Retrospective, Devlog 39, and the future.

First and foremost...

Thank YOU for being here. I appreciate each and every single one of you. You guys don't know it but I really do consider and think about your support, it means the world to me. As an artist actually getting something out of your hardwork is just the best feeling in the world. I don't think I could feel more fulfilled artistically than creating what I want and having generous people who enjoy it enough to support me along the way. At the start, Escape From Visgrant Manor was my dream game. I started to create what I wanted most and enjoy the most atmospherically, gameplay wise, and character design wise. The reason I say this was "at the start" Is because honestly, I've grown a lot since then. I LOVE this game. I LOVE working on this game. But the beauty of life is...You live and you learn. And I'm super stoked to get a continued future of art and game development. So is EFVM my dream game? Probably. But have my tastes, skills, and ambitions evolved to something more grand? Yes. Of course! Now for the post.

This post's gonna be a long one. It's going to include a retrospective on my work throughout the year, what I have completed most recently, and what I have learned from this project.

DEVLOG 39.

-What's new?

-The plan has changed...

-My last post I spoke about the theater being next. It is. Howeeeever, I checked back on my notes and chronologically, if the secret route is being played, the Wendigos cabin is next. So I'm taking a brief detour to work on her stuff for the time being. The secret route will pick up inside the theater after this, and i may, too.

-More work on Witika Village. Some very fun lore and a story I'm excited to hint at. As I believe i've said before, smart players may realize the story of witika village and visgrant manor are the same. Or at least...Have the same villain...

-New area + competition. That's right, there will be a community competition. There is a new area that is so obscure and hard to find that I will be posting a screenshot of myself there. Whoever is first to send me proof that they've been there as well will get some free art of an OC in the game. This should be available next build, there will be more in the official announcement, such as rules and what not.

RETROSPECTIVE.

A lot has happened this year. I just got a notification from Onedrive showing me Reise's original RPGmaker custom made faces from December 30th of last year, which means the game is now over 1 entire year old. It's come incredibly far, especially considering I had to scrap and re-start the entire game to be much more to my liking.

I've done a lot of art. There are currently 17 game overs with plenty more to come. A lot of programming, eventing out lots and lots of different things and small details. Some events nobody may ever find! But that's the point of an adventure/adventure game. You never know what's out there, you just get to theorize and are rewarded when you discover. There are, give or take, 80 maps in the game. 80 individual areas that are not connected to anything else, counting every witika village interior, every room in the manor, and some of the secrets to come. There are hundreds if not a thousand pictures in game, all for characters busts and expressions. I've made wayyyy too many assets myself, like the mechanical room pipes, some foliage for the greenhouse, the grandfather clock, and so on. The manor is nearly explored. I find so much joy in getting my vision into the real working game, but as I progress that feeling is replaced with relief and gladness as most of it is done. The last of the main 5 areas is the Library, and it is the only one that is not mapped out. Aside from that, I have 2 more bedrooms. (and the upper area + end of the game...) There's still plenty of coding, but Visgrant Manor is nearly complete map wise.

THE FUTURE.

What have I learned from this? I think it's pretty clear when I just say: if I ever do make another game, it's going to be finished enough to be a demo, and then the day the demo releases, I would announce build 2 is ready on the patreon. This is all to say that I feel bad for releasing a game that has unfinished art and missing characters. I never want to release anything again without every character bust finished, and I do apologize. I hope nobody has been let down and that we all share an understanding. I suppose it's not the end of the world, seeing as there simply must be more games out there with way less finished features you can pay for, but still. It's not the mountains way!

But anyways, more about the future. Are there plans for a second game? No. I'm not currently planning out nor working on another game. End of story. That being said... I AM an artist and I constantly have new ideas... Truth be told, there is a setting I'm working on. It's not like I'm going "oh, this game will take place here!" it's more like "this would be a cool location. It wont fit into EFVM so I'll see if i wanna do it someday." I have also learned a lot more about game design, so if I do re-enter the ring some day, puzzles will be handled better, replay-ability would be revisited, and combat would almost certainly be reworked.

As for my future plans with EFVM...

Well. Keep going! Keep going strong. I've been pretty amped about the secret routes ending and have diverted some attention to it for now. Other than that, stick with the plan, keep working, get art done to slot in, and it'll be done. It's been a long year with lots of progress. I very strongly believe and hope that EFVM should see a 2026 release. I have to thank all of you once more for making all of this not only possible but so much easier for me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. And do enjoy your stay inside the Manor.