Keystone Updates 28 Mar 2024
Woohoo! A new version of Keystone Library has been launched! I'm calling this version 2.0 because it is completely revamped from the previous version and we have 2 books of content, officially in operation.
Promo video here:
Now we are all taking a break because I have overexerted myself with recent updates recently. The most recent finalizing of the new Quest and Battle scenes was enduring. Just when I thought I was near the end, another thing came up and added another week of work. Thus I'm long overdue for a break.
But in the meantime I have a plan. And my plan is simply to make a plan. And so here is the plan.
1 - The last thing on my mind was to polish up the interface a little bit. Due to all the recent changes - there are a lot of little things which no longer snap into place as they should. Labels, buttons, bad alignment and etc.
2 - When my mind is truly rested I want to spend some time researching shaders so I can have a small arsenal of design enhansment tricks. Smoke, fog, outlining characters, making things explode or fade away gradually pixel-by-pixel.
3 - I'm going to put the cyberpunk book back together. I have 5 chapters of content already but it got broke with recent updates and has to be reinstalled.
4 - After all the current content is back in place and 100% polished and 100% updated with graphics and effects -- then I just want to bang out content for a few months and see if I can't reach the launch goal before the end of this year.
5 - But there are a few additional featues to add. I want to use the Tab key to switch into an alternate screen in the game, something like character stats and inventory.
6 - And I want to establish a key which consistently brings up "instructions and tips" for each and every scene. This is a fun idea, and also practical because it gives me space to deal with any possible misunderstandings in the interface. Have questions? Problems? Was my design not intuitive enough? OK fine - read the instructions! Phew! That's a load off.
7 - Finally I have an idea for a library scene. Like you actually walk into a magic library before choosing a book. A type of in between place with a few options for customization. I don't know what the players will do there yet, but it seems like a fun idea. Maybe the library has notes, news, seasonal design changes, a librarian, etc.
8 - Oh one more thing - now that I have an inventory system - I want to make a display page for inventory items. Including an illustration, description, if it's a weapon some damage stats and details. That's all. Something simple to let the player get more out of the inventory.
9 - One more note on design tips. I'm playing the 2D deck building game Griftlands, a game which I love for some odd reason, and that game has an awesome interface which is highly relevant to my illustrated game. Easy to read labels and panels with special effects. So I can refer to Griftlands for inspiration in that regard.
That's about all. It's a lot of stuff, but should be easy to set up now that I have a good content management system.
And then there's getting the word out there. Right now I'm not super confident to get people playing the game because the content is so lacking. But I feel like I have to start getting the word out there now just to start raising awareness, because this is a pretty novel type of thing with a very specific type of audience. Not at all a pop zombie game.
With that in mind, I also keep having a vision to add a bunch of mini games and useful tools to the game before launch - hoping to add utility and make the final product look more actualized.
Examples:
1 - A quick tutorial book.
2 - A book dedicated to typing challenges. Just illustrations and typing.
3 - For some odd reason I keep wanting to add a pinball game in there somewhere. Does it make sense? No. But it might be fun.
That's all for now. I'm officially on a development break for a while.