#project believer

[fioras-resolve]

doing screenshot saturday for the first time, calling variables in dialogue is going great!

[falciesystemessays]

the thing is, right, getting a tutorial right is one of The hardest things in game design, but it is also one of the most critical. whether it's bringing new players into the genre, showing genre veterans how your series is special, or showing legacy series fans how this game is different, it is deeply important you make a tutorial that is comprehensive, engaging, and effective.

and this is a right fuckin' pain to do for tactics games, because so much of the genre is rarely ever intuitive. like, fire emblem games tend to need several full levels before the tutorial actually finishes, enough that the eighth game, blazing blade, made an entire campaign around its tutorial.

that campaign is actually several levels longer than the tactics rpg i'm working on, daybreak hearts. and this reveals the major problem with trying to make an indie tactics game. you just don't have as many resources as a nintendo or firaxis, but you still have to spend a lot of them on communicating how the game works.

my solution has been to simply own this reality, and make three of my four levels focused entirely on introducing and developing mechanics. i'm trying to do the portal thing where the tutorial is the game, but i end up still needing to convey things through text, because that's just what this genre is. but at least i can make that text engaging by using it for character moments. like so:

(there's ways you can rebel in that tutorial, but i won't spoil them here.)

(that's for explaining that the two heal at different distances from each other)

(that results in her gaining the Throw ability)

and like, yeah, most of the people who are going to play this game have probably already played a fire emblem before. they know what the deal is, even if i do have to explain that right click is the back button on a mouse. but i don't want daybreak hearts to be an insular game for people who are already tactics buffs and have expectations. i want tactics fans to appreciate what it's doing, but i also want this to be an rpg that appeals to basic rpg fans. and a large part of that is, yeah, making sure that even an inexperienced player understands how the game works. and if i can do that in four levels or less, then shit, i've done something cool.

[angienyx]

over the past month i've been working on this map called Nataliatown for my tactics rpg.

it's an immigrant enclave, worn down because the government won't fund repairs. and now some fash are here to destroy what's left. are you ready to stop them?

[fioras-resolve]

okay, let's actually do this properly

Hey all, our game Daybreak Hearts is now in semi-open beta! You can access it here, although it's password protected to make sure it doesn't hit the front page yet. The password is "Ketanso".

Daybreak Hearts is a tactics RPG that uses gameplay as a vehicle for storytelling. It's broadly about connections, the challenge but necessity of forming them in a world that hates you. Each level features a different pair of characters, and explores their dynamic both mechanically and in writing. Here's the three duos at play:

-A magical teenager and her overbearing guardian -Two girlfriends with opposite emotional needs -The one who refuses to go to therapy and the one trying to fix that

The game's still in development, and a lot could change, including the story! But I'm proud of what I've made so far, and I hope that by showing it to you, I can make it even better!

That said, I am kind of terrified of doing this. It is a uniquely vulnerable position putting a game like this in the public eye, so below the cut is some boundary-setting you should read if you're going to give feedback.

Feedback and criticism are very welcome, I'll listen to as much of it as I can! However, I decide how to respond to it. What you want the game to be might not match my vision.

I put myself into my work, inevitably for a game like this, but don't assume you know me personally by playing this game, especially an early build.

Remember I am human (among other animals, but you get it). Please do not treat me like a corporation or a machine for producing content.

[fioras-resolve]

stepping up the lesbian rep in the tactics rpg genre by having my game's ranger feel physical pain when she's too far away from her crush

caption below the cut:

A screencap of my turn-based tactics game, set in a town with rivers, forests, and houses and bridges in various states of repair. I select two characters, a Ranger named Yuri and a Lancer named Asteria, and move them apart from each other. After ending my turn and skipping the enemy phase, Yuri says "Asteria... I need you at my side!" before taking 1 damage.

[fioras-resolve]

Sometimes you try to help and it only makes things worse.

You can play a build of this game here! Password: Ketanso Alt-text below the cut

Screencap of my turn-based grid-based tactics RPG, Daybreak Hearts. The bottom right and top left corners are obscured in black, but the rest is shown as a grassland interspersed with skeletons and pointed rocks. I select the Medic Azura and bring her over to Mend the Swordsman Jack.

Azura says in a textbox, "I've got you, come here..." End quote.

Jack responds, "Hey, no no no..." End quote.

A healing effect appears that recovers both Jack and Azura's health to full. But then, a demonic roar sound plays, dramatic synthy music plays, the blacked out portions are revealed, and skeletons spawn in all over the map.

Azura says "Demons out here!?" End quote.

Jack responds "This is what I was trying to avoid! Ugh, now I've got more to fight thanks to you!" End quote.

[fioras-resolve]

I got in touch with a character designer who'd happily do real character designs for my tactics rpg Daybreak Hearts, and she asked me to make "moodboards" of each character so she knows the general direction of each character. Color-coding, facial shape, outfit, etc. While this isn't quite the traditional moodboard you expect on Tumblr, I thought I'd share these anyway just to give people who are interested a glimpse into what I've been doing recently. So, Day 1! This is the arguable "protagonist" of Daybreak Hearts, although really it's more of an ensemble piece. She is a character very close to my heart, and I hope that shows in the game itself.

[fioras-resolve]

10!

10) What would success for your game look like to you?

i think what I actually want is for somebody to reach out to me and go "this game changed me." maybe that's in the traditional way of really emotionally affecting someone, helping someone process feelings they were already having, or, idk, accidentally giving them a new headmate. (if that actually does happen, you're welcome, and i'm sorry.)

but it actually doesn't have to be a change in that way. a game that changed me is christine love's Get In The Car, Loser!, an rpg about lesbians going on a road trip to kill the god of fascism. it does have moments that get to me, to us personally, but it also changed the entire way we look at game development. this was a game that was made with so much heart and pomp and clarity of vision that i needed time to just, process what i'd been doing this whole time. that game caused me to reassess what it means to be a gamedev, and i hope my game can do the same.

i want some aspiring game designer to play daybreak hearts, see its dedication to storytelling through play, and go "oh my god, this is what an srpg can be." i want this game to inspire someone, and to change the way they think about games. that is what success would mean for me.