Short 2-3 Week Hiatus

 Penumbra Crystallis is going on a very brief hiatus. Don't worry, I'll be pumping out new blog posts well before the midway point of September!

Why is it going on hiatus? Not for any troubling reasons! I just want to devote time to working on a side project of mine that I started last week. This side project is Triple Triad: Tournament of the Elements. You can follow its progress on my Discord server (link to the right) or on its own separate dev blog: https://tripletriadgame.blogspot.com/

In the meantime, here are a few screenshots.

Watch for more Penumbra Crystallis updates in 2-3 weeks when I finish up work on this side project!

August 12 Monsters Preview

 Time for another monster preview! Today I have two of level2janitor's monsters to show off.

On the left we have the Stalker enemy, originally called the Hunter. It is a hyena-like scavenger that inhabits Salar Volcano. It is the only enemy in the volcano that does not have fire-based attacks and instead relies on biting and rending enemies with its claws and fangs.

On the right is the Dillodude! What's a dillodude? Why, it's a cool armadillo! level2janitor asked me if he could give him a skateboard, and I decided that it would work in the game's setting if it was primitive looking. Since about half of the enemies in this game are semi tongue in cheek, it just works anyway! I told level2janitor that he looks like he's about to tell a group of kids to say no to drugs, which level2janitor replied was exactly what he was going for!

Corporal Veks Reporting for Duty

 Have a Veks portrait! While not a permanent party member, Veks will be joining temporarily to assist Vahn and Vera on a small mission. He'll still be controlled by AI, but you'll be able to change his equipment if you wish. 

Avee also mentioned that he's absolutely free for further commissions. He will be hearing from me again, as I want to have an optional character's portrait redone (hint: it's a character that he made a portrait of for a previous project), and I do have a semi-secret optional character in mind as well.

A Wild Archer Appears

Kassandra appears! Still working on testing her, but I'll have more on her functionality later. Two things I will say:

1. She'll have an ability that consumes a percentage of MP rather than a flat amount which will reduce her defense briefly, but allow her to make two attacks for a few turns.
2. She's the blue mage of the game! Haven't fully worked out how this is going to be implemented, but I'll have a method determined within a few days.

New Music for Beast Master

 Bert Cole comes through again!

Bert takes suggestions on Patreon for new compositions to write. I suggested something that might fit a Triple Triad-esque card game, and he seemed really interested in the idea. A few days later, he shared a mini-game track on his Patreon which is what you hear in the video above. 

Ancient Temples (aka Breath of the Wild's Shrines)

 I mentioned this on Discord 2-3 days ago, but wanted to do more of an actual write-up on it so that people know that this feature exists and what to expect.

Approximately 7-8 hours into Penumbra Crystallis, the player acquires a ship known as the Pegasus. The Pegasus immediately allows the player to sail anywhere in the world they desire. This includes visiting some areas of the world map that the player has not yet visited - which is still well over 75% of the total map!

To make sailing around the world more interesting than just looking for docks to park your ship at, I've decided to add ancient temples to the world map that, at this point of the game, require the ship to reach. These ancient temples exist either on islands in the ocean or along parts of kingdom coastlines previously inaccessible to players due to mountains or rivers being in the way.

So, what are these so called ancient temples? I'll let this NPC explain them a bit before I continue.

If this sounds familiar, that's because it is! I was heavily inspired by Breath of the Wild, and the ancient temples are pretty much just the shrines in that game. I expect to have about 30 shrines scattered across the world map, and most of them should only take 3-4 minutes to complete. Some of them will just have players solving a simple puzzle of some sort while others will prevent the player will a challenge in the form of a battle. Temples with puzzles will also have battles, but usually only if the player messes the puzzle up or runs into some sort of moving obstacle that initiates scripted fights. There will be zero random encounters in all temples with the exception of probably one (where random battles will be the central theme).

Solving a puzzle or overcoming the final challenge in each temple rewards the player with a treasure chest often containing an item that is either one of a kind, or is very rare to find elsewhere in the game.

