Told you I’d be back earlier than usual! Yes, Christmas time is here and so is a jam-packed December Update for 8-Bit Adventures 2 =) We’ve got a lot to get through (plenty of fun visual content too!), so I’ll skip my mad ramblings this time and jump straight into the content!

If you missed my previous posts, the website IndieDB has been running their annual competition highlighting indie games, and thanks to our wonderful fans (all of you!) we made it into their Top 100 – which is absolutely fantastic! But the competition isn’t over yet; now we’re in the running for Top 10 Upcoming Indie Games.

Getting onto this list would gain 8-Bit Adventures 2 even more visibility, and would be a definite feather in our cap. We're up against 42 other games, so every vote matters. You've all done more than enough already; but if you can keep supporting 8-Bit Adventures 2, I'd sincerely appreciate your vote =)

If you’d like to support us, please follow the link below and click the big red ‘Vote’ button next to 8-Bit Adventures 2! It'd be the best Christmas present you can give me ;)

https://www.indiedb.com/groups/2019-indie-of-the-year-awards/top100#vote62132



For the next week (until 10:05 AM on January 2nd Pacific Time), you can get 8-Bit Adventures at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/370300
Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/461710
As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy!

As has always been the case, every purchase goes towards 8-Bit Adventures 2's development. Most things are now fully paid for (thankfully!), but we've still got a few things to cover, so any and all support is greatly appreciated!

Last year in November, I released a sizzle reel showing off some scenes from the game. The video was unlisted, and while some of you may have already seen it, it never got many views. So I’ve cut out the initial minute-and-a-half of me giving an old progress report and re-uploaded the 2 minute sizzle reel portion of the video. So if you haven’t seen it, please check it out below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eST6W2_aP3Y&feature=youtu.be
I really wanted to make a new one this year, but these things take quite a bit of time and with the battle system’s turn order still in shambles (more on that below), it doesn’t make things easy. So I think at this stage I’ll make a final trailer closer to release and leave it at that. Don’t want to get *too* spoiler-y!



So as you might’ve gathered, the bugs I’ve been complaining about these last couple of months (especially the turn order part of the battle system being broken) still aren’t fixed. Sufyan (the programmer) has had things in his work life that have taken all of his time up and put him under a lot of stress, and he’s just trying to cope with it all as best he can – working around the clock. He’ll be back in (and is very much looking forward to) January though, so hopefully we’ll be able to get back on top of it all in the very near future. As always, I just want to be open with you guys on what’s happening =)



But let’s get onto the fun stuff! I wanted to show off a few more locations that you haven’t seen before – in fact these are some of my favourite dungeon aesthetics in the game. Specifically, we have a deep forest near Estriatus that’s connected to a fan-favourite subplot in 8-Bit Adventures 1, an underwater cavern that serves as the lair of an ancient ocean-dwelling beast (the diving suit returns!), and an abandoned, ruined prison complex which was once used to hold the Glitch and is now run by broken down, insane robots.



It probably doesn't mean much to anyone else, but the game contains over 800 individual maps - which is a lot haha! In addition to the massive amount of content in the main quest, this includes both meaty optional dungeons and small, one-off areas you can discover by exploring the World Map.



I’ve really tried to make 8-Bit Adventures 2 feel content-rich without sacrificing pacing or bloating the game. It’s a tricky balance to get right in a genre that so often leans too far one way or the other – I’ve definitely played some JRPGs that felt too long for the wrong reasons. So I often look to Chrono Trigger (one of the best paced games ever made in my opinion) and the scale of their content for inspiration (the size of dungeons, the number of enemy encounters, the structure and speed of battles, and so on).



I think the world of 8-Bit Adventures 2 has become really fun to just explore and run around in now that everything’s connected up. Truth be told, whenever I complete an area, I spend several minutes just sprinting around in it XD Mainly because I’m trying to see if any odd tiles stick out to me or if anything needs a last minute adjustment (I need to make sure everything looks and feels right) but…I also do it because it’s fun haha.



If you’re like me, then you enjoy seeing behind-the-scenes content from the games you play – especially concept artwork! Well, Jerram (the artist) gave me pretty much everything he ever drew for 8-Bit Adventures 2 (over 100 sketches) and I thought it might be fun to show this off – as something different for the end of the year! I personally enjoy concept art that looks a little rough and early (sorry Jerram! =P), but I've tried to include a mix of types. I’ll definitely release all of these drawings in some form at one point, but here are just a few fun selections I made =) Enjoy!















To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!



I’ve said it all before, but thank you – every single one of you reading this – so much for all your continued support and excitement for 8-Bit Adventures 2. 2019 has been a rough year in some ways, and failing to release the game in a year that I was *so* confident about definitely didn’t help that. But whatever happens – by hook or by crook – 8-Bit Adventures 2 is getting finished and released!

I know I say this all the time, but I honestly can’t wait for all of you to play it. I develop games to make people happy – that’s my goal - and there’s no greater joy for a game developer than players actually *playing* your game! I think even the most ardent of perfectionists (of which I can definitely be – at least, I take the time to get things right haha) wants that.

I want to wish you all Happy Holidays, a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year full of wonderful possibilities and joy! Thank you everyone and I’ll see you in 2020! (You just can’t get rid of me haha =P)
~Josh

Holy moly, 8-Bit Adventures 2 is in the Top 100 of the 2019 IndieDB Awards!! This is *entirely* thanks to you guys - thank you all so, SO much for voting & showing your support the game! =D

With that said, as much as I hate to ask for anything else, it turns out the competition isn't over just yet...

