Today, the dev blog is actually written by me (Ella the art intern)! I’ve worked on Tactichord since January and I’ve been involved in some of the recent changes. A lot of different things have been added to the game, bugs have been found and fixed and several features have been updated and polished. One of those things, which isn’t directly part of the game, is Ichigoichie’s TikTok account. It has been refreshed with a bunch of new original content about the characters in the game, amazing artwork and hand drawn animations made by Kit. I truly recommend checking it out! https://www.tiktok.com/@ichigoichiegames
These are the kind of illustrations you'll find on TikTok!
We’ve been working hard on the music videos that play after you beat a level to really give the player the reward they deserve. Most of the work has gone into updating the entire lighting system to make sure it looks less like security footage from a shoplifting case and more like an actual music video. With the new system, we can tweak every individual shot until it looks as good as possible. It’s been a challenge since everything that happens depends on the choices you make during the playthrough of the level, but I think all the work really paid off.
We’ve also added some sick backgrounds for the different levels to make them stand out even more.
Old lighting in the music store
NEW lighting in the music store
Old lighting in the mall
NEW lighting in the mall
A new boss has joined the cast of colorful characters! Margaret is displeased with most things in life, especially delinquents playing satanic chants to corrupt her children. Do you think you’re skilled enough to change her mind?
Until now, the band has always been called Gemini, but with this update, you’ll be able to come up with your own name for them. Be creative and pick something that resonates with you (or just go with Gemini if you think that’s what suits them).
Hopefully, you'll come up with a better name
What’s the point of playing a game if you don’t understand how to play it? Thanks to Wilma, the old, outdated tutorial videos have been replaced. They are now relevant to the new game mechanics and UI.
Old vs NEW tutorial video
There are some new levels in the making! The band will face even more challenges with new types of obstacles, but they’ll also get stronger with a boost in resources.
Level design is really tricky and it’s impossible to know how it will play until you let others try it out. I’ve helped design some of these levels which has been a challenge, since I usually work with 3D art, but it’s also been a lot of fun. I learned two things very quickly. Firstly, there is no point in getting attached to your ideas, because iterations are always necessary. Secondly, it’s very easy to make a level too difficult…
I hope you’ll enjoy these new levels and the characters’ growth that is tied to them. Storywise, there are some really important moments coming up.
A sneak peak of the brand new level 7!
We'll be running a new playtest this month with all the things I just mentioned above and some more goodies. Now is the time to help us get more people trying the game. Tell your friends!
You can help control the direction of these upcoming changes. Queue up for the next playtest now on the Steam page and join our Discord here to get early access and tell us what you think.
Until next time I take over!
/Ella