It seems these days that I am in and out here on these blogs. I wanted years 2022 and beyond to be full of monthly devlogs, but alas, life. My kid is about to be 6 now and I also recently found employment as a teacher. Coming up with life plans for my own children and lesson plans for my students doesn't leave me much time to write or develop like I'd like, but I'm finding the time here and there!
Recently, I've been hit with a new wave of motivation for M5. I may be a bit too late in getting it ready for any summer conventions, but at least I know I can hit the ground running next year! This month, I challenged myself to finish both of the food service minigames I have planned for the game:
Since the ultimate goal in M5 is to raise enough money to buy a ticket, there are various ways for the player character to make money, two of which are food service games. In both, the player needs to approach the customers to take their orders and then deliver those orders to the customer. The difference between the minigames, however, is that in the fast-food service game, the player must assemble the customer's order before they can give it to them.
There's still a lot of work to be done and polish that I need to apply before these minigames could be considered complete, though. But I have until the end of this month. I'm certain I can have these done WAAAAAAAAYY before then! :)
Another mechanic I'm trying to show off in this demo is where the player character can befriend NPCs who will become her eventual allies. Why does it matter if you make friends? Well, Millie, the player character, has a limited moveset. Making friends will give her access to using her friend's abilities. These could be anything from summoning slimes to assist in battle, to healing all statuses while also restoring health with one spell.
Rose is a biologist and uses chemistry to create slimes that can help the player in battle. The slimes can also be destroyed to create helpful items, but Rose really dislikes when his work is destroyed...
Despite being a demon who should excel in the dark arts, Luxiere is actually a very powerful healer. She studies white magic, hoping to one day find a spell that change her parents from stone back into their normal forms.
Little Sis can't do much. As a matter of fact, she can't do anything at all except offer snacks when either HP or MP are low. She won't attack, walks relatively slowly, and will cower away from enemies until the player has defeated them all. Little Sis really hates being left behind, so don't bring her along if you plan to ditch her!
These are a few of the mechanics I'm working on this month and I hope I can have something playable for the masses soon. Those who've seen it are eagerly waiting until it's good enough to be playtested. It's their excitement that's motivating me to push to have this done before the summer ends. Wish me luck, ya'll, because I'm about to dive in again!
- Kenny, over and out!
