Plush Development Blog

Updates on a game about the innocence of youth.

[plushgamedev]

Hiatus Time!

I know I said I’d be returning to biweekly updates, but I’ve been feeling pretty mentally drained as of late and have decided it’s probably better to take a brief break from my creative projects. I’d like to be back within a month, but we know I’m bad at keeping promises. :P

I won’t say when the next update is, but I will announce when I’ve started work on the game again and include a date there!

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 12/27/2020

Hey, guys, another progress update! From this point forward, there SHOULD be biweekly updates. I’ve been working on smaller stuff so as not to push myself too hard right after finals end, but I still have some stuff to show everyone!

Tl;dr version:

- All animation sheets are done and paid for, leaving only the maps for art!

- I’d like to get every attack animation done, then start working on the maps once more!

More information below the cut!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

I didn’t get to program the cutscene like I said I would, but I have been working hard on animations - almost every plush toy has the animations they need for their attacks! My animation and map artist, Angel, has provided all of the animation sheets I need for the demo.

Here’s just a few of them! I would record a GIF of them in action, but my computer is, sadly, awful at recording.

Sadly, for the forseeable future, we’re still going to be stuck with default maps for a bit, but I’m very much looking forward to the day where I can show off a proper map!

What I Plan To Work On Next

I’d like to program in all the attack animations, then work on maps again just to have some placeholder stuff there.

Character Spotlight: Ostrocker

I’m introducing the plushie that I think is the best one in the game at present - if you want just an easy victory, use this one. They’re meant to be a crutch in the final game, carrying you through the early game but falling off in favor of more useful options later - meet Ostrocker!

Ostrocker is pretty much exactly what you’d think he is - he’s an ostrich who’s a one-man show! I don’t have any cutscenes to show that have him in them, unlike the other showcases, but to compensate I’ll post one of his unique conversations in text form!

Ostrocker excels in both physical and magic attack, though he’s not very sturdy. Still, he can kill the enemies before they kill him, and even comes with a healing skill on top of that! His gimmick is he has a skill called Volume Change, which changes the MP cost and effectiveness of his skills - low volume means his two primary skills will deal damage/heal less but not cost much MP, high volume means they’ll heal/deal a crapload but also probably take all your MP, and medium volume is a nice middle ground. He has an attack buff on top of that, making him a very effective damage dealer!

His final skill is one you can use if you want to just end a battle - a good old guitar smash! It’ll stop Ostrocker from using skills altogether for the rest of the fight and make him not hit as hard, but it’s a hard-hitting skill to compensate for that. If you want to just instantly murder the only enemy left in a group of foes, you’ll want this skill!

And that’s all I have for today! Next time I’ll be covering Krystal, a ruby golem with a passion for gemstones. Thank you all for reading!

See you all in the next update, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

Finals Week

Yep, it’s finals week, so, another update delay until the next two weeks. You know the drill; next one should hopefully be 12/27/2020.

I’ll get back to biweekly updates, I promise.

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 11/29/2020

Hey, everyone! Another progress update is here! I’ve got some interesting work on this one to show. The next update will be 12/13/2020, probably!

Tl;dr version:

- One of my artists has given all the art I need for the demo!

- My other artist is still alive!

- Been working on some of the extra touches, like the cutscenes!

More information below the cut!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

So I mentioned I’d be working on maps more frequently, but... that’s actually kind of a lie, cause I’ve been doing something that I consider more important for the time being: cutscenes! I don’t want to show anything from the major cutscene I’ve been working on for spoiler reasons, but it has come to life beautifully because I actually have all of the art I need for it now!

My very talented character and enemy artist, Ioana, has created map sprites for the relevant characters. You can see them above... with very little context for any except Lisanne. The plush toys don’t get overworld sprites most of the time, which is why you see a bunch of humans.

From left to right, we have Lisanne herself, her sister Carolin (though in Lisanne’s imagination, she’s called “The Watcher”), a mysterious enemy called Wraith, and the main boss of the demo, Obsidian Frost!

Also, I mentioned one of my artists seems to have disappeared... but that’s true no longer, because I contacted them and they’re still doing fine work! They’ll be making some lovely animations for attacks in the future... and they’re also my map artist, so maybe I can finally get rid of those default RPG Maker assets. :P

What I Plan To Work On Next

I’d like to program one more cutscene before working on the maps again!

Character Spotlight: Polaris

We have a physical attacker, a physical tank, and a magic attacker... but what about our magic tank? That’s where Polaris comes in!

