Lejendary Dev Log

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Update #38 - Update Number Thirty Eight

Lejendary is coming out great.

This is a quick update as I don't have much to say.

Lejendary is coming out great.  It's fun, exciting, and fresh.  As always, I can't wait to show you.

Unfortunately, it won't be playable anytime soon.  Like I said in the last update, there is a TON of work to do; the size of Lejendary has expanded quite a bit.  I'm working hard on getting it finished.

If things continue to work out well, I should be able to provide some more details soon.  Until then, please be patient.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #37 - More Than I Can Chew

The work progresses on Lejendary, but I've only just begun to realize how much work there is to do.

So, the current version of Lejendary that I've been working on is exactly what I need it to be.  It's fun, it's fresh, and I'm more than capable of finishing it.

The only problem that I've only just realized is that there is a TON of work to do on it.  That's kind of a problem since that's going to require that I get help from a larger number of people.  I had originally planned to make a game that would require me, an artist, and a sound design.  It was sort of a micro game blown up, if you know what I mean.

It's still possible that it can be finished with only three people, but it would require a lot of time and dedication.  In particular, the amount of art that Lejendary is going to require has about tripled.  Considering that I can't really afford any help right now, I'm kind of stressing out over how this game is going to get done.

I've got to get this demo out and that Kickstarter running as soon as possible, I guess...

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I hate talking about Lejendary without having given a better idea of what it's all about.  Unfortunately, it can't really be helped at the moment so I hope that you'll bear with me.  As soon as I can, I'd like to post a screenie and write a quick post about what exactly the game has shaped out to be.

I'm sure that you'll be as excited as I am to see it finished.  There aren't really too many games like it out there at the moment.

I'm just about ready to post something soon, so it won't be too long of a wait.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #36 - Nevermore

I'm cancelling Lejendary :(

As much as I hate to say it, I've officially decided to give the go ahead and just cancel Lejendary.  The fact of the matter is that this newest version just isn't coming along well and I just don't have the heart to start on another version.  In addition, Lejendary has just sort of become a pain to work on and I feel exhausted from pushing myself all the time.

If you're interested, my plan right now is to take some time off of game development and try something else.  I'm sort of burned out of game development entirely, so don't expect anything to come up soon.  

To all of my fans, your support really meant a lot to me.  Thanks for reading this blog and thanks for taking the time to follow along with the progress of Lejendary.  

Even though I wasn't able to finish Lejendary, I'm very proud of what I accomplished.  It's possible that one day I'll pass along the assets to someone else and they can finish what I've started.  That isn't really in the agenda anytime soon, but it's possible...

I don't want to get too sentimental so I'll just end this quickly right now.  

Thanks again for taking the time to read this.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #35 - A Devlog About Nothing

I continue to work on the latest iteration of Lejendary.

So, the newest version of Lejendary is going well I think.  I don't want to jinx another version of the game, so that's pretty much all I'll say for now.

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With the knowledge that I've been pretty happy with the latest version so far, I've had to completely redo the game code.  I don't just mean the background code of the game; I've had to completely redo just about everything in it.  That would be a really terrible thing if it wasn't for the fact that I was using Game Maker.  Without a doubt, if I wasn't using GM, I simply wouldn't be able to try out the different versions of Lejendary that I've worked on.  It would simply take too long to redo all of the work without it.

While Game Maker has been invaluable to the making of Lejendary, it simply can't fix all of my problems, however.  In other words, remember that amazing level editor that I've talked about several times?  Well, as it turns out, it's not that adaptable...

Fortunately, GM comes with a native level editor and I've been able to use that to suit the needs of the newest version.  It's not exactly perfect or anything like that, but it will get the job done.  Thank God for game engines!

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That's all I've got for now.  I believe the work is coming along nicely, so please check out the blog later on.  I should be able to post an image or something soon.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #34 - Eureka

I again feel like I've got what I'd like Lejendary to be.

I don't want to over-hype or over-talk ANOTHER idea that I have for Lejendary, so all I'm going to say for this week is that I've begun creating some sample art for another new direction.  I've been afraid of seeming kind of shiftless when it comes to making Lejendary, so I'd rather not give out any details just yet.

