A status report on 0.3.0

Afternoon!

Work has been going slowly but surely. I've got quite a bit of dialogue to write and planning to do for the Arkenvali sidequest, as it's going to take Brill around almost the entire school; the next main story "dungeon" is actually comparatively small.

I'm not sure when the update will be done; ideally I can get it out within two months of today, but if I'm delayed too much, it'll more likely be around three or four.

Here's a preview of one of the new enemies that will be introduced in the update!

Voltergeists don't linger like most Undead, but they do have the ability to possess their foe's shield, forcing them to Block. Be careful not to get caught on guard!

Update 0.2.6: Critical bug fixed

Good afternoon, everyone!

I've just found out about a critical bug in 0.2.6 related to a face set filename that was changed by accident. This bug caused issues when talking to Al'Radi in the Arkenvali Academy.

I just got done reuploading 0.2.6 with the fixed version, but you can also fix the issue by going to www/images/faces and renaming Alra_Di.png to Alra'Di.png.

The fixed version is also a few images lighter; I removed some graphics related to scrapped sidequests. Other than that, it's exactly the same.

0.3.0 is the next version I'm releasing. It's going to be a fairly big update, with one more step in the main story and one more of the sidequests planned for 0.2.5. I also plan to have a new feature in this update: the Hidden Forge, a place where you can upgrade unique gear like the Leaf Shield and Fishman Major Garb.

Update 0.2.6 released!

Afternoon, me hearties!

I've just released an update containing Mimic Moorage! This "dungeon" is really just an island west of Altolato with a lot of Mimics lookin' for a swashbuckle. Have ye the wits to take it on? Then download this latest update!

If you want to import your save files from an earlier version to a later version, follow these steps:
-Go to your old version of Ruphand, and navigate to the www folder.
-If you have saved files, there should be a folder named "save"; copy the folder.
-Go to your new version of Ruphand, and navigate to the www folder.
-Paste the old save folder into the new version's www folder.

0.2.6 is going to be delayed a bit longer

Evening!

It looks like that "one to three weeks" estimate was off by a bit. Mimic Moorage grew into more than I expected and more things outside of Ruphand popped up to delay me. As such, I'm likely going to need around two more weeks to finish it.

Just posting here (and on RPG Maker Net) to let everyone know what's taking me so long.

About the upcoming 0.2.6

Afternoon!

I haven't posted since the release of 0.2.5.1 about a month and a week ago. Sorry about that; work decided to pick up again.

However, I have started on the next update. 0.2.6 has a few minor interface changes- most notably, putting three items on each line in the Inventory menu in battle, to make it easier to scroll through a large collection- but the main feature is a new "dungeon" that's definitely different from the usual fare. Mimic Moorage is a small pirate port, with both indoor and outdoor segments, where all the pirates are Mimics. This optional area will have a wealth of new enemy types lurking around, not counting the boss of the area, as well as a few unique rewards and a generous share of Sil and Ingredients found in treasure chests. (The ones that aren't trying to bite you, that is.)

I'm expecting to have 0.2.6 done within one to three weeks, depending on how much time I get for development each week. Until then, here's a screenshot of part of the Mimic Moorage.

Update 0.2.5.1 released!

Afternoon!

After a bunch of bugfixes, I took a break from development, but now I'm back on it with a small update for you! This adds some encounters when you're sampling on the World Map in areas in Kitaban; a total of three such encounters have been added.

(I also fixed a minor bug with the Echo X-Tonic's Delay time.)

It's a small update, with content I originally planned to have in 0.2.5's initial release, so I just called it 0.2.5.1.

The download link is available on the Downloads page of this blog right now, and is going to be available on the RPG Maker Net page soon as well.

More Update 0.2.5 Bug Fixes

Good afternoon!

Recently I've been fixing several bugs in Ruphand. I was in such a rush to get 0.2.5 out that I didn't properly test everything, I just made sure it was playable to the final area. Sorry about that. I should've known better, what with Sonic '06 being a punchline for that exact reason. At least I can release bug fix updates, right?