Polaris has a cute little story attached to her - she’s a star fallen from the sky, who wants to go back to space and be with her family again. She’s very similar to Lisanne in that she’s cheerful and childlike, but she’s a little sillier in how she goes about things... and also is even more of a kid than Lisanne could ever hope to be.

Polaris is a tanky magical ally - not the best on the physical side, but she can defend against magic pretty well. She’s tanky in a different way than Henry Hippo, however; rather than being designed to take attacks, she focuses more on status effects, both positive and negative!

One of her unique mechanics is this little barrier - the damage numbers may be changed around as I playtest more, but the gist will remain in that she can create a barrier that absorbs damage! Think of it as a little shield. The rest of Polaris’s skills support the team as well - she can grant HP regeneration to the whole party and inflict Blind on all enemies, which drops their physical accuracy. This makes her able to deal with physical attackers too, albeit indirectly.

Polaris’s last skill, however, is more of a last-ditch effort. Nebula Blast is usable once per fight, and does massive damage to all foes - but heavily debuffs Polaris’s stats for a few turns shortly after! Make your use of it count, because Polaris’s Magic Attack is pretty good...

That’s all I have for today! Next time we’ll be covering Ostrocker, an ostrich with a passion for his guitar. Thank you all for reading!

See you all in the next update, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

No Progress Update Today

Same reason as last time; been super busy with college and don’t have much to show off. Plus one of my artists appears to have disappeared and I’ve been trying to get in touch with them. :P

Next progress update will be 11/29/2020!

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 11/1/2020

Hey, everyone! As promised, here’s the next progress update, as I actually have some work to show! The next one is 11/15/2020!

Tl;dr version: 

- Got a ton of art!

- Focusing on working on animations!

More information below the cut!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

I worked on another map, but it’s nothing special; plus, I’ve been working on some other stuff. I have all the skills programmed, but they all have default animations... at least, they did. But that is true no longer!

This is one of many animation sheets from my animation artist, Angel! In RPG Maker, I have to program these in frame by frame with additional flashing/sound effects when necessary, but it’s honestly worth it. Sadly, I don’t have a recording of how these look in game, but most of them follow this general pattern of something being scribbled onto a target, sometimes with something else happening.

The above sheet is actually in one of Foxy Fabia’s attacks (her Flirt skill, to be exact), if you all remember her from the last character spotlight!

What I Plan To Work On Next

I’m gonna start working on maps more frequently; animations are important, but not as important as that. We’ll worry about presentation later.

Character Spotlight: Hissing Miguel

Last week, we spotlighted a dedicated magic attacker. This week, we spotlight a dedicated physical attacker. Say howdy to Hissing Miguel!

Hissing Miguel is pretty much the protagonist of his own Western movie... but a snake. The first dungeon may be a cold one, but his poncho helps keep him warm! And he’s more than willing to throw down against the various enemies with a hail of bullets. ... Plastic ones, of course.

In terms of gameplay, Hissing Miguel has a very unique mechanic in that he doesn’t use MP! Instead, he has a set of items called Bullets - six of them, naturally. Most of his skills consume one bullet, with two exceptions. Reload is the obvious one - it just sets his bullets back to six.

The other one is Emergency Shot, which is good in a pinch! Stun obviously stops the enemy from acting for a turn, so if you stun a slow enemy, you get some breathing room! 

(And yes, the description is a reference to something. Hissing Miguel has several references in his kit, as a matter of fact.)

And that’s all I have for today! Next we’ll be covering Polaris, a star plush that wants to be in the sky again. Thank you all for reading!

See you all in the next update, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

Devblog Update Delay

I’m going to delay today’s devblog update until the next scheduled one, because midterms didn’t give me much time to work and I don’t really have much to showcase!

As a reminder, the next one is November 1, 2020.

Thank you for understanding!

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 10/4/2020

Hey, everyone! Here’s another progress update! The next one is 10/18/2020!

Tl;dr version:

- Finished one more map!

- Artists are hard at work!

- Work will slow down for a couple weeks due to midterms, but I’ll still be working on Plush when I can!

More information below the cut!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

Due to my break, I only finished one map this time. I should explain my mapping process a bit: first I create the map without any decoration, then I spice it up a bit, and then I’ll wait until I can get the tileset for RPG Maker so that I can properly create the map to look nice. Here’s what the map I worked on looks like pre-decoration:

The primary thing I like to work on with maps is pathing; making sure there’s room for the player to go multiple places instead of just a straight shot to the next room.

In other news, the artists I’ve hired are doing very well! Here’s a picture of some of the animation stills the one I recently hired sent me:

Last thing of note is this week is midterm week for college, so... work will still be slow while I cram in studying. I’ll work on Plush where I can, though!

