So, everything's been kinda sorta functional now. Still some minor issues and oversights, but nothing particularly game-breaking lingering about. However, there's a few plans for the future and a critical colour conundrum you ought to know about

Migrating to 64-bit

From R55 onwards, this game'll only be targeting x64 on all fronts. Still ain't clear how functional the 32-bit version was on Linux, but for the longest time the game just didn't launch without debug on Windows which may or may not have leaked in to a few older revisions. If nothing else, it'd be good to not have that (DEBUG) text in the window title at all times.

The Updates

So, there's two big updates in the works set for releasing sometime around late August and December, the latter of the two hopefully kicking off the transition from Early Access to Full Release. There's still at least one more Minor Update to sift through first before Summer kicks off, if only to clear up some plain unfinished things like unique area backgrounds, species-specific speech lines and more actually usable/non-passive items. There's not too many big things set in stone for now, but here's some features to look forward to

• Better Battling: As is, both regular and quick/connection battles are totally automatic without any input from the player, or any effects in the former sort of battles beyond damage modifiers and recoil. One thing that's sure to be in the next major update is proper commanding, status effects and and other, mainly Duty-related events during regular battles.
• Extra Battle Facilities: Beyond the pre-set Tourneys and waves of Night Raids, there's also a proper tournament mode in Arenas with a range of regular and special NPCs alike, and a great gauntlet in the Tower, using your entire party to face the entire roster... once the final major update of the year hits.
• Timed Events: With the date system already in place and really not used for much beyond expiring quests and moving party members at work/school/whatever, there'll also be some new in-game events to watch out for, be it parties, special minigames or outbreaks of something rare during Ventures...
• Roamers: While you're idling at home, taking quests or Venturing out, other Reverians may appear to challenge your teammates or ask for assistance - and may still linger around once the deed is done as a rival, friend, or potential new recruit.
• Creature Creators Update: Here's a fun fact - out of the final(ish) roster of 220, 20 of them are just are variants of one specific species. More to the point, there's 20 reserved spots for goodness knows what, really. One day, I'd like to call in some fan-made submissions to fill in some of these unused slots, perhaps during or after this year. More on that some other time.
• Some Other Things: Also soon to be includes gardening at home, visiting other homelands, relations/breeding and..?

Full Colour Sprites

This feature's the one's been requested above all else, and honestly? I'm not at all chuffed about that. Still, while I'm not opposed to implementing this, there's only one little problem

each species has two colour alts, but only one sprite sheet per species. Couple that with goodness-knows how many sprites are already completed (even including items), and it's all maybe a bit much to ask. In other words, colour sprites aren't completely out of the question, but they're just gonna take a while. That's about it for now. Thanks for looking, and look out for more revisional updates starting next month.

[ 2025-03-30 10:30:28 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S FIXED

- Venture encounter oddities - Main scene (not the menu nor splash) being invisible - Menu having untranslated Y/N prompt - Starting any sort of battle or selecting a battler being impossible - Visual oddities with READY screen text and speech overlapping - Game crash from team select attempting to ready a slot for Ventures/Raids

[ 2024-12-26 13:35:21 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S FIXED

- "SHOP" being unchanged in the German translation - Selecting a duo either leading to a game crash or not allowing another teammate to be selected - Sprites sometimes not showing on the READY screen - Game freeze from certain events attempting to return to the main Venture scene

[ 2024-12-20 06:30:08 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

- Implemented hatchable/adoptable Child forms for all normally obtainable, non-invader species - These species will now start as this when hatched, but not when evolved from a Lesser specifically - B.CAKE no longer does anything for Adults - Save files can now be created/loaded outside of the application's data folder - Adoptable slots now go from 5 to 10 - Added more Handler sprites (now 58/66) - Adjusted Dreheroc's and Nevernir's sprites

WHAT'S FIXED

- Unified feed screen only acknowledging party members' forms when loading in sprites, even if the consumer is the player character - Multiple erroneous checks for finishing a Connection battle - Adoption menu being inaccessible

[ 2024-11-30 20:20:31 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S FIXED

- Menu oddities: - Select option on main menu's starter menu being untranslated - Quit to menu option being cut off in the MENU tab menu (albeit only in English) - Starter reverian being duplicated across all 20 party slots

[ 2024-11-06 07:30:12 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S FIXED