And that's because voting on the Top 10 Upcoming Indie Games has begun! We're up against 42 other games, so every vote matters. You've all done more than enough already; but if you can keep supporting 8-Bit Adventures 2, I'd sincerely appreciate your vote =)

https://www.indiedb.com/groups/2019-indie-of-the-year-awards/top100#vote62132


I don't know how much of a chance we have, but I honestly didn't expect to make it into the Top 100 either - you guys are the ones who made that a reality! So hey, you never know ;)

Regardless, a massive thank you to everyone who's already voted; it means the world that so many people are excited to play 8-Bit Adventures 2! The December monthly update should be coming next week, so keep your eyes peeled for that too!

Thank you so much everyone =)

If you've been following my work for a while now, you'll know this is a pretty unusual post for me. But this is something I wanted to take a chance on. If you have an IndieDB account & want to support 8-Bit Adventures 2, I'd be ecstatic if you'd consider voting for the game in the 2019 IndieDB Awards! You can follow the link to vote, or find more info below:

https://www.indiedb.com/games/8-bit-adventures-2



The goal of these awards is to get under-the-radar indie games more attention, "without being buried under a mountain of asset-flips and achievement grabs" (to quote the competition itself). In addition to supporting indie devs, everyone who votes has a chance to win game keys from the modlove Collection too!



I don't know how much of a chance 8-Bit Adventures 2 has here, but any attention the game gets would be a *massive* help for me in the lead-up to release. It's taken several years of development, but I honestly think we've created something special for RPG fans (like myself) and I want to get it out there as much as possible.



That said, please don't feel pressured - to be honest, I hate asking anyone for this XD But every time I do a news post, 8-Bit Adventures 2 reaches top 100 popularity on IndieDB, so I really wanted to take a chance on this opportunity =)



I don't think I can actually see the votes, but to anyone who does, thank you so, so much in advance! I'm constantly astounded by how much support I've received for 8-Bit Adventures 2, & feel incredibly grateful. And if you'd like to help the game get more attention, please spread the word! =D

Thanks for reading! You're the coolest ;)
~Josh

Wait a second, a monthly update that's actually *in* the month it's named after?! To answer your first, and frankly most obvious question: no, I'm not some shadowy impostor who's killed Josh and begun wearing his face as a kind of grotesque mask in order to usurp development of 8-Bit Adventures 2 - I just had the extra impetus of the Steam Autumn Sale to get this out a little sooner than usual! The December update will probably be a lot earlier than usual too, so please keep an eye out for it =)

Without further adieu, let's charge into the fray!



For the next week (until 10:05 AM on December 3rd Pacific Time), you can get 8-Bit Adventures at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/370300
Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/461710
As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy!

As has always been the case, every purchase goes towards 8-Bit Adventures 2's development. Most things are now fully paid for, but we've still got a few things to cover, so any and all support is greatly appreciated!

I'm not actually going to bore you all with bug reports haha, but that's definitely continued to be a big theme in November. Unfortunately Sufyan (our programmer) hasn't been able to address any of the bugs I've been dealing with this month due to personal circumstances. To make matters worse, due to a fix that didn't quite work at the end of last month, battles have been left a tad broken. So the situation hasn't been ideal, but I've still been making progress and am basically at the end of what I'd call Act 1 (assuming we break the game into the traditional 3-Act Structure). Once we squash some of those battle bugs, things will definitely be a lot easier to test, but for now I've just been doing what I can.



Sebastian (our composer) just sent me his final track - a whopping 6 minute long Credits theme - which plays over the ending of the game, and is utterly beautiful. It conveys the emotions of the characters so well, and I couldn't be happier with it. I think that when everyone gets to the ending, it'll make you feel exactly the way the end of a grand adventure should make you feel =)



A lot of the work I've been doing is pretty steeped in spoiler territory, so I won't say too much (and I'm trying not to show much either!). One of the jobs I've tackled is trying to make the Processor (the environment from the First Look Demo) a little more lively. Tanks roll around on the roads, Clockwork Soldiers guard street corners, and the bodies of poor, defenceless worker robots litter the city.



It's actually a little crazy how much things have changed since the old demo, and working on this area really drove that home. And that's in regards to menus, animations, fonts, the removal of random battles, the addition of sprinting, plus battle system and story tweaks. Honestly, it feels good to see!



I'll also note that I got past the point in 8-Bit Adventures 2 (around the 5-6 hour mark, depending on your speed) where the player gets the final additions to their tool-set; specifically party switching (as now you have more than 3 characters), the Robot's 'Part' system (he doesn't have normal abilities, but instead equips 'Parts' to extend his repertoire), & Augments (a special equippable which can enhance a character's stats & provide all kinds of unusual effects). Basically, my intention was that by the end of 'Act 1' (as explained above) the player should have complete access to all of the game's mechanics; with the final two dungeons of this act allowing them to start exploring these mechanics. Thankfully, that's worked out pretty well!



Thanksgiving naturally isn't celebrated in Australia, but I hope everyone who does partake enjoys the holiday and has plenty to be grateful for this year. I know I'm certainly grateful for all of you - especially for sticking by me in this long, long development cycle! And I'm also so, *so* grateful for Sebastian, Jerram, and Sufyan - without them, making this game would've been impossible, and they've all done such incredible work. Thanks guys =)



I truly thought there was no way in the world 8-Bit Adventures 2 wouldn't be released in 2019, and grappling with that reality has been a little crushing these past few months. To spend such a large chunk of your life working on a project like this is kind've terrifying haha. But we've come this far, and I'm trying to be as transparent and open with all of you as I can be (while also not saying anything stupid or super spoiler-y =P). I'm gonna get it right and I'm gonna get it out there.



