A Bureau of Monsters [AllxAll] [IntRenAiMo19] [VN, Turn Based Battles] DEMO 2.0 OUT

[pumpkin spike]

Armed only with sarcasm, the least qualified member of a secret monster fighting organization
must help a time traveling soldier prevent the apocalypse.

DEMO 2.0 HAS BEEN RELEASED!
I hope you enjoy it! ^^


introductions
Hello! This year I will be participating in NaNoRenO as #IntRenAiMo with A Bureau of Monsters. The goal for this month is to update to Demo 2.0. (: Here is the link to the demo 1.1 on itch.io and the link to the WIP thread can be found here.

story
Alex and Gwen work for The Bureau of Monster Capture and Eradication, an agency that keeps mankind from going extinct due to monster's love of eating humans and causing destruction. Alex thinks they're doing a good job until... Kai, a time traveler, appears to warn them of the impending apocalypse. Can Alex help avoid this future or is all of mankind doomed?!

current features
Turn based battles
Gender choice (M/F)
2 Main story romance routes (1B & 1G)
1 Non-romantic route

for nano
I'm redoing the demo. Because, honestly, when I made the demo for Maximum Monsters, I planned for 20k words total for the whole game (sweats). Gwen's good end finished at 45k+ words for the first draft. So yeah. So much for that plan. There are also a number of important backstory details that I want to add/fix/change to the demo's common route since I've had several months to think about and work on the story ^^;

The turn-based "engine" (if the simple code I did for that could be considered such) also need some tweaks. I have some new ideas that I want to implement. The GUI also needs updating/finishing. Most of the screens I designed (sketched) have not been implemented, most of what's in the current demo comprises of frantic "last minute, it works!" screens. Once I succeed in the GUI, that's one less thing to worry about for the full game's release...!

And ofc, a lot of the backgrounds need to actually be done... I'm not too happy with my old CGs either so I'll be reworking that too.

So NaNo sounds like a great time to immerse myself in gamedev and make some progress!

the plan
1. Rewrite the script (+ editing)! ✔ Revision and editing of the script has been completed!
2. Implement script into the game build ✔ Script has been implemented!
3. Finish the art. (CGs + BGs) ~90% there One more to go!
4. Finish the GUI ~ ✔ It's done!
5. Improve the battle "engine" ~ ✔ It's done!

Stretch goals:
1. Begin implementation of Gwen's route
2. Finish all art sprites for Gwen's route
3. Finish design of sprites for Kai's route

links out
I hope to update weekly here, but will also be making more frequent updates to my twitter: https://twitter.com/pumpkinspike
My editor, Mamep21, who works overtime making sure everything I write actually makes sense: https://twitter.com/mamep21

[Zelan]

Oooh, I'm glad to see you're working on this again! A 45k wordcount for one route is super impressive, keep up the good work! Good luck on this NaNo. ^_^

[pumpkin spike]

Oooh, I'm glad to see you're working on this again! A 45k wordcount for one route is super impressive, keep up the good work! Good luck on this NaNo. ^_^

Thank you! I'm certainly not giving up on this one ^^
And yeah... looks like I accidentally started a full length game ;;

[Zelan]

looks like I accidentally started a full length game ;;

BIGGEST MOOD. Better a big project than no project at all, though! Even if it takes a while to finish, the final product will be worth it. c:

[pumpkin spike]

It's been a week! What have I accomplished???

I created and implemented the History and About pages (easier pages, I know). I'm working on the Save/Load pages now, they'll all more or less be in this format. If you stick around the pages for a little while, something might happen (; in game, I mean the game menu on the side is still being worked on, no worries it won't look as it currently is xD





Finished refurbishment of 1 CG and started on the second one ouo If I have time, I'll try a stretch goal of extending into the first CGs of each route.







And into the foray of making backgrounds ;u;"





My progress is all over the place across different categories so it's hard to tell if I'm on track or not ;;
but I haven't been able to work on art for too long recently ;;

[pumpkin spike]

How are we halfway through already?? To celebrate, I drew a doodle representing how I feel. I'll provide an actual update tonight as I attempt to finish half the things I wanted to for Nano xD

[pumpkin spike]

So... I overestimated how much I could get done in the time that I have ;u;" There will be another update tomorrow.
We're halfway into NaNo, and thus far, I have...

Most of the GUI done! All of the default GUI has been redesigned and implemented through code! (All I'm missing is the window asking if you're sure you want to quit.)



The second CG is almost done! I intend to have this done by tomorrow.



And lastly, editing of the script is nearly done. I intend to do one more read through, but given that it's late and sleepy, I'll save reviewing for tomorrow morning when I have a clearer mind. So... yeah, a lot of almosts. I just need one more day... ;u;"

[pumpkin spike]

The statistics of the plan have been updated. The script has been completed! The second CG is 95% of the way there! I have some lighting issues to deal with before I can finish and show off ;P

[pumpkin spike]

Late Night Weekly Update

This has been a loooonng week.

The second CG was finished last weekend: You can see a finished preview here!