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What I can say, however, is that the inspiration for this version has come from an old DOS game.  

I actually love taking a look at old time games that were once popular; not only are a lot of them still fun to play, but many of them are really bizarre.  And, having created a bunch of weird games myself, I really dig the really twisted ideas in them!

Take for example, Rampart.  Here's a game that mashes up a battling and construction game, neither of which is done extremely well.  But, somehow combining the two makes for a wonderful blend of strategy and tactics.  It's just a sort of oddball idea that ended up working but I think it would be easy to imagine why it wouldn't work.

About the only thing significantly wrong with it is that it's not a game with a lot of depth.  I know it's not really supposed to, however, and I think a lot of games from back in the day have a similar problem.  It just works as a bite sized, interesting experience with a strange theme.  Nothing more, nothing less.

Even if you don't think it's a fun game, you have to appreciate it for what it is.

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Anyways, I'm still working on Lejendary.  I've got a new direction that could work or could not work.  I'll have to let you know in the next update!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #33 - Standing Still

Surprisingly, I'm still at a loss about the exact direction of Lejendary.

I've spent the past week or so trying out several different ideas, but I still haven't found one that I'm entirely happy with.  Although I've come up with several really cool ideas, I've sort of got my heart set on making a specific type of game.

Speaking of which, the scope of Lejendary has changed (well, at least, I'd like it to change); generally speaking, I've been trying to merge together a whole bunch of genres and themes.  Basically, I'm trying to make a game that is turn based, multiplayer, and fantasy based that has some light city building elements in it.  Almost like a Civilization-light sort of game.  

Well, that's the sort of general game I'd like to make, and it's honestly not going too well.  Unfortunately, none of my ideas seem to have every element that I'd like it to have.

But, I continue to be positive and try out different ideas.  And, if push comes to shove, I can always explore one of the ideas that I've tossed out already.

So, hopefully I'll have something soon.  Please stay tuned!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #32 - Moving Backwards 2

I still can't decide where to go with Lejendary.

I've spent the past couple of days looking over various different sorts of games and I'm still not one hundred percent sure where I'd like to go with Lejendary.  It's been frustrating, kind of boring, and really demoralizing.

As I mentioned before, I've been specifically looking at various RTS games and trying to come up with one that I think would be fun to redo/revise.  Obviously, Heroes of Might and Magic has been in the back of my mind since it's been a huge influence on the game so far.  There are already plenty of Heroes games, however, so I'm not really sure what I could be adding to them.

Another big one that I've been looking at has been Global Conquest, which is a turn based, real timish game that not many people seem to have played.  I actually spent several hours trying to come up with how I could modernize it and make it more accessible.  Wouldn't you know it though, I wasn't able to really come up with the kind of simplicity that I'd like so I had to move on from that idea.

So, in the end, I haven't really done much work this past week.  As I said, it's been frustrating as heck and it's been really making me think of just dropping out of game making for a bit.

I can't say much else today other than that.  I'm looking forward to getting the project on the right track and I hope you have some patience with me.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #31 - Moving Backwards

The new version of Lejendary is feeling great and should be playable soon.  But, I don't want to continue in the direction I'm going in :(

If you can believe it, I'm probably going to make another large shift in Lejendary.  I'm thinking of moving into more of an RTS direction!

The funny thing is that I really like Lejendary as it currently is.  It's fun, easy to understand, and enjoyable.  The problem is that I wanted the game to have a sort of epic feel to it.  Sort of simple-epicness if that makes any sense.

I've come to the realization that in order to bring Lejendary into the area that I'd like it to be, I'd have to do a fairly large redesign of the game.  I'd basically have to add an overly complex level select screen, and, the fact is, that I'd rather just move in a new direction.

It's a huge disappointment to me and it's frustrating as hell, but there's just something wrong about the current version of Lejendary.  I STILL think that the puzzly/roguelike/RPG game that I was making works, but I just don't want to be the guy to make it (or, rather, I don't want to make it now).

Unfortunately, I'm not 100% sure on what the next step is going to be.  I've been looking at all sorts of games for inspiration and nothing is quite clicking yet.  I should probably stop writing this blog for a bit until I define exactly what I'm making...