To recap on the year a little, the content's pretty much all there; all I'm doing is just testing, polishing, tweaking, balancing, and bug fixing. All graphical assets are done; all music is composed; the game is playable in some way from start to finish. Hey, we even have a decent website now! 2019 has been the year where all the pieces have really, finally come together and it's made me very confident in the quality of 8-Bit Adventures 2. Has the year been challenging? Yep. Has it gone the way I wanted? Definitely not. But I've worked hard, done my best, and I think it's all paid off.

...I'm definitely making a smaller game next time though XD



To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!



I think I covered most things above, but as you can see from my image choices, I'm trying to really avoid big spoiler content at this point. Hopefully these updates are still interesting to read, and give you a solid insight into where we are/what I'm doing. As I said, I should have the December update out much earlier than normal too, so please keep an eye out for that!

Oh, and have you guys been watching the Mandalorian? It's like a live-action Genndy Tartavosky production (i.e. Samurai Jack); so precisely paced, allowing everything room to breathe and developing its characters with minimal dialogue. Its plot isn't going anywhere fast, but I'm really enjoying it! His Dark Materials has also taken me by surprise. As someone who knows nothing of the books, I've gotten really invested haha.

...As you can probably tell, I never have any idea how to end these things XD But I hope everyone has an absotively splendificus start to the holiday season!
~Josh

Hey there, great to see ya! How’s everything going? Had a good Halloween?

Oh, me? I’m just writing the October 2019 update for 8-Bit Adventures 2! …Yes, I know it’s the 2nd of November. For some reason, that’s just the way I’ve ended up doing this. Eh, don't think too much about it. The months go by so quickly now haha. But enough small talk with myself – let’s get into it!

First off, Happy Halloween for the other night! I posted this little GIF on the actual day (via Twitter @CriticalGamesAU), but in case anyone missed it…

In 8-Bit Adventures 2, you'll find ghosts and ghouls galore! But despite all the fiendish foes you'll face, on this Hallows' Eve, I thought a stroll amongst the graves might be a more appropriate treat...



But these ain't your average, mindless Zombies. They may be maggot-ridden, but they're on a mission - to stop you from reaching their master, no matter the cost! Poor guy - that looks like it hurts...



This month will probably be a little light on the details, but I always like to show off a new batch of screenshots and animated GIFs! I’m approaching the end of testing what I consider ‘Act 1’ of the game (based on a 3 Act structure), so if you’re hyper concerned about spoilers…well, this update should be okay, but we’re getting to a point where I’m being extra mindful of what I show – while also trying to keep things interesting haha.



Oh, and don’t mind the names for Warrior/Thief/Mage – these images are taken from my personal save file (they’re actually the same names I used when testing the first game too!).

Jerram (the artist) has now totally, fully, 100% finished his work on 8-Bit Adventures 2, so give him a round of applause! He’s done an absolutely incredible job, and a lot of my time in October was spent implementing the ending assets he’s made, as well as many other odds and ends which enhance the look of the game, and frankly make it feel polished and complete – such as the final battle transition effect (which I’ll definitely be showing in the near future!).



We’ve still been contending with some very tricky bugs, but Sufyan (the programmer) has been hard at work taking care of them. There’s still plenty more to do (I just ran into one a couple of days ago where every time I defended in a particular battle, my character would get faster XD), but we’re on the road to making 8-Bit Adventures 2 airtight by release!

One of the dungeons I worked on this past month is the Ocean Cave – which is so dark, that unless you’re standing near a light source, you can’t see! These battles are pitch black and enemies appear only as vague outlines – which actually alters their moveset a little. To even the playing field, you'll need to lead them close to one of the many torches before starting the battle. This will let you fight them under optimal conditions, helping you see and revealing their true forms!



But if you do get stuck in the dark, don’t worry – Emma is blind, and fights using her other senses, so she’ll be your secret weapon! If you get caught like this, it’s usually best to put Charlie on support, using Items or Abilities to aid her. But the monsters here are no joke (well, power-wise anyway =P), so be careful and try to put yourself in the best position possible!



Another thing I wanted to briefly touch upon is team attacks! In 8-Bit Adventures 2, we have Combo (2 people) and Trio (3 people) Abilities which combine your party members’ various skills. To gain one of these special team-up attacks, both characters must have learnt specific Abilities. For example, Love’s Shield requires Thief to have learnt First Aid, and Warrior to have learnt Shield Wall.



These abilities can be activated by any of the participating characters (except Robot – he functions a little differently), however they also drain AP/MP from everyone involved - so be careful you don’t overuse them. Otherwise, your whole party might end up running on empty!

Also a minor mention, but the Escape Amulet from the first game returns in 8-Bit Adventures 2 (it’s one of the things I set up this month)! If you ever need to get back to the entrance of a dungeon in a hurry, just open up your Key Items and use the Escape Amulet to zip straight back to the entrance. Leaving the dungeon will re-spawn all of its enemies though (at least, under normal circumstances), so you’ll have to decide if it’s worth the risk!

To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!



As usual, I’m afraid it’s not the update we’ve all been waiting for – but I just want you guys to know that I’m still here and doing my best to get everything done. And you know, I’m really happy with how everything’s turning out! This might be a bit of a strange highlight, but emerging onto the Xanthus Desert section of the World Map for the first time felt really satisfying. I know I made the thing, but there’s something about a fully realised World Map that still just feels *right*. I’m hoping to deliver RPG veterans a lot of those moments – not just references that play to nostalgia, but moments that capture the style and feel of games long past in a new context.