What I Plan To Work On Next

Say it with me, kids: More maps!

Character Spotlight: Foxy Fabia

The next plush that’s always available at the shop is the resident magical attacker, Foxy Fabia!

Foxy Fabia is vain and somewhat self-absorbed, but she’s fashionable and has her heart in the right place. It’s unfortunate for her that the only dungeon in the demo is ice themed, cause she’s not a fan of the cold!

Foxy Fabia is a magic attacker with some decent status effects - she can flirt with an opponent, deal some magic damage to all enemies, or grant herself a state that gradually regenerates her MP. Where it really gets interesting, though, is her fourth skill, Runway Showoff - which has six different variants!

(Yes, these all do different things.)

How do they work? Well, Foxy Fabia is one of the few plushies that comes with different pieces of equipment! Not only does each piece of equipment boost different stats of hers, but it also modifies the secondary effects of her Runway Showoff skill. I’ll leave the effects to be discovered, but I will note there is a variant of the skill that shows up when you don’t have anything equipped. You may not want to use it, though, for poor Fabia’s dignity...

And that’s all I have for today! Next time we’ll be covering Hissing Miguel, a gunslinger serpent. Thank you all for reading!

See you all in the next update, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 9/20/2020

Hey, everyone, progress update number three is here! The next one is 10/4/2020!

As always, here’s the tl;dr version:

- Finished three more maps!

- Map artist and I have worked out an agreement and she’s hard at work!

- I’m gonna be taking a week off from working on the RPG, but will be back in action on 9/27!

More information below the cut!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

I’ve steadily made some more progress on the maps - I have three more done, meaning I’m... about a third done with the first dungeon, at least specifically mapwise. Here’s a picture of one map, the Icy Clearing:

I still have to use placeholder assets, but I ideally won’t in a month or so, as my map artist and I have come to an agreement, and she’s begun proper work on the assets I’ve asked her to work on! I don’t have much else to add there - more to come in the future, hopefully; I hope to show you guys some cool stuff!

More importantly, I’m sure that last point in tl;dr caught everyone’s attention. I’ve been pushing myself pretty hard on this, my fanfiction, and college, and tomorrow (at the time of posting this) happens to be my birthday, so I figured I would just take a week off from working on Plush to recharge. I’ll likely have less done by next update, but I promise I’ll have something to show off. And I already have the next character spotlight set up, so we’re good on that front!

What I Plan To Work On Next

More maps. Easy.

Character Spotlight: Henry Hippo

Let’s talk about another plush toy for our character spotlight, shall we? Plush toy sales change depending on the day, but at the local plush store there are four you can always buy no matter what. Starting with the resident tanky boy, Henry Hippo!

Henry Hippo is a big, loveable goofball who’s perhaps a little dimwitted but nonetheless tries his best! The best part about him is that he’s a biiiiig plush toy, so he’s perfect for hugs.

See, even Lisanne agrees!

Henry Hippo is a basic tank plush toy - he comes with a very slight resistance to physical attacks and a high durability level, so he’ll be sticking around! He’s also fully capable of dealing damage himself - you can go all in defensively if you want, or build him as a bruiser sort of character.

Block Off is self-explanatory, as seen above - it’s a “taunt” sort of skill, perfect for getting the attention off low-health characters (it doesn’t block moves that hit everyone, though!). Body Drop is a powerful offensive move that does more damage based on Henry’s HP - if he’s at full health, it’s at its most powerful! Chomp is a simple HP draining physical move, adding to Henry’s sustainability.

Finally, he has Snack Stash, which lets him serve as an impromptu healer. Snack Stash gives him one of four random snacks, each of which has a special effect. He can only use it three times per battle, and the snacks expire after a fight, so be sure to make the most of them!

And that about does it for this update. Next time, we’ll be spotlighting a very fashionable fox named Foxy Fabia! Thank you all for reading!

See you all in the next update, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

Rescheduling Updates

I’m gonna be rescheduling biweekly updates for Sundays - it works a little easier with my college schedule! So today’s update will be postponed until tomorrow.

That’s all!

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 9/5/2020

Hello, everyone! Here’s the second progress update for Plush! Remember, the next one is 9/19/2020!

Here’s the tl;dr version:

- I’ve begun programming the maps for the demo!

- I’ve found an artist for maps and animation art!

- I’ve programmed in a special secret!

More information below the cut!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

As promised, I’ve started working on the Tenebrous Taiga maps! I have three done as of now - one is a basic intro area, one is a larger area you can roam around in, and one is a slip-and-slide ice puzzle. 

Here’s an example map of the larger area. The wooden thing in the upper part is a guard post - I plan to add something there once I have proper assets.

