Good news. Even though the last update was nearly a year ago, I am happy to update you all on what's been going on and where we are now.
If you're not on the Milo Games discord server, I hang out there every hour and post updates quite frequently.
A big milestone was completed this evening: Transitions and cut scenes.
Up to now, going from boss to menu was just a simple transition from one screen to another. Not very exciting and not very rewarding when you spend 3 hours on a boss only for a default windows "YOU COMPLETED" to flash up.
Well now, it's all slick 'n stuff. When you kill a boss and when you do certain actions I can't talk about, it's all cool and animated. This stuff took some time but it's there.
Now you may notice I haven't ticked off "cut scenes." I still have one more to go, but it's sort of a bonus one and doesn't really count as a standard transition.
Balancing and Bug Fixing
The game is fun. That's for sure.
Is the game balanced? It's certainly hard but all developers tend to make games much harder than what the audience actually needs. I found myself tweaking values here and there to make the game easier. At first it feels so wrong but then I play it and it still feels totally fun to play.
If you're hoping for a challenge, you'll find one. For those who struggle with these sorts of games, I will be adding options for you too.
Accessibility
I will be adding options to make the game easier. I think we can move on from the Dark Souls era of "get gud" and "you're not a true gamer unless you play in hard mode" mentality. It doesn't help anyone.
Some people just do not have fast reflexes. Some people don't have time commitments. Some people are more interested in story.
So, for those that want it, there'll be options for slower time speed and regenerating health. There will also be an option to disable achievements, so if you want to earn them on the intended difficulty, you can.
Release Date
I've learnt my lesson. Never speculate on a release date because it'll only be pushed back.
That said, I'm gonna take a risk here and say it's looking like Tarot will be released this year for sure.
Thanks to everyone who's still keeping an eye on this. Your patience and support means so much to me. I really hope you like Tarot when it comes out.
Cheers,
Als
Mini-Dead: Tarot - Big news and development roadmap
Hi everyone, Alec here.
This is the biggest part of the development is complete! The game play is 100% finished and no more creative decisions need to be made and I’m finally happy with how the bosses play. Making a game that feels fun takes a lot of work and getting to the point where, at minimum, everything is playable is a big achievement!
What's next?
Balancing - Beta testing, feedback and making sure the game is fun.
Bug fixing - More beta testing and tidying up loose ends. Checking for exploits and ensuring Steam works.
Sound - All music is DONE. The bosses just need sound now which is a fairly sizeable job but not too bad in grand scheme of things.
UI - Menus and boring stuff. Saving and loading. Accessibility
Other - Who knows what might happen? It's just good to account for unknowable factors. And marketing.
With this in mind we're looking at a 2022 release date for sure and possibly Autumn. Who really know at this point? I wish I was better at time perception but it's just so hard to quantify this stuff.
Stay tuned, things will be kicking off in the coming weeks.
Soundtrack Preview - Abandoned Child
A preview of the OST for the upcoming Mini-Dead: Tarot with music from the lovely Mudeth.
Join the discord for the latest updates: https://discord.gg/3RvHuvh
Mini-Dead: Tarot - March Progress Report
Hi everyone,
It's been a long time and I don't update you frequently enough. I'm very active over on the Milo Games discord server which you can join with the link below:
https://discord.gg/3RvHuvh
Release Date
It's looking very likely it'll be this year. I can't give a month yet, but progress is steady enough that it should be sometime in 2022.
My personal life is very busy so working on the game is not a regular thing. However, I've not given up on it since it's conception in 2016 so I won't stop now.
What's left to be done?
Three bosses are fully playable. The secret boss has turned into something far, far more ambitious than I anticipated. It has taken, by far, the most time out of any individual thing so far. It's the most complex and asset heavy boss fight I've ever done across Mini-Dead and Dead.
Once the secret boss is complete the game will then be the minimum viable product. Meaning you could fight the bosses and complete the game.
After that, all that's left is sound, polish, menus and bug testing which doesn't take very long at all.
60 FPS mode is gone
In order to release the game I have had to remove a quality of life feature. When Tarot is released, the 60 fps option will be removed. It's always been a confusing option, so let me clarify what it is and why it's going.
The game is made in Game Maker, which ties the time to the frame rate. Mini-Dead runs at 144fps but if your PC can only run it at 60fps the game essentially runs in slow motion.
To compensate, I put in a feature that doubled the speed of the game. If you chose to run the game 60fps, it would half the frame-rate but double the game creating the same experience.
This takes far too much time to implement so I'm scrapping the feature. Now, if your PC can't handle the frame rate, it will run in slow motion. This is the only way I can release the game and keep my sanity at the same time.
To caveat this, the game runs on some sort of special DLL that does something fancy with the time. It might help, it might not. Mini-Dead is a very light game though so I imagine most PCs will handle it.
If you want to ask me questions or see the crazy theories people have about the lore of these games then join the discord: https://discord.gg/3RvHuvh
~ Alec
Mini-Dead is fast again + DLC Progress
Mini-Dead is now fast
Mini-Dead is now on v2.0.0.6. This solves an issue which must have existed for months now in which the game actually runs at half the speed.
