1 Year of Fataclysm!

Exactly one year ago today, the first public build of FATACLYSM was released. Quite a bit has been added to the game since then, but there's still lots more to be done before I'll be fully satisfied with the state that it's in! I can't say that I'm exactly happy with the time that it's taken with the current update that's in the works, but at the very least I just finished up with my college classes and graduated a few days ago, so I now have much more time to commit to finishing v0.2.

So, what's new with development in the last month or so? Well, like last time, it's been difficult to talk about the game at this point without spoiling the story beats and dialogue that'll be coming in the next update. There's still one more little mechanic that I haven't talked about up to this point, though, so I figured now would be a good time to mention it.

In 0.1.3, the ability to skip straight to the second layer was added. This mechanic wasn't particularly well realized, so I decided to integrate it with a more interesting twist in 0.2. Following the point when Leona is recruited to the party, Xaero (instead of Kassandra) will now offer the party the ability to skip the first layer, for a price. In addition to the Core of Excess that layer skipping cost before, the party will now also have to fight their way through a unique type of encounter before arriving in the Palace.

When the party attempts to skip to the Palace, they'll be forced to contend with enemies from either layer, instead of the typical singular factions that they usually face. There are plenty of synergies and combos between the different enemies of the Expanse that can only be seen here, so hopefully these combats should present an interesting challenge.

However, the process of skipping layers hasn't just become harder for the sake of it. The party will now also be given rewards to compensate for the battle, putting them on a level of power somewhat comparable to normal play. Though skipping the Penitentiary won't ever give more rewards than simply playing through the area like normal, this new system should provide the opportunity to accelerate one's pace through the game without completely handicapping the party.

And that's about all I've got to talk about with 0.2 right now! I'm hoping to be able to provide a release date for the update pretty soon, but I can't say for sure at this point.

On another note, I'm really glad that I've had the opportunity to work on this project for the last year, so I wanted to thank everyone who has continued to support development during that time. I genuinely love making this game, and it's thanks to all of you that I've had the chance to do so! So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for offering your contributions and making all of this possible. Here's to hoping that I can get the next update into all of your hands sooner rather than later!