Serenade of the Sirens
Restarting Development
Devlog #8 - A New Seika
New Design for Seika
Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. The new version of Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is still underway! In the mean time I wanted to reveal the new design for Seika.
I would love to reveal more about the updated version, but there is still work to do and I want to make sure things are further along before I do so. As I mentioned in the previous devlog that the goal for the next milestone is in May and I'm aiming to have a build that can be play tested in the wild by the end of it.
Other than that, I'll post another update in May. Talk to you then!
Devlog #7 - End of Year
Wanted to give a quick update before the year closes out. Serenade of the Sirens is still in development! Devlog updates will be infrequent until I have a new working demo available. Until then the goal for the next milestone is May 2022. That's all I have for now, Happy New Year!
Devlog #6 - Close to Playable Alpha & SOTS v1 Postmortem
Updates
Hi everyone, welcome to another devlog of Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS). Wanted to give another update of the current state of SOTS and be as transparent as possible. As I mentioned in previous updates, I have rebuilt the game from scratch and am working on a new version. I'll create a beta branch with the new version but I would like to expose the latest version with a smaller group of play testers first. If you're interested in play testing you can join my discord (https://discord.gg/wzfMfGNd3q) for more details. I'm also offering a free key to a small group for play testing, so tell your friends!
Post Mortem of V1 SOTS
This section is a little more on the personal side as I would like to give a sort of post mortem for the previous version of SOTS as that will be put to rest soon. As SOTS is coming up on it's 3 year anniversary from being released, I have many thoughts about the game and development in general.
A quick note, v1 SOTS refers to the old version and v2 SOTS refers to the latest version that hasn't been released yet.
Working on Multiple Projects
This is a big one for me and is one of the reasons this game isn't further along or finished. I bit off way more than I could chew by not only making this game by myself, but also spreading myself thin by working on other projects on the side. The cons of this is not being far along with SOTS as I could have been, making promises to people that I couldn't fulfill which burned bridges, and ultimately not having something 'finished' with anything I was working on. On the positive side I did learn a lot in the process. If I was to do it again, I would have just kept SOTS as my full time project and not over commit myself (like an occasional game jam is fine).
Not Enough Prototyping
Another mistake I made is I didn't spend enough time in the prototyping phase of v1 SOTS. I like to set deadlines on projects so I can move it forward and I set an arbitrary timeline of 6 months for the game. After working on v2 SOTS now, I can see how some of the problems I have solved in the latest version could have been caught and remedied had I gave SOTS more time to bake in the oven. Will definitely wait longer in the future before I release a game on steam (even if in early access).
Art Challenges
This has definitely been one of the challenging areas of both versions SOTS for me. I started off as the original artist then eventually outsourced the artwork so I can focus on the design and programming side of things. I feel as though the art doesn't have a cohesive style and definitely could have used more work. I'm hoping v2 SOTS delivers a better experience in this regard, but it still has been challenging finding the right fit for artists and SOTS.
Gameplay
I may have highlighted some of these things in previous dev logs/updates, but I thought it's relevant to the discussion. Here a few things about gameplay that I thought could have been improved in v1 SOTS.
Lack of Progression
One thing I felt is lacking, and kind of a sin for roguelites, is any meaningful progression. There are items you can collect to make you stronger and end game powers up that have permanent effects, but they weren't exactly that great in my opinion as they either suffered from not much of an impact or just not enough options to progress.
Lack of Variety
There are four stages with v1 SOTS and besides art and slight enemy changes there isn't much difference. There is also only one style of attack and the abilities that you gain aren't that well thought out looking back at it now. The bosses (a.k.a Sirens) need to be revamped as well as add additional ones. Also there aren't many surprised or secrets as well. There needs to be something that brings you back to the game and I think the lack of variety didn't help.
Better Enemy and Room Designs
Another thing I wasn't satisfied with is the lack of synergy between the geometry of a room and the placement and mechanics of enemies. What I mean by that is more thought should have went into enemy placement as this can help with strategizing how to proceed further. I'm not relying on manual placement of enemies as opposed to more procedural for v2 SOTS. More fun and interesting opportunities can reveal themselves with the right placement and design.
Rebuilding 2 Times
Maybe recreating the game 2 different times wasn't the best idea and usage of time. For the first rebuild, I wanted to recreate the game with a better code base and in the end I got the same game (with a few performance improvements). I justified this in my mind by saying new features would be easier to add which they were, but this was short lived as I eventually decided to rebuild the second time.
If I could do it over again, I would just have refactored the first version which would have been a lot faster than starting from scratch (with the first rebuild). I feel good about the decision of the second rebuild as there are actual fundamental changes compared to the first rebuild.
Final Thoughts
Honestly working on games have been a dream come true. I love the roguelite genre and I hope the v2 SOTS will be a much better experience. There is definitely more I can say, but for now I'll conserve that energy and focus on v2 SOTS. Thanks for reading!
Devlog #5 - Quick Alpha Update
Progress on Alpha
Hey everyone, the alpha version of the new Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is still in development. I'm currently working to get the game to a presentable state, but it will take more time. Development isn't going as fast as I would like but progress is being made! Also I stripped '0.11.x' from the title since this version of SOTS has its own version scheme.