And I guess on a grander level, I hope to tell a positive story about the things that really matter in our lives; one that embodies both a hopeful optimism, and a sense that we can overcome any obstacle. I feel these elements – the sense of “striving for a better tomorrow”, as Hironobu Sakaguchi once put it - were key to making so many JRPGs into beloved classics. We’ll see how I do, but essentially I want people to leave my games feeling happy and re-energised, rather than frustrated or depressed. In these troubled times, I feel like making people smile is the most helpful thing I can do with my work. Hopefully 8-Bit Adventures 2 will make you smile too! =)
~Josh

Phew, I’m so glad the August update’s done, now to get back to- Wait, what do you mean it’s the 1st of October?! Uh…well then, I guess we’d better get on with the September update!

Yes, while my understanding of calendars might be a bit iffy, I once again come bearing screenshots and insights into the seemingly ‘never-ending story’ that is 8-Bit Adventures 2’s development. Thankfully, that movie *does* in fact have an ending…which may technically be grounds for a false advertising lawsuit, but in our case makes me very optimistic! So hop on your nearest Luckdragon, and let’s get into it!

September’s been an interesting mix of swift progress and frustrating roadblocks.

On the bright side, Jerram has finished the ending and is just wrapping up the last few odds and ends; after which, that’ll be the graphical assets completely and totally 100% finished! Obviously I can’t show you anything from it, but the ending looks utterly fantastic and is by far our most ambitious cinematic sequence in the game. This took a *lot* of figuring out – particularly trying to convey the emotions of the scene - but I really think we leave players on a high note. Jerram really went above and beyond here! But while I can’t show you the ending, I can show you one of my favourite shots from the opening!



Beyond that, I’m currently testing and tweaking the game at the 3 and a half hour mark. Even though hour-wise this definitely isn’t anywhere near as far as I’d hoped to be by the end of September, there’s a big reason for this - which *is* a type of progress of its own.

Basically, this has been the month of bugs haha. To give you some idea of what a difference they make, one large city area with no bugs took only a day and a half to finish, whereas one particular dungeon took a week and a half – partly due to cutscene issues in a big story sequence, but predominantly because of bugs. So while I’ve been trying to play through the game, I’ve also been spending a lot of time trying to figure out, document, and (in cases where I’m able) fix some very tricky problems with the game. Sufyan (the programmer) is currently working on a lot of fixes for me, so things should be a lot smoother once they’re implemented.



A lot of the problems have been things which only really reveal themselves if you’re playing the game in a linear, long-term form; like players will once it’s finished. For example, Thief has a passive ability which gives her a massive speed boost on the first turn of battle. But, at some seemingly random point in my playthrough, that ability just suddenly stopped working, which consequently throws off the turn order that the player’s supposed to have for every battle with her in it. And that then compounds with a bunch of other bugs, making balancing battles pretty tricky! Of course, that’s why it’s so important to test games as a whole, rather than just in vertical slices – you run into all the conflicts between different, evolving systems that way.



While it’s disappointing (and often hair-pullingly frustrating =P) to encounter these problems at a point when I desperately want to make rapid progress…they had to be found. Much better that I run into this stuff now than you guys at launch! So even though it can be a little disheartening, bug fixes are an important kind of progress too.



But the actual content I've completed has been pretty significant as well; both in terms of big story events, and the long-term progression of various gameplay systems. This makes it a little tough to show things off, but I’m making sure to stay well away from any big spoilers!



*Please Note - there are a couple of bugs on display within these battle GIFs with the enemy HP bars, and Omega Burst gauge. Apologies for this, but I still wanted to show them off!*

Some of the battle GIFs demonstrate the ways in which enemies can work together in battle. For example, the Molten Man and Lava Lady – when both foes are alive in battle – can combine their powers for a Red Hot Combination attack. Whereas the Rampaging Ram, with its randomised attacks (which will either attack the party or its own allies) can accidentally enrage The Hibernator, forcing the player to think on their feet (that bear is an enemy you want to keep docile for as long as possible!).



It’s a small touch, but I’ve also changed the way that shopkeeper dialogue works. We’ve all been there; we just want to buy a few dozen potions, but every time you have to skip through the shopkeeper’s opening and closing dialogue. The text gives the game some personality, sure, but it’s frustrating on repeat visits when you’re just looking to buy.



So what I did is open up the counter of every store. The first time you speak over the counter, you’ll get the full dialogue. But every time after that, now that you’re acquainted, you’ll just see a quick and easy menu that gets you right into buying and selling. And if you want to read the full dialogue again, just talk to the shopkeeper from behind the counter and they’ll be happy to have a good chinwag!



As I've said before, 8-Bit Adventures 2 is a mixture of old and new; both in its attempt to blend retro and modern game design, as well as in its environments which include the majority of locations from the first game (albeit re-designed!). As you can see below, the Volcano is one of these areas. It was a bit of a tricky dungeon in the original, but this time you've got a few more tools and tricks at your disposal - and a much better balanced game haha. Of course, even though you'll meet new enemies (as you can see above), there might be a familiar face or two to greet you...and maybe blow you up. Who can say? ;)



To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!



Everything I said in last month's wrap-up still holds true, so there's not much I can add at this point (I recommend reading it if you haven't!). It was just really important to me that I take the time to check-in with you guys, and let you know how we're going - both the good and bad. And to be clear, most of it *is* good! If you guys could see the full, spoilerific picture that I can see...well, I'm extremely hopeful that everyone will be really happy with what we've created here =) Because even though the speed at which I'm making progress can feel incredibly demoralising, I'm really proud of what we've achieved and I honestly can't wait for all of you to see everything 8-Bit Adventures 2 has in store!

