Oh, hey!

Turns out we totally forgot to post January's progress report over here on itch.io!

We won't share the whole thing here, but if you're interested in reading it and catching up, here's a link to the January 2023 Progress Report over on our Patreon (free to read):

https://www.patreon.com/posts/january-2023-78104769

Now, as for February's Report, let's get into it!

February 2023 Progress Report - Stronger Than Before

February is over, which means it's time for a Progress Report!

You know, February is probably the worst month, honestly. 

You blink and it's over. I always forgot the end of it is coming and then BOOM, March.

Now, of course we spent this month working on Sidequests!

You might notice the "sidequest" section of the Progress image is actually split into 4 parts. It should be kinda obvious what those represent.

This month, we officially got all the Act 2 Sidequests completely implemented and functional with the Diary mechanic. 

Most of these we already had done of course, the recruitment quests and whatnot... But there were 4 entirely brand new ones, and the entire Sidequest list had to be entirely re-ordered in game as well, which involves going back and editing all the previous sidequests.

Additionally, we got all the planning in place for the Act 3 Sidequests, of which there are... 9 New ones for us to do!

As for the rest of the team, while Dan is finishing up art for Layla's Lane, Poppy is creating beautiful custom art for Ultimate Moves, and Matt is making serious headway into the last songs of the main story of the game. It won't be long before he's making the Final Boss song, which... Really puts it all into perspective how close we are to finishing this thing.

(Ultimate Ability Art by Poppy)

(Layla's Lane Art by Dan)

We also can't forget our Testers, who are carefully combing through the game to uncover bugs and balancing issues. 

Since there's really not much else to talk about this time except for Sidequests, let's go over a few of the new ones we did.

Buster and Slash-Man

In HorrorVale, most Sidequests in the game relate to recruiting or learning more about your Party Members, but there's actually quite a few in the game that involve regular NPCs and will net you Candy, Items, Equipment, New Services, and more.

Two of those are Buster and Slash-Man, both fan created characters who made it into the via Contests.

First up is Buster, a timid Aberrant (Yes, Aberrant. We see the typo we made in the Screenshot) Monster Hunter running a humble food stand in West HorrorVale.

If you help him investigate some unusual events happening around town, he'll open his Food Stand and allow you to buy from it!

What benefit does this food give...?

You'll have to see for yourself!

Next up is Slash-Man, otherwise known as the Yellow Horror Ranger. Slash-Man has been a Horror Ranger for over 10 years, and as his fellow Rangers have since retired and moved on with their lives, he wants your help to find the next generation of Horror Rangers. 

Give him a hand and you'll not only net yourself a piece of rare equipment at the end but also an utterly nonsensical adventure!

Wraps and Jekyll

Of course, we also finished Wrap's Second Quest, which I'm sure all the Wraps fans will be happy to hear. 

Did you know? You actually need to complete Jekyll and Wrap's Second Quests to recruit them again. 

If you recall, they leave your Party at the end of Act 1 as you head outside the Town walls. 

If you complete their first quests after you've already left town, they'll be instantly teleported away by Layla, forcing you to complete their Second Quests in this instance as well. 

Think of them as the "Tutorial" to Second Quests. 

You'll unlock the ability to do this fairly early in Act 2, so it won't be too long before you're able to get them back. 

Anyways, we're gonna be jumping right back into it and starting on Act 3 Quests, which includes the Second Quests for all the Party Members you can unlock in Act 2!

We'll see you once again this time next month!