Other than that, I'll continue to push forward and provide more updates in the future. Thanks for tuning in!
0.11.x Devlog #4 - End of Year Update
End of Year Update
Hey everyone, as promised here is a quick end of year update on the progress of Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS). I'm continuing to work on the new version of SOTS (will call it SOTS 2.0) and I'm still aiming to have an alpha build by 'the end of Q1/early Q2'. It's been over a year since my last game update, so my number 1 priority as of now is getting the alpha build out for feedback.
One of the biggest changes to come to SOTS 2.0 is switching from full procedurally generated rooms to hand crafted ones. This simple change has caused sort of a break through for the game as it makes designing elements of the game a lot more accessible and under my control. With the way the rooms are generated changing, it has updated the way I have designed the enemies and stages. The enemy encounters I feel can be planned out a lot better.
I won't get too far into the weeds of SOTS 2.0 until things are further along next year. The next news update will most likely come out in February and I should have a lot more to show and to talk about by then.
Thanks for tuning in and I want to wish YOU a happy new year!
0.11.x Devlog #3 - Forever Tomorrows
I'm very anxious to replace the current version of SOTS with the updated one and it's been awhile since I posted any new content. So as a cancellation for not having anything to show yet, I'll reveal something that can be listened to. Here is a track that I have planned for a cutscene. I titled this post after the title of the song as I have a constant longing to complete the game that will always come tomorrow...forever. Maybe it's not that dramatic, but I thought it was compelling enough of a title.
Anyways, that's the news I wanted to share today. I'll post another update before the end of 2020. Since the new playable version of SOTS will be available next year, I'll definitely need play testers for the alpha version. As of now, I plan on making that available through a separate branch. More details will come in future updates.
0.11.x Devlog #2 - In the throws of a new alpha
I wanted to post an update sooner but didn't want to talk about things that are subject to change. I feel as though I'll run the risk of things changing regardless of when I reveal, so here I go:
- Seika art has been changed.
- Seika's home world added as an entry point before entering a dungeon.
- Seika can gain more attacks and abilities during a dungeon run.
- More items.
- Added a room map to see how all rooms connects.
- Updated minimap.
- Increased game resolution.
- Added more background layers.
What has or will change isn't limited to this list. All in all, I think it's going in a better direction but I'll need play testers to be the judge. That's it for now, will post another update soon.
0.11.x Devlog #1 - Starting from scratch
As of now things are good so far. I'm planning to have a playable build for the new version of SOTS by the end of the year and I'll give more details in a future update. Also one thing to note is that the demo and full release versions may be identical with the initial release of 0.11.x.
Progress on 0.11.x and General Updates
Progress on 0.11.x
The updates have been less frequent but Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is still in the works! Progress is going pretty good as I continue to redesign and make changes to the game. The next update will be the biggest change yet to come to the SOTS universe, but this won't be for awhile. I'm not in a position to give a hard deadline, but I estimate the next update may be out by the end of the year at the latest. I'll try to give more frequent updates until then as the next build finalizes. So rather than continue blabbering on about an update that's not here yet, I would like to take the time to reflect on the past, current, and future state of the game. I'll do that by talking about specific areas of the SOTS.
Background
SOTS began as a game jam game for the GameGirl Jam. The theme of the game jam was to make a game that contained a female heroine that took place in a retro world. This gave birth to Seika and Serenade of the Sirens. I originally projected six months to complete the game and I was completely and utterly wrong!
Gameplay
I feel like SOTS is getting closer to where I want it to be, but I do recognize that there are some critical issues that need to be addressed before it can reach its full potential. I've highlighted below areas of the game that I'm working to improve:
- Attacks (variations), powers ups, and abilities
- Updating Stages to contain more meaningful content. Less empty space. More thematic and mechanical tie ins.
- Enemy and Boss redesigns
- Items redesigns
- Better end game/metagame mechanics and unlocks
- Visual improvements
- More content
- Bug fixes of course ;-)
This by all means isn't an exhaustive list. I've received great feedback and will incorporate them into the ecosystem of SOTS.
Story
There are a few story points in the current version of SOTS but there's not much. What's in the current game often clashes and doesn't do justice to the lore that birthed the universe. With the next update of SOTS, I would like to introduce more of the world and lore to the player. Since more stages and content will be added to SOTS by the time it leaves early access, there will be more opportunity to reveal why Seika is in such a perilous situation and why she is battling her way through underwater caves!
Biggest Challenge & Goal
One of the main challenges I've been facing with moving SOTS forward has been shedding what's already there. I'm taking SOTS in a new direction and that requires removing things. Some of these things I've unknowingly grown attached to while developing the game. My goal for the next build is to face and overcome this challenge. Not to change things just to change them, but make things better for the game overall.
Conclusion
All in all, I've been focusing on the steps to bring SOTS closer to its 'out of early access' form. I'll give more fleshed out updates once they become available. Thank you for tuning in!