What's cooking? As some of you may know, I embarked on this journey nearly three years ago, in September 2020. Back then, I was an enthusiast and dreamer who had little knowledge about game development and the industry. Now, after three years of experience, if I could send a message to my younger self (like Lord Raiden), it would go something like this: This seems impossible, you shouldn't pursue it. Don't give up if you've already taken this path. In essence, I have already followed the second piece of advice. Over the past three years, we've had various artists come and go, but the programming team has undergone significant changes. We had to start from scratch at one point and have revised the code for most systems multiple times. This was mainly due to the fact that, like me, my programmer friend is not very experienced. Currently, the team consists of one programmer, a couple of freelance artists, and myself, the designer and owner of the project. Fortunately, the individuals who have remained dedicated to the project have shown remarkable mental prowess, particularly our programmer/engineer/codemaster. Despite the challenges, difficulties, and setbacks we've faced, we have finally reached a point where we can at least envision a clear path toward the future.
What's coming? Long story short, despite having learned not to provide specific timelines for release, I am pleased to announce that we will be launching a playable demo (alpha version of the game) before the end of summer. Our main objective is to enter Early Access in the winter and generate some revenue because, well, I have to take care of my basic needs too. I have already made significant personal sacrifices to bear the financial burden of this project, and I cannot endure it for another year. While I have doubts about investors and am not particularly inclined towards Kickstarter (as it requires a considerable amount of work for modest returns), I have willingly subjected myself to this financial hardship. However, I genuinely believe that all this struggle will fade away in the not-too-distant future, only to be replaced by the greater challenges of release stress, player feedback, and numerous bugs... More technical... As I mentioned before, we have extensively overhauled most systems and their codes, which required a significant amount of work to get things in order. Recently, we have nearly completed the Quest System, which was the only untouched system remaining in the game. Now, after the initial coding phase, we will need to go back and refine everything from the beginning. Currently, most systems are interconnected and successfully communicating with each other. However, the main challenge lies in the abundance of intricate details in the game, which further complicates our code. Therefore, we anticipate needing at least a month or two to polish everything. Additionally, I estimate that I will personally require 2-4 weeks for playtesting. Once we are confident in the state of the game, we will release a demo, hoping to engage many players who can thoroughly test the game and provide valuable feedback. This feedback will guide our continued work on the project. We will demonstrate most systems in the game in demo, but a few systems like Camping will be left out for Early Access.
Last word I have a small request to make. Currently, we have a limited number of wishlists on Steam and followers on Twitter. While I don't want to excessively promote the game before we have a solid demo, I kindly ask that if you have friends who enjoy old school turn-based RPGs, please help us spread the word. Best regards Semih