But, I'll continue to jot down my thoughts and ideas.  Stay tuned for more info!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #30 - Moving Along

The new version of Lejendary is feeling great and it should be playable soon.

I'm continuing to work on the latest version of Lejendary and it's looking great!  I should be able to pump out screenshots on a regular update very soon actually.

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I remember that I once read something along the lines of "Great games require great level editors," and I finally understand what that means.  After only working on the latest iteration for about a week, I'm just about to wrap up most of what I need for the overworld map screen.  And, I was only able to make so much progress because I built a solid level editor to work with.  I can't express how happy I am that I bothered to put so much work into it in the past.  Without it, I wouldn't have been able to make all of the small changes that I've made to get Lejendary into the state that it currently is in.

As a side bonus, the level editor is pretty robust, so I should be able to use it in future games :)

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So, I should be posting an actual screenshot with some solid sample art soon.  It should give a pretty clear picture of what Lejendary is going to be about.  

Please check back on Friday for the latest post!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #28 - Catching Fire

I'm finally satisfied with the latest version of Lejendary!

After several months of hard work, I finally defined what exactly I'd like Lejendary to be!  As you can imagine, I'm pretty excited about this, and it's had a huge impact on my work ethic (as in, I'm really pumped up to be working on it).  In some ways, it feels like the end of a long journey, but I know that there is still tons of work to do.

So, you're probably wondering what exactly is the new direction of Lejendary.  To put it as basically as possible, it's a roguelike that combines elements of Desktop Dungeons with a typical JRPG.  So, it's like a roguelike like with simple JRPG style battles.  The above screenshot is showing the roguelike part of the game (a.k.a. the "world map").

It's fresh.  It's new.  And, I'm very happy with the idea!

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My goal now is to build a basic prototype of the game; that way I'll know how much art I'm going to need.  The work actually isn't too difficulty, but there's a lot of small parts to the game.  I can already tell that I'm going to need to put a lot of polish into a variety of different areas.

But, like I said, I'm happy and (finally) very satisfied with the idea.  I'm looking forward to building this demo and finding out what everyone thinks of it.

The demo is not going to be ready any time soon (I'll probably need one month and a half to get it playable), but I should be able to offer up better looking screenshots at a faster rate that I've been doing in the past.

I hope you continue to share this journey with me as I put together this cool little game!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #27 - Vague Ideas

The newest direction didn't exactly work out, but it took Lejendary into a far more interesting direction.

As I mentioned in the last post, I decided to take Lejendary a step back and more into the "Parameters+Desktop Dungeon+Roguelike" direction that I originally wanted to.  Unfortunately, it didn't really work out; I was actually so bummed that another direction didn't work, that I considered dropping the project entirely!

Well, surprisingly, I came up with ANOTHER direction to move in that's in line with my original idea and expansive enough to be considered deep (the idea is a weird mix of Desktop Dungeon and a tower defense game).

The idea is pretty original from what I can tell and I can't wait to have something playable to show off.  I actually think that THIS has been the idea I've been waiting for.

So, please come back for the Friday update - I'm going to try my hardest to have a screenshot ready!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #26 - Lejendary+

There's a possibility I'll be changing directions again.

This past week, I've continued with the more basic version of Lejendary, and I like where it's at.  It actually plays like a cross between 'The Lejend of Zelda' and 'Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes of Neverwinter'.

It's good to have a concrete basis to anchor Lejendary onto, and I can really see how an alternative (and more substantial) take on this formula could work.

With that said, I recently (just yesterday, actually) came up with an idea that is more in line with the original idea that I had in mind for Lejendary.  And, I'd like to, at least, test that idea out.

It might work perfectly, or it might end up being a bust.  In either case, I'd like to explore the concept and see if it would be a good fit for Lejendary.

If the worst comes to worst, I'll end up reworking the concept that I currently have.  If I'm lucky, I'll end up with an amazing and fun direction to take Lejendary into.

I can't wait to test it out!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #25 - Pushing Forward

Similar to last week, I continue forward with the more stripped down version of Lejendary.