The backgrounds are in various stages of being done. One is fully finished. One has temporary colors put in. A third is lined and starting that process. The last two haven't been started, sadly =u=;; I've been complaining on twitter, but I'll do it here too. Drawing bgs suck!


Not much to report about the GUI. I took a break after finishing the Confirm screen.

Some brainstorming work has been done for the battle engine. I've begun designing how I want the monsters stats to be like. Here are Kai and the Arachne you battle in the demo:

The bottom power x skill x ability is a system I'm planning to implement for my characters spread across different stories. Just so I can keep track of how powerful all my characters are.





...Some stats:
BGs are at 35% done. Which is better than I expected tbh. But there's still a terrifying amount of work left to be done.
Based on the percentages in the first post, the new game build is at 69.5% finished. *gulp* time to pull a couple all nighters ;;;

[pumpkin spike]

Update on Release Dates

After a lot of consideration, I decided to push the release date for A Bureau of Monster's demo 2.0 back a bit. I wanted to complete the new version in time with the end of NaNoRenO, but looking at the remaining assets I have to finish (27.35% left!), it doesn't look possible for 3/31.

My new goal is before the end of April. I will give a more definitive date as I finish the remainder of the updates.

Secondly, while I'm not giving up on this project (or game dev for that matter), I will be moving at a slower pace. If this month has shown me anything, it's how churning out progress affects my health negatively. I don't intend to be silent, but updates will be impacted and become much slower.

Thank you everyone for your support so far, I will keep doing my best.

[nerupuff]

Congrats on all these jam-packed updates! I'm not gonna say that it's sad to see that the release date has been pushed back (I'm fairly excited for this); instead, I'm glad you are also prioritizing your health too! And if the fast pacing has been very difficult, then by all means, also take some time to rest. Your progress has been amazing and I know the finished product will be 100% superb! I'm sure all your efforts will pay off.

You've been working real hard on this. Sending you best wishes and all my support. ^^

[pumpkin spike]

Congrats on all these jam-packed updates! I'm not gonna say that it's sad to see that the release date has been pushed back (I'm fairly excited for this); instead, I'm glad you are also prioritizing your health too! And if the fast pacing has been very difficult, then by all means, also take some time to rest. Your progress has been amazing and I know the finished product will be 100% superb! I'm sure all your efforts will pay off.

You've been working real hard on this. Sending you best wishes and all my support. ^^

Thank you so much! ;u; This means a lot to me, I'll do my best and keep fighting! I'm going to make something that wows everyone!! o`u o!!

[pumpkin spike]

Weekly Update

A screenshot of the game with finished backgrounds-


Some WIP mockups for the Gallery and Book of Monster screens. I'm honestly still brainstorming how I want the B.O.M. to actually look...


An attempt at figuring out what sort of system the turn based battle should be. I'm torn between making it very easy (as VN players would want to read more than battle), and a bit challenging (as you would expect from a video game). I think to find a middle ground, I'll put in difficulty modes so players can bypass the battling portions if they choose to, without affecting VN endings. That would be in future updates, however, as there's only one very simple battle in the demo so far.


I finished a third background earlier this week, too. The lineart for the shop isn't complete yet. I intend to fill those shelves to the brim <: And the bedroom still needs to be colored. The current Barbie dream house colors are placeholders.


Nearly all of this was done the weekend before I made the announcement to push the release date back. Having taken 3 days to relax and only work slowly has helped me feel better (: This coming weekend away from my day job may do the trick in starting recovery.

[pumpkin spike]

Weekly Update
I will keep weekly updates here until Demo 2.0 gets completed. Then, I'll move back to the main WIP thread.

I made some changes to the GUI for the battle screen. The full screenshot will be on my twitter for #screenshotsaturday tomorrow :D


The new battle "engine" has been implemented, but not much of that will actually show for the fight included in the demo... owo;; They're mainly passive things that may show up with other creatures, but the monster fought in the demo is... too weak (lol). I originally wanted to program in abilities + moves for the monsters, but... ultimately, I think the system is still too green for that. orz I need to come up with a definitive set of monsters to use as opponents before the system can balance out. So for Demo 2.0, I think the new battle "engine" is "done". ...You know, until I come up with something else/realized I forgot something.

I made a little sketch of the training map. ouo;


Laid down the base colors for one of the BGs


Some other stuff:
"I came to the decision that the game makes more sense with everyone's gender swapped. Here is some concept art! I can't wait to redo everyone's sprites and CGs! However, this will unfortunately delay the game until 3019." (April Fool's Day 2019)

(my jokes are lame, i know ouo`)

Last screenshot Saturday


Ughhh... I'm nervous about the remaining artwork I have for this demo. I think I have to move forward with that before I can work on anything else ouo`;

[pumpkin spike]

Weekly Update

Screenshots from the past week owo




I also have one more newly completed Book of Monsters screen that will show up on my twitter soon! ouo This screen will give a small bio on each species of monster you have captured throughout the game.

Of the remaining things to do, I have 2(.5) backgrounds and the training screen left to make. I also have to code + implement the training screen to work with the battle screen.