La-Mulana 2
[Kickstarter Update] Request
No matter how much time you out into it, you end up thinking, "But it could be even better..."
I'm worried about some data that was created way back when.
But it's almost time for release.
Over ten years have passed since we started NIGORO.
Observing the speed at which both the internet and the original La-Mulana spread, I thought, "I may be able to do this professionally."
That was followed by hardship after hardship.
While the game was well-liked, sales were passable at best, and "indies" weren't really even a thing in Japan yet.
We had to find a way to sell the game overseas.
The game has gradually become more well-known, but I can't shake the feeling that we're still just a step short of success in this regard.
I guess getting negative sometimes is just something that happens, I mean, it's been over five years since we've released anything new.
It's been so long that I've forgotten how to do a few things here and there, and I feel like a newbie again.
We at NIGORO live in Japan, work in Japan, and have worked hard to get more fans in Japan.
We've participated in streams of gameplay, spoken at events, requested test plays, stuff like that.
We'd meet and hang out with people who have become fans of ours, and in exchange they'd support us and our work as NIGORO even more.
I feel like we should be doing the same thing overseas.
While there may not be many, just where exactly are the kind of people who would be fans of games like La-Mulana?
For starters, right here, of course: the people who have invested in and backed this project, and who come here to comment, and who have been waiting patiently for us this whole time.
I'm sure that you guys likely have friends who like the same kinds of games as you.
So I'd like to make this request: Please help get the word out about La-Mulana 2 in your own respective countries!
This is to all of you reading this update or article, those of you in the Steam community and in the La-Mulana 2 Subreddit and everyone!
We're gonna be going overseas. And I'm gonna try studying English so that I can express what I want to express in my own words, too.
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Kickstarter Update] Localization
I wanna try wasting a bunch of time and just sleeping for an entire day.
Or rather, I've BEEN wanting to do that, but have been sucking it up and sticking it out for days while we push through the final work on La-Mulana 2.
As we close in on completion, we've been really kicking it into high gear and have been receiving reports from our debuggers at a pace of about one every 30 minutes or so, so I really want to just shut my PC down and take a nap.
And while our localization team is busy sending over reports of missing text and whatnot, I wanna go off on a trip somewhere and chill.
Anyway, right now we're at our absolute busiest. I think I'm gonna find some time in between handling bugs and stuff to stick some more traps into the game.
You know, just go ahead and take out some of my pain and frustration on the players.
As you can see in the image, the English implementation is coming along nicely.
The localizers are really doing a solid job, checking and rechecking game content, settings, various statuses, etc. etc. as they go along.
Unfortunately, I couldn't really tell you how good or bad any English text is, so check with someone who's played the English version to find out just how well it's been done.
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
La-Mulana 2 Coming Soon, Special Event Planned!
https://youtu.be/hc1koMMXWaY
As we are working on the last stretch towards the release of the game, we have some special news for you all!
La-Mulana 2 Special Event
In anticipation while we lead up to the upcoming La-Mulana 2 release. We will be hosting a special event, which will be live streamed, on July 29th!
More details to come soon!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Kickstarter Update] Final Check
At the moment, the developers, localizers, testers, etc. - basically, "a whole mess of folks" - are all working on their respective parts, and everyone is busy going through multiple final checks.
Personally, there are some things about which I'm kinda like, "Seriously? We're dealing with that THIS far into development?!", but what are you gonna do? Stuff like this is par for the course for small development teams.
We've been working on this title for a long time now, and it's so big and complicated that I wish I could just keep going in and fixing and tweaking things forever.
But that's not an actual thing you can do, so for now we've got to get this thing finished so we can release it.
First off, we've made it to the point where the full game can be played to the end and cleared. We'll probably end up adding and implementing the hidden elements via post-release update.
We haven't actually announced anything yet, but it goes without saying that we're taking console releases into consideration as well. We plan to use the time between now and any future ports and releases to rock out some updates and further brush up the game.
