Uncategorized

Math SUCKS

/ Last BeNeVoLeNcE / Leave a comment

Hey, guys!

As you (probably) all know, Astraverse is NOW on Kickstarter!

And now that it’s been up for awhile, there’s something I want to talk about. This is going to be a long one…

Personally, I’ve never been the best at marketing. Even when I’ve tried to put into practice good marketing techniques/strategies–it’s always fallen flat for some strange reason. I’ve been producing and releasing music for about a decade and still, to this day, I have no reason why my promotion sucks! As a matter of fact, I’ve had people who follow me take note of that and say stuff like “You’re really good at what you do! Why aren’t you more popular?” LOL I always find that so funny.

And that’s OKAY because honestly, I don’t make music or develop games to become popular or famous. I do those things because I really love doing them. Games and music (and the creation of them) are passions of mine. But, time is a very important thing and I’m finding that the older I get, the less time I have for the things I love to do.

So, for Astraverse, my goal is to start making a living doing creative stuff that I love like this. I don’t actually want to be the next Jay-Z with my music or the next Hideo Kojima with my game development. I just want to be able to use my creative projects to put food on the table for me and my wife. And I want to start with taking Astraverse into full-time development.

What you guys have put into this is amazing and I greatly appreciate every bit despite the cards being stacked against us.

Unfortunately, though, the numbers are telling me that the Kickstarter will probably fail. Unfortunate, yes. Disappointing, of course. But, that does not mean it’s over–Not at all! Accepting circumstances does not mean giving up.

Fat Jon himself once told me that being unique would prove to be a “difficult path” for my music and that was true. It’s probably true with anything else including game development, but…

I didn’t start this passion project of mine, putting out hard work on it by myself for 3 years just for the world to tell me that they rather have another farming life sim or another souls-like title. (Not knocking on any titles specifically but this stuff seems to be really trending, lol). And just like my previous title, Tales of the Elements, I WILL FINISH this project! And even furthermore, I will make sure that it’s so good that people will, like my music, wonder why it doesn’t have the following that it deserves!

So, maybe we won’t make the goal. Who cares? Lol WE STILL HAVE 17 DAYS LEFT. We can still go out with a bang! And whether or not the game is funded through Kickstarter, we’re still going to make it happen!

I want you guys to know that I sincerely appreciate how supportive you’ve been. It may not seem like much but I’ve been seeing everyone pushing the project on Twitter and even in other places and it’s been much more than awesome to see how much of my enthusiasm you’ve shared for Astraverse.

Let’s keep the momentum going! It’s not over yet!

– LB

Astraverse Kickstarter Pre-launch Announcement (& Update 7/5/2021)!!!

/ Last BeNeVoLeNcE / Leave a comment

Follow Astraverse on Kickstarter!

Astraverse, my Phantasy Star-inspired beat’em up RPG, is coming to Kickstarter!

The Kickstarter Pre-launch page is here!

As a matter of fact, that’s the reason why I’m late with my update. Ha ha!

I meant to post a development update a week or so ago but I was extremely busy with working on the Kickstarter page and getting it ready for the pre-launch campaign.

As I was working on the Kickstarter page, my wife got started on illustrating the characters for the cover/key art for the game, too. She did the first 2 characters and I helped to provide a background and some polishing in order for us to put together an early cover/key art to represent the game until we have the full cover finished!

If you ask me, we could probably get away with this being the final cover art but we wanted the cover art to give representation for all of the races and classes in the game. So, you can expect to see more characters in the final artwork!

Also, as I was working on the Kickstarter, I decided to write out and schedule the full-time game development plan. Then, I used that to create a visual roadmap for the rest of the game’s development.

As I make development progress over time, that space ship there will move down the roadmap. (Not on this post but in later updates).

Over the last 3 years, I’ve made slow and steady progress which has led up to me being almost finished with the framework containing all of the game’s core systems. Learning from past mistakes, I’ve decided to build the game this way so that I could avoid feature-creeping and an excessive amount of bugs towards the last half of the development.

However, I wouldn’t say that I’m halfway there yet (or if I am, I would say that the second half is going to take the most work). Even though, I’m just going to be adding content into the game like enemies, areas, and loot as well as tweaking values like stats and AI here and there from here on out, there’s quite a bit to do in those areas. Still, I’m looking forward to it as this is more of the “designing and implementation” phase of the development that I’ve been working towards for the past few years.

Another thing I thought I’d share are some of the backer rewards that are planned for the Kickstarter!

You can’t tell me that none of this stuff is cool!

The Kickstarter will allow for Astraverse to come out in the best possible way! For example, some of the later backer tiers include rewards for backers to be added into the game, to be able to help write quests, to be able to design outfits and even weapons for characters!

So, the next challenge will be for me to finish the 4-player playable game demo before the launch date or at least DURING the beginning of the campaign. Please root for me as I’ve burnt up a considerable amount of time fixing and planning the Kickstarter.

Please check out the Kickstarter prelaunch page and support it if you can! Every little bit counts–even if it’s just $1 and that’s reflected in the Kickstarer as well as there is even $1 backer tier with a reward for it!

I look forward to working with you all on Kickstarter!

– LB

Astraverse Dev Log MAJOR Update 5/25/21!!!

/ Last BeNeVoLeNcE / Leave a comment

A lot of stuff has been added since last month…

I don’t even know where to start! I feel like I’ve gotten more visibly done than in any other month—and the crazy part is that it’s just going to get turn out that way more and more as we move closer to completion!

Particles & Sounds!!!

Look at those sparks!