Downloading the latest version of Ruphand will now give you the version with several nasty bugs fixed. The save files are transferred the same way as usual (move the contents of the old save folder to the new version's save folder), though you should make sure you weren't in any places with passability bugs. (The Barrier Wood had a few initially, and the Grand Ring Bay had tons of 'em. Tilesets, am I right?)

Next up, I'm going to be doing two things:
-Fixing any more bugs that I can find
-Adding some encounters to the areas of the map that have no encounters

Have a good day!

Update 0.2.5 Bug Fixes

Evening!

Over the past week, I fixed some minor bugs in the new update, and have uploaded the fixed version of Ruphand 0.2.5. Downloading it should get you the version of the game without any of these bugs now.

It's highly recommended that you transfer your save over from this version to the bug-less version; one particularly nasty bug in the Leafshredder Berserker's AI could crash the game. (The Leafshredder Berserker is a giant bipedal ant, so I literally did a bug fix!)

If you find any more, report them and I'll fix them as soon as I can.

Edit as of 5/27/19: Several more bugs have just been fixed, including missing linking events in Tor Torken and a somehow misplaced event in the "invisible bridges" section of the Hidden Storage Room that turned a completely innocent floor into a pit. 0.2.5 has been patched accordingly; it's recommended to redownload it at your earliest convenience.

UPDATE 0.2.5 IS FINALLY OUT!

Good evening, apothecaries!

It's been a long time in the making- far too long! But Update 0.2.5 is finally complete, and available on the Downloads page or from this convenient link! In just a bit, it'll be available on RPG Maker Net as well. The whole other half of the mainland, consisting of the trade city of Altolato and the nation of Kitaban (and some islands in between), is finally available! I'm estimating Ruphand now has about 12 hours worth of content in it.

Click the link above to download Ruphand 0.2.5 and finally see the subject of the zillion-odd screenshots I've posted- and more that I haven't shown yet!

And since it's been so long, here's a reminder on how to transfer your save files from an older version of Ruphand to a newer version:
-Go to your old version of Ruphand, and navigate to the www folder.
-If you have saved files, there should be a folder named "save"; right-click the folder and select "Copy".
-Go to your new version of Ruphand, and navigate to the www folder.
-Paste the old save folder into the new version's www folder by entering the www folder, right-clicking inside it, and selecting "Paste".

0.2.5 Announcement: I'm almost done!

The bad news is, I'm not going to have a screenshot today.

The good news is, that's because I'm almost done with 0.2.5! The Mines are done, the Pyramid is done, the Foundry is done, and all that's left are some dialogue trees and a few maps in the second spoiler dungeon of the update, as well as behind-the-scenes stuff like Scan data.

I've got like four maps left to make, along with some linking events and the Scan data. After that, I'll do a full test run (which might take longer to do than making the last dungeon of the update) to make sure nothing's obviously broken. There won't be another non-equippable equipment debacle, I promise.

Screenshots will resume the next week if I somehow don't manage to finish the game by then.

I'll see you soon!

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 48

Good afternoon!

It's been a whole 11 months since the last update, but I'm finally getting close to finishing! The first iteration of World Map sampling is done, the Dark Foundry and Mt. Gwylio are basically done, and I've even got a lot of the town-related stuff done!

What have I still got left? A few small maps in Nortahn, half the Daltah mines, and one last dungeon, as well as testing and Scan data. After 0.2.5 comes out, I'll work on both quality-of-life stuff and the things I originally intended for 0.2.5 (like a certain island full of particularly tricky piratical monsters...)

In the meantime, have a shop!

Can you believe I only just got around to putting this together today? It's pretty minimalist for a shop in a castle, but that's Defia for you.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 47

Good morning!

Unfortunately, I probably won't be finished with the update by the end of the month; I'm aiming for the 7th of May. But I did make some progress; the Dark Foundry needs only the treasures and a few traps and linking events, and I've made progress on the Mirage Monument as well!

