Vision Soft Reset

Vision Soft Reset can now be purchased on Steam.  There will be a 10% launch discount until 1/23/2019.

Great news, Vision Soft Reset is now playable from start to finish!  These past few weeks I’ve been working hard on a final push to get this game finished.  It’s very satisfying to finally reach this milestone.  But there’s still much to do, including additional assets, design tweaks, bug fixes and more.

I previously anticipated the game taking a few more months to complete.  However due to various recent events, I have no choice but to finish production a lot sooner.  Unfortunately this will result in some compromises, including a few planned areas being cut from the final game.  On the bright side I can confirm the game will actually be finished and released.  As someone averse to releases this is a blessing in disguise.

There will be a closed beta coming soon, with a release sometime in January.

Recently a few people have asked me if Vision Soft Reset was still in development, despite the lack of updates on the game.  I was actually kind of surprised people were still following it, that’s pretty awesome.  Rest assured I have steadily been working on the game and will continue to do so until it’s complete.

I don’t have any excuse for the lack of updates, and I apologize.  Updates are very important and are part of the responsibility of a serious game developer, and I’ll strive to do better in the future.

Here are some screenshots showing new areas, enemies and abilities.  I don’t want to show too much though, gotta leave some surprises in the game right?

I also showcased the game Unity Developer Day NYC, a conference tour focused on local Unity developers.  Here’s a pic from the event:

Future Plans

Over the past year I’ve met some awesome people, made friends with fellow devs, and got a new job at a small game development company.  I’ve learned a lot, most of all that I still have a long way to go until I’d be able to make a living working on my own original projects full-time.  This means that while I’m dedicated to finishing VSR, it will continue to be the hobbyist spare-time project it’s always been and be developed at a comparatively slow pace.

As such it’s hard to estimate when VSR will be done.  Currently the game is about 70% complete, and I’m aiming (hoping) for a release sometime early 2019.  It will be a paid release, on Itch.io and Gamejolt for sure.  I’m open to releasing on other platforms as well.

VSR certainly isn’t going to set the world on fire.  But I’m confident it’s going to appeal to at least a few players out there, which is pretty satisfying in its own way.  Thank you all for reading!

At last, a new build is available!  The big new addition is Griger’s lab, a dungeon-like area with puzzles, new enemies, new lore, and a new boss fight.

It can be downloaded here on itch.io.

It’s also available on Gamejolt.

Also instead of showing a dry gameplay video, I took some cuts and made a trailer! Exciting!

One more thing to add, I also set up a Discord for the game.  I figure it’ll be a great way to talk with players and gather feedback.  Discord link: https://discord.gg/gJQDQcH

Haven’t figured out a great way to summarize how development has been going.  But progress is definitely being made, here’s a video showing it off.  New rooms, new enemies, new sound effects, and more.

Note that there’s more programmer art and unfinished areas in general here than in my previous gameplay videos.  No music either.

It’ll be a while longer before I get another public build out.

Introducing a new mechanic: the Spin Dodge.  Once unlocked with a decryptor, the Spin Dodge allows Oracle to dodge in one of 8 directions.  The dodge contains a reasonable amount of invincibility frames that can be used to cross obstacles without taking damage.  It has obvious use in combat as a defensive move as well.

The dodge doubles as a mobility upgrade, as dodging upwards allows Oracle to reach heights she couldn’t get by jumping.  Only one can be done in mid-air before touching the ground however, can’t just go flying anywhere.

While the introduction of the spin dodge was just created recently, the maneuver itself was actually implemented very early on in development.  This was done so levels could be built with the spin dodge’s added mobility in mind.  Early areas may be accessed before acquiring this ability, but that doesn’t mean the player won’t return to those areas after getting it.  Rooms should be interesting to traverse no matter what abilities the player has at the time.

Notably absent is any kind of “stamina meter” that’s drained by the Spin Dodge.  While this meter is common in games for mechanics like this, I have a personal hatred for when actions that feel like a natural extension of the player character are arbitrarily limited.  Nothing feels worse than pressing a button but the player character doesn’t respond.  The move is still sensibly balanced however, just without taking control away from the player.  Invincibility frames do not last for the entire move, and there’s a brief period at the end where Oracle can barely move.  I also made sure that repeatedly dodging in a straight line is assuredly not faster than just running.  In this kind of game players will surely be searching for the fastest way to get around.  If the way to do that is to dodge a lot, players will do it, despite how silly it would be.  The most optimal way to play should also be the most fun.