April 2023 Update
Greetings Backers!
We are just heading into Golden Week which is one of the longest holidays in Japan. The weather is fine but we continue to be excited for these passion projects you have helped give us the chance to make!
Campaign Updates
Surveys and AppleID
More and more people have completed their backer survey so thank you for your support. We won’t close surveys until a few months before the game ships so don’t worry if you haven’t completed yours. There is plenty of time.
We finally understand one of the bigger issues that was occurring. Backers who used AppleID to log into Backerkit and have the security settings to hide their E-mail address are unable to receive surveys. Since the E-mails are hidden, Backerkit doesn’t have a way to send information to these backers. If means you’ll have to either contact Backerkit support and update your E-mail address to something that is not hidden or contact us at the Campaign team at pr@yukikaze.ltd to manually adjust your E-mail to something that can be viewed so that we can send you the survey. As always, if you have any questions please feel free to reach out to the same E-mail listed above so that we can help.
FAQ incoming
We know there are a lot of questions about the survey, items on backerkit, timelines etc. Some of the answers have taken time to figure out. Others required a bit of trial and error. In order to make everything as clear as possible we plan to update the Backerkit FAQ and link to it on Discord so that it’s common information to as many backers as possible. We are in the process of adjusting this but it won’t be until May when we have it finalized.
Discord Mods
We wanted to drop a quick THANK YOU message to all the wonderful Discord mods who have been keeping an eye on the questions from backers and letting us know. You really do help keep the community informed and allow us to focus more on production! We couldn’t have done this without you.
Development Updates
Golden week (a long spring holiday) is finally here in Japan.
We hope everyone has a fun holiday. If you’re working through the holiday, good luck!
We have another project update report for you from Kaneko this month.
ARMED FANTASIA April 2023 Project Report
Field
- World Map
We’ve finished our preparations and began the actual production on the world map. Currently, we’re creating the white models while also adjusting, checking, and appropriating things in line with requests from the planner side. We’re searching for a perfect ‘world state’ that is vast, but not too vast, and fits properly with the gameplay we’re imagining.
- Vehicles
We’ve done a temporary implementation of Euclid’s vehicle. Characters can ride in it, and we’re using it to test how it feels to cross the wasteland on wheels. How it feels to travel in vehicles is another standard we’re going to use to calculate how big the world should be.
- Gadgets
We’ve started creating the gadgets, beginning with the ones that have easy-to-understand effects, such as the knife (temporary name), which has the ability to slice things when thrown toward them, and the bomb (temporary name), which can send out shockwaves to the immediate area when set on the ground. We’re already a bit torn about how much we should report on the completely new gadgets in order to avoid spoilers, including those that have effects that would be hard to explain in monthly reports.
Battle
We’ve started working on motion images for characters (including anomalies). We’ll also be adjusting the specifications of skills while keeping in mind their consistency with each motion.
Scenario
The prologue scenario is being written, while the overall plot and game flow is being edited and modified as necessary. We’re also working on naming dungeons and towns. We feel like everything becomes more fitting (fitting what, exactly?) as more work gets done.
Design
- World
We’re working on concept art for the town and dungeon that appear in the prologue.
- Anomalies
We’re still working on designing the anomalies. We’ve imagined Fulad-zereh, which you can see below, as both a manifestation of wild violence as well as an intelligent, problematic enemy. But this is a role-playing game, so no matter how many settings we add on top of this, its role will always be something that’s meant to be defeated by the main characters.
- Characters
We worked on the shadow and eye details for characters whose designs have been finished. That’s done for now, so it’s back to character design work again.
- Props
Design specifications for the unique ARMs wielded by each Iconocluster official have been submitted. Design work should begin at the end of the month. The design for the (ghost ship ?) that Kimiquis drives has been submitted. Design work is scheduled to begin at the end of the month as well.
BGM
We created an (outlined) work schedule for the BGMs from a mid to long-term perspective, also based around the composers’ plans. We’ll start composing our images for all the BGM beginning with whatever’s easiest to start with.