Yep, the “supposedly – small – RPG – game” is finally out! 😀
I made a few minor bugfixes since the soft-release, updating the game to version 1.0.5. though the only real problem was a bug when replaying the game after you replayed one of the ending romances from the gallery screen.
A short post-mortem
I can’t make a real post-mortem since the game is just out since 15 days, and even if had a very long testing/preordering stage, it’s not enough to draw any conclusions. However I can safely say that if sales continues this way, the game could beat Loren’s success, which wasn’t really something I was counting on 🙂 Of course, IF the sales continues this way, which might not happen. I think by the end of year I’ll have a better idea if doing this crazy huge RPG was a good investment of my time or not.
Honestly I wish I had made the game with less features. Less than 12 skills each character. I wish I made less than the 300+ battles in the game or the over 115 different enemies. Maybe I should have avoided some extra sidequests, or the isometric map. The unlockable quest/location bonuses. Some hidden areas to do grinding. The huge amount of background images (more than double Loren’s). The art quality, using 5 artists at once (never happened with any other game). Or the theme song and full epic soundtrack. Adding still romances despite all the amount of content, and two CGs each romance (a kissing scene, and an ending scene).
Why, you ask? because it was hard to price the game, considering the time/money invested on it. About that…
Steam release and pricing
I was unsure what to do until today, originally I had planned to sell the game for $29.99 also because of the crazy amount of time I’ve personally spent on it, however… considering many players play my games mainly for the romances, in the end it didn’t seem fair to them.
For those who like more gameplay, I think it’s a great deal at this price since will keep you busy FOR HOURS! Seriously, I have some testers who spent over 50-60h on it, of course in Hard/Nightmare difficulty mode, completing all the achievements/quests 😉
As for Steam, just today the game was accepted, but since I don’t want to rush things will add the game there in January (I need to do all the achievements, testing, etc). But at least now you know that if you buy direct you’ll get a free key because the game will be on Steam soon!
Differences vs Loren
I want to stress this again: the game is much more RPG/combat focused than Loren. There isn’t the same amount of romances or “camp talk” dialogues with each character. It is a bit more similar, gameplay wise, to my first RPG Planet Stronghold, even if of course much more polished.
So if you’re looking for something like Loren, you better wait for Loren 2, or Roger Steel which will be much more similar to that game (as I often say, more VN and less RPG). If instead you want more RPG gameplay but still with a story, then this game is for you. As always, there’s a free demo to try before you buy.
Overall, it was a “small game” that somehow turned into the biggest game I’ve ever made. It’s not necessarily a bad thing of course 🙂 but I need a break badly from such big projects, so don’t expect any new RPG like this one out in 2015. I mean, I will probably start working on Roger Steel next year for example, but the actual game won’t be out for sure before 2016. Even SOTW was started in Summer 2013, and the first beta was out in Spring this year…making good and long games takes time!
Mobile release
What about mobile? I’ll start working on it, but is really a bad moment now with Christmas and everything else (really busy!). I will TRY to do the mobile port in time, but might slip into January. The mobile version, beside obvious testing, needs some changes to the interface to be more playable on touch based devices. Also, it’s probably going to be quite slow on low-end/old devices because of the isometric map. Anyway, as always will use in-app purchases so you can play/test the game first and decide if is worth spending your money on the mobile version.
The upcoming games
Meanwhile, next year you’ll enjoy Nicole yuri for sure, then there’s a big amount of games in progress: Heirs and Graces (the yaoi only dating sim), another still unnamed yuri only dating sim (check this poll in forums if you want to help give it a name!), PSCD, Queen Of Thieves, Amber’s Magic Shop… and I’m probably missing something! 😀
Lots of active projects! As always I will finish the one which is more advanced, so I think PSCD is the one more likely to be out soon together with Nicole yuri. For the others, I don’t know, we’ll see how it goes 😉
Congratulations on the official release!
You invested so much into this game, so I wonder – why you didn’t make the extra few steps and implanted more romances (even with the current characters)?
I don’t think that it would cost you that much to double the romances, I mean – everything is already implanted technology wise.
Maybe some expansion pack?
P.S
I hope the sales will go even better.
I made a specific choice with this game to focus more on the gameplay and RPG aspect to see how it would go – it still has 4 romances that is basically rare in most indie RPGs 🙂
Considering the amount Loren 2-3 and the other games in production have I wanted to try something different.
But also doing the romances (well written) is not easy as it seems. Otherwise I would make 1 game a month 😉
Oh, Heirs and Graces? When can we get more information on it? I want to know the story, and also the art 😉
Looking forward to the Nicole yuri version as well. You’ve made us wait long 😉
I want to wait until I have some art to show before posting more info, but there’s already something here:
http://winterwolves.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3385
http://winterwolves.net/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=3384
Congratulations! Your work and your story is a great source of inspiration!
“Overall, it was a “small game” that somehow turned into the biggest game I’ve ever made. It’s not necessarily a bad thing of course”
Maybe that’s because it keeps the whole product “consistent”?
Growing a small idea instead of thinking big from the beginning…
Yes but is a beginner’s mistake, if you spend too much time on a product you need to earn much more 🙂 Anyway, will see what happens in next months. For now honestly I’m glad is done!
Congrats on the release of SOTW! Can’t wait to play it. It looks fantastic! 😀
Will C14 Dating be out in early 2015? Really looking forward to that too!
Yes I really hope C14 will be out in early 2015!! 🙂
Ok. Now I finished the trial version of SOTW 🙂 and now I can say – I liked SOTW ))) (and it definitely has less bugs than Assassin Creed (evil and long laughing) (actually, I found none of bugs in SOTW)). Good game.
I really appreciate the RPG focus and vast amount of content this game contains. Sotw has better balance and diversity among skills and characters than found in most RPGS, be them AAA or indie. Tactics-wise it is also very repayable with all the different ways you can approach character development. This game is worthy of wide audience and hope it is well received. I certainly have been enjoying it immensely.
I am curious which of SOTW’s ideas will carry over into Loren 2. I do not know if I am the minority, but I feel that in many ways SOTW is the better game than Loren.
Heh that’s going to be a hot topic 😀
Overall, I believe SOTW has surely a better mechanics, and in general is bigger and much better under the gameplay aspect, and it couldn’t be different considering the amount of time/resources I’ve spent on it.
Loren on the other side has a more “casual” approach so it appeals to a wider audience.
So depends on tastes and who you’re asking I think 🙂
As for Loren 2 is still too early. I would really like to be able to do an isometric battlefield but probably I will need more iterations of the combat system before attempting that (also needs a lot more resources for the isometric characters). We’ll see 🙂
Hi,
I’ve just finished Seasons Of The Wolf and honestly it’s IMO the best of your games (played Loren and Planet before). It’s surprisingly fun indie rpg with likable characters and decent writing. It feels complete, even without romance (Krimm wasn’t really my thing) and IMO that proves the story itself to be much better than in your previous releases (you know, that you have feel of accomplishment even without scoring).
It was fun, thanks.
Thanks! I can say that so far the game is indeed doing better than previous ones. I’m relieved since took me a LONG time to make 🙂