Hello everyone!

I'm sorry for all the delays in these past days. I was planning to post this days ago, but there have been some stuff with the Wizard's Tower which has given me some problems to deal with. There are certain restrictions with the game engine, so I haven't been able to make some puzzle mechanics to work. Because of these complications I've decided to redesign some parts of the Wizard's Tower. If I ever get those puzzle mechanics I was planning, to work, I will use them in some other dungeon.

Before I shed some light to my plans for this game in 2024, I want to talk about some other things regarding the game first.

Even though there are elements which may remind of JRPGs, the design philosophy behind Chronicles of Vaeltaja is leaning more towards old WRPGs. At the same time I want the game also to be accessible for those who aren't that familiar with the games that I draw my inspiration from.

The Battle System

The Battle System is something that seems to divide opinions. Some like the way commands are chosen in the beginning of the turn and some hate it. I've chosen this method as it's the way how some old turn-based games like The Bard's Tale and Wizardry VII handled the combat. Why I like this system is that it gives the battles a small random element, because player isn't in full control of the battle. Therefore it can lead into unexpected situations which may force the player to change strategy.

Minimap

The minimap system that I'm using at the moment is very restricting and it also seems to bug in certain places, such as the Great Forest. I'm aware of these things and I've been looking for alternatives for some time now. I've kept this system this far to offer at least some sort of map, because the other systems I've tried caused bugs and some of them even crashed the game. I will change the minimap system as soon as I find a better one. At the moment I'm waiting news from one promising plugin.

Steam Deck Performance

I don't have Steam Deck, but I've gotten some reports how the game's Steam version performs with it. Unfortunately the performance is bad at the moment. Reason for this is mainly the dynamic lighting system. RPG Maker was never meant for this kind of games and to accomplish what is already there, I've had to use a bunch of different plugins. The lighting system is implemented in a plugin that makes possible to create 3d games with the RPG Maker, so it's out my hands to improve the system code wise. The lighting system combined with the day/night cycle is heavy for CPU (especially mobile ones) and that's the main reason for bad performance with the Deck.

I could always loose the lighting system, but that would also mean losing the shadows too. One solution would be to give the option to choose a separate Steam Deck version without the dynamic lighting. This is something that I've given some serious thought, but IF I ever do it, I will do it when the game itself is finished, as it will be easier and faster to do than keep developing two different versions, which would only delay the full release.

Game Engine

As I mentioned above, RPG Maker wasn't originally designed for creating games like this, so it is quite limited in what it can do. Fortunately there are some great people out there who are committed to push the engine's limits by creating different kind of plugins, which make the engine more versatile. The downside is that sometimes those plugins doesn't work together at all or may cause some unexpected behaviour.

I've encountered lots of restrictions and problems since I started to make this game, but almost as many times I've also found a solution. There are still some things I might be never able to do, but then again the engine gets more familiar day by day, and I've already accomplished things I didn't think would be possible. I've also seen some impressive stuff that others have made with the engine and certain plugins and hope those projects will eventually be finished.

There are some other issues that I'm already aware of and will keep working on them, but I'm not going to list them here. Don't worry about reporting something that I might already know, as I sometimes I may forget something (even though I take notes). I'm grateful from all the feedback and bug reports, they help me make this game better!

So...

What's Ahead in 2024

January kicks off with bug fixes and balancing. I've already fixed most of the bugs mentioned in the Bug Report thread and I'm still working on some others. I'm also doing some balancing on spells and skills. The first update will be released by the end of this week.

As I mentioned before, I've had some difficulties with the Wizard's Tower and I have to redesign couple of floors of the dungeon. This means that the update I was planning to release before the end of 2023 is delayed again. Therefore I'm planning a smaller content update for January so I can let the Wizard's Tower brew in the background for a short while. After that smaller January update I will focus on the Wizard's Tower update.

My goal is to finish most of the Lake Road with these two upcoming content updates and add some stuff to certain earlier areas. I'm also working on some other stuff to bring with these updates, such as more battle animations for enemies and so on.

After the Lake Road I will turn my focus on the next overworld area the Autumn Valley which will have it's own places of interest. I've already done some work on it earlier, but there's still a lot of work left. I will probably release it with two bigger (these will bring the main content) and couple of smaller (these will bring bug fixes and some smaller content) updates.

When Autumn Valley is released, I will turn my attention to Winter Wilds where the story starts to unfold. Winter Wilds is the second last overworld area of Chronicles of Vaeltaja. I'm focused on releasing v.1.0 this year, but then again I'm working on this project alone and there may come some surprising delays. But I want you to also know that I'm working on this game full-time.

And Finally...

First I want to thank everyone for their interest in this project! Feedback and bug reports have been very helpful and the number of wishlists grows every day. Of course that doesn't tell how the game will eventually sell, but it shows that it has gained some attention and gives me hope about the future.

Chronicles of Vaeltaja: In Search of the Great Wanderer is just one of the stories I want to tell you about the world of Vaeltaja. There are other stories taking place in different eras of the kingdom you now know as Twin Falls, and together they will form a bigger whole.

There are also some other stories waiting to be told, with their own settings, mechanics and smaller scopes, mixing adventuring and RPG elements. But first we just have to wait and see how this one turns out.

Also it seems that I forgot to publish the past two patch notes, but that is fixed now. Sorry about that!

Thank You and Happy New Year 2024