Tuesday, May 15, 2018

[Magicmaker] May 15th Update

A minor bugfix patch has been pushed to Steam and GOG, and should be available soon. Thanks to our players for helping us find and diagnose these issues.

May 15 2018 - Patch Notes

BUG FIXES:
  • The alchemy menu’s material description now describes effects based off the shape of your first spell slot (laser or projectile)
  • Fixed an oversight that would allow the player get permanently stuck in the tutorial by setting their wand to an enchantment and exiting the game before the tutorial was completed
  • Fixed a graphical issue that would cause the background to flicker on some hardware configurations


Wednesday, April 11, 2018

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Mar 2018)


Hey everyone!

Things were particularly busy with Tasty Stewdios at the beginning of March, so we weren’t able to get our usual monthly status update out- but we’ve returned to our regularly scheduled status reports! We've focused the last month on refining the way units forge friendships with each other, as well as what that means for the gameplay of Forever and Ever. Friendship is the most powerful force in the universe, and we wanted to make sure we accurate reflect this within the combat and party management systems. Our goal is to have believable and clearly communicated relationships between heroes, forged through battles and fighting as a team. I know that's how I make all my friends!

As always, we also have a recap of our Screenshot Saturday posts from Twitter!






Finally, this month we also take a closer look at the Hermit, one of the 10 character classes in Forever and Ever. They are a strange and quirky bunch that are full of mystery!

In the olden days, when magic was not nearly as well understood, the Hermits were seen as supernatural forces to be reckoned with. Their understanding of fire and smoke was rooted in ancient customs, revering the temporary nature of life and storytelling. The hottest flames consume all around them, cannibalizing others before they too burn out quickly. The quieter flames need only to find proper tinder to kindle a new flame to pass on a legacy. Both leave smoke, which can remain after the fire and be seen for miles. On the flip side, while burning can be destructive, it can also give way to new life and healing. Burning certain blends of herbs and barks can produce healing, invigorating, or intoxicating smokes. The memory of those that were burned can inspire those still living to do great things.

These beliefs and customs have fallen to the wayside over the ages as generation after generation have become enthralled with the power of the tamed and controlled magics of the Fablers. Storytelling and the magic it bestows shifted from an art to a science. The Hermits’ dwindling ranks were reignited, however, by those who believe that modern life was becoming too rigid and unnatural. Magic isn’t special if it’s called upon for the mundane- and those who felt that way heard the call of the old ways… even if they didn’t entirely understand them.

Modern Hermits are not held with much respect, seen as reveling in primitive and ridiculous rituals and lacking the ambition to use “proper” magic. It is still debated whether Hermits are even wielding magic or are just your run-of-the-mill arsonists. Some believe they should apply their wisdom to the field of chemistry, to which a Hermit would say they are missing the point.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Jan 2017)


Hello again!

Though we took the last month off of updating the blog for the holidays, we've been hard at work on Forever and Ever! We've been focusing on ensuring that all the remaining systems we want in the final game are in place. The main gameplay- commanding units around the map, combat, recruiting new heroes, and other moment-to-moment stuff is already in place- but now we're making sure that you have all the information you need about your heroes (as well as your enemies) to help you make better decisions in and out of combat.

One of the big challenges of designing a strategy game is deciding what information is available at any given time, while not overwhelming players with walls of information that are hard to digest. We think we've struck a good balance and are moving forward with polishing the interface for getting this information.

For more frequent glimpses into development, be sure to follow us on Twitter @TastyStewdios. Here's the updates we've shared since our last update.




This week we'd also like to dive deeper into the Fabler class- the wizards who study the science of magic.

In this world, the laws of narrative can be studied (and exploited) just as the laws of physics. Where the bards use this understanding to weave an engrossing story, the fablers use their smarts as a weapon. For years, the fablers have studied the circumstances and story requirements to summoning magical forces at will, and in recent times have begun to make incredible breakthroughs in conventional applications of magic. This magical renaissance has equally made fablers more common among adventuring parties.

Magic is a force that anybody can wield with sufficient understanding of timing and story arcs. Just as anyone can wield it, one can also train in defense against magic by honing their disbelief. For you see, magic is a delicate dance between the caster and those affected by it. The user must will their spell into existence, but others must believe in its power for it to truly take hold. Maintaining this balance of understanding and belief is the mark of a true master of magic. Many promising young fablers have found their abilities weaken over time as their belief in magic is replaced with the knowledge that it's only as real as they let it be. Many of these fallen fablers end up switching careers and becoming Heretics- the strongest deniers of magic, who protect others from its power.

The fabler is one of 10 playable hero classes in Forever and Ever. In the coming months, we will dive deeper into the other classes along with our regular development updates.

Tuesday, December 5, 2017

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Nov 2017)


Hey friends! Things are busy over here with the holiday season coming up, but don't worry, we're still cookin'!

