[EN]SHOWTIMExMONSTERS 2 Dev Letter [vol.60]

Hello, I'm Satoh.

The persistent summer heat has finally subsided and the cool autumn air can be felt.

I find myself in the 60th issue of the Letter, and it has been five whole years since starting the of development of SxM2.

I am relieved that I have been able to successfully complete the major update that I have been working on since the beginning of this year.

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Have you enjoyed the additions in 1.10?

Defeat scenes, master-disciple scenes, dream scenes, and new special battles and new difficulty levels. I think I was able to include enough additional elements for the amount of time I spent on it.

The adjustments to the monsters have also been quite extensive, making it easier to make monsters that were previously a bit modestly strong to play more active.

I hadn't originally planned to add even new skills, but I decided to make some drastic adjustments in the hope

that it would spark interest in monsters that you haven't taken along with you before.

I hope that you will now be able to have more fun when you take random monsters with you in Capricious Mode or Challenge Mode as well.

The 1.10.1 hotfix update came in on 5 October.

I debug every time as much as I can, but large updates inevitably have glitches because there are so many parts to change.

I remember in the last game, I had to put in an update after every major update to fix things.

This time, the main thing is to fix a bug that causes an error when an enemy Reaper or Yaksha appeared with two or more other monsters, and when two or more monsters other than the Reaper or Yaksha were defeated at the same time.

This is a bug related to a skill that activates when a monster is K'O'd, a condition that can occur during the gameplay progression,

so if you are playing on v1.10, please migrate to v1.10.1.

After all, there is the same pressure before the release of a major update as there is before the release of a game.

I've been in a state of tension the whole time: the pushing and debugging to complete and release the game towards the set date,

the anxiety over whether a fatal bug will occur, and then dealing with fixing and re-updating the game when a bug appears after the release.

The feeling of running through the last spurt is enjoyable in its own way, but now I feel relaxed for the first time in a long time.

I haven't decided for sure yet, but in the next big update 1.20 I will probably add arena content.

It's something that Ast is running in the barrier city Aster.

Right now only the building exists and you can't actually challenge it, but I plan to add arena content in the update.

I'm working on ideas now to deliver it as interesting content that will have unique parts that are only available in the arena.

As the completion of 1.20 is still a long way off, I'm thinking of starting work on the artbook first, while I work on the arena idea.

This time, I'm thinking of making a digital version only for the time being, due to the problem of where to keep the stock,

The monsters in 2 will be more carefully drawn than the previous monsters, assuming that they will be enlarged, so you will be able to enjoy the details more.

I have been working on the updates since the beginning of the year without a break, so now I want to rest my body well and gradually get my engine going again.

This time, with sincere gratitude for you, supporters,

I drew two "Halloween 2024"-themed special illustrations for you.

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This is Reaper, from Demon Monsters.

A reaper monster that reaps souls, perfect for Halloween.

This is the monster that caused the bug in 1.10, so I drew it in the update image, but since it was a good opportunity, I had it appear here as well.

Reaper can manipulate and shape his shadow freely, and the black tight-fitting suit and scythe he usually wears are made from his shadow.

So he has no shadow under his own feet.

He is in some ways close to a Dark Spirit, so I drew him with a hair style similar to him.

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This is Mephisto, also from demon monsters.

The devil clown, he's going to bring a lot of excitement to Halloween.

He is a monster characterised by its grotesquely garish colours,

like a clown, but in a sense it may be the most devilishly designed of all the devil monsters based on modern clothing.

His ability is also tricky, and although he has a modest attack power, he can produce an overwhelming number of shots, so he specialises in making his allies chase after him.

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That's all for this letter.

I'll post vol.61 on around 2024/11/20.

It's been five years since I started developing 2 and the first year since it was launched.

With your warm support, I have been able to continue creating tirelessly up to this point.

Once again, sincerest gratitude for all your support.

I will continue to work on updates and art books,

And of course, in the future I would like to try my hand at further sequels, so thank you for your continued support.

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SHOWTIMExMONSTERS Discord Server has been made (currently for English speaker)

Please join there to communicate to other fans or for new infos.

https://discord.gg/bqvYdWA

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↓Feel free to give me a comment (questions, impressions etc..)