Happy 5 year Anniversary, Friend!
5 years ago. from this exact day, I came to Kickstarter as a young developer with a dream: to make a fun game inspired by the classics I loved from my childhood. At first I just planned to find a way to fund Soul Saga's development, but through Kickstarter I found much more. I found support, I found friends, and most importantly: I found a reason to live. Without you, I wouldn't have had the motivation to continue.
In a previous post I covered some of what I've had to sacrifice to keep working on Soul Saga. Since then, I left my entire life behind to return to the exact place I started Soul Saga: my parent's basement. I haven't left the farm since I got here half a year ago, because every waking moment has been dedicated to working on Soul Saga. It's been a long journey with a lot of pain and heartbreak... and if I had the chance to start over, I'd do it all again.
I set out to make a love letter to JRPG classics and ended up making a love letter to you, my friends. From the first moment I wake up, to the last moment I fall asleep, my only goal is to one day see you proud of the game you and I have created together. This is why I've been gathering your feedback and applying it to Soul Saga. I'm making this game for you, and it's you that has pushed Soul Saga to be the best game it can be.
Earlier this year I had hoped to have Soul Saga finished by July. Since then I have done nearly nothing but work on Soul Saga. While I haven't been able to completely finish it yet, I've gotten a lot done. However, after a lifetime of combating mental health diseases and the past 5 years pushing me beyond limits, it's become very obvious that toiling away alone will not be a feasible way to handle the remainder of Soul Saga's development. It's time that we try something new.
Early Access in July
Lately I've been looking back on the past 5 years of Soul Saga's development cycle and analyzing my own personal strengths and weaknesses to plan a realistic route to Soul Saga's completion. What I've found is that the most valuable strength I have isn't from within myself... it's you. Soul Saga could never have been as polished as it is today without your feedback and support. And the only way I can complete Soul Saga is if you can help me figure out the best way to utilize what its world has to offer. And we'll do that through early access.
In July I will be releasing Soul Saga in an early access state. At the moment it's not nearly the game it can be or the game that you truly deserve, but with you and I working together, one day it will be.
World Map
Above you'll find Soul Saga's world map, illustrated by the talented Gracie Cole.
You might recall that Soul Saga's world is split into three layers:
- Medonia
- the Tempest Reef
- the surface world of Oterra
The explorable areas of the first Soul Saga game focuses on Mithos and his friends in their younger years and their adventures among the floating sky islands of Medonia. The world map above illustrates the broad layout of Medonia, which includes:
- Dunhaven, the capital city of Medonia and seat of the Guild Senate.
- Tanglewood, a deadly forest grown out of the roots of the mysterious Dragontree.
- Rustbelt, the abandoned junkyard of ancient, forbidden technology.
The explorable area of Medonia is an open world design. If you see it, you can fly there! The world is split up into a 7x6 grid, identified similar to a spreadsheet with a combination of letters and numbers. If you look close enough during your adventures, you'll find that each area has something of interest in it: forgotten wonders, epic flying bosses, treasure, and even hidden dungeons.
New Airship Design
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3g9pfPMadw
In Soul Saga, your airship is like a part of your team. To give it a bit more personality, I've added a mouth and eyes. The mouth also serves another purpose: it spits bullets! I really like this design because it follows the cute aesthetic and strong personality that all of Soul Saga's characters have in this beautiful world.
Twitter Update Summary
I often use Twitter as an easy way to get out bite sized information and connect with fans. Here's a summary of important Twitter updates I've lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDOh8plGw-E
Public Roadmap on Trello
I've created a (mostly) spoiler-free public roadmap on Trello so that you can follow along with Soul Saga's development, understand the priority ranking of different tasks, and have a stronger understanding of exactly what's left. With a complex game like Soul Saga, pieces are always moving and changing, so a live kanban styled roadmap is a great way to deliver that information to you.
Want to change your key?
Many backers have asked to change their key to Steam, Humble Bundle, or GOG so they can get in on Soul Saga's early access and help me further with development. If you pledged for a console key, and would like to change it to a Desktop version, please send me a private message on Kickstarter, or shoot me an e-mail (mike at disastercake.com) if you pledged through Paypal.
Moonlighter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hp7tNAH9Ox0
If you're a fan of Recettear or if the idea of running your own item shop tingles yours toes, you have to check out Moonlighter. Moonlighter has some of the most beautiful pixel art, music, and fun gameplay I've seen in a long time. If you're lucky, Mithos might actually visit your shop in Moonlighter! And if you look hard enough in Soul Saga, you might find something of Moonlighter that's crossed over...
What do you think?
I love you, and your opinion matters to me more than anything else. I've always promoted a transparent and open communication between us, but now more than ever with this last stretch of Soul Saga's development I need to know what's on your mind. Please feel free to join myself and other fans in the Disastercake Discord channel and have a chat!