Have a look at one of the conundrums within.

This Chamber is a puzzle based on the objects in the room, immediately followed by a number of similar puzzles.

0.2.5 - Development Screenshots 46

Morning!

I'm getting a lot more done this week. I may not release 0.2.5 by the goal I stated earlier, the end of the month- but I have gotten a lot done. The Mines dungeon and the related eventing are about halfway done, and the Foundry is nearly complete; the mapping in there is all done, and only the eventing needs to be finished.

Here's a picture of a part of it!

It's highly recommended that you not step on the glowy circles this time.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 45

Good morning!

The Daltah Mines are getting much closer to completion, and I've also worked on the towns quite a bit. Not much else to report, so have a screenshot.

Sometimes I wish I was half as good as this kid.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 44

Good morning!

In light of the long time it's taken without the soft deadlines I had earlier in development, I'm setting a new goal: have the update out by the end of April. I've been working quite a bit on mapping, especially in the Daltah Mines, arguably the most difficult area to map that I have yet to work on.

Here's a picture of another section of the Mines.

 The side alcoves contain treasure, and may have some hidden paths. But monsters lurk inside as well, including some you may not be able to see right off the bat...

0.2.5 - Development Screenshots 43

Good morning!

Well, I say morning, but it's nearly afternoon. I've been very busy in the past week, and haven't gotten much time to work on Ruphand at all. I did get some work done mapping the Daltah Mines, though.

Not much else to report. Have a picture of a thing.

To get through, you'll have to raise and lower the geysers in this area.

0.2.5 - Development Screenshots 42

Good morning!

I've been finishing up work on enemy data in the coming update. There's just one more enemy to make at this time, and it's a simple one compared to some of the others.

Here's one of the aforementioned new enemies!

This is a Bone Dragon. It's easily the most powerful non-boss enemy in the coming update, and it's not to be taken lightly when it shows up.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 41

Morning, apothecaries!

I'm still chipping away at this, but it's been a slow week due to a lot of issues. However, I'm finally getting some mapping done after a long slump where I did no mapping at all, and have been writing dialogue where, for some reason, it was taking me forever to get started writing dialogue.

Speaking of dialogue, here's some from an elf!

Tathaln lives on Mt. Gwylio ever since he moved in a couple of hundred years ago. It's (usually) not a bad place to live.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 40

Morning!

I've mostly been focusing on finishing things that were close to done this week, as well as working on something in 0.2.5 that I can't spoil; I had less time than I'd hoped to work on Ruphand, but I should be able to pick up the pace next week.

In the meantime, have one of the few screenshots I can give of the spoilery thing I worked on!

Brill's hat has a complicated and tragic backstory. 

(Disclaimer: hat's backstory is not actually complicated or tragic.)

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 39

Good morning, apothecaries!

I'm happy to report that the first iteration of World Map Sampling's almost done. I made all the encounter maps in the first batch (which includes every part of Evrandel except the water) and all the unique item rewards; all that's left is to finish the "Sample" event itself, and fill it out with the lists of ingredients and encounters I did a write-up for. (You'll be able to find ingredients everywhere, but Kitaban and Altolato won't have any encounters yet.) Most encounters will be more easily found if you haven't cleared them before; the bandits in the first video are the exception.

In future updates, I'm planning on adding more encounters to Kitaban and Altolato, and having new encounters appear on the list after certain key story events. I'm also thinking about adding a means of searching out those encounters directly if Brill hasn't already cleared them, but that'll all be post-0.2.5. (Hopefully without nearly as much of a delay as 0.2.5's had :P)

Here's one such encounter!

You might actually be able to guess where this one is.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 38

Good day, apothecaries!