I've been experimenting with small tweaks to Lejendary over the past couple of days.  The results have been positive but it's been a long (and boring) process.  Furthermore, most of the ideas I generate from these experiments just get thrown away, so it can be frustrating experience.

Today I actually decided to just pick a direction and move along with it.  It's not perfect and I can already see some flaws with it, but I've spent too long on Lejendary without much to show for it.  It's time for me to move the project along at any cost.

Hopefully, I don't end up making another huge shift in the game and I can finally make some progress with the game.

So, expect something soon.  I'm as anxious to see progress as anyone else!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #25 - Onward

I'm continuing with the simplified Lejendary and it's going well.

Tumblr has been messing up for me and I don't feel like making this post for the 4th time.

Lejendary is going well.  I've stripped a whole bunch of stuff and have kept it as streamlined as possible.

I look forward to showing it off.  Please stay tuned for more information.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #24 - Back To Basics (Pt. 2)

After thinking about it for a long time, I decided to get back to the idea of making a simple roguelike.

Well, the boat idea worked fairly well, but it added a level of complexity that I really didn't like.  With any luck, I'll be able to use the whole boat idea in a bigger game sometime in the future.

For now, however, I decided to, once again, strip the game down to the basics and start from there.  That's not too bad since I now have less work to do than I originally thought.  In addition, most of the work that I've already done to the game is still usable.  In other words, I expect that the new first level is going to be finished VERY soon.

In fact, the production of Lejendary should start ramping up soon.  I can't really think of anything that I haven't already designed already, so I'm pretty much at the point of simply completing a whole bunch of small tasks.

Stay tuned!

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #23 - Party On

I BELIEVE I've found that right hook that I've been looking for.  I'm currently working diligently on finding out if it fits Lejendary.

Here's a quick update on what's happening with Lejendary:

I believe that I've finally fixed the last serious problem that I've had (which was the movement system).  Long story short, it now has boats for long distance traveling :)

In putting in boats, a whole bunch of new content needed to be added created.  While adding all of the content, I decided to overhaul the level editor again.  I've JUST started redoing the level editor and it should take about one or two days before it's ready.

Once the level editor is done, I'll have to rebuild level one again.

I'm not 100% certain on the boat system yet.  Although I'm confident it'll be the answer to my problems, it's possible that it just won't fit Lejendary.  So, after I rebuild level one, there's a possibility that this new system I make won't work and I'll have to go in another direction.

If everything goes well, the new boat travelling system will fit perfectly.  Because it's the last major design piece that I have to work on, content should finally start getting made.

Once a bit of content is done, I can continue searching for an artist to collaborate with.  Then, I'll start planning that Kickstarter campaign.

I can't wait to show another screenshot to you.  Please check the blog out on Tuesday for updates.

[lejendary-devlog-blog]

Update #22 - A New Direction (Again)

The game continues to evolve in a new and, hopefully, better direction.

At it's current state, I would say that Lejendary is a very fun and unique game.  It controls well, it's easy to understand, and the room based system that I put in actually works very well.

I'm willing to bet that if I continue going in the direction that I'm currently going in, Lejendary would be a hit game with it's core audience and I'd be happy with how it turns out.

With all that said, I'm still not satisfied with where it's at.

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I'm really expecting great things with this game.  I really think that the idea has a lot of potential to transcend it's humble origins and become something of a hit indie game.

And, I'm really happy with where Lejendary is at; I'm not planning to change much about it.  But, it's missing that WOW factor that I think it needs in order to reach it's full potential.

As I said, in it's current state, I think that Lejendary is very good game.  But, I don't want to stop working on it until I can say that I feel like it's a GREAT game.

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So, I feel like I'm back to square one.  Only it's not square one since I'm keeping a whole bunch of stuff in the game.  More like square 2 out of 10.

But, it does mean that I'm back in the design/pre production phase of the game.  That's unfortunate since I feel like I just got done with that phase (or, at least, was nearing the end of it).  But, the game still isn't connecting with me in the way I want it to.  I need to keep making pivots with the game until it's exactly what I want it to be.

Unfortunately, I don't know how long it's going to take.  I hope to finish soon and I hope to have more concrete information in the upcoming updates.

Please stay tuned.