We had a fruitful month of December. That was a month we mostly focused on items which is an integral part of the game. Here i am gonna give small details about it.
We have bunch of item classes such as potions, herbs, foods, fruits, tools, gewgaws and so on... Two classes which would probably be most interesting for players are: 1- Potions 2- Gewgaws Each hero can equip up to 3 potions 2 of which are controlled manually. 3rd potion is used on Provision Slot as seen below.
Potions aren't as straightforward as you might find in other games. Health potion is the simplest and most classic one. It heals the user for certain % of life. However, it decreases Vigor (an attribute that determines the max hp) until end of the quest, thus consequantially a player will not be able to spam Health potions but use them when it is really necessary. Additionally, -as every other potion- it has certain chance of giving the user a negative trait called as "Potion Addict". Potions are only items that are usable during combat. I aim to add strategical depth to the combat by giving positive and negative effects to a potion at the same time. When designing a game, the urge to create more and more complex stuff might possess the game designer. On the other hand, the bitter truth is that this makes the job of programmer harder. We had discussions back and forth with my programmer mate to get to a common point. At the end, although i had to regulate certain aspects of potions (and items in general) i didn't wanna kill off the interesting effects of potions. Long story short, all these little decisions we make throughout the development process, either makes the game better or helps it release faster but rushed. After all this time, approx 2 years of work, i don't intend to release a game just for the sake of releasing a game. We are taking things easy, but going steady. There are many game design decisions i had to make, to add a unique aspect on our game. (Otherwise why would you spend time on playing our game but not Darkest dungeon or likes?) But this obsession unfortunately increases the dev time. I thought we were gonna release a demo by February couple months ago. Now i am more leaning towards a late march or april demo release. I have no doubt we are getting there and we started to have something solid already. But this truly is a very exhausting process. I am sure lots of fellow indie devs understand me. I don't have extra job to support project budget. Neither do i have time. But i have to focus and work on the project after so long time with the same amount of care and discipline. It is pretty hard. Harder than i initially thought it would be. Nonetheless, when the pain is higher, the result will be better. At least this is what we wanna believe.
Before closure i would like to talk very shortly about Gewgaws. We spent almost a month about these naughty little items. They are very similar to trinkets from Darkest Dungeon. Though each of them has a slot type. And a hero can only wear 1 Gewgaw of same slot type in the 3 Gewgaw slots that he has. So same guy can not wear 2 Neck items or 2 Head items. (You cant put 2 helms together in real life right?) Well maybe you can wear 2 rings but why complicate the framework more? Although there is an exception for Dwarves (there is currently just 1 hero planned with race Dwarf). He has no limit for Ring slot type count. Every single item has a Class, Culture or Race restriction. X item can be worn only by Humans and Elves. This is a race restriction. Y item can be worn only by Macalakies, Safrimans and Mngwas. This is a culture restriction. And Z item can be worn by Water Mage, Enchantress, Moss Mage and Sparksherald. This is a class restriction. I mean did we have to create restriction on all items? No. But logically, a human and a water buffalo-man would not really wear the same Helm. So why not apply it on the game design? Sometimes i really feel bad for my colleague for the programming difficulties he faces, but at the end of the day i believe everything is for the best. We are getting there. Please continue following the game updates on twitter. I try to post stuff time to time to shed some light about the project. We are on track but we are also very very tired. Especially me and programmer. I worked with many artists and animators throughout the period but as this is not their only job and they are not that much deep into the project, i can't say the same thing for them. We are a core team of 2, although at least 4-5 guys helped us with the project for a long time in terms of art and animations. Lets not forget the musician, who had done a great job. You can listen to our main theme in the link below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFlWO1j41S0 Btw i have just scratched the surface of Gewgaws. I could talk longer about the Gewgaw quality types, how different each quality type from one another, suffixes prefixes and so on... But i will leave it up to later. Hopefully you will find it out yourself along with the demo. Have a nice 2023 and please pray for us. After all this trouble, work, sufferance, sweat, tears and blood, this is the year we will release the game. Regards Semih

Greetings to you good people of Capua!

What's up now?

Why set up goals if you can't make it?

What is the meaning of a demo for us?

All is good

Signs of life

Team of strangers

Revival

Voice gives life

Demo release?

The Jungle

Skills

No Hell, No Piece of Cake

Lore and Story

Conclusion

Honestly my preference is to continue the development process unfettered rather than spending some time here and there to give updates which no one will read about - but i have to. Shargad First Blood shouldn't be seen like a game dead before it was born, because it isn't. I mean not that it isn't born but it isn't dead, at least not yet. And probably, unless something terrible happens to me or some of my main helpers/buddies - main programmer and few artists i have been working for a while now - the game process will continue. I am not gonna get into details of how much trouble, pressure we face in daily routine with not only game development but real life, or how many tough choices i personally have to make to get things going - let alone the vicious economic downturn here in Turkey damages our budget, because none of you care about all these. And i totally understand that. We, as game developers, claim to steal your time and money to give you something fun in return. We are not beggars afterall. So main goal here is to make a fun game which players can play and shall not regret the time they have spent playing, learning or being annoyed with the game. (Yes we have Dodge and a lot of attacks will miss the target, i know it is annoying but you gotta live with that somehow...)

How to make a fun game?