So, for when this game is finally finished and in the hands of you folks, expect to find of places to go and things to do when you acquire the Pegasus!

Design Consultant/Correspondent

 Hey folks,

I'm interested in having someone around privy to all of the secret goings-on of Penumbra Crystallis who would be willing to advise, pitch ideas, and bounce aspects of game design off of. This would be a person who would ideally be:

1. Good at coming up with environmental challenges and puzzle ideas.

2. Interested in giving feedback on intended dungeon designs, story beats, and so forth.

3. Offering ideas to improve general areas of the game, or pitch ideas for new areas, features, etc.

4. Providing miscellaneous technical advice.

These points are not necessarily everything I'm looking for, and it's totally fine if you don't fit one or two of them. I'm also interested in knowing what you might be able to bring to the table. Ideally, all you REALLY need is to have a love for RPGs and a willingness to help!

Note: I'm not looking for someone to help co-create the game my working directly on it. This would be more of a consultancy role. You'd be someone for me to bounce all of my ideas and plans off of while also offering ideas of your own to assist me in making Penumbra Crystallis even better. I am also willing to take on multiple people for this role, all of whom would be able to view and speak in the game's private #development and #testing-lounge channels on Discord.

You can reach out to me if you're interested on my Retroist RPG Makers Discord server, which is also primary location where I discuss Penumbra Crystallis and share updates with folks on the server.

Retroist RPG Makers Discord Server: https://discord.gg/BAA9NUw9

You can ping me in any public channel to get my attention or send me a direct message at UPRC#1985.

August 3 Monsters Preview

 Every now and then, whenever I receive new monster graphics from level2janitor, I've decided that I'll "preview" select monsters here. So, today we're looking at three monsters that level2janitor just created graphics for.

From top to bottom we have the skeleton, bowbold, and drake.

The Skeleton is exactly what you think it is! Weak to fire and holy, these undead baddies haunt ancient ruins and not only swipe at you with their rusty scimitars, but also throw bones at you!

The Bowbold, originally called the "Sniper", received this name today. It's a combination of bow and kobold. Bowbold! Bowbolds live in the desert outside of the town of Arcania and take deadly aim at their enemies. Their "aim" attack is a guaranteed hit with a moderate chance of inflicting critical damage!

Last, the Drake. This fellow inhabits the plains and forests outside of Arcania and can also be found inside of Salar Volcano. Possessing higher hit points than other creatures in its territory, the drake bites and scratches foes. When it's feeling particularly troublesome, it can also belch a fireball at unsuspecting victims!

Vehicle #2: The Ship

 Sometime today, I expect to have reached a point in Penumbra Crystallis where the player will have full control of their second vehicle after the rapapa - the ship!

My intention with the ship is to give the player the freedom to sail around the entire world map as soon as they receive it, but it can only be docked at ports/wharves on the world map. This will immediately allow the player to go to all sorts of locations (many that I obviously haven't even made yet), though there will be some restrictions in place from the get-go to prevent players from going to important story locations that they shouldn't be able to enter immediately. 

Exploration with the ship should be fun since players will still have a sense of discovery that other vehicles such as airships strip away. I also intend on making some islands that the player can sail to which will contain small optional dungeons with miscellaneous treasure and unique items at the end. Think of the shrines in Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, but without the puzzle solving. Just neat little locations with a few battles and nice treasure. The challenge will be finding them all, and determining if/when you are the right level to enter them!

Anyway, more on all of that later today when I complete the scene where the ship is acquired through gameplay.

Ship Test

 Got the ship up and running! The ship will be accessible to the player roughly 7-8 hours into the game and will become their primary means of traveling around the world.

Grandiose Amphitheater Preview

Originally just called the "Arena", the Grandiose Amphitheater is now where players will go to engage in the regular arena battles, play Beast Master card games and tournaments, and take part in auctions! The auctions will feel very familiar to returning Blackmoon Prophecy players (or players of Final Fantasy VI).

Here's the overview of the Grandiose Amphitheater so far. I still have two more rooms to do (administration office, where the player goes for part of the main story, and the auction hall).