I'm writing this on a hot (34 C° / 93.2 °F) July day, sipping a cup of slightly overbrewed coffee at my desk. In just a day, I'm off on a short vacation with my family - the kind of trip where you need another day or two to recover once you're back. But before I disappear into the dungeons beneath our mountains (and offline), I wanted to share a few thoughts and updates on how Blood Sword is coming along.
With the Warrior and Enchanter class spotlights out in the wild, I was tempted to finally unveil the curtain on the grind phase toward the release. What is my short-term goal? A playable demo.
But not just a short demo - a complete vertical slice. A condensed, honest taste of the full experience. It’s got it all: story, tactical combat, choices that matter, and world exploration. It’ll let you see where this is all headed - and more importantly, give me feedback while there’s still time to make meaningful changes.
This game is going to take years of my life to make and support, dedicated to it full time. Every system, every screen, every spell - it all needs to count.
I’ve been doing a lot of polish work lately.
All menus now animate more smoothly, with curved easing and outing, so they feel snappy and responsive.
Story notes now snap together like pieces of a parchment - and choices appear step by step, like branching thoughts in a living manuscript.
The world map is alive now: wind, snow, rain, glowing fires, chimney smoke - the kind of little details that make Legend feel like, well, Legend.
Next up: the sea. I’ve got my eye on a couple shaders to bring those waves to life.
All demo items are now in. I’m working on the logic that differentiates identified vs unidentified items - you’ll need the Sage’s Occult Lore passive skill to appraise and unlock their full potential.
The inventory UI got some love too: slot highlights for better drag & drop feedback, and resizable loot chests that adapt to the amount of gear, so the story text doesn’t get shoved offscreen.
You can now reorder your party via drag & drop on the battle order screen - decide who’s getting decapitated first and who gets to watch.
Victory and defeat screens are in. I also added a basic intro screen for each Act and some dev tools for loading test battles quickly.
Still left: the quest journal, the scroll-map UI, and a proper checkpoint window. Once those are done, I’ll shift fully to building out combat maps, abilities, and spell systems.
This demo also doubles as a wishlist push - I’m aiming for the sweet spot of 7,000 wishlists before launch. That’s the threshold where this project gets a serious visibility boost from Popular Upcoming tab on Steam.
If you’re reading this and excited for what’s coming - wishlisting is one of the biggest ways to support the game right now.
Thanks for sticking with me on this journey. For the support, the feedback, the memes, and just being part of it all.
- Victor
Solo dev, coffee addict, and keeper of mysterious dice