For a small indie guy like myself, getting a lot of momentum on the Kickstarter early is key. If you can't drop some money on this, I totally understand, but if you still want this game to be successful, you can always:
1. Wishlist it on Steam 2. Share this game with as many people as you can
Hymn to the Earless God is something of a dream project for me. If you played Jimmy, you know I'm a big fan of SNES games, and Hymn to the Earless God is most directly pulling from a game series called Lennus (Paladin's Quest in the U.S.) that I've always been enamored with. There are a lot of other inspirations (notably Chrono Trigger), but I want to make it clear that, while I'm pulling from a lot of sources, Hymn to the Earless God is going to be a strikingly original game with a huge, hostile alien world to explore. Please take the time to check it out, and thanks for your support!
11/1: Mostly small fixes
Hey, everyone! This is hopefully going to be the last update for Jimmy; it's been a while since the last one, so this one is mostly just a fix for a handful of outstanding bugs. As always, if you find any bugs, please make sure to let me know! Also, for those of you who don't look at my social media, I'm currently working on a new game. I'm expecting to have a Steam page up for it within the next 5/6 months, so I'll make sure to post an announcement here when that happens. Anyway, here's the full list of changes:
-Easy Mode experience and money bonuses will no longer be stripped from the player after certain cutscenes. -The Brain Bats now have names that differentiate them from one another and hint at their vulnerabilities. -The rooftop boss in Shinryu will now have shorter, different dialogue that plays if you're refighting them. -Elaborate Dance will no longer remove status effects; it will now just prevent them from being inflicted while elaborate dance is active as intended. This will also affect Rad Ghosts when they groove to a sick beat. -Protect and Lovely's group-attack variant now plays a single animation instead of one for every character. -When reflecting an exploding Robo-Chan (or similar attack), the subsequent fight will now function correctly. -The bomb tree in Jonathonland will no longer disappear if you talk to it from behind or the sides. -Bog Lurker is now weak to holy when submerged. -Helga has overcome her fear of spiders, among other things. -Lunar Serene's skill description is now clearer. -The Lingering Eyes had some old code that was meant to rebalance their HP throughout the fight, but it was implemented incorrectly and was causing them to rebalance their hp at weird times; all of that old code was removed, so they won't rebalance under any circumstances now. -Removed a minor graphical clipping issue with the tall grass in the Blood Marsh. -Leaving the GECE before jumping in the sorting hole would cause a few glitches; you can no longer do that. -If you enter an elevator in Tetsuya Kawaii and cancel out of it, you will now be able to transform afterwards. -You can no longer just walk directly into the door in the "turn left room" of the Ultimate Construction and get away scot-free. -Choosing not to enter the final room of the Halls of Greed used to bar you from being able to transform; that's been fixed. -The personal computer in a certain fight will now no longer be permanently zeroed out if you take the number below zero. -When you try to enter Dark Dungeon, you're now given a prompt that allows you to back out. If you are at the floor select, you can also cancel out. -Stealing the same time twice in the same turn from the Doomsday Clock no longer works. -There are now some bird footprints in the Rainbow Park race to clue the player in on when to run as the Red-Billed Squawker. -When confronting zombies, you will no longer be able to do field actions.
3/21 Update Large Sprite Crash Fix
Hey, everyone, this update has been a long time coming. While many of you have been able to run Jimmy without any problems, some computers experienced crashes when walking in front of things like signs or trees that would overlap the player when they were behind them, or they might have experienced the same crash from long play sessions. For people running the mkxp version, this crash would occur in the form of incredibly slow moving text. I'm happy to report that this crash should no longer occur, and as a nice side effect, the frame rate should be more consistent.
In order to fix this issue, I removed a problematic script and had to manually modify and test a lot of objects like trees/statues/etc. Most of the graphics will still appear to be the same, but there are a few minor changes here and there that keen players will notice--nothing big. Because the changes were so widespread, though, you might run into a minor graphical glitch here or there, and, if you do, please let me know, and I'll address them in a future update.
I apologize for this update taking so long, and thanks for playing!
Additionally, I made a few small changes/bug fixes listed below:
-Information Guy television added in Temple of Inward-Looking Eye to remind you that you can save anywhere.
-When first visiting the Iron Flamingo, terminal screens you've visited will now be black instead of blue to show that you've already accessed them.
-Encounter glitch during bridge events in the dungeon next to Jimmy's house is now fixed.
-Opening the transformation ring while exiting Unbreakable Bridge will no longer softlock the game.
Edit:
4/1 Stealth Update:
-The benign error message that comes up after closing the game sometimes will no longer come up.
-Switching to Jimmy in the middle of a boss fight will no longer cause him to walk in place after the fight.