We worked as hard as we could, but this is a really large-scale and complicated game.
I'm sure that people will discover ways to play, shortcuts, and bugs that we wouldn't have even imagined.
Once the game is released, we'll spend the foreseeable future locked and loaded, ready to take out any possible threat to gameplay that may arise as quickly as possible.
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Notice] La-Mulana 2 Pre-Order on Playism Closes Friday 13th July
If you are looking to become a slacker backer, this is your last chance.
La-Mulana 2 on Playism
[Kickstarter Update] Costume Changes
This has nothing to do with game progression, but we're going to be creating different costumes for Lumisa.
One of the problems with this is that we can't actually create them until the main character's movements and animations have been fully finalized (since having to make just one adjustment means having to fix every single costume), and so now we're finally about ready to start working on them.
Those of you who have received costume keys as rewards will be receiving a file separate from the game from which you can obtain the keys.
Once the keys are applied to the game, you'll see a number representing the number of keys you have at the bottom-right side of the title screen.
These keys will allow you to open up costume treasure chests in the game and add the costumes to your inventory.
Players who have not received costume keys as rewards will have to acquire them by fulfilling certain conditions in the game.
Also, adding reward costume keys will only work on the PC version.
We unfortunately don't have a way to add this feature to consoles...
The merit of getting costume keys as rewards is that you'll be able to obtain said costumes before everyone else.
But either way, the costumes are hidden inside the ruins, so you won't be able to get your hands on them right away anyway.
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Kickstarter Update] Enemy Graphics: Complete
As of today, we've finally finished off all of the enemy character graphics.
The images are all finished, so now all we have to do is check the movements, attacks, and animations of the final products.
Then we'll be able to check placement, terrain, and strength in the time leading up to release.
Even after spending all this time on development, there are still plenty of things we'd like to tweak and brush up, but there is also good a number of areas for which specs have been cut back as well.
But even so, we continue to stick with our initial desire to ensure that players will be surprised by something or other each time they play La-Mulana 2.
We've made it so that you just can't see and experience everything with just a single playthrough (and we don't mean simply "you have to play it on Hard Mode, too").
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Kickstarter Update] Ending
We've created an ending demo.
I mean, we obviously can't show it to you yet, but still.
We've gotten as far as to have the scene changes match up with the music, and we've stuck in the end credits as well.
Now all we have to do is create the assets to stick on top of that and it'll be finished, but we're not gonna do that just yet.
Why not? Because once the ending demo is finished, you get this sense of "it's finally done!" and I'm afraid that that's going to lull us into a false sense of security.
The development team is still working hard, going through fixes and adjustments at lightspeed.
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Kickstarter Update] Localization
The localization is coming along really nicely.
We've been doing a lot of back-and-forth with the translators, as they send us questions and we send back explanations and hints and such.
This is a picture of our "Consolidated Message Display Field", used to check translation data swiftly and effectively.
It looks kinda like a graveyard, doesn't it?
Anyway, as for La-Mulana 2, initially it will feature Japanese and English language support.
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/
[Kickstarter Update] Announcement
I guess we hadn't really done an official announcement yet here in these updates.
La-Mulana 2 will be available from PLAYISM this summer. Both the Windows and Mac versions are set to be released on PLAYISM and Steam.
Please forgive us for not stating a specific date; you never know what's gonna come up, you know?
But since the release date shouldn't need to be changed too greatly, let's say it'll be somewhere around July or August.
The main thing is that there are a lot of decisions - for example, releasing it simultaneously in Japan and other regions, etc. - that we simply can't make on our own.
Right now, I'm working on finalizing the data for the music in order to send it off to have the mastering for sound levels done.
There are over 60 tracks. I think that's even more than the previous game.
Some tracks have been recycled from the previous game, but still, that's a lot!
NIGORO
Takumi Naramura
https://store.steampowered.com/app/835430/LaMulana_2/