JARPUG alpha 0.1 is on itch.io now!
JARPUG is currently very cheap. It's Early Access and I plan on continuing to update it until it's Done, but I don't want to charge more than it's currently worth, either.
The current build is about half an hour of VR JRPG gameplay with a special harder area unlockable after beating the boss. The demo gets you most of that but doesn't let you continue playing after the boss fight. Of course, future versions of the game will have much more content. Future versions of the demo will not!
I'm very happy with where things are. The cutscenes work, battles are pretty fun, and Matt's music is great.
You can dress up your dogs. The puzzles work. I made a spooky grocery store.
But there are a lot of things on the to do list. Obviously there are the big ones, like "finish it" and "make a whole dang world to explore", and "introduce the family of chihuahuas that works together to drive a car so you can explore that world". But there are also tiny to dos. Some of them broke my heart.
Improvements I'm sure I want:
- Dog bark/grunt audio during dialog. I plan to make most of the bark sounds myself.
- Easier attack canceling once in targeting mode
- Visible tells for non-AOE enemy attacks.
- Better attack animation syncing, especially for enemies.
- Improved platforming physics, especially when rubbing walls.
- More sounds in general
Improvements I'm considering:
- Swap out stance stat modifiers for different counter skills that can be used in the "run around during enemy turns" phase.
- I think stat modifiers are kinda neat and may have a place for some characters, but they're hard to communicate and will become repetitive with more characters.
- Counter skills like: dodging, mirroring attacks, baiting enemies, absorbing attacks as MP, etc. Some would be free, some would cost MP, depending.
- Ramp jar launch puzzles: I had prototypes of this months ago but need to bolt down the physics to be more dependable and fun in smaller areas.
- VR hand puzzles while exploring. Story-wise, I'm looking to justify you interacting with the dogs' world more to help them make their way.
- More VR activities in battle: I don't want to slow down gameplay. I've cut a lot of things from battle to keep the turns fast and VR controls are optional where they might slow things down. But I've got a couple ideas.
- Several other things that are too early or ill-considered for me to share.
Later! And thanks for playing, if you did that. I'd love to hear your feedback.