Each map has a shorthand name; the one above is the Forest Path, for example. This is both for my convenience and for certain in-game sidequests as well as a special mechanic called the Light Points! You can’t save anywhere in this game, but there are various objects called Light Points scattered around the dungeons (as well as one in the hub world, the Gleam Kingdom). You can use the Light Points to not only save, but transport in between each one in the area!

Going back to maps, I said I would find an artist - and I have, in fact, found one! We haven’t gotten to the point where they’ve made anything yet, but what they’ve shown me looks very promising; I’d like to have at least one completed map aesthetically to show off by next update!

The last thing to note in this section is that I’ve programmed in a special secret in the demo. I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that you’ll want to defeat the main boss in the demo first before you go looking for it!

What I Plan To Work On Next

Pretty much just making more maps at this rate and getting the art for them. I don’t have anything special to add here.

Character Spotlight: Benjamin

I mentioned this last update, but Benjamin is the main plush toy you’ll have for your adventure. He’s a very special plush toy to Lisanne, and he’s also this blog’s avatar!

In Lisanne’s imagination, Benjamin acts as her advisor. Being a kid, she’s a little silly at times, so Benjamin sometimes tries to help rope her in - but he’ll nonetheless protect her to the end.

Benjamin is a very special plushie to Lisanne, and thus she takes extra care not to damage him too badly. Remember the Durability mechanic? When Benjamin’s Durability is depleted, he isn’t usable as a plushie anymore, but you can just give him to Lisanne’s mom and she’ll have him patched up in a couple days. Benjamin also doesn’t get upgrades from the plush store - as compensation, he has his own set of equipment you can buy and also levels up naturally like Lisanne. You might run out of plush toys, but Benjamin will always be there for you to fall back on!

Every plush toy has four skills total (well, some have five if their extra skill is central to their playstyle) and Benjamin’s are built to fit with any playstyle. Draw One has a random effect based on the number and suit of the card - for example, the Two of Hearts provides a weak heal to your party, the Eight of Clubs deals high damage to a foe... you get the idea. There’s even a chance to draw the Joker, which, well... I won’t spoil the surprise!

The other three skills are very simple to explain as well - Card Throw deals damage to all enemies, Pick a Card inflicts confusion on an enemy, and Shuffle restores all of Benjamin’s MP but can only be used once per battle. He’s a very versatile party member - if not with a bit of a luck-based aspect!

And that about does it for this update. I’m not sure who I’ll spotlight next - it depends on what art I have, as I’d like to include a picture of at least one of them. Nonetheless, thank you all for reading!

See you all in the next update, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

Progress Update - 8/22/2020

Hey, everyone, welcome to the first progress update and character spotlight of Plush! This should give you a basic idea of what these will be like. Remember, the next one is in two weeks - 9/5/2020!

So, with that, here’s the nutshell version for those who don’t want to do extensive reading:

- I’ve finished programming all available plushies and enemies for the demo I’ve been working on!

- I plan on designing maps next; I’m currently in the process of hiring an artist for map-related purposes!

To those who are okay with extensive reading? Read on!

Disclaimer: Any maps in the background of screenshots are being made with placeholder assets.

What I’ve Been Working On

I’ve started working on the demo, which will encompass the first dungeon of the game, the Tenebrous Taiga. I started with the different plushies you can obtain, which will receive spotlights in the future for sure. Plushies will work a little differently in the demo - normally you buy them from a plush store with a separate currency from the one dropped by enemies, but there’s actually no real world segment in the demo from what I have planned, so instead you’ll be getting them with the standard RPG currency!

As shown above, there are seven plushies - Lisanne is our main character. You get Benjamin for free (he’ll be spotlighted next update!), but the others will need to be bought. More details will follow in the future about each plush individually!

I’ve also finished programming each enemy into the demo! There are a total of eight enemies that are planned to appear in the demo - five regular enemies, one miniboss, one boss, and a boss assistant. I can’t say much else other than that right now, but know that they exist - though they may need some rebalancing when I actually playtest the demo fully, they’re at a satisfactory state for now!

Here are the regular enemies. I’ll leave the other three a mystery!

What I Plan To Work On Next

This is an easy one. What good are plushies and enemies without a map to fight on? I’m going to be working on designing the maps for the forseeable future! I have everything planned out for the Tenebrous Taiga, so it’s only a matter of actually transferring it into the game.

That said, I do not have an artist for maps - my current artist, Ioana, focuses on stuff like battle sprites, portraits, and overworld character sprites. I’ve been searching hard for a map artist and have found a few good candidates, so another part of my next step is hiring someone to fit that role! By the next update, I’ll definitely have a new face on board.

