Time for another monthly update on the progress of VYCE! I’ve been working more on the story mode, specifically some of the locations in the early game. The player starts out in Vanilla Plains, a quaint town with a bit of a dark side.

graphics not final

Not too far down the road is Johemian Grove, where the player receives their first VYCE and learns the mechanics of the game, including the first puzzle where the player must follow the “path of the knight” in order to reach the destination.

who awaits you?

Once you receive your first VYCE, you are immediately sent on a mission downtown to pass it onto someone else. I hope you don’t get to attached to it, because at the end of the day, it is a VYCE after all. South of the players house, you will find the downtown area that features a bar, church, strip club, plasma donation center, recycling plant, restaurants and more. All of this is currently a work in progress, so I will elaborate on the intricacies of these locations further down the line, but there will certainly be lots to do in this podunk town.

As for things that are fully implemented, I’ve added a radio station that has around 40 songs at the moment (my songs and other local artists) but I’m shooting for over 100. These songs take up most of the space in this games file, even though they are highly compressed mp3s and ogg files. The game is still small (around 85mb including 75mb audio) but I am shooting for under or around .5 gigabyte when it is completed, which will likely involve some refactoring.

This game will never be on the Nintendo Switch or Switch 2. Not because I’m worried about any patents that they might have filed, but because I dislike them as a company and the practices they have been exhibiting as of late. That recent Nintendo direct was the final nail in the coffin. I will always be fond of their earlier games, but I’ve lacked any enthusiasm for anything they’ve revealed or honestly anything they’ve released in the last five or so years. This really pains me to say because it’s something I’ve always dreamed of but it is what it is.

I hope to have a video about VYCE out soon, I’m considering calling it “VYCE: First Five Minutes,” but before that, I want to refine the art style and add more locations. Although these are largely irrelevant for the first 5 minutes of gameplay (that aspect is already done), first impressions mean a lot and I want the game to be more presentable if I post about it somewhere other than here.

I wanted the player to get their first VYCE in less than five minutes, and if I really rush, I can get there in around 2. I hate it when games have long, boring, expositional tutorials, and I’ve even considered giving you a VYCE from the get go, but I also want to tell a story and establish the protagonist as an outsider that gradually gets entangled with the inner workings of their world, just like the player is experiencing on their initial play through.

The player surrounded by the first VYCE you receive, Pilly. Which color will you get?

Also pictured in the photo above is the camera system I set up, which allows the player to move the camera around independently of their character. I didn’t think the game would need this, being a pixel art game and all, but for one, it allows the player to see VYCE that are located outside their viewport, giving them easier control of their surroundings, and it’s also a fun thing to fidget with when you’re reading the same dialogue that you’ve read 100 times…

I’m not complaining though, every step of the way has been a blast and I am not slowing down anytime soon, although I have gotten a lot busier with my new job. I’d say I’m past the phase now where I’m “just getting started” and have a much clearer idea about what I want to implement and how I will do it. Still have no idea when I will finish it but I’ll let you know when I do. Thanks for reading!

-S