago we made an update to tell you of more news about the game. Now, let's start with a few things of notice:
Regarding our original plan of sharing news and updates in mid to late November, we're significantly delayed in delivering that commitment and that is entirely on us, but we actually do have way more things to divulge now thanks to the delay.
The control scheme survey release also got delayed. We will likely postpone it until after we can have everyone test the new default scheme via the upcoming update and in order to have accurate feedbacks due to the myriad of gameplay changes.
For all the constant delays, please allow us to offer once again, our sincerest apologies.
Release of Endgame Patch Date Changes
A couple of weeks ago we were presented with a rather difficult choice. Continue with the already divulged plans of releasing the game on January 6th, or do what we believe to be the best thing for the game and postpone the update once more.
If we released the game as is in the coming weeks, there is a chance some things wouldn't work as we intend it, and we feel like that would be a massive letdown. For that purpose, we're going to suspend the EA patch release for now. The only thing we can say at this point now is that we're working hard and trying our best, and we hope this update will help reassure our players of that, even if only partially.
For now we are unsure what the next best release date would be. We'll do our best to give another heads up as soon as we are firmly in just beta testing territory. We apologize for the disappointing news.
Game Progress: The Overhauls
Now, let us move on to slightly more positive news! We believe it's time to discuss what has been happening to the game behind the scenes and what really changes with the upcoming update. Here we go!
Game Difficulty Rebalance
We have been working to make sure that enemies and bosses would have a more balanced approach as far as damage and placement goes. Our primary objective is to make sure that the easy and normal modes are enjoyable to casual and regular players, while the hard mode would be truly hellish.
The first thing that will contribute to that effect would be to rework the math behind the enemies and their elemental resistances. We're also tweaking and testing the staves to make sure the difficulty is proportionate, but that will also depend on Gastova herself (more about Gastova below).
New Mechanic: Enemy Enchantments
This is a Hard Mode exclusive mechanic. We decided that the enemies are not giving the players enough of a hard time in that mode, so why not make it more chaotic?
This system will place a random elemental enchantment on almost every regular enemy in the game. Depending on the element of the enchantment, the enemy will receive an extra ability that'll make them far more threatening than their regular counterparts.
They will also look different thanks to a visual effect that will be placed on them. Here are the visuals of the enchantments!
Overhaul of Character and Element Progression
In our current build, the game's progression system is based off of collecting money and material drops from enemies and utilizing those currencies in the shop to buy upgrades. The problem with this system is that drop rates for money is high while drop rates for mats is too low, making the actual late stage upgrades much harder to obtain. Another problem is that players would also accumulate a high amount of money but have very few items to spend it on afterwards. Overall, it was a balancing nightmare that is very difficult due to how everyone plays the game differently.
So we decided to completely change that system to a different approach. The changes will be as follows:
We have completely removed the game's economy: Currency no longer exists, and shop upgrades are no longer available as buyable items. In its place, Money Drops will be converted into EXP Drops, and Gastova levels up automatically. This means the player doesn't have to go back and forth just to buy a new upgrade, and can benefit from it automatically to improve her stats such as HP, Mana, and Critical Chance/Damage.
Materials such as Essence Orbs and Crystallized Animals and others that can be found as drops and in chests, will be converted into Element EXP Drop. This EXP will provide a different set of level upgrades to the elemental powers, and we'll call this system "Elemental Talents". To increase the chance of a element specific EXP Drop, you can use more of that element's power when defeating enemies (via things such as staves, summons and busters).
Consumable items that could be obtained via shop purchases becomes rechargeable items instead. This is what happens to Goddess Stone, and potion usage will be replaced by a new mechanic called "Grimoire".
In general, while seemingly a bit drastic, we hope these changes will finally streamline the gameplay and progression while also making the level system a bit more intuitive and accessible to players, while also dealing with the issues created by the previous empty economy. Mr. Piggy's Pawn Shop will not be completely removed despite the changes, and will instead be retooled into a new system. More on that to come in future updates.
New Mechanic: Grimoires
We have received feedback mentioning that potion abuse was making the game too easy. We also reflected on the lack of consumable options as well as the lack of good passive abilities, so we decided to combine these issues to solve them all in one go.
With this, we introduce the Grimoire System. In the place of potions, you now have access to 8 new spells, with varying effects. Each Grimoire needs to spend a charge, which is just the existing potion slots, but will also have a cooldown to avoid unnecessary spamming. The slots will increase as Gastova levels up.
Here's a sneak peek of a Grimoire in action: The Boon of the Queen Bee, a healing Grimoire!
To unlock new Grimoires, you need to defeat the subbosses. Here is the splash visuals for the grimoires:
Overhaul of Game Menus
In addition to gameplay changes, we also decided to fix issues with existing menus. We added new functionalities while also making sure the QoL for existing menus was improved, to make sure the game experience feels better for you all.
Let's quickly showcase how some of the menus look:
The State of Boss Fights
We're still working on improving the Boss Fights, but we cannot go into much details of endgame fights without spoiling the plot. But one fight we can quickly mention is the Mansion bosses, Isabelle&Isadora. Their animations were limited in the old version, so we have finally decided to give them an upgrade!