Now, then... let’s get to the fun part, shall we?

Character Spotlight: Lisanne Wolfgang

What better character spotlight to start with than of our main character?

Introducing Lisanne Wolfgang, the protagonist of Plush! Lisanne is 12 years old and just starting middle school - she’s had a big imagination ever since she was a kid, and hasn’t let go of it just yet!

Lisanne is as you’d expect a kid to be - sweet, a little naive, but well-meaning and more intelligent than people give her credit for. Her parents are pretty good people too; her mother Beatrix and her father Ulrich take great care of her and she idolizes them... to the point where they’re king and queen in her imagination world.

(Pictured: Lisanne and Mom talking.)

Lisanne is the only party member in the game you have from start to finish. Plush toys have durability - every time they lose HP, their durability drops, and if it hits zero, they’re ruined! But Lisanne is, well, a human being, and isn’t subject to that. As the person who’s there for a long time, I wanted to make her an incredibly versatile party member, and this comes with some unique mechanics!

Using some of Yanfly’s RPG Maker MV plugins, Lisanne has two things that make her easy to customize. The first is a skill learn system; Lisanne can learn skills with items called Pure Crystals that come in three varieties - Pure Rubies, Pure Emeralds, and Pure Diamonds. Those are in order of value - you can get stronger skills with more valuable ones! Lisanne has three different skill trees - physical, magical, and support, so you can build her in one specifically... or build her in all of these; it’s all up to you!

Lisanne starts off a little lacking in options, but you get a Pure Crystal every time you defeat a boss, so you can quickly build her up to be very versatile. You can also obtain them through completing sidequests - and if you have enough money, you can straight up buy them, though you’ll need to find an NPC who can convert them into the more valuable varieties in that case!

The second thing that helps make Lisanne a versatile party member is a stat allocation menu! You can distribute her stats however you’d like, and you don’t need to do anything special to get stat allocation points (”AP”). Just level up and you can pump up her stats as you see fit!

She’s level 1 in this screenshot, so... she doesn’t really have anything to boost in her stats. You’ll have to take my word for it. Using this and the skill learn system in conjunction, you can build Lisanne pretty much however you want; she can work with any plush toy! You can also revert her AP at any time if you’d like to try a different build... though you can’t refund Pure Crystals, so spend them on your skills carefully.

And that’s pretty much all I have for Lisanne! Thank you all for reading, to those who made it this far. Next time, the character spotlight will be on Lisanne’s trusty assistant and the current avatar of this blog, Benjamin!

See you all then, and I hope you continue to enjoy the world of Plush!

[plushgamedev]

Welcome to Plush!

Hey, everyone! I’m MightyGarchomp/Arsene-Phantom/whatever you may call me as. You may know me from @ask-crow-and-violet​, as well as being the author of the fanfictions Persona: The Sougawa Files and Persona: The Okabe Files.

This post is announcing the debut of a game I’ve been working on for a while and would like to share with you all. As the title of this post implies, the game is called Plush, and it’s a game about the innocence of youth! You play as a 12 year old girl named Lisanne Wolfgang, who has adventures in her imagination with her plush toys, fighting against an evil woman called The Dark Queen and her villainous forces.

Here’s a preview of the title screen! The art is by my wonderful lead artist Ioana; you can find her DeviantArt page here!

The game is being developed in RPG Maker MV! Here’s some trivia about it:

- Your party members are plush toys, though Lisanne is always there and you may occasionally get aid from someone else as a bonus party member. 

- Plush toys have limited durability - if they fall in battle too many times, then that plush toy will be ruined and you’ll have to buy a new one... or get them repaired, in the case of certain plushies.

- You can upgrade plush toys at the local plush shop by buying accessories for them to increase their stats, give them new skills, or grant them resistance to status effects! Plush toys don’t level up normally, so this is also how you level them up - each upgrade grants them a level boost, though there is a limit to how many upgrades they can have at a time.

- There’s a simple day/week system with a variety of events, some random and some fixed. Lisanne has different snacks she can eat for a temporary stat boost, or you can permanently grant her bonuses via reading books.

I hope to have a demo and a Kickstarter page up before the end of the year - heck, even by next month would be nice (though with being a college student, who knows what might happen). If you’re interested in this project, please consider following this blog, as I’ll be updating it every other Saturday (starting next Saturday) with progress on the development stages, as well as spotlights on different characters and plush toys! I will also answer any questions you may have about the game - unless there are spoilers, of course!

That’s all I have for today; I hope you enjoy the world of Plush!