Mechanics Mondays #1

2022 9/06

2022年9月6日

Week 1 is over and we finally got some rest over the weekend… (Just kidding, we’ve been checking the campaign, discord, and twitter every second just like you!)

Campaign Updates:

We’ve gotten a ton of useful feedback, so we are going to address the most important stuff first.

Stretch Goals

People want to know about the stretch goals, and quite frankly they are pretty amazing… the further up we go. For now, the good news is the Armed Fantasia has passed their first stretch goal. Additionally we are adding an additional stretch goal so that you see more of what’s to come. We are also going to list out what each revealed stretch goal is so that you have a better understanding of what we are “stretching” for. Finally, some stretch goals will be described in deeper detail in future updates.

Here’s the new stretch goal infographic!

Role Change System(Cleared): Characters will be able to use all ARMs types instead of just the ones they start off using. Not only does this allow for Role changes and strategic choices, but you can pair up your favorite character with your favorite ARM type and enjoy how they look as well!
20 Puzzle Boxes($800,000): We will place 20 brain-busting puzzles all over the world. Completing them will net you various rewards, including valuable items that will help you in your quest.
HINT: Play me a new one($825,000): Until we find out what it is, guess what the upgrade will be.
HINT: Dog will Hunt($????): Until we find out what it is, guess what the upgrade will be.

Defining stretch goals is always challenging. We have to work hard to reach the necessary budgets, but if we reach the middle two weeks of a Kickstarter campaign and pledges begin to slow, a stretch goal that is set too high can demotivate people (and us!) That being said, we’ve seen a lot of campaigns make unrealistic promises in the past. And when they fail to deliver, swear off crowdfunding, which in turn closes a lot of doors and make it harder for people like us to convince a potential backer to trust us. We will hear out any suggestion we get, but please do understand that games are very expensive to make, so this is a very delicate balancing act.

Community Game

It’s another week and that means new monsters are attacking. This week pits Armed Fantasia’s Alicia versus the dreaded Xibalba. On Penny Blood’s side we have Emilia versus Domovoy! Do what you can to help our heroes!

New merch!

While Mechanics Mondays allow the creators to go into more detail about the game design, they also give us a chance to present new merchandise. We are always listening to what you say you want, but we’ve also gotten a lot of comments from people saying there are too many merchandise options. With two games, this can be especially challenging. At one point we had combos for every reward tier and it was over 100 reward tiers!

New Add-ons:

Acrylic Standee: Previously only available in the higher-priced tiers, you can now get the entire set of characters in this limited edition acrylic standee set. There’s more good news. The fine folks at Red Art Games, our key fulfillment partner, have upped the number from 2 to 3. So now you will get all 3 characters for that game. Price: Approx. $70 USD
Double Kickstarter Collector’s Choice: You’re a collector and know you’ll never get the chance to get your hands on this merchandise again. You also love BOTH games. What is a backer to do? Choose the Double Kickstarter Collector’s Choice Add-on! You can choose from 1 of 2 items per game. Both sets feature an awesome branded mug or a cool zippo lighter. Want the AF and PB mug? Sure! Two zippo lighters are your thing? Great! But as this is a tier custom designed to support BOTH games, you can only choose 1 item for each title. Price: Approx. $100 USD

Reissues of Premium Rewards:

There have been a few very popular premium rewards. They were snatched up in the first day, so we are reissuing them at a slightly increased reissue price. Since too many in-game rewards can ruin a game’s atmosphere, both creators are very careful when it comes to reissues. In many cases, these types of rewards will only be re-issued once.

Armed Fantasia:

Making Music Reissue – Work with the talented folks at Elements Garden to design your very own in-game song PRICE: 600,000 Yen, Reissue: 1

Penny Blood:

Have a Voice Reissue – Voice an NPC in the game PRICE: 450,000 Yen, Reissue:1
Look Ma, I’m Famous Reissue – Be a Wanted Poster PRICE: 175,000 Yen, Reissue: 5

Both Games:

JRPG Inner Circle – Combo Goodness – Meet with BOTH teams! PRICE: 1,000,000 Yen, Reissue: 1

New Price:

We love our pets. Penny Blood wouldn’t be the same without Monaka running back and forth in front of the camera during an important pre-launch Zoom meeting! So both creators have agreed to lower the JRPG’s Best Friend tier in hopes of getting some more pet love in the game.

JRPG Fan’s Best Friend – Add your pet in the game NEW PRICE: 350,000 Yen

And finally, we will be doing merch spotlights so you get a better understanding of specifically what goes into some of this awesome merch:

Acrylic Standees:

Armed Fantasia:: Backers will receive three exclusive Armed Fantasia acrylic stands. Each of the acrylic stands features one of the game’s protagonists: Ingram Goodweather, Alicia Fairhead and Euclid Sturges (as well as the Armed Fantasia logo on the stands’ base).
Penny Blood:: Backers will receive three exclusive Penny Blood acrylic stands. Each of the acrylic stands features one of the game’s protagonists: Matthew Farrell, Demna and Emilia Dawson (as well as the Penny Blood logo on the stands’ base).

Content Updates

For our first Mechanics Monday, we have talking about the world map,field actions, and vehicles!

The World Map is a Never Ending Adventure!

With Armed Fantasia, we want to bring back the feeling that old JRPGs had of traveling over a giant world map. Lately, RPGs seem to be omitting that aspect of gameplay, but we’re putting our all into it.
The world map isn’t simply a convenient way to take you from Point A to Point B in the story. We want to make sure that players can take a break from that and explore the world of to its fullest. That’s the sort of map we’re currently making.
Since the field will be made out of 3D models, players will be able to dash to get places faster, and jump to get to higher places. They’ll be able to use those abilities with information they get in-game to set sails for new places and carve out a path towards them.

In order to make traversing the giant world easier, the players will be able to use vehicles as well. There will be vehicles for land, sea, and air that will allow players to get places they can’t get on their feet alone.
And of course, you don’t just move around the map. That would be boring.
You can hunt Anomalies with bounties on their heads. You can search for giant ships that appear in the oceans. You can search for valuable items in dangerous areas.
We want to make sure the world map is filled with these sorts of things so that players enjoy their time on the map.
And obviously the Westernpunk feel of the game world will tickle any adventurer’s fancy. And once you find some of your favorite places, you can move the camera around and enjoy the sights as if you were on a trip.

Just how much fun you can have on the world map depends on how much support we get from you guys. So please consider supporting the campaign!

Puzzle-Riddled Dungeons!

One of the main characteristics of our title is the ability to use Character Actions to complete dungeons.
For the most part, you’ll dash and jump just like you do on the world map.
But what makes dungeons special is the various puzzles that need solving. Each party member has their own set of Gadgets, and you’ll have to make clever use of them if you want to solve those puzzles.
For example, Ingram has the Gadget. Set a Bomb and it explodes, delivering a shockwave to the surrounding area and anything in it. You can use them to blow up cracked walls, destroy rocks, or use them to create footholds to jump to higher places. You can also set several of them at the same time in order to make the shockwave even bigger.
One of the main parts of dungeons is how players use Gadgets to get through puzzles.
And yes, we can hear the players out there who aren’t great at action games. We understand your concerns. We will be implementing a difficulty level that makes it so that you can enjoy the story without getting stuck on puzzles.
But regardless, the key to puzzles is how you use each action. And your only limit is your imagination.

Did you enjoy?
In the next “Worldbuilding Wednesday #2”, we plan to release the world setting of “ARMED FANTASIA”.
looking forward to!