This has now been fixed, so I recommend trying the game again at the true intended difficulty.
Other changes include:
Changing the behaviour of buttons to trigger on mouse press, rather than mouse release.
This should make menus feel more responsive.
Safety period at the start of the fight
Now, when a fight begins, Ember cannot be damaged. You are free to watch the bosses perform their attacks in total safety. Once you click, you become vulnerable. This is a good quality of life update to ensure you don't spawn in taking damage, but more importantly, helps you learn what the boss will do. Critical for the upcoming DLC.
Freeze frame on death
A lot of the times you may die in Mini-Dead and not know why. Now, when you die, the screen freezes for one second. Again, just a nice bit of polish so that your death is noticeable as opposed to being thrown into the warp screen.
Thought bubbles!
You can now middle-click to produce a thought bubble! There's 3% chance of getting a rare thought such as dogs or something else.
DLC progress
Life is very busy for me. These coming months are especially difficult. In edition, 2020 was a really bad year for my mental health so working on projects was a struggle.
The DLC is at a good spot. One boss in particular is very hard to design for right now but I've made progress lately. It's important that each boss is fun and feels good. Every boss is done except for the last two.
All the music is complete thanks to wonderful mudeth. Check him out here: https://soundcloud.com/mudeth https://mudeth.bandcamp.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/mudeth
The soundtrack is absolutely spectacular and so, so good. I couldn't be happier with it and I can't wait for you to listen. It might be larger than you expect.
In summary, the DLC isn't dead. I'm aiming for a Halloween release but, as usual, it'll be done when it's done.
Cheers!
If you wanna chat about Mini-Dead or Dead then pop on down to the discord server: https://discord.gg/3RvHuvh
The community is super nice and I hang out there basically 24/7 if you wanna ask questions or call me a dick or anything.
Mini-Dead: Tarot status
Hello!
Alec here. ːdeadhuskyː
Let's talk about Mini-Dead: Tarot and it's progress.
Not Dead
Firstly, it's alive and still in development.
Summer 2020 was the original goal and, you may have noticed, that didn't happen. Last year was eventful and it wasn't easy for me to work on the game. I have real life things to do that eat up my time, plus developing a game that's fun is hard.
Release date
It's hard to say. This is why I don't usually announce release dates because I'm very likely to miss it. I assume it'll come out this year.
The game is currently...well lets put it like this.
There are ten parts to the game. What that means exactly is spoilers, but, there are ten, large parts that need developing. Once those are done, the rest of the development is sound effects and polish. Out of those ten parts, seven are complete. One of those parts, in particular, is using up a lot load of time.
It needs to be amazing.
It's fun
Yeah, honestly. It's really fun so far. Playing the game and testing it, it's kinda good frankly. I really like it.
So, for the time being the cards remain docile.
I will let you all know when big things happen.
ːdeadlabː Join our discord for the latest information and to just chat: https://discord.gg/3RvHuvh
Tarot Soundtrack Preview!
[previewyoutube="BLR45Kgg0x4;full"]
Really happy to share this with you. Mini-Dead: Tarot has some amazing music and here's just one track from a surprisingly long list of tracks.
Big thanks to mudeth for taking on this job. He's doing amazing work and really bringing the game to life. Give him some love!
Mini-Dead: Tarot is an expansion for Mini-Dead introducing more bosses, more original music, more achievements and more secrets.
Incredibly excited to finally show something tangible for this next instalment. Check out the storepage below and add it to your wish list so you don't miss out.
I'll be talking about it more openly and frequently now.
Announcement Trailer is Coming
Lately, I've been working on the trailer for what is currently known as "Mini-Dead DLC."
This trailer will reveal the bosses you'll be fighting and the official name of DLC. It will also mark the cross over-point to a project I can start talking about more openly, including what progress I'm making specifically.
Keep an eye out!
DLC will be out in 2020. I couldn't tell you which month but, 2020.
Mini-Dead DLC: Progress and official statements
Alec here. ːdeadhuskyː
I spend a lot of my time on the Milo Games discord channel and not enough here on the Steam community so here is the official stance on the DLC.
You can join the discord here: https://discord.gg/nrP9zmM
DLC is happening!
I don't know when it will be released but I will reveal more information when the game is further along. I think it will be sometime this year, if not early next year.
What's in the DLC? Three more bosses with lots of secrets. I think it will be a really good challenge. There are technically more than three but for now let's all pretend there's three. There will be new achievements so for those that have 100%'d Mini-Dead be prepared to re-earn your title.
How much will the DLC be? About $5. Maybe more. It's really good content and so far I'm really happy with it. The bosses are way more complicated than the three currently in the game.
Is the secret another combination of all three bosses? No. The secrets in the Mini-Dead DLC are better than that.
What's the name of the DLC? I will reveal that when the trailers begin to drop. I hope you like it!
Is this the first of many Mini-Dead DLCs? No. This will be the only DLC for Mini-Dead. After this I will be moving on to other projects.