- Game crashes/freezing from: - Finishing a training/arcade minigame or attempting to back out of the latter - Looping between Player/Party menus and profiles when attempting to back out of one or the other

[ 2024-10-13 17:25:06 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

- Completed converting and translating a few unchanged Connection, Venture, minigame, and finishing scenes, barring certain commands and events

WHAT'S FIXED

- Some scenes pointing to unused string main_select - Username entry scene having misaligned text - Windows(?) Steam port crashing before properly launching - Application not being quittable from the pre-splash settings screen

[ 2024-10-12 17:00:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

- Added menu and in-game translations for *most* strings in German, French, Spanish and Italian - Records are now implemented for team members only - Player characters now have their successful crafts recorded - Crafting changes: - Items that use skills other than Crafting now boost that particular stat after successful creations instead of only targeting Crafting - Records for crafting now acknowledge what sort of item is created - Player characters now have their successful crafts recorded - Drinks now focus on the Chemistry stat instead of Cooking - Species changes: - Species that resist Metal or have Steely skin are no longer maddened by nearby Merciren - Makotatsu no longer ignores female party members if they're a species it already likes/dislikes - Valzaios no longer warms up more than usual to male players if they're a disliked species - Added more quirks - Home changes: - Fondness and Bond between teammates can now be gleamed at HOME ROOM CHECK or by pressing Button B while someone's visiting - The player character can now be invited to hang out with the Active Reverian, but now cannot be set as the Active unless everyone else is dead or dismissed - Visitors are now acknowledged during crafting at home instead of just checking for the player specifically - The player's abilities now no longer do anything until they're right next to a party member - Visiting the homeland eatery now prompts a switch between the Active Reverian and their party member visitor, if any - Nurse, Echo Chamber, Motivator, Hostler, Wild Call, Inhumanity, Abnormie, Diviner and Aura abilities now activate on party members too, instead of just the player - Some of these also no longer scale with the user's level - Added 13 more Handler forms (now 46/66) - Invaders that wind up recruitable where they shouldn't will be killed - Added DEX shortcuts to a team member's species, even if they would otherwise be blocked from viewing under normal means - Consolidated outing select screens into team select (not that this makes the player acceptable) - Updated team select's script - The Night Raid/Venture menus, INFO and PLAY tabs now use unified menus alongside the main menu, home menu, GEAR tab and MENU tab - Specific party members can now be picked during player/party prompts instead of only the Active Reverian - The game now refuses to connect to other instances that aren't on the same revision - Replaced SETUP USER ICON with LANGUAGE at the main menu - Trimmed save files somewhat - Launching the application for the first time now mutes it completely, prompting you to pick a language and (re-)enable sound - Reduced global volume - And some other things

WHAT'S FIXED

- Game crashes/freezing from: - Nicknames going missing once fondness data is refreshed - Attempting to back out of the shell canvas screen - Calculating fondness between two party members during room events - Backing out of/finishing up in the Item Stock/Pouch menu - Attempting to feed a party member generic food - Ability oddities: - Sensitive acting like Pollinator instead of speeding up the status counter - Motivator checking if the ability holder is a party member instead of the visitor before activating - Game crash from Fickle Fettle or Nurse activating - Night Raid/Venture oddities: - Venture switching via menus not pointing to the actual scene - Checking held items during Night Raids kicking you back to the menu - Egg generation not checking the 10th Egg Carton slot - Rolling a recruitment event in when the current area doesn't allow for recruiting and the current quest (if any) isn't a Poaching one causing said quest to be considered completed - Recruitment of regular encounters being disabled during Poaching quests - Menu oddities: - Quitting out of party select from room inviting prompt sending you back to the old home room menu - Accessing home minigames via the PLAY tab instead of the home menu throwing you back to said menu instead of its selection of games - Refusing to evolve at the End of the Line sending you back to Terminus Crossroads instead of itself - Homeland hub menu pointing to an old Gigs status screen and not the consolidated outing one - In-game homeland selection screen text potentially overflowing - Homeland Y/N prompt having the script for Upgrading - INFO PARTY not checking for a party of less than 2 - Happy status appearing when a party member hates another one instead of an Enraged one - Party select updating itself before checking blocked slots, always making the party member in the first slot seem available even when they aren't - Visiting party members being slightly visible at the edge during room events - Oddities with adult Langarde's sprites, mainly its first frame - Redundancies in setting a venture leader's abilities from the player/party prompt - Merciren's help dialogue appearing for jeering too - Maybe some other things

