Test Build for Windows
Here is a Flare test build for Windows. Many of the new v0.14 features are ready (mostly the main menu systems).
What’s left before the v0.14 release:
- Fix some placeholder art
- Implement OS-specific folder usage
- Add female hero options
- Add final hero portraits
- Add main menu music
You’ll notice that the New Character menu is a bit simpler than the sketch I planned below. As I was implementing it, it just seemed keeping it simple was the best course of action.
Version 0.14
Maybe July 1st? Sounds like a good goal. The only feature I’m not confident about is switching to OS specific data and save folders, only because I have zero practical experience there. I’m hoping that feature makes it in, but I wouldn’t be upset if that slips until v0.15 (when many folder changes are happening anyway). I know this is a highly-requested feature, I just want to make sure it’s done properly before shipping it out.
Polish
Flare v0.14 is getting quite a bit of much-needed polish with the new main screens. I hope this will be evident in their current form. Once those menus get the background music and images, Flare will actually start to feel like a game.
The GitHub project has a long list of open issues, mostly looking at what might be added in the short term. Some are additional polish, some are slight game improvements, and some are just fun features. If you’d like to help with any of that, drop me a message. Or, fork away!
Future thoughts: v0.15
It looks like we will probably handle translations as a game-data mod. Mods will be able to override any file in the core data set or add new files. This isn’t a very elegant solution but it should be powerful enough for everything from simple translations to total genre conversions.
Because translations are mods, we’ll be putting the basic mod rules in place for v0.15. This means v0.15 will spend a lot of time in development. But I think that’ll be okay — after all, without a ton of game content in existence there isn’t a pressing need for translations yet.
In your opinion, what should my personal priority be for v0.15? I have several programmers helping with cleaning up the code, so I’m confident about the code side of the game for the foreseeable future. But currently I’m the only artist on board for tile sets and sprites. Maybe I should do high-level code management on v0.15 via github and focus my time on creating art? Or should I get through a few more releases before I switch to an art focus?