4/15 Bonus Stealth Update:
-Juggernaut now works correctly on the Rotting Jack o'Lantern.
-Fixed a few graphical oversights, particularly the hovering bushes in hidden area in Megatropolis.
-Can no longer counter with Taser or Bee Stinger; weapons that can't counter now indicate so in their descriptions.
-Afternoon Nap no longer heals Lars when you have immunodeficiency.
4/22 Double Bonus Super Stealth Update:
-No more floating ramparts in Legato.
-The wall in the Room of Happiness no longer overlaps the player's sprite
-The fence in Central Stamen will no longer transform into strange things when you interact with the middle of it.
1/4/19 Update: Happy New Year!
I'd like to take a moment off the top to thank everyone who's played Jimmy. I've seen it here and there on players' top ten lists for 2018, and Jimmy's been getting a super positive response in general. Hopefully, 2019 will be a good year for Jimmy as it continues to slowly build its player base through word of mouth. I think that a lot of people have been able to connect with it, or, at the very least, just think it's fun enough to share, and that's been really rewarding as a developer.
Anyway, this is a pretty small update, but I've been sitting on it a while, so I wanted to get it out there. The most important thing is that I've added a toggleable mini map when you're piloting your spaceship. Now no one--including me--will get lost flying around in circles trying to remember where the hell they need to go. Also note that the Eternal Optimism Badge might work on the first turn now, so good luck cheesing things with it.
I imagine this is the last update I'll make for a while, assuming no major bugs pop up. I still very much want to address the large sprite fix crash, though, so if I come across a solution to that, then I'll make sure to update. Anyway, here's a full list of changes:
-Added a mini map that pops up whenever you fly around in your space ship. You can toggle it by pressing the A button (or whatever button you've rebound your field action button to).
-You can now steal knowledge about Lumpagon and Boring Lecture from Bookworms.
-Failing an escape now reads "They were unable to escape" rather than "It was unable to escape."
-The mystery of the duplicating spaceship has been solved.
-Using a field action or bringing up the transformation ring on the same frame of a random encounter will no longer softlock the game.
-Corrected a couple of passability issues in Heart Prison.
-Moves with self-inflicted damage won't carry over to the next fight.
-Eternal Optimism Badge can now trigger its effect at the start of the fight.
-Fixed various small things/typos.
Edit: I just patched the game file; it shouldn't softlock after entering the world map now.
Edit 2: Just patched the game file again. This should fix two graphical glitches: one in which some locations on the world map will overlap your parked spaceship in a weird way and one in which if you held down the button to toggle your mini map while landing and holding a directional button it would duplicate your spaceship.
11/1/18 Update
Hey, it's November, so I thought I'd update the game to address all of the minor issues that have cropped up since the last update. Some of these are bugs and some are quality of life issues. Thanks for playing Jimmy!
-Analysis skill description is now clearer.
-Sacrifice now works as intended.
-File size cleaned up a bit.
-"Ghosts" in Rainbow Park are no longer interactable. They also remain transparent after leaving a building.
-Marvelous Cannon now functions as intended.
-The mysterious vending machine that sometimes hovers over the entrance of the Iron Flamingo is no more.
-Ms. Robin's Shop in Ashby's is back to selling the appropriate items upon first getting there.
-Reverting to Jimmy when you enter a battle as a flying monster will no longer cause Jimmy to walk in place after the fight.
-If you use Psyche on the Totem in Heart Prison, it will now properly cancel its mind control.
-Instant death attacks should now consistently work on Jimmy; they also can no longer be defended through by guarding.
-Spring-Loaded Shades now give counter stance the appropriate cooldown.
-The receptionist in the credits will no longer magically change.
-Using the Marvelous Teleporter when it's raining will not make it rain on Mr. Marvelous anymore. He's been through enough.
-Followers will no longer reset the turn when they summon a new creature.
-The "Power of Positivity" puzzle in the World's Library now makes its intent clearer.
-The animation for Soul Sparks will now just play once for the entire party.
-Added a line that bissects the puzzle in a certain blue cave that makes the intent a little clearer.
-Fixed various typos.
10/11 Improved Economy, New Manual, Bug Fixes
I've just updated the game files; many of these changes are fixing issues that players either generally won't run into or won't notice, but I do want to draw your attention to the first two changes. Consumable item prices are a lot cheaper now, and there's a new manual in Shinryu that's worth checking out. Thanks to everyone who've found Jimmy and been spreading the word. I know that Jimmy hasn't been viral or anything, but everyday I've been elated with the general reception it's been getting. Anyway, here's the list of changes:
-Consumable item costs are now much more reasonable (about halved starting with the latter half of the second continent).
-Added new manual only available in Shinryu for $5,000: Adrenaline Shot. It's an instant 10% revive that costs 35 mp and has a six-turn cooldown.
