Update Q2 2023 - Dev Update + Release Timeframe Update
over 2 years ago
– Thu, Aug 03, 2023 at 10:56:44 AM
Dev Update (by Claudia)
It's getting harder to share a lot of new things without spoiling!😅 In the beginning, I actually showed almost everything there was to see. But, it's important to me that you will be surprised and amazed when playing, and not having seen everything there could be before, so it's getting harder to choose what should go into updates!
Nevertheless, I made a selection of some of the new or not yet shown things, which I can share without spoiling too much♥
Performance + Load Times Optimizations
The game will release on PC and all major consoles. Some hardware and PC setups have lower specs, and especially the Nintendo Switch. So, before we get to the juicy images + videos I want to take a moment to discuss something important which is not visible - but "you will feel it". This is actually probably one of the most important aspects of the game, despite the fact that it is "invisible", and it's also the thing I worked most on in Q2.
- Improved load behaviour process to decrease loading times (we got from some real bad places of 30-35 seconds down to 3-5 sec)
- Improved frame rates on low specs
- Optimized back-end processes and invisible logic to prevent/reduce stutters and lag
- Reworked battle loading mechanism. You had a very feel-able loading time before starting a battle on all platforms. Now, the battle will start instantly after the transition effects. This improves the quality of life by a lot in the blob worlds, and places where you fight often - the game doesn't feel like it's stop-starting or interrupting you as often.
To achieve the above I actually needed to rebuild and refactor the whole game core code, optimize a lot of 3d models, and rework many things (+test all). I am very happy with the result and thankfully the biggest chunk of the optimization work is done!
I worked extensively with Top Hat Studios engineer Mikus to implement some new technologies that will help the game handle better and also accommodate the functionalities he needs to implement for console, as well as for him to be able to make the optimizations needed that are specific for the console version too. The aim is for the console versions to feel just like a "native" experience of the game, not just a churned out and mindless port! On that topic - yes, on PlayStation the game will have a Platinum and on Xbox offer a full Gamerscore!
There's also something else I want to also point out here. The game will release not as Early Access, but rather as a Full game on PC and all consoles. The work mentioned above took a lot of time, and is very much a necessity to have the polished product you deserve.
Blob Trainer Academy
The Blob Trainer Academy (located in the Blob League) offers various courses, which help you to learn more about blobs, battles, and several in-game mechanics.
Approach the teacher, and you'll be given a choice of many different courses to select. All relevant topics to playing the game and making progression are covered. More courses get unlocked as you increase your trainer rank (by progressing in the Clover Cup)!
In a simulation area, you will play the selected course and learn step by step the mechanics (similar to a tutorial or ).
Map
The map is finally done, and it came out so cute! Some places are not painted in/missing, or are simply hidden (spoilers), but you can see it for yourself below.
The map shows icons and symbols for all interesting events and NPCs, like:
- Active quests (orange exclamation)
- Available events or quest (yellow question mark)
- Romanceable npc (chibi face icon)
- Heart event (yellow heart with question mark when npc not met or chibi face when met)
- Festivals
The map also changes with your progress building around Clover Town. After building the museum, the museum appears and the icon begins to be displayed on the map:
Events
The writers and me have also been progressing well with the heart and main game events. I can't share here too much without spoiling (and it's becoming really hard to choose things that won't act as spoilers the deeper we get into the game!), but here is a small funny sequence:
In one of the early main events, Saphir gifts you some basic, but tasty and filling cooking recipes.
Various Things
It's not easy to get a cherry tree seed in Clover Town, because as is the same with the palms, these are not native trees in that area. However, there's been some rumors circulating that they can be found in the blob worlds...
With the fillet table, you can make fish fillets out of the fish you catch, and use it for cooking. Fish and chips or sushi, anyone?
And what better to go with home-grown food? Buy a cold soda from the vending machine located in the blob league! Who knows... maybe it might have some special effect?
Dev Insights
In case if you are interested where most of Ova Magica is created: This is my "office" (just cleaned). I work from home but have a separate room. I prefer a clean and simple space without lots of things. In the vitrine on the very right are some Ova Magica handmade pieces i got gifted from very kind Kickstarter backers and Ova Magics fans.
As final thing and before the important news below:
I want to thank you all for supporting Ova Magica so far, and for being so patient too! Thank you for being here on this long dev journey, and for always having so many kind and motivating words for me. Without you Ova Magica would not be possible, and I am so happy to have such a positive and nice community!
A toast to all of you!
Game Release Estimate (by Top Hat Studios and Claudia)
As you can see, the game is being worked on constantly, and big strides are made all the time in making new content and improvements to what already exists. With looking at how demanding game development is, and all of our desires to have a solid, functioning game that is truly worthy of the love and anticipation people have, it seems like the best option is to release the game sometime in 2024.
We understand that this is frustrating for people who wanted to play the game sooner, and we know a lot of you are eager to play. However, this is the best thing to do in order to deliver a quality product - we definitely don't want to join the stable of botched releases and comically broken games that have been launched as cash-grabs, with everyone then at the mercy of it maybe being patched later.
This isn't an arbitrary decision, nor is it one done that just strings out the development for the sake of it; making the choice to delay a game, and taking the time to finish, polish, and deliver it with all planned content, means more time without any sales. It's a risk, but one both ourselves and Claudia think is worth taking to deliver a truly complete experience at launch.
Ova Magica is certainly an impressive and also ambitious game, and it's a big undertaking for a small team (especially having been through covid!) - and it's important that not only is the game taken care of correctly, but also the people making it. Trying to squeeze the game out this year would have meant a huge crunch, which just isn't acceptable.
Both ourselves and Claudia understand that there's other similar games which have already been 'released' that were crowdfunded and using Early Access, and that some of you might want to push for the game to take the same direction; the state of Ova Magica currently is in a comparable state to the EA of those other titles, but the distinction is that here, there's significant importance on delivering a complete full game experience on all platforms.
The extra time to develop the game means that come 2024, the full release will be something that definitely sticks out in your memories and fulfils the sense of wonder and excitement you felt when backing the campaign!
-Top Hat Studios, Inc. & Claudia
