Frayed Knights: The Oncoming Dragon
More development diary stuff for Frayed Knights, the comedy-based indie RPG.

"The light at the end of the tunnel may be an oncoming dragon."

I saw that on a button once, as a kid. As a sci-fi / fantasy / RPG geek, I nearly bought it. It was a pretty lame word substitution for a more common pessimist joke, and I was broke, so in the end I opted not to buy this little bit of geek flair.

But it feels appropriate now. I just made the last "alpha" available to the testers (hey, testers, it's up, check the testing forum!). I call it an "alpha" because I'm still adding some new stuff to it, though with the help of the testers the bugs are getting pounded into some level of submission resembling a mid-beta (I think). But the testers are getting weary of testing the same game week after week. I expected this, Which is why I staggered out the testing groups.

The saved games from the last alpha were by far the largest source of bugs so far. I expected as much, but it has still been a pain hammering them out. As of this morning, I think I have all the save-game related issues resolved, but there could easily be more.

The next release - next week - will be our beta. Hopefully the one and only, but if any major bugs are found, I'll do a quick revision within 48 hours. Otherwise, my expectation is that the release of the pilot will be on or around the 25th. The short beta will hopefully be offset by the long alpha.

And then the oncoming dragon hits me.

There is a lot that isn't there that I hoped would be. There are a few things that I'm afraid will draw most of the attention from players, instead of other areas I'd like people to provide me with feedback. There are features I wanted to get in, and suggestions from testers I really want to implement, but I'm just out of time. That's how it always goes, though. Games are never truly finished, only released. I could keep working on this for a decade, and it would still not be "quite ready yet."

The effort I get to put in now is as much to support the release as to actually work on the game. stuff like updating the Frayed Knights website. Adding a feedback form. Getting the installer working. Finishing up the documentation. I really want to be moving on, implementing more of the requested features so far and adding the new content for the full release... but this milestone is my master right now.

For those who might be curious, here's most of the stuff that went into alpha 4, not including some minor tweaks and bug-fixes that I failed to record:

* Player now moves a little bit faster
* Fixed Bug: Front-End Music was... Whacked
* Switching between full-screen and windowed fixed res changes
* Resolution forced to 1024 x 768
* Forces full-screen if desktop size is 1024x768
* Fixed some Dialog typos
* Fixed non-container loot awards
* AI can now cast spells
* New Monster: The Pokmor Xang Priest (priest-class enemy)
* Fixed Crash on reloading saved game multiple times.
* Implemented "Curses!" spell
* Fizzles now end a character's turn
* Monster names should reflect targeting name.
* Reset drama point level on reload
* Monsters no longer attack in the middle of trap / lock dialog
* Cleaned up component connections between trap screens
* Added some minor loot to the front entry area to reward exploration
* Cancelled Drama Effect no longer consumes drama stars
* Cancel button on character selection menu no longer cut off.
* No longer force combat completion after phase 200 (old test code)
* Added Hotkeys!
* Traps: Game now chooses best default disarming character.
* Empty Bag in front hall was removed.
* Fixed disappearing item bug
* Improved drama point award for more difficult combats
* Certain events (like reaching the statue) now have an XP award
* Added Liquid Nap potions
* Fixed Pokmor Statue bug not appearing on saved games
* Escape and Enter Keys now have default actions across in-game dialogs
* Major clean-ups to world reset on load
* Fixed crash when changing zones after a load

There is a lot of work that needs to be done for the beta. I still have a list of bugs to get squashed, and there are a few features that I'd like to get into the game but which I'm not sure will make it. Things like buying and selling equipment; the leveling-up screen; improved UI art for submenus; a compass; the automap overhaul; new items (including Chloe's fireball wand); a couple of new spells; some additional hotkey commands to speed gameplay; lots of TLC for Ardin Village; additional interactives in the temple of Pokmor Xang; better combat balancing; sound volume corruption in the Torque engine; lighting optimization in the Torque engine; dropped loot for certain bad guys (that's half-implemented); and a lot more. As you can see, with only two weeks left to release, not all of that's gonna be in there.

But even so, I'm not unhappy with where it is right now. And I have to admit - as exhausting as this is, as crazy as it makes me... I really am having a good time making it.

Hopefully you'll like it.

Labels: Frayed Knights, programming, Roleplaying Games

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