[ 2024-10-08 18:38:29 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S FIXED

- Evolutions not sticking

[ 2024-09-17 10:03:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S FIXED

- GEAR menu being completely inaccessible - DEX profiles being unquittable - New home menu may or may not have been an unfinished scene

[ 2024-09-17 08:57:53 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

- Added more unique area backgrounds

WHAT'S FIXED

- Menu/screen oddities - New save files couldn't be created at all if one doesn't already exist for that slot - Save present warning being cut off in English - Saving a game not changing the menu nor playing a sound - Loading a game also having its usual sound supplanted by the accept sound - Ready screen not displaying a proper translation

[ 2024-09-17 07:05:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

- Menu changes: - Some menus no longer consist of what's basically just an sprite sheet and multiple bespoke scenes, now having live text in one scene - Resetting user/save data now has an extra Y/N prompt - Outing changes - Voyage/Gig/School conditions are now cleared if a party somehow hasn't been set, but the outing is still considered active - Removed Fauna restrictions for BABY BRAWL and NIGHT FIGHT tourneys - Manual updates: - Replaced outdated logo - Corrected minigames and tourney count (12 and 54, respectively) - Added a few "screenshots" - And some other things - Expanded DEX to mention more species stats and info, including diet, family, natural disposition and evolutions

WHAT'S FIXED

- Outing oddities - Potential game crash from checking outing status with party members not being set correctly - Select screens not accounting for multiple Button A presses on OK - Time scale scene using the script for shell skins instead of its own one - Quitting the application via the MENU tab erroneously playing a fade in transition instead of a fade out - BABY BRAWL and NIGHT FIGHT tourneys not having the first enemy nor rounds properly set - Specific species' friends and enemies being accessed by the wrong species ID - Held items being gauged incorrectly for evolution

[ 2024-09-12 19:48:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

• Selected items are now remembered when going through the Item Stock at home, or the Item Pouch during Ventures and Night Raids
• Inventory counts are now shown on the Item Stock/Pouch screen
• Increased effectiveness of Food and Drink items during Night Raids/Ventures
• Inventory screen can now be scrolled by +/- 10 with D-Pad Up and Down
• Item stock menu now checks items by category instead of type (most still don't do anything regardless)
• Added more warning messages for missing or situational features
• Voyages now give EXP to the participants
• Improved decay/relationship gains and losses from playing minigames with a helping player/party member
• Mood bonuses are now cleared after every fight

WHAT'S FIXED

• Active Reverian and their visitor not being visible during active switching scene
• Secret boss not having colour sprites
• Quest board exiting to the homeland hub menu even if accessed elsewhere
• Tourney progress not going pass no. 22
• AWAY icon not disappearing in outing-related select screens
• Food and Drink items potentially not healing/harming
• Certain minigames not gauging personality correctly

[ 2024-08-26 16:51:41 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

• Reduced cost of B. FUEL

WHAT'S FIXED

• Upgrade screen being invisible
• Potential game crash from certain decay stats not having any value set to them

[ 2024-08-25 09:38:03 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

• Levels (and species names, types and gender in the former case) are now shown during Night Raid and Venture encounters
• Speech during Night Raid/Venture selection is disabled for the time being
• Toned down levels and waves in the last 3 raids
• EXP gained from playing TUG minigame is now affected by size mismatch

WHAT'S FIXED

• Potential game freeze after selecting a leader right before a Venture fight
• Otherwise mute species speaking up during duo selection to directly address the new leader
• The Active Reverian's mood increasing/decreasing and helping party member's EXP being increased twice as much as it's supposed to be during TUG minigame
• Players getting no EXP whatsoever from said minigame
• Quests set in unreleased areas with technically unavailable Ophidiox being generated

[ 2024-08-24 20:48:38 CET ] [ Original post ]