-Balanced Equation is now actually a balanced equation (I think). Give me a break, it's been a long time since chemistry.
-Leaving the hotel in Calm Valley prior to talking to Lars will no longer result in a mysterious duplicate Lars outside.
-Roughhouse now costs $3,500.
-Mecha Super Balls now do 1,000% luck-based damage. They also don't work with Andrew's Analysis skill, and this is reflected in their new description.
-There should no longer be any random encounters after finishing nightmare locations (until you reenter the dungeon).
-In Dark Dungeon, the game will no longer freeze when canceling out of panning the screen on a few specific locked spaces.
-The boss of a certain school will now only do a regular attack or regular magic attack for the first turn of the fight.
-The terminal status effect should now consistently work as intended.
-Joker's instadeath now works on Jimmy.
-Aurora Temple should be significantly less wonky.
-The game should no longer lock up for some people just getting to the Iron Flamingo.
-Added a small bit of dialogue before the scrolls in Secret Meridian that addresses a narrative inconsistency.
-Various typos and other small things have been addressed.
9/18 Bug Fixes
I just pushed out a new update that addresses some bugs. Most of these are fairly minor, but the big thing to note is that battle music should now loop appropriately in the mkxp version. Speaking of the mkxp version, make sure to opt into it as if you were opting into a beta if you experience any lag, as it should smooth that out. I would have that version set to default, but since the Steam overlay conflicts with it for so many people, I'm leaving it as a beta for now. Anyway, here's a full list of changes:
-Pressing the confirm button on the door in Central Hub will no longer prevent you from transforming.
-You can no longer push the skull through the door frame in Heart Prison.
-Checking the fountain in the last level from behind will no longer make it swap graphics with the shop.
-Battle music now loops properly in mkxp version.
-The statues in King's March East will no longer change shape when you jam on the confirm button.
-Group attack weapons will now work properly when you have juggernaut equipped.
-Leaving the house at the end of the game will work as intended regardless of form.
-After getting the second-to-last transformation, you won't be in a walking animation if you were originally transformed as the Pumpkin.
-While the large sprite fix crash isn't 100% solved, you should no longer get those crashes at shops/banks at least, which seems to be the most common place for them.
-While the solution to the Planet Andrew puzzle is the same, you now have to mirror the lefthand side instead of just copying it directly.
-You can no longer cause a certain form to lock into a punching stance by constantly punching and jamming on the confirm key while in front of an npc.
-Teleporting while outside of the World's Library will no longer set you to the world map sprite while keeping you in place.
-When a certain recurring boss releases pent-up energy after absorbing it, that energy will now damage him if reflected.
-Fixed various typos.
Edit: Super Stealth 9/28 Update
-Slamming on the ground with the bear and then talking to the statues in Kung Fu Tower will no longer make your sprite freak out.
-The low-level goon at the entrance to the Petty Thugs' hideout won't morph into Mr. Grouse when you try to enter the right door.
-After getting dropped into prison in the Mad Queen's castle, if you go back to the courtyard and return, Caterpillar won't resend you to the dungeon anymore.
-The boss of Dark Dungeon now plays the appropriate music.
-You can no longer get into random encounters immediately after beating Ebeezil.
-A certain boss that can pull you under water now works as intended.
Legacy Mode is back on the Default Path
After releasing the mkxp version, some new glitches came to my attention--mainly the black box covering the player's sprite for some players and battle bgm not looping accurately. So, I've switched the legacy mode back to the main branch.
If you want to use the mkxp version, you can still do so. This is set up like a beta now, so just right click on the game in your library, choose properties, select the betas tab, and pick "mkxp" from the dropdown menu. The mkxp version will smooth out framerate issues and the large sprite fix crash, so, if you're running into those issues, you still might want to use the mkxp version.
Sorry for the inconvenience, and thanks for your patience.
New Update: Better Framerate, Difficulty Selector, Mac Version
I've just added a pretty beefy update that's a mix of several things I've been working on. The biggest change is that the mkxp version is now in the main branch of the game, so that's going to change some things for most players. The mkxp version is basically going to smooth out a lot of issues that some people have with the framerate, mainly, but it should also prevent the large sprite fix crash. A few things you need to know now that this is live:
-F4 and F5 won't change the screen size. Now you can hit alt+enter to toggle fullscreen, and you can manually resize the window if you want.
-If you have an old save, it should still be there, but the characters' face graphics in the save menu will likely be missing. These might update when you change characters, but they'll definitely appear when you start a new game.
-If you get a blackscreen when running the new version, make sure that your video card drivers are up to date--you might need to go to your manufacturer's website rather than just using the device manager (especially if you have a laptop). Some people might also need to disable the Steam overlay.