Pricing a game / Regional pricing

It has been quite a roller coaster ride for me, this whole thing. They have said "Game dev process" is pretty hard before i started it and i knew it, but soon i realized those were just vague words until i actually experience it. Frequently i am confused between using the word "I" or "We" when i start the sentences, because i have started this journey alone. It surely has pros and cons. But first you have to define yourself, whether you are a lone wolf or you can be a member of the pack. Lone wolves are mostly alone because they are actually left out by the pack. The ones who thrive alone can follow the path i did. The rest, better find yourself teammates to share the burden. Because game development is a very extensive job and there is no way in the hell you can do everything alone. Well maybe you can, but it will probably take 5-6 extra years compared to what you can achieve with reliable teammates. Who else loves hammock? In my case it was different, it wasn't all about gaming but Shargad. I have been already worldbuilding Shargad, the fantasy universe this game is based upon, for the last 6-7 years and i have already written and published a 120k words book and written 200k more which haven't been published yet. Idea of a game set upon Shargad was already in the back of my mind, but i always thought it is a distant dream. Especially if you are referring to Triple A games - you know thats the first thing that comes to mind when somebody ever imagines to make a game. If i had a few million dollars budget i wouldn't be doing this anyway, probably i was in Hawaii, swinging in my hammock and writing my 3rd or 4th book. Unfortunately, life doesn't always give you what you want, and whenever it gives something too easy, it takes something back. I have been doing sales of machinery for the past couple years. Worked in various industries but no, i knew deep down corporate life was not for me. I actually knew it before even i started. But society pulls you to a point where you can do nothing but bow down to it. So i had to chew it hard and work 5 years in a world i didn't belong. On the side though, i kept working on Shargad series. I was searching for an exit plan... "Nobody reads book these days" was the most common phrase i have heard back then. "Why do you even write it?" I also heard a lot of, there are just too many foreign words in your book, i can't understands too, but i am not getting there. Nobody knows Sumerian these days anyways... The exit plan I had some ideas for an exit plan but none that would work. Too much pressure from family, society whatever whatever. You had to come up with something strong, something... that will make money actually. Who would care whether you are happy at what you are doing anyway? So there was no easy way out. Ironically, i made it too easy. I quitted my job, just like that. Simple and sweet. No one cried for me, except for my manager who probably had tears of joy. I had to survive a few incoming waves from within the house though, of "WHY"s "What the heck"s and so on... And i knew i had to do something before the waves turn into Tsunami. Yes, i had to do something... Well for a few months i have just played Northgard at home. I will never play multiplayer RTS games again, too engaging, kills all your time. I could have made a game in the same amount of hours... Meanwhile i have been writing the second book of the Shargad Saga series. I actually have written a long time ago but things had changed. Now i had to edit but it was more of a rework, a huge rework. I have almost rewritten the whole thing. I had settled a nice Northgard in the day, writing in the night type of routine. Meanwhile just to resist the terrible storm in the house (yes all elements were used by my parents, air, water, earth, add to that the frightening stories of Hellfire), i started to look for a job half-assed. Return of the lone wolf I was happy, i had broken the rotten loop i was in, but i couldn't survive for many years without a job. Then i had this idea, to do sales, but this time, not in the pack, as a lone wolf. Like a mediator. I set up some arrangements with old clients for an event and scheduled a business trip to Spain. I was gonna go for business, but you know, also take a chill in Canarias. It could have been some relief. On paper, i was not idle, i would do some light negotiations and rest a week and then come back. Everything sounded good for me. Then something happened. Crown in spanish. You know what it is. My trip was canceled because everyone in the event was scared their ass off. I still dnt know, how i was so ready to go. A few days later, the flight had been canceled anyway. So the idea of going to Spain and not coming back was good on paper, but in reality, it would have messed me up for sure. My entourage who complained i was never getting out of home, now were praying for me not to go out. There was a worldwide crisis, but still time flied. I couldn't just not do anything. Then i remembered the quote of coach Snyder: "Adversity is opportunity in disguise." At that point, i guess my Turkish blood intervened. We are good at converting crises into opportunities. Yes, it was time. I had to make a game. But what game? Even the cheapest Triple A game costed a million dollar. I didn't have so much money. I didn't know any dumb investor who would invest so much and then not reap what he sow exponentially. I guess it was another divine intervention this time. Darkest Dungeon saved my ass. I had bought it a year ago, never touched it because i had basically no time from work. However, now i had more time than anything. I played it and it did nothing but gave me hope, a good game with low resources is doable! Even the world wasn't built in a day Game idea was there long ago, it didn't happen out of nowhere like a revelation. I was thinking a lot whether a HoMM type of game could be done in Shargad universe and after playing Darkest Dungeon my mind had shifted towards that specific DD-like genre. Good thing about Shargad was i already had a strong story and built many races, cultures in the game, so i could make a game with Town system and bunch of playable heroes. Although Darkest Dungeon triggered my hopes, it wasn't quite the answer. I had something else in mind. Something more spicy. More towns, more quests, but less grind. Something where players would go for Hunt in the wilderness and come back Town, play some mini games and take a chill... I was playing, thinking, processing my thoughts and searching for ways how i could get things done. Of course i purchased those online courses from udemy. And downloaded unity. But it didn't take my long to realize i had to spent 3 years to get to a point where i could call myself a programmer. Indeed, i couldn't be a good programmer. Because i don't have that much patience and i wasn't a well organized person. Two specs that each good programmer should have. So what i had to do? Surely find a programmer first, but how? Don't know anyone in the business in Turkey. Well, i had to start searching, somewhere, Linkedin for instance... Every story has an end, but not right now - Now lets take a break. Because since i didn't have enough time to write my book due to diving into the dev process too much, my writing impulses started to surge like the Sea of Tides in Shargad. I will stop here, probably write a second episode and explain how blindly i jumped into business, how my earlier programmers created a circus and alltogether we played a fake game of creating a game and the hard transition to now, where we at. Where are we at? Shortly, we are 1 month of excessive work away from creating a playable demo. We are rushing for the Steamfest in October. I am cautious because if we rush too much, we might lose control and mess things up in the long run. But this is also a great opportunity for visibility so we can't just neglect. Yes, i am telling we because even though those other guys i am working with are all freelancers, they are putting a lot of work and time into this. Surely they have other work too, i can't expect people to put their time and effort for me and not pay them well enough. But i can't also pay well enough because... i said it. It is just personal resources man. No financer, no kickstarter and add to that wild recession in Turkish economy in the recent years. I actually feel pretty lucky to be where i am at! This project should have been collapsed long ago... Praises to my buddies from across 10+ countries, who kept working together with me to help this dream come true. I am not gonna tell their names one by one, they will be written in the Credits upon full release anyway (also i am a bit scared someone can take them away from me). And hopefully, we will make it to the end. I really hope, nothing will collapse, after we have come so far. Now my only plan is, not to spend too much time with writing here but the game script and dialogues. And also, art direction, some UI design and a bit of voice acting. I don't count the excel sheets i have to prepare and explain to the programmer so he can apply to his framework. Thus, time goes by. We still need time, but i feel, something is coming. Darkness is upon us. No, not that. That is the classic voice line from any expensive movie trailer nowadays. Though, truely, i hope something is coming. Just need some more push, a bit of blood, some sweat, and tears of joy like my manager had when i was gone. Bear with us. There is a nice saying in my country, "Best pear is eaten by the bear." Our pear is yet too sour, but we will be right there with you when its ripe enough. Join us in twitter https://twitter.com/ShargadS Discord channel is empty, but if you wanna join and just be idle, you are welcome. https://t.co/rBLai7fyM5?amp=1 Regards, Semih P.S. I am pretty sure only 6% of the people who started the long read came this far. You are loved.