On that note, for anyone concerned about this update format, I'm absolutely conscious of spoilers, and am doing my best to keep that stuff to a minimum =P I hope you all have an awesome October, and I'll see you soon with a (hopefully) equally awesome update!
~Josh

Summer turns to Autumn (well, Winter turns to Spring for me in the Southern Hemisphere!), and with it comes the 8-Bit Adventures 2 August update! I’ve made a bunch of new GIFs showcasing some of what I’ve been working on, so I’ll try and keep my commentary to a minimum this time! Will I succeed? Read on to find out…

…But if you look at your scroll bar, the answer is clearly no =P

*Please note, some of the below GIFs had to be slightly compressed, or their framerate edited, to fit into Steam's 3MB limit.*


August has been full of great progress, but I had a bit of a rough start to the month! The day after I wrote the July update, my dog tripped me over while we were crossing the road, causing me to face-plant on the asphalt XD Unfortunately, both of my hands (particularly my palms) were injured, and this really slowed me down for a couple of weeks. Thankfully, though, the rest of August went pretty smoothly!



As you may remember, I’m currently playing through 8-Bit Adventures 2 minute by minute, tweaking/testing/balancing/polishing every detail to get it ready for all of you! It took me the whole of July to reach the 30 minute mark, and now at the end of August I’m sitting at 2 hours in. Now, that may sound really worrying, but as I said last month, these early sections of the game are by far the most unpolished and were somewhat unfinished (as they were created relatively early in development, before most of the graphics were completed).



The great news is that the last half an hour of that 2 hour progression has only taken me three days to fully test – as opposed to the previous hour and a half which basically took 2 months. I’m finally getting to the point of the game where, back in 2017, I’d started to develop a syntax – a language and a logic for constructing environments, cutscenes, and recurring events (e.g. shops or map transitions) in this engine. So there’s now more and more consistency in the content I’m testing, which makes this whole process a much quicker and smoother experience than it was prior to this point. If this continues, as I expect it will, then we should be in a great place by the end of September.



Honestly, testing the game like this been a really good experience! Everything’s pretty much just as I hoped it would be. Battles feel snappy, responsive, and look great, cutscenes are concise and entertaining, everything feels very neatly paced (areas have enough time to breath, but you’re constantly doing something/going somewhere new), environments are fleshed out just enough without being intimidating or overbearing, and I’m still chuckling at some of the silly NPC dialogue I wrote a couple of years ago =P Obviously this is just my (extremely biased!) opinion, but I’m really proud of what we’ve made – and more than a little relieved ;)



One of the challenges in this early portion of 8-Bit Adventures 2 has been figuring out the right approach to difficulty. The player only controls a single character during the first dungeon, and in a Conditional Turn-Based Battle System (to borrow Final Fantasy X’s terminology) that singular party member can either receive too many advantages or be swamped by enemies, if the game’s turn order system isn’t designed correctly.



As it’s the start of the game, I’ve kept things fairly simple so that players who are inexperienced with turn-based combat can ease themselves in. In these first couple of hours, you can technically progress by simply mashing the attack button. However, this is definitely not optimal, and players doing this will likely take more damage and so use up more of their healing items. So even though this early stage of the game is quite easy, playing smart and making the most of your abilities still has its benefits for more advanced players!



One thing I don’t believe I’ve mentioned before is that your old pal Save Point has gained some new, handy features inside dungeons! In addition to telling you when danger’s approaching, he can also provide some general tips to help you prepare for upcoming boss fights. These tips are 100% optional, and they’re intended to reduce the need for obnoxious trial and error.

For example, say there’s a fire boss coming up, and your best attacker has a fire sword which will, consequently, heal the boss whenever you hit it. Well, Save Point might be able to warn you of that fact ahead of time; and so rather than forcing you to reset and equip a different sword (because you now know that the boss is a fire elemental), you could preemptively strategise, and go into that battle a little more prepared - no restarts required! I’ve played several RPGs which can catch the player off-guard in frustrating ways, so I’m hoping an optional hints system will help to alleviate this –for players who want the advice!



Additionally, Save Point can also revive all of the monsters inside a dungeon. Because enemies are no longer random encounters and physically roam the world, I didn’t want to make them respawn every time you left the room (that can quickly become time consuming and frustrating). But some players might be hunting a rare item, or wish to grind, and so I wanted a way for enemies to be re-fought. If the player leaves a dungeon, all of the enemies will be restored automatically, but what if you want to remain inside the dungeon? Well, just ask Save Point and he’ll revive every beastie you’ve slain!



While I don’t imagine this will be a commonly used feature, I feel it’s important to give players as many options as possible. In the very first RPG I ever developed, I made grinding impossible (you could only fight each enemy once – after that, they’d permanently disappear) as I didn’t want players to waste their time on it. However, I found that some players disliked this, as they either needed an extra boost to get past a challenging boss, or they simply enjoyed the act of grinding and feeling overpowered. Their feedback taught me an important lesson, and so I wanted to avoid this pitfall in 8-Bit Adventures 2 by offering players the choice.


And finally, as promised in last month’s update, I wanted to show off the Game Over screen effect that Sufyan (the programmer) has made for the game, with Jerram’s (the artist’s) excellent concept and visual design. Can anyone guess which NES game inspired the Game Over screen design?



But death isn't the end! You can immediately retry any battle (without any penalties), so there's no need to give up if you find yourself staring at this screen. Hopefully you won’t be seeing it too much though! ;)


To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!

~Josh

Even though it might *technically* be August now, that’s no reason to skip the month that was. So let’s dig into the July 2019 8-Bit Adventures 2 Update! This time I get into the nitty gritty of what we’ve all been working on, peppered with an assortment of brand new GIFs from the start of the game!

*While almost everything's final, please note that a handful of effects/details are still being tweaked.