So, this one might not be the biggest change but it will definitely affect the way the game feels when it comes to combat and even some non-combat actions. I programmed a simple visual and sound effect feedback system for when attacks from players or enemies collide with….well, players and enemies. They’ll also be used for when objects are attacked for mining.

I cannot emphasize how much of a difference the game feels now! In the past couple years I’ve taken extra time to study how different games achieve a proper level of “crunchiness” in their game feel an combat and I’m finally seeing it pay off. So, hopefully you guys will be able to FEEL the combat once you get to play the demo!

Randomized Card Loot Shop

More than one player can shop at once!

This was supposed to be the hardest shop in the game to program and at the same time the most important one so I decided to tackle it first.

When formulating the design of Astraverse, I wanted to make the gameplay and lore harmonize with each other as much as possible. Another thing that I wanted was to make shops more relevant ESPECIALLY in the endgame grind. So, I decided that randomized loot would be found in shops rather than in drops from monsters. And for chests—they would be a lot harder to find in the game. I mean, why would monsters be carrying swords??? And why would there be random chests all over the place with valuable gear inside of them??? Besides, this would ensure that the endgame grind did not remove the need for shopping like a lot of other RPGs tend to do.

4-player co-op!!!!

Adventure for 4?

So, this one is a BIG one. Personally, I feel that one of the most important features for the game is the multiplayer. One of my favorite things about playing games like PSO while growing up was being able to play with my brother and other friends. And not many RPGs that offer an in-depth character creator allow for same-screen co-op. Later on, I’m planning to add lan and a direct host/join online system eventually.

We’re getting closer and closer to having a playable demo! I’ve run into some bugs that I’ll also need to work out of the game before than and of course I still have a few things to work out along the way.

Also, I wanted to add that for those who don’t know, I’m planning a Kickstarter for the game in July! I have a friend who’s helping me to spread the word and get the project promoted while I focus on the creative process. He’s been helping out with the Discord as well.

Moreover, K-Murdock, a fellow music producer known for his work with his Hip Hop group Panacea and for his work with Guinness World Record holder Mega Ran is also helping to contributing to the soundtrack. Trust me when I say this—he’s gonna kill it!

If you made it this far into this update, I want to thank you for reading! If you can, please tell a friend about the game, wishlist the game on Steam and feel free to leave a comment here to share your thoughts!

– LB

The Astraverse Steam Store Page is LIVE!

/ Last BeNeVoLeNcE / Leave a comment

That’s right!

I finally put the steam page up for Astraverse–just one sign of things to come for development!

Speaking of development–it’s been going quite smoothly and I’ll be sharing an update soon but for now, check out the Steam page and go ahead and wishlist Astraverse!

Astraverse on Steam (steampowered.com)

LB

I probably shouldn’t write this but…

/ Last BeNeVoLeNcE / 2 Comments

…I will anyway. Lol

It’s time to get personal.

As those who are following this dev log may know, I’ve been working a full-time job outside of development of Astraverse (which I mentioned has contributed to it’s progress slowing down). Today, some recent events has led me to feeling the urge to get something off my chest about that.

Before I start, I wanted to make the point of mentioning that I absolutely HATE talking about personal issues in any sort of public way but it’s definitely related to the progress of the game and at the same time I feel like I need to express this in the best way that I can. So, here goes!

From the very beginning of me working my current job back in 2019, I’ve had issues at work in which I felt I was being micromanaged, disrespected, treated unfairly and grossly unappreciated. Even my coworkers and supervisor have observed this.

Maybe it’s because of my personality? Maybe it’s my skin color? Maybe my religion? Heck if I know. Lol

All I can say is that this has been considerably hard to deal with as I had very little experience in the field to begin with and I have a habit of first looking at myself to examine if I’m the problem before anything else. It’s been a really tough couple of years and it feels like it’s finally coming to some sort of climax. You see, my boss seems to be trying to get rid of me and while I’ve only recently began to seriously suspect this it’s been pretty obvious to me and others from the beginning that she has had some sort of personal issue with me.

Now, you might be wondering, “If she’s never liked you, why’d she hire you in the first place?” That’s because she didn’t actually hire me. I have a good friend who is the boss of her boss (still following? Lol). It wasn’t up to her whether I’d have the job or not. And I don’t want to go to him for help because I feel like that would just be unfairly taking advantage of the fact that he’s my friend.

Anyway, without going into details, I could lose my job very soon.

In my current situation, I could just go look for another job which will be difficult in itself OR……well, this is where Astraverse comes in.

I’ve done so much work on Astraverse so far and not only that–I’ve also finalized my concepts and ideas as well as the GDD on it–so I’ve decided that I’m going to finally seek funding for it and get it finished! And from there, I have plans to launch my own indie game studio so that my wife and I can make a living from making games!

But, we can’t do that alone, though. We’re gonna need help. A LOT of help. So, I’m writing this not only to express myself and to shine some light on the situation but I’m also writing this in hopes that I can reach someone out there that might be able to help and of course reach out to those who are already helping by following the development of this passion project.

I want you to know that it’s okay to help–even if it’s to reach out and show support. It doesn’t have to be some kind of monetary thing. You can spread the word–tell a friend about this awesome game being made. You can reach out to me at lastbenevolence@outlook.com and let me know that I have your support. You can even just simply leave a comment at the end of this post. There are many ways that you can support us.

Maybe we’ll find a publisher to fund us, maybe we’ll obtain a grant for the project or maybe we’ll even run a Kickstarter.

Regardless of what happens, expect more updates, more info, more visuals and more gameplay of Astraverse from here on out!

That’s a promise.

  • LB