(This is the text version of our YouTube developer blog, linked above.)
For Tower Song, the term “content complete” means, primarily, that all four of the main player characters are implemented in terms of storyline and combat mechanics. Additionally, it means the implementation of additional side content not originally planned when we launched Early Access back in November.
One of the largest and, for us, most successful pieces of new side content was the addition of an entirely new dungeon in the game. While not as long as the Tower runs in the main quest, it’s an entirely unique experience all the same. We think players will have a great time exploring its secrets!
We launched Early Access with two playable characters - the witch and her familiar, Tali & Jiji, and the street fighter, Neat - and had plans to implement two more: the berserker, Porphry (who went live in February), and the technomancer, Ezoan.
Getting the class designs for each of the main characters right was a huge priority for the team. From the beginning, combat in Tower Song was meant to be a standout feature for the game, something we felt could distinguish us in an otherwise crowded market. The biggest example of this is our standalone encounter design: every battle in the game is a unique assortment of monsters (and often, the monsters are unique themselves). These encounters are tuned to present a range of challenges to the player, from basic “teaching” battles to fights so dangerous that players are within only 1 or 2 turns from total party knockout at any given moment.
Back to Early Access and player feedback - several players suggested that we give Jiji players the ability to send Jiji exploring on his own, into small caves or other spaces. We liked this idea so much, we decided to put it in the game! Of course, Tower Song being what it is, everything comes in fours - so we ended up doing the same thing for each of the main characters: Neat can move “Song-addled” victims out of the way; Porphry can bust down doors or smash obstacles; Ezoan can hack ancient exosuits. All of them will find loot unique to their run and even get into a few encounters unique to their paths as well. (Loot, by the way, turned out to be a missed opportunity in the Early Access version. We added a lot more of it over the course of Early Access!)
We also decided to revamp the legendary item system as well. In Early Access, players could obtain legendary items by completing fairly straight forward side quests. This ultimately did not feel interesting or rewarding enough for us, so instead legendary items became multi-step crafting recipes that each hero could unlock by finding materials unique to their playthrough.
Last but not least, let’s say a few words about the Steam Deck. This was a target platform for us from the beginning; Tower Song was just perfect for it. Fortunately, our engine choice (RPG Maker) made this easy. Unfortunately, the custom code we ran to make Tower Song what it is made the actual Steam Deck performance not always so great. So our programmer, Ishin Iwasaki, worked very hard to get Steam Deck running at a near constant 60-fps - a huge achievement we are very excited to include.
What is next for Omega Intertainment? I often wonder, as I play great indie games, if the studio is a one-off or if this new game is just the beginning. So, while it’s too early to get into specifics, I am also happy to say that we are already hard at work on our next game, which we hope players will get their first look at in 2025!
In the meantime, Tower Song 1.0 is nearly here. Our final release date is June 20 2024! Wishlist (or buy) Tower Song on Steam today, and make sure you subscribe to our newsletter for more updates like this in the future!