Big question! Thankfully, my predictions came true, and this month I began playing through 8-Bit Adventures 2. Essentially, I comb through the game, examining every moment and polishing/fixing/tweaking/changing/adding – whatever needs to be done to get it ready for release!



While this is a great stage to be at, I’m sure you can imagine that this is a very big job for an elaborate RPG that’s likely somewhere in the 20+ hour range (I’ll keep you updated on playtime – I’m very curious to find out the exact number myself!).

At the time of writing, the first 30 minutes of 8-Bit Adventures 2 are polished and fully playable. That includes a dangerous trek through the desert, and an introduction to our new playable character Charlie in Pheopolis Castle.



Now, 30 minutes may not sound like much, but there were a few mitigating factors. Firstly, I still had to actually create the opening sequence of the game; those first 8 minutes required a lot of work, and I wanted to make sure it was as polished and exciting an introduction as it could possibly be. However, this took a significant portion of July.
Secondly, the content that takes place in Pheopolis Castle is quite old (created in late 2015, before I'd even switched engines!), and so has needed a lot of work to bring it up to speed.

Unfortunately, it’s Winter here in Australia, and I ended up being unwell for a couple of weeks, which took quite a toll on my productivity. Also, a few other things (family/personal) also contributed to that toll, so it’s been quite challenging to get things done as quickly as I’d wanted.




Beyond all of that, Jerram (the artist) and I have been planning out the cinematic shots for the game’s ending cutscene, and boy – it’s a whopper! The challenge has been figuring out how to make it feasible while incorporating all of the important, emotional moments it needs to.
When I first told him what I had in mind for this, he told me: “You’re crazy XD Crazy ambitious, I should say!” So that’s a good sign haha. But whether I'm crazy or not, he’s hard at work on it =P

Sufyan (the programmer) has also been working constantly to implement various new features. He's made it so that the game can now differentiate between Playstation and Xbox controllers (allowing us to display correct buttons in the opening tutorial), fixed some in-battle glitches, and (based on Jerram’s excellent concept) created a really cool looking ‘Game Over’ sequence that I can't wait to show off in future!



As for me, when you progress through a game step-by-step like this – just as a player would – it’s a very different experience than the task-focused work I’ve done up to this point (which was mostly a lot of loading in and out of thin slices of the game; dealing with thousands of individual pieces, rather than a collective whole). It reveals a lot of new insights into your game, and there are dozens of changes and tweaks I’ve made to streamline the experience.

After spending a lot of time in menus, or fighting dozens of battles in a row, you really get a good sense of what ends up being frustrating or unclear. For example, we’re reducing the number of pop-up windows that appear at the end of every battle (e.g. telling you how much Gold and EXP you earned, etc.). While in isolation they seemed perfectly fine, the number of times you had to press confirm became quite frustrating after only a few hours of constant testing haha.



So while there were a lot of challenges to deal with, the work I did in July has really laid the foundations for what’s to come. The further I get into the game, the less will need overhauling, so I’m hoping to really pick up the pace as we go!

We’re finally getting there everyone =D


One exciting piece of news I wanted to highlight is that July saw over 900 people add 8-Bit Adventures 2 to their Steam Wishlist! For comparison, June only had 78 new wishlisters, so this was an extraordinary leap, and bodes extremely well for the game’s future.

Unfortunately, I have absolutely no idea why so many new people discovered the game in July; it just suddenly…happened! Steam’s new machine-learning curator might have made an impact, but beyond that, I’m stumped haha.



But nonetheless, I wanted to thank every single person who has added 8-Bit Adventures 2 to their Steam Wishlist. Not only does it mean a lot personally (as it shows players taking an interest and putting their confidence in our work), but it will also be integral to getting the game noticed when it releases on the Steam storefront.

Wishlists play a very large role in Steam’s algorithms, so if you want to support an indie developer, adding their game to your own wishlist is one of the best things you can do!


To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!

Just to reiterate from last month, I wrote a short article about Final Fantasy VII Remake and RPG Design, which made it as a Featured Post on the front page of Gamasutra! Using the Remake as a framework for discussion, I examine some of the ways developers can add value to their RPGs *beyond* the core narrative.

I don’t know how interesting it would be to most people, but I bring up 8-Bit Adventures 2 a handful of times, so I just wanted to mention it again in case anyone was curious: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoshuaHallaran/20190624/345339/Expanding_Midgar__Simple_Solutions_for_Satisfying_Postgame_Content.php

~Josh

Is is just me, or do months seem to get shorter and shorter? Well one way or another, it's time for the June 2019 8-Bit Adventures 2 Update! Steam wasn't letting me upload pictures, otherwise this would have come out days ago haha. It's a bit of a small one again (we're in the calm before the promotional storm right now), but it should give you guys a sense of where I am right now (and show off a little more). We've also got to cover Steam Summer Sale deals, so let's get into it!


First off, I’m on track to meet the prediction I made in the last update, where I said I hoped to “start playing/combing through the game at the start of July”. It’s always a good sign when my predictions turn out to be accurate haha - and this should definitely be the case, as I’m working on the final cutscene at the moment (it’s a little more than just a cutscene, but that gives you the gist!).



Jerram is still hard at work finishing up the graphical assets, and it's been fantastic seeing so many final touches be added to the game. For example, as you can see below, every playable character now has a unique sprinting animation! Not only does this look great, but it also makes movement in the game *feel* significantly smoother - especially when playing with a controller.