• Pick one of 3 classes for main hero Abbas: Warden, Skirmisher, Herbalist and start your journey. Support him with 24 playable heroes/companions.
  
• 27 unique classes, 16 races/cultures and around 50 types of enemies to face during quests...
  
• 4 combat skills (each to be improved with 3 perks to choose from 6), 2 camping skills, 2 common skills, 1 weapon skill and random "uzu" skill that only Abbas can wield.
  
• 3 Towns/Cities, each with different buildings, landscapes, events, NPCs and quests to venture. Progress through the game to unlock towns and companion.
  
• Interact with objects, collect loot and fight with enemies in sidescroller quest scenes.
  
• Open the map to pick your quest destination, camp to satiate your thirst and starvation.
  
• Attend to your job on daily basis to receive bonus rewards. 9 different professions in Town, various mini games in Taverns and various traps in Quest scenes...
  
• Build Abbas' fame towards Hero or Villain. The behavior of NPCs and even companions will change accordingly.
  
• Measure your time correctly as you live in a day and night cycle. Embrace the duality of the Moon and the Sun.
  
• Dive deep into the fantasy world of Shargad, a home to various races, cultures, towns, heroes, animals, monsters, magic disciplines and more...

• OS: Ubuntu 18.04
• Processor: 2.0 GhzMemory: 2 GB RAM
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce 200 or compliant
• Storage: 2 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: 1080p. 16:9 recommended

• OS: Ubuntu 18.04
• Processor: 2.9 GhzMemory: 4 GB RAM
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: GeForce 420 or compliant
• Storage: 2 GB available spaceAdditional Notes: 1080p. 16:9 recommended