Honestly, I'd like to apologize. When I first started work on 0.2.5, I expected it to take significantly less time than it did. I think I even projected "it'll be out in two months" at one point. It's clear that that didn't happen, because:

• I was looking for work, and later, was at work. They weren't kidding when they said it's hard to find your first job; I had to basically throw my resume at every job that fit and hope one of them hired me! Said 'first job' (which I'm currently at) has a fairly long commute on top of that, and I get up early to avoid traffic, all of which makes it hard to work on this for too long without getting sleepy on a weekday.
  
• I had to work out some details. 0.2.5 is where some major plot points will show up, and I had to hash out what lead to what and what is motivating who and things I have to not mention because they'd be humongous spoilers.
  
• I got sidetracked, big time. This was largely due to YouTube and video games (well, the ones I'm not making). I'm terribly sorry about this in particular.

I'm sorry that things didn't turn out as planned, and I hope I can have Ruphand out soon now that I've dealt with some issues.

As far as my current progress with 0.2.5 (note that these "percents" are approximations):

• World Map Sampling: 65% (Sample data is planned but not implemented; The first batch of encounter maps, which will cover existing locations, has all encounter enemies programmed, but the maps need finishing and I need to implement the items)
• The Magic Raft and Ocean areas: 100%
• Altolato and Centra Fort: 100%
• Nortahn/Grandfort: 80% (A few side/connecting maps)
• Grand Ring Lake: 95% (I really just need to put in a dragon statue event and add a few treasures)
• Arkenvali Academy: 80% (Some eventing; many parts are closed off in 0.2.5, and will be accessible in another update, likely one soon after 0.2.5)
• Daltah (except Mines): 40% (A few houses, and some events)
• Daltah Mines: 10% (I have nothing there except the entrance, really)
• Mirage Monument: 35% (Puzzles are all planned out, but most await implementation)
• Defia Castle: 50% (Events need fixed, map features need programming)
• Mt. Gwylio: 95% (Really, all that's left are map connection events!)
• That golem foundry level I showed off: 70% (Most of the maps are complete, but the boss room and another room have a fair bit of work connected to them both)
• ???: 50% (No spoilers!)
• ??? #2: 5% (Again, no spoilers!)

So, in the meantime, look at this maze!

There's a gimmick to this maze, but I'm not saying it yet.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 37

Morning!

I've mostly been working on the Mirage Monument's riddles and puzzles. There's quite a few of them, and solving them all will net some useful items.

Here's one of the aforementioned rooms in the meantime.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 36

Good morning! ...wow, Screenshots 36 already? It's been over nine months! I need to get to work!

At the very least, I have been working on things, though my new schedule continues to slow down progress on the game. I had to re-do some of the pyramid dungeon shown in an earlier screenshot. But now I've done enough pre-planning that I may have the dungeon completed by Sunday.

Fire Scarabs are one threat you'll face in the Mirage Monument.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 35

Good morning, apothecaries! Hopefully everyone's been staying warm up here, because it's cold outside!

I've been doing a little work on the Pyramid dungeon, but the main thing I've been working on is the Dark Foundry. The Foundry's got a total of two more rooms to map out, and they're both small.

I've also been revisiting some events I made near the beginning of work on this update.

Not all is well in Defia.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 34

Good morning!

Development is slowly starting to pick up speed. Recently, I had hit some kind of creative block when it came to mapping, not helped by issues with lag. Well, that block's a thing of the past now; I've started working on one of the last dungeons of the update ahead of time!

Why is it that fictional mines always seem to attract dangerous critters? You can ponder this while you battle your way through the mines of Daltah.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 32

Morning, apothecaries!

It's taken a while to get used to the new job, and the changes it involves, but I think I'm just about there. I've done a good portion of the work on one of the dungeons today.

Here's part of it!

The indicators above the gates near the bottom of the screen hint at what lowers them.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 31

Morning!

It's been another slow week, but I did finish some buildings.

Like this smithy, which shares a space with the hat store.

0.2.5: Development Screenshots 30

Happy New Year, apothecaries!

A lot of things ate up my time this week. I did do some behind-the-scenes work, but that's something I'd rather not spoil.

In the meantime, have a picture of an armory.