Thanks to Sufyan (the programmer), we’ve also continued making several tweaks to the presentation and battle system. For example, anyone that played the demo may recall that 8-Bit Adventures 2 features a Limit Break-style mechanic. However, when the ‘Limit’ bar finished filling up, it could easily go unnoticed by the player that their special attack was ready to go. So we’ve added both animation and a sound effect to communicate more clearly that the bar is filled. This is the sort of minutiae that we’re working through, while I simultaneously finish up the big stuff.



On a similar note, I wanted to mention that enemy portraits on the turn list are no longer generic (like they were in the demo, and some screenshots). Every foe that you fight in 8-Bit Adventures 2 now has their own unique graphic to represent them in the turn order list. Again, it’s a small addition, but this is the sort of polish that I believe really enhances a game.



Unfortunately, because of the type of content I’ve been working on (spoiler-y and mechanical), I don’t really have much to show this month. I hope to be in a different position by the end of July, but for now please bear with me! More than anything, I just wanted to avoid another missed month and keep you up-to-date on the game's progress.


For the next week and a half (until 10:05 AM on July 9th Pacific Time), you can get 8-Bit Adventures at 60% off! That means you can own it for just $4 USD! You can also get the fantastic Remastered Soundtrack 30% off ($3.50 USD), or the Game + Soundtrack bundle 45% off (that’s only $6.60 USD)!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/370300
Additionally, my most recent game Tales Across Time is also participating in the sale, making an already cheap game even cheaper! You can now get it 20% off - that's just $2.39 USD!!

http://store.steampowered.com/app/461710
As I've said before, these discounts won't get any lower in the future, so now's the time to buy!

As has always been the case, every purchase goes towards 8-Bit Adventures 2's development. Most things are now fully paid for, but we've still got a few things to cover, so any and all support is greatly appreciated!


Some of you may have heard that Steam’s newest Summer Sale competition has caused a lot of trouble for some indie developers. Essentially, there was some confusion about the phrasing, and it caused many players to delete smaller or cheaper games from their wishlist (while all people actually needed to do was reorder their lists).

I’m extremely grateful that my games have been unaffected by this, however for some developers it has been a big issue. Wishlists play a very large role in Steam’s algorithms, which in turn affect how many people see your game on the storefront. If you’d like to learn more about the situation, I recommend reading this article: https://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/345689/Devs_hit_by_Steam_promo_confusion_as_games_are_pulled_from_Wishlists.php

Anyway, I just wanted to include a quick PSA, on behalf of my fellow devs, that deleting games off your wishlist is *not* necessary for the Summer Sale promotion =)


I apologise that this was such a lean update; I really ran out of time to prepare it this month, but I still wanted to post *something*. As I mentioned above, the best thing I can say is that so far we’re on track with my predictions – and that’s a very good thing.



To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!

On a slightly unusual note, I wrote a short article about Final Fantasy VII Remake and RPG Design in my off time this month, which made it as a Featured Post on the front page of Gamasutra! Using Remake as a framework for discussion, I examine some of the ways developers can add value to their RPGs *beyond* the core narrative.

I don’t know how interesting it would be to most people, but I bring up 8-Bit Adventures 2 a handful of times, so I just wanted to mention it in case anyone was curious: https://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/JoshuaHallaran/20190624/345339/Expanding_Midgar__Simple_Solutions_for_Satisfying_Postgame_Content.php

~Josh

Sorry about the recent radio silence – development’s been tough, but I’ve thankfully avoided being mauled by an Obligatory Bat or stung by a Kamikazbee! And now I’m back with a new update =D

I’m really making this post because I want to stay in-touch with everyone who’s following the game, and give you all some idea of how things are going. As you may remember, March wasn’t a very good month for me, but the last two have been much better and significant progress has been made in several areas! Slow and steady, but significant.

A lot of what I’ve been working on I can’t really show off, as it’s either polishing, small design improvements, or spoiler-ific content from the final dungeon and endgame – that’s actually part of the reason I didn’t do an update in April haha. But I’ve still got a few fun things to show =)



In terms of progress, Sebastian (the composer) only has the Credits music left to go until the soundtrack is completely finished (making for a whopping 77 tracks!), and Jerram (the artist) is half-way through the final list of graphical assets - so they’re both inches from their finish lines! Sufyan (the programmer) has also been making various tweaks to enhance the game that I've thought of during play-testing.

As for me, I’ve been working on all kinds of things – most significantly all of the cutscenes/events/puzzles for the final dungeon (which is a whopper, believe me!). It’s been quite a fun mixture of serious and bizarre. I’ve tried to make a dungeon that’s well-paced and regularly varies things up – such as with a new environment, puzzle, or boss battle.

At the time of writing, I’m working on the final boss and ending cutscenes, which I feel pretty confident in saying is the coolest part of the game (and I’m desperate to share it!). All spoilers aside, though, I’ll just say that I found it very fulfilling bringing our seven playable characters’ arcs to a close, and I really hope you’ll all walk away from the ending with the same satisfied feeling!



Just thinking about the game as a whole, I probably haven’t given a good sense of just how big 8-Bit Adventures 2 actually is! I think trailers are really the only way to convey that sort of thing, but for now I just wanted to reiterate that this is a full-blown RPG with 28 dungeons and 11 towns - plus many more areas that are a bit harder to define (such as the Arena).

While I’m not sure how it stacks up yet in terms of hours, I think if you’ve played 16-bit JRPGs like Chrono Trigger or the classic Final Fantasies, the amount of content is pretty comparable. We’ve really tried to make a game jam-packed with fun, engaging content, while also maintaining a good sense of pacing and variety. This is a big reason that development has taken so long, but I hope you’ll agree that it was worth the wait!