We're also gonna change the attacks and dynamics of their fight. Hopefully that will make things more interesting!
Preview of Voice Overs
We thought it would be fun to showcase some v.o previews for you guys! Shoutout to the amazing Miss Shellah and Monica Flatley, voicing Gastova and Tenebrea respectively!
Final Words
That's it from us for now. Right now we are taking part in Steam's Winter sale. We encourage people to try out the game if they wish to compare the differences of current build vs the future patch update!
This is a paid DLC that will continue to be free during the period of EA, so we really encourage everyone to get it while they can!
As usual, we'll continue to troubleshoot the current version of the game, but bear in mind we won't be able to make a minor patch of fixes just yet thanks to the game being under the mentioned overhauls. Please let us know what you think about this update, we're always happy to hear feedback from you guys!
Thank you and stay safe and sound, everyone. Until next time!
Early Access Patch Release Date Announcement
Hello Everyone!
A couple of months have passed since our last update, and we figured it was time to give you guys another heads up regarding the game. This update is going to be brief, but quite significant, so let's get to it!
Progress Since Last Update
Before we get to the big news, let's talk about the progress in general. Yes, the game is still going strong: Right now it is also undergoing a very important overhaul to gameplay systems. We will come back between mid to late november to address this with actual gameplay footage so you guys can have the entire picture, but let's just say it's quite exciting!
We also mentioned on the last update that the majority of voice overs have been finalized and recorded. Currently, we are in the middle of separation for implementation. There are a few things that are still missing, so we will wait before we confirm wether or not voice acting will appear on next patch, but it is very likely! We are super happy with the performances, courtesy of the talent we worked with!
And before we get to the big news, let's at least share with you guys the looks of all 16 Gastova costumes, which are finalized and being implemented in game:
These outfits will have several different gameplay effects, so it's not just looks! Again, we'll have more news regarding that next update~
Important Warnings
We are sad to inform that there is a possibility that saves may once more be compromised. We don't know the extent of that yet, as we have to conduct more internal tests. We are studying ways to compensate players for the inconvenience in the event that saves are causing issues. For the time being, we still believe them to be compatible, but there is a chance that it might change in the next couple of months. We will come with more information about this next month. For now, please continue enjoying the game, and back up your saves!
Another thing that needs to be addressed is controls, more specifically, keyboard editing. It has come to our attention that the feature has been causing several issues and locking players out of the game, unable to restore things to the way it once was. So for the time being, we will backtrack and remove the access to the feature. We truly apologize for the inconvenience.
As a form to compensate, we are looking into implementing fixed control schemes for gamepads and keyboards both. We will launch a controls survey somewhere next week to ask for your input, in the discussion.
Release Date of Endgame Patch
And here is the big news. We have settled on a release for endgame patch. That date is:
January 6th, 2024
With that patch, the game's story will be concluded, and finalized, but we might have some more game contents in the horizon. So please, look forward to that!
Final Words
Once more, we'd like to thank everyone for their infinite patience and goodwill. We will continue to work hard on this game until we deliver it on its best form. That time is approaching, so please, stay with us, friends!
As usual, Let us know in the comments if you'd like to see anything in particular fixed, since we haven't been able to upload a new build due to new contents being developed. We will put your requests in our bugfixes and suggestions backlog.
Thank you and stay safe and sound, everyone. Until next time!
Development News #2
Hello Everyone!
A month has passed since our last update. We figured we should give you guys more regular updates even if they don't sound exciting or cool news, since it also reassures you all we are still going strong and the game isn't abandoned.
Progress Since Last Update
We have paused the coding parts a bit, to work on refining some of the VFX and Menu arts of the game. In the last update, we have talked about adding visual and sound cues while removing the cast bar. This proccess isn't finished yet because some bosses have different backgrounds, some brighter, and some darker. We can't use blend modes wily nily in that case, so we are analyzing the best way to approach that.
Costumes News
In the last update we have confirmed 16 costumes in total for Gastova. We'd like to show some of the splash arts as well some of the animations for a few of these costumes! Everything is animated already, which is a joy, and we are only missing a few of the wardrobe menu splash arts, which should be finished within August.
Pirate Costume
Bee Costume
Anubis Costume
Pumpkin Costume
Voice Lines
We are happy to inform most of the voice acting has been recorded! We have not implemented anything yet as we wait for the last batch of recordings, but it is very likely that the next update will be fully voiced, courtesy of the amazing talents that we have been working with!
Final Words
As usual, thank you so much for the infinite patience and goodwill. We will continue to do our best to deliver the update soon, and we hope you enjoy it. Let us know in the comments if you'd like to see anything in particular fixed, since we haven't been able to upload a new build due to new contents being developed. We will put your requests in our bugfixes and suggestions backlog.
Thank you and stay safe and sound, everyone. Until next time!
Steam Summer Sale 2023 - Gastova at 50% Off!
Hello Everyone!
We are posting this update to let you guys know we are going to take part in the Steam Summer Sale! From June 29th until July 13th, Gastova: The Witches of Arkana is 50% Off!
As a reminder, those who purchase Gastova during the Early Access period can also acquire the Gastova: Festive Hat Witch costume for free!