WHAT'S NEW

• 11 species added (114 unique, 135 total)
• 10 tourneys added (50 total)
• 13 areas added (83 total)
• Party members may now attempt to move in to the home screen or just leave for a while
• Party members who instinctively or genuinely don't like one another can and will fight each other while at home; the loser doesn't incur any extra battles nor a true loss in their records, but may end up injured
• Others who really like the Active Reverian are a lot more likely to break in
• Item/Egg trading implemented
• The game now auto-saves after every successful interaction
• Connecting to others of an opposing version/mode will unlock something nice for both the host and client
• Party members in a bad mood might not undergo any Hunger decay while on the home screen
• Visitors may now attempt to leave on their own accord depending on their current state
• Wraiths may attempt to feed off of other party members' Spirit depending on their fondness
• Certain species are now guaranteed to obey no matter what
• Weather conditions now bleed into battle and directly bolster certain abilities/species/types, or damage participants outright
• Adjusted recruitment bonus from Poaching quests
• The 7 Primal boss zones now have recruitment enabled
• Weather conditions now bleed into battle and directly affect certain abilities/species
• Vampire ability no longer bypasses Violator
• Reduced redundancies in gauging what battlers do
• Reimplemented controller support for non-Steam builds
• Added LCD toggles and (volatile) fullscreen zoom for Android
• Randomized SLOTS selection
• Reduced redundancies in ability detection
• Consolidated home screen actions for the Active Reverian and their visitor (minus Home Events)
• And some other things

WHAT'S FIXED

• Finally fixed Energy decay not budging for an asleep Active Reverian
• Game crash from not having anyone available to see off a party (member) going away
• Potential game crash from a teammate attempting to say something that doesn't yet exist during Night Raids and Ventures
• Game crash from Voyage/Gig/School pointing to Venture/Night Raid status screens instead of the Away screen
• Missing response during certain Night Raid downtime speeches
• Canvas selection counts not updating correcly and a game crash from missing sheet names
• Corrected missing glasses on Handler Ferozeon's sad sprite
• Placeholder species speech being left over
• Species from the Imago Update not being considered as released (if still obtainable by regular means)
• Venture encounter menu not updating
• Tourney list including future tourneys with unfinished/undefined species
• Valzaios incorrectly picking up on the presence of female players instead of female party members while undergoing fondness-related stat decay
• Maybe some other things

[ 2024-08-24 14:29:10 CET ] [ Original post ]

Greetings gazers! As of today, Riftcast has now launched on Steam... somewhat, prematurely. The 24th just doesn't count as a valid release date is all. So anyway, I'd like to give my thanks to everyone who's pitched in with feedback and support. You've all been a bunch of wonderful peeps, and I really hope y'all enjoy this game. Do tell of what you're getting up to, and any funnies and secrets you come across! For those that are just joining in, here's the gist of what's up, so far...

• Raise a team of up to 20 Reverians, one-by-one or all at once
• Over 100 obtainable species to raise
• Go on quests to increase your rank and unlock more areas
• Face off against foes in Ventures, Night Raids and Tourneys
• Play minigames to train and bond with your party party
• Send out party members in search of items, money and experience
• Connect with other users over P2P to fight and trade
• And some other things...

Thanks for looking, and stay tuned real soon for a major update... https://store.steampowered.com/app/3025320

[ 2024-08-23 21:59:22 CET ] [ Original post ]

Now, there's been a dolled-up mobile port for Android and WearOS for a few months now. For all intents and purposes, nothing about the game itself is changed beyond the former lacking an overlay and screen size scaling being disabled - it's all in the UI. Anyhow, this is just a cross-promotion for that's existence. There's been a closed test on Google Play for some time now, and today I'm trying for proper WearOS testing too, if I can manage it. These tests do require an email address though, so if you're interested but would still rather not go through all that, gimme a shout one way or another. You will never see this on iOS or Mac, by the way.

[ 2024-08-14 22:20:34 CET ] [ Original post ]

Hello gazers! Mainly just trying out Steam's playtest feature here. Show off the game to more people, maybe get some feedback out of it, y'know? Might be missing a few things from the description, but otherwise every major thing listed is up and ready. A couple of registered peeps should already have this in their libraries by now (at least, I really hope they do), and if you're interested, simply pitch a request and you should be ready to go! Mind, there's always the latest updates ready at the Discord and the website releases page too, but that's neither here nor there. Still, be sure to check the manual, and maybe drop by the server sometime. I'd love to hear some thoughts about all this.

[ 2024-07-12 18:30:36 CET ] [ Original post ]