We've been keeping up with #screenshotsaturday on twitter. Here's a roundup of what we posted last month, starting with video of our super neat title screen:






If you wanna stay up to date, don't forget to follow @TastyStewdios on twitter!

We're real busy, so that's all for this month. I hope you all have safe and happy holidays, and we'll see you next time!

Thursday, November 9, 2017

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Oct 2017)




Greetings! We're here with another update!

We've been showing off some of our latest progress on twitter every Saturday, so we'll let those show and tell what we've been up to the past month!


This month, we'd also like to provide some more details about the GARDBUDDY. 


The consumer model of the GARDBUDDY was introduced a few years before the first apocalypse. Marketed as a home assistant that specialized in gardening tasks, these robots were soon adapted to fit a variety of purposes. GARDBUDDY is only one of the many products created by Supernova Innovations, but was by miles their most successful. The GARDBUDDY were given one directive: to help. It was not long before most manual labor was being performed by GARDBUDDIES. They were just so darn helpful!

Then, as these stories go, disaster struck. Something went terribly wrong at Supernova Innovations. An accident with world-ending implications transpired, and the world was thrown into darkness. Rampant anarchy grew as civilization collapsed overnight. But even amidst the chaos, the GARDBUDDIES just wanted to help. To some, helping was learning how to loot. For others, helping meant equipping weapons and fighting off looters. But ultimately, what was wanted most was an end to the conflict. With the assistance of the GARDBUDDY, the world stabilized and recovered from its first apocalypse.

The GARDBUDDIES that survived the incident are mostly operational to this very day, and continue their work of assisting those in need. However, with each year, their numbers are dwindling. Those that are damaged beyond repair or completely destroyed cannot be recovered. The factory from which they were manufactured, as well as the well-guarded secret of their mysterious power source, were destroyed in the accident. All that can be done to prevent GARDBUDDY from going extinct is to swap out broken parts for less-damaged pieces.

These repairs are done at the site of the disaster- the overgrown remains of Supernova Innovations HQ. Those whose functionality cannot be completely restored remain here, doing what they can to still help. Without tasks to perform, they tend to a beautiful, massive garden.

In modern times, GARDBUDDIES can sometimes be found adventuring with bands of heroes and fighting villains alongside them. Can a robot become a legend among the people? This remains to be seen. Their personality modules sure make them lovable, that's for sure!

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios (Sep 2017)


Hey everyone!

Over the last month the game has been making tremendous leaps forward in presentation. We've finished all the primary UI elements, and now it's a matter of adding more missions, adding more animations, writing dialogue, and other things to pretty it up. If you've been following us on our twitter, we've been also been sharing screenshots and gifs of the game in action every week. Here's some from the last month:




This month we are going to take a closer look at another one of the playable races in Forever and Ever- the Wildkids.


For as long as there has been magic in this world, the Idein have existed in some form. They are the manifestations of magic- eternal spirits of creativity that have found themselves in the physical world. Wiley and whimsical, they have a reputation of being naive and childlike, which has branded them the moniker of Wildkids. 

Because of their ties to magic and the laws of narrative, they wield a tremendous amount of control over the world. Unbeknownst to the Wildkids, the world around them is slowly warped to their whims. Their daily pastime of playing pretend has shaped the forests they dwell in into colorful fantasy worlds. Nauseatingly colorful, one might say.

The Wildkids are powerful shapeshifters, morphing to fit the macrotrends in imagination. Though the commonfolk want absolutely nothing to do with them, they are absolutely fascinated by humans- so much so that Human-sonas are the most popular trend among their people. These wide-reaching shape trends are one of the few things they all agree on, and are how they track history. Rather than remembering events, they simply remember time by what was popular.

Their culture has few stable pillars, but one that perseveres is their love of art. A wildkid's depiction of their idealized self, their Optimal Configuration, or OC, is an important part of their complex social tapestry. To the untrained eye, may look like ridiculous or outlandish caricature of a person, but these fantastic works of art are held in high regard in Wildkid society. If an Idein is able to hold on to their OC for long enough without getting distracted by another, it is completely within the realm of possibility for them to become their OC- to devastating results.

That's all for today! To keep up with screenshots and more news, be sure to follow @TastyStewdios on twitter!

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

What's Cooking at Tasty Stewdios? (Aug 2017)


Hello!

This past month we’ve been finishing up the remaining gameplay systems of Forever and Ever. Once these things are in place, we can switch gears into focusing on writing stories, designing missions, art assets, and other content that uses these systems. We hope to have these systems-related features done by the end of the month, at which point we will begin looking at options for playtests and all the refining that comes along with it. For this month’s post, we’d like to take a closer look at Incurable, and the incredible city they inhabit, New Kopis!