It’s Getting Harder to Talk About New Stuff Without Spoilers
Originally published March 2nd, 2018
...and that's cool.
What's that title all about? Well, if you go to my Twitter account and check out my tweets between this dev blog and the last, you'll notice I've posted little in the ways of updates. There's a simple explanation for this, and the title is that explanation. I'd prefer to keep the final moments of War Ender as much of a surprise as possible. After all, as I frequently say around here, I can't go completely spoiling my own game now, can I?
But hang on..."keep the final moments of War Ender as much of a surprise as possible." Does this mean that the game is nearing completion? Well, as far content goes, that is indeed the case. I have begun work on War Ender's final chapter. The game's most challenging battles, including the epic final boss I have planned, will be contained in this chapter. It's truly an exciting time for the game.
As I said though, I'd rather not spoil it. So how does one talk about development when there's a lot of spoiler heavy things to talk about in comparison to non spoiler items? That's hard to say. I can always talk about tweaks made to levels and bosses, and of course I can tease what is being worked on. There's always the occasional event I may be at, showing off War Ender and talking to others, so I can discuss my time at those events and even share what people thought as they played.
Hopefully, after finishing the game's final chapter I can devote more time on things I can more freely talk about, but right now I'm a bit trapped on what I can and cannot discuss. Still, in light of the news that the game's content is nearly in place, I'd like to at least share the road map I have in mind between now and release. It will be an interesting time between now and release day, so I feel I should give you an idea of what to expect. Starting off, I'll be taking time finishing up the game's content. This includes making the final chapter's levels, the final boss, and any remaining bonus levels that need to be made. I should also have the game's soundtrack completed as well as most if not all sound effects in the game. Of course, by the time the final boss is finished I should have every art asset in place for the game as well.
Once the game's content is in place, that should initiate War Ender's beta phase. I will absolutely keep you posted on when this begins, but for now let's talk what the beta phase will include. Basically, I want to avoid releasing a broken game, so I will use the beta phase primarily to fix as many bugs as discovered. This will also be the time for any last minute tweaks to some mechanics. Such tweaks may include anything related to the player, enemy behavior modifications, and difficulty fixes.
This process should continue right up until the game's release. I'm not giving any dates right now, but I do think it's safe to say that a Spring release date is not going to happen. As of this blog's publish we'll be in March, which would mean there's only a few weeks until many AAA games start hitting stores. Frankly, I'd rather not try to compete with them, so I can at least tell you it will be sometime this Summer when the game should be released. A more specific date will be given when the time is right.
I believe that's as good of a place as any to wrap up. If all goes well the game's remaining levels should be in by next dev blog, with MAYBE the only major thing left after that being the final boss. Making that battle will certainly be a doozy, but I want it to be worth it. So that's the basic rundown of what the next few months of War Ender look like. With that out of the way, thank you for your time and have a great one!
Buh bye!
-Lance T.