-I've kept the "beta" branch active, but it's no longer supported. If you are running the beta branch, just move back over to the default branch if you want to receive updates.
-If you prefer the old version, you can still get it by opting into the "Legacy" beta. You can do this by right clicking on the game in your library, going to properties, clicking on the beta tab, and then choosing the legacy option. There's no password.
The next big thing is that I've included a Mac version. It should run fine, but, as of now, I haven't been able to test to make sure Steam installs it correctly, so there might be some growing pains--just let me know if you run into any problems. I wanted to get this announcement out first to avoid any confusion.
The final major change: I've added a difficulty selector. This is accessible at any time in the menu. You can toggle between normal mode and easy mode. Easy mode doubles your money and experience drops, reduces monster health and attack stats, lowers the encounter rate, and lowers the amount of money you lose when you die.
Finally, here are a few bug fixes:
-In the Dark Dungeon, if you trade half your health, it will now persist between battles.
-Pulverizing Light description is now accurate.
-Grimclaw's final attack works as intended again.
8/28 Update: Lots of Bug Fixes
I went ahead and updated Jimmy--both the regular and beta versions. This update contains the new font in preparation for when the beta gets moved to the main branch. There are still a few things about the beta that I would like to straighten out--mainly the issue with the Steam overlay causing some players to blackscreen--but I had so many bug fixes that I wanted to get the current version up-to-date.
Before I get to the changes, though, I wanted to address a few plans for the future. My main concern right now is getting the mkxp version 100% and moved to the main download branch. I'm also planning on adding a difficulty selector which will give players who want a more leisurely experience easier enemies, less encounters, and higher experience and money drops. I'm also planning on adding a hard mode which will provide more challenge for the masochists out there. So, the next update will likely contain these new features--so look forward to that! Also, as always, let me know of any bugs and I'll squash them in future updates.
Anyway here's a list of all the changes in the current version:
-You no longer phase through part of the bridge in the Periodicals section of the World's Library.
-The hedgemaze race is now very slightly easier.
-Dying during "Mr. Beaver's Ultimate Pit Fighting Championship" now works as intended.
-Ludwig's dialogue investigation into the Abandoned Cineplex will now actually point you to the lightbulb instead of to a secret toybox.
-Descriptions for percentage-increasing equipment all follow the same standard.
-You can no longer use clean getaway on any of the fights while breaking through Turnbuckle's barricade.
-The statues in the temple in Northern King's March will now consistently reset to their default position upon reentering the temple.
-You can no longer glitch a green exclamation mark above your head when running into a teleportation circle.
-If you've already gotten a lightbulb at a location, Inspector Ludwig will no longer be able to search that location. However, he'll only be able to recognize the lightbulbs that you've gotten after this update. If you find every lightbulb before he opens his door, he'll open the door for you; this will work on any save file.
-Green exclamation encounters will now disappear when you jump off of raised platforms, meaning you will no longer be able to get into a midair encounter.
-You can no longer counter with weapons that supply buffs or heals rather than attacks.
-Golden King will now give you the appropriate amount of money if you haven't gotten all the ruby chests in the dungeon.
-You should no longer be able to open up the transformation menu when walking onto the space that triggers Grimclaw.
-Andrew should consistently appear in the cut scene at the end of the World's Library.
-Mental Clarity can no longer be used outside of battle.
-You can no longer open the menu or transformation ring if you have a green exclamation point above your head as the bird.
-Killing or startling an enemy who has mind controlled you will now remove the mind control.
-When a certain boss reaches low health and no longer has windups, he might also yowl in pain, effectively giving you a free turn.
-Enemies in King's March are now slightly weaker.
-The Squirm on the meteorite in the middle of the ocean will now give you an eradicator ray if he doesn't detect any more anomalies.
-The character portraits in Tetsuya Kawaii should no longer remain on screen for some players.
-You can no longer trigger an additional encounter by jamming the confirm button after a battle that's been triggered by letting a green exclamation point sit on the screen too long.
-Spring-Loaded Shades now make counter stance affect everyone as intended.
-Killing a boss who is accompanied by Brain Bats will now also kill the Brain Bats.
-The GECE is way less resource intensive now; crashes there should be virtually nonexistant.
-Hyde Toxin now has a more accurate description.
-Canceling the elevator in Tetsuya Kawaii and then hitting the confirm key will not make the elevator doors open and close anymore.
-Super Slap now acts as a physical attack as intended
-Encyclopedia Set now gives 300 ATK instead of 350; it also no longer gives a MAT boost.
-Light Prism now increases MAT by 150 instead of 110.
-Chainsaw now increases ATK by 125 instead of 110.
-Necronomicon now increases MAT by 165 instead of 150.