In release date news (or lack thereof XD), I just wanted to say that I finally do have a deadline set in my head and I’m doing everything in my power to meet it. If everything’s going to plan, then I’ll reveal my goal in either the June or July update. I apologise, as always, for being so cage-y and for taking so long; I’m just trying to avoid past mistakes when it comes to dates and release windows. But as I always say, the game’s done when it’s done; and as soon it’s ready, I’ll be singing that release date from the rooftops! “8-Bit Adventures 2~ Coming out soon~”

I specifically hope to start playing/combing through the game at the start of July, so fingers crossed! =D


Anyone that’s played the ‘First Look’ Demo of 8-Bit Adventures 2 might remember that the menu UI was basically just a series of empty black rectangles; that aspect of the game hadn’t really been touched at that stage haha. Since then, it’s underdone quite a few changes, and the most recent I wanted to show off were the brand new face portraits for all of the characters!

As per usual, I’m keeping the seventh character under wraps, but I think our cast look very photogenic (thanks to Jerram’s incredible work as always)! =D

And here’s the first game’s trio slotted into the current menu UI! Final Fantasy was obviously a big influence, but I experimented with several different configurations. Ultimately, I felt this was the easiest to read and most aesthetically pleasing. What do you think?



And then below, we have a look at the re-tooled Party selection menu. While you can swap characters in and out at any point in battle, if you prefer to be a little more prepared, you can also visit this menu. Here you can change your party to any configuration you’d like, revert to your original grouping if you change your mind, and get a quick, easy-to-read overview of each character’s stats and equipment.



While I know it’s not that exciting from a player’s perspective, I think the menus have a big impact on how ‘complete’ a game feels. Both the battle and menu UIs feel connected now, and I think the game has a much better sense of cohesion because of it. On a side note, if you played the demo, you might have also noticed that we have new, individual icons for all of the different categories of armour and weaponry! These are little things that I hope add up to a lot =)


One of the additions made this past month was the mini-map, which serves as a constant guide as you explore the World Map. While a few 16-bit RPGs featured this (Final Fantasy VI, and Terranigma’s boat, for example), it’s something I associate more commonly with PS1 games. So it’s a good example of a slightly more modern convenience that I wanted to bring into 8-Bit Adventures 2.



Jerram somehow managed to construct this incredibly compact, precise mini-map and I think it looks great! The World Map in 8-Bit Adventures 2 is designed to be quite easy to remember, through the use of different colours and biomes; this map just helps you remember where things are in the context of the wider world.

It’s most useful once you get the Airship and can start exploring every nook and cranny, but it should be a big help no matter what stage of the game you’re currently at!


Okay, this is the last part of the interface I’m going to talk about, I promise! But all enemies now have their final HP Bar graphics and animations. I’ve mentioned that HP Bars were going to be in the game before, but now I can finally show them off - as you can see below, applied to an enemy from the demo! Big thanks to Jerram for the perfect design, and Sufyan for actually making it all work and animate correctly in the battle system!



The HP Bars only appear when you target an enemy (similar to the Persona series), or when enemies are damaged/healed. I wanted to find a balance between giving the player important information about their enemies, and keeping the battle scene as minimalist and aesthetically pleasing as possible. It was also very important to have an HP Bar system that was easily readable for the player; to give a clear sense of their progress in the fight at a moment’s glance.

There are also pop-ups that tell you if an enemy is weak, resistant, or immune to your attacks; so getting experimental against powerful enemies shouldn't be confusing (or require a guide haha)! Additionally, we’ve made it so that attacks which target all enemies now take you to a targeting screen, rather than immediately activating. These are the sort of small design improvements that I mentioned at the start of this post =)


And finally, as it’s (somehow) been 5 months since the last selection, I wanted to release a few more music samples! One in particular should be a lot of fun for 8-Bit Adventures 1 veterans as it’s a remix of that game’s final dungeon theme =D

While only short samples, I hope that the 20 that we’ve released so far give you some idea of how unique and varied the full soundtrack is! I’m continually in awe of how many different sounds and styles Sebastian has been able to create within such heavy constraints. If you enjoy chiptune music like me, I think you’re going to *love* the full soundtrack!

https://soundcloud.com/8bitadventures2/the-arena-theme-sample



https://soundcloud.com/8bitadventures2/mystery-theme-4



https://soundcloud.com/8bitadventures2/ruined-factory-remix-sample




Again, I sincerely apologise for being so quiet recently. I've really just had my head down working and am trying to get things finished as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, nothing's really "quick" in game development haha, but I'm feeling very good about every step we take.

To make sure you don’t miss any news in future, I recommend following @CriticalGamesAU on Twitter, as that’s the best way I’ve found to keep up-to-date!

You can also check out the 8-Bit Adventures 2 Website for more info and screenshots, or check Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/CriticalGamesDev

And don't forget to visit the Critical Games Creator Page:
https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33038547
Follow that page or wishlist the game to be notified when 8-Bit Adventures 2 is finally released!

And if you're wondering, yes! I'm definitely planning to do a June update =D

Speaking of June...we're only a little over a week away from E3 2019! I've felt pretty pessimistic about the Final Fantasy VII Remake, but that recent trailer has me more excited than I've been in a long time XD I think no matter how the game turns out (and how much I'd prefer a turn-based battle system), it's just a lot of fun seeing early PS1 characters and environments transformed by modern hardware.

And to FFVII Remake's credit, there are lots of interesting elements to the battle system that I want to learn more about. I know the developer who designed Kingdom Hearts 2's battle system is involved, so I'm hopeful it'll be an action battle system with a lot of depth! Just...please no Genesis, or flip phones, or perpetually depressed Cloud... =P

Anything you guys are hoping to see from E3? Regardless, I hope everyone has a fantastic June and I'll talk to you again at the end of the month!

~Josh