If it makes you feel any better, I will be likely be using crystal bells and church bells at a few points. You can think of those as either small or really big, no-drumstick-required cowbells. I draw the line at gratuitous umlats, though.
I like the way you think, son. Maybe Kevin can hide one in an obscure section of the forest somewhere, hung around a cow you have to coax it from, and when you use it, it summons the spirit of Will Farrell to momentarily confuse and deafen enemies with his thunderous cowbell hammering. Or maybe not...
Yeah, the completion will definitely be this year! I don't mean to make anyone think otherwise... lots of things to do, but the finish line is much more clearly defined now than it was when I started dreaming this up last fall. Of course I need to tiptoe around release dates for some heavy hitters like Square Enix announced titles and such. Don't want Spirit Hunter Mineko to get lost in the shuffle! This game will have a semi-serious tone, but a lot of recent roguelikes inject inside jokes and pop-culture references into them. I don't want to get too silly, but I can say there will be a few winks and nods to the player scattered around the game. You never know, the cowbell could still have a cameo- just not part of the soundtrack For quick status updates: I've been called away on a business trip (actually borrowing internet access in a facility right now to post... Hello content filters... *waves*), that is why it's been a bit quiet on the update front! Artwork- new animations and tiles are still being drawn (some by me, and some by a talented sprite artist acquaintance of mine). Still some various set-pieces need work, but feeling better about the art every day! Controls- Mindfield has given his blessing to the feel of the drag/swipe controls, which I have enhanced quite a bit after some long discussions on how to make them more appealing to Sword of Fargoal veterans like him. So now I plan to provide this scheme, and a virtual analog-stick method for movement. Music- Great things are afoot, stay tuned for sneak previews in upcoming videos
Maybe Mineko can find a perfume that has the odor of a portable bathroom at a construction site then when used will make monsters avoid her like the plague for several turns. Item: Sexy Panther Made by Chrono's Delight. It's illegal in nine countries... Yep, it's made with bits of real panther, so you know it's good
Sorry I dropped off the face of the earth for a bit! Consulting work is winding down, should be traveling back home tomorrow... back to my full iMac, instead of this Windows laptop with an old "hackintosh" partition. Interesting note, I did try to compile my current sources with the very old SDK on this hackintosh partition, and it actually compiles all the way down to OS 2.0 compatible. Unfortunately there are features coming that will cut off everyone below 3.0, but it was a cool surprise anyway I know these are jokes about adding in perfumes and whatnot, but not totally offbase from my plans. Mineko, being your average young woman, will definitely have a thing for shoes & boots In other news, been working on the environments and graphics a bit more. There will be a lot of neat little touches found in the game, many of them will also have hidden effects on the gameplay. Take for instance, I was asked about weather effects via twitter (hey aznriceboi13!)... seeing those cloud shadows, it is true, there is a storm coming. The rain will affect your gameplay in several ways, some good, some bad. It'll be your choice if you want to adventure more slowly through the forest and get caught out in the rain, or hurry up and make it to the castle where it's dry! Who said you needed a food system to force people forward in a roguelike! Hope to have new photos and videos to share with everyone soon... keep the questions and commentary alive in the meantime! To help fuel the fire, here's a few questions for you all: what device will you be playing this on and with what OS version? More than one device? Also, do you share the device with other members of your family or friends who may also want to play Spirit Hunter Mineko? Trying to decide if things like multiple saves/profiles and "saving in the cloud", possibly via Plus+ is worthwhile for you all
I'd love cloud saving. One of the big issues I have with the iphone is that I have no control over backing up saves to keep them safe. When I went to the iOS4 beta I lost all data, when I went to the GM build I lost it all again Not fun at all. Especially on games like this where I'll be putting lots of time into it
1st gen ipod touch here. IOS 3.0, I believe. I'll upgrade my ipod as soon as Apple updates the ipod line. Very much looking forward to this game. Been spending most of my time with 100 Rogues (amazing, but buggy as hell) and Rogue Touch (I just can't get past level 20).
All things considered I suspect you'll have your upgrade before Spirit Hunter Mineko is released, as we've both got a good length of road ahead of us yet. The iPod refresh should happen in September as usual though.
I'm glad that you are considering the perfume lol. It would make a lot of Anchorman fans happy! (Maybe just me but if you make one person happy then its a good deed... Right?.... Right?) If I come up with any other ideas I will post them but sadly most of my ideas are crap... Maybe if you can throw items you can throw the perfume made with real bits of panther at the enemy to jarate him off to the point where he is full of rage causing him/her/it to attack their brethren perhaps.
Got another one, its a distraction item. ITEM Cute Puppy An adorable plush puppy that can be thrown to distract monsters or animal haters. After attacked they will realize they have been had and will come after you.
Another item, its a something ITEM Hairspray! No, not the musical... This item happens to be Mineko's fave when it comes to holding her hair the way she likes it, when used it restores a small amount of sp. But Mineko happens to know a thing or two on blowing things up into little chunks so when thrown it gives the poor bad guy a nice explosive surprise!
I definitely think perfume has a unique spin to it. Especially since I was talking with Madgarden about monsters hunting the player via sound and *scent* a while ago! Think about it like this- you have good and bad sides: 1) Good- wearing perfume may help keep your "spirits" up and make your SP regenerate a bit faster than not wearing it. 2) Bad- wearing perfume will make you more obvious to enemies, they can track you over longer distances and notice you from further away! So yeah, I think that has great possibilities. It gets further enhanced by ideas like what happens if she gets caught out in the rain? Washes off of course! Maybe can be burned off in a flame attack, causing extra damage? All sorts of fun things can happen with a seemingly simple idea! Ahh, NetHack! Good stuff. As you can see, I hope to have a lot of neat but reasonably obvious little interactions in Spirit Hunter Mineko. Things that you can learn without having to resort to a FAQ/Spoilers like you do with NetHack Please, hold the iPad jokes!
Got another one!!! Its a weapon! Weapon Nunchucks Mineko does have a sense for fashion and all things cute but in her spare time she is a White Lotus clan member. The deadliest art of fighting style known to man! HIYAH!!!
