Elysian Shadows

[Radkin]

Ah, my apologies. I'm catching up with things. I did see the date but thought it would be nice to share. Absolutely can't wait to hear/see more and hopefully someday be able to play this.

(Side note, thoroughly enjoyed listening to the SoundCloud podcast.)

[naiaru]

EDIT: Also, I think you guys said something on the Two Dash Stash podcast about maybe releasing an ISO to download and burn or copy to an SD card in addition to a physical release and pesonally I'd say that I'd prefer it if you guys just released pressed discs for the Dreamcast. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it would kinda cheapen the feel of having a physical copy a little.

Having a digital and physical release alongside each other in my opinion is perfectly fine. All developers are doing it with the current and even previous gens. It's just how the market is now. Having the option to buy a cheaper digital copy is cool with me because it will give more people the opportunity to buy the game, not to mention play it on your SD adapter. I don't believe it changes the merits of the physical copy at all. I think it makes that version more collectible.

Looking forward to see things play out, Team ES!

I would just say about digital copies that those digital copies in current and previous gens are generally not made to be burnable to a physical disc.

Also, the SD card adapter through the serial port (as opposed to that new laser replacement) is really slow, so while it might make sense for smaller DLC-ish things, there might be a seperate problem where instead of people complaining that the Dreamcast version is too expensive, they'll be complaining its load times are too slow.

[Falco Girgis]

Also, the SD card adapter through the serial port (as opposed to that new laser replacement) is really slow, so while it might make sense for smaller DLC-ish things, there might be a seperate problem where instead of people complaining that the Dreamcast version is too expensive, they'll be complaining its load times are too slow.

That's a fair point... and especially since I mentioned the coder's cable, which is slower than sin... We will have to do some serious playing around here if that medium is too slow, as we don't have enough RAM in the DC builds to hold multiple scenes at a time, so each area is a load fetch...

We've organized level/area assets hierarchically so that going from "Forest 1" to "Forest 2" will not be as major of a loadtime as going from "Forest 2" to "Caves 1" would be, since they share the same terrain assets, but it remains to be seen exactly what speed we will need to load levels in a reasonable amount of time from something like the SD card...

Although I honestly have to say that surely the DC scene would prefer "slightly slower" loadtimes when reading custom content from the SD card over no SD card support?

edit: I really need to stop getting carried away with tech posts and scaring everyone off. MY BAD.

[naiaru]

Yeah, for releasing stuff after the fact I think it would be awesome. I just would think that releasing the game to be played entirely off an SD card would degrade the whole experience so that people who wouldn't be willing to pay a premium to get the physical Dreamcast version would probably just be better off with the PC/Ouya/etc. version.

[Falco Girgis]

Ah, point taken in that case.

Also, I just spoke with Tulio of Watermelon games to make sure it was okay for me to be running my big mouth about Elysian Shadows partnering with Pier Solar and being published by Watermelon (I get excited), and we have been given the green light. Haha.

We haven't signed anything official yet, but we are mutual fans of each other's work, and we share the same kind of indie developer vision... ES and PS are kind of like sister projects... Watermelon is a talented bunch of guys, and I'm honored to be affiliated with them.

[Crystal Triad]

Your game is simply beautiful, we love the whole art style to your game. From your breath taking lighting engine that amazes me how well you've got it to run, to your gorgeous sprite work that would most AAA companies to shame. Also from what we have seen you're battle engine looks really intense! We can't wait to try it out, we will be defiantly be pre-ordering as soon as we can.

Thanks,

Crystal Triad

[Falco Girgis]

Wow, thanks so much for those kind words, man... They mean a lot to us!

We stumbled upon your development page on FB, and we are supporting you guys too. Best of luck and keep up the good work!

-- Team ES

[naiaru]

Out of curiosity, are you guys planning on making the manual and case in Japanese and English like the German devs do (though the English is only sometimes...)?

[Falco Girgis]

I believe that decision is ultimately up to WaterMelon Corp, and it has not yet been discussed.

Although I must say that I think it would personally be a mistake to not include a Japanese release with ES, especially as it is a JRPG-influenced game. That would be neglecting a pretty large market of gamers.

If you missed it, our publishing deal was covered on a few big Sega and gaming sites:
http://twodashstash.com/2014/05/elysian ... -revealed/
http://segabits.com/blog/2014/05/27/wat ... dreamcast/
http://www.seganerds.com/2014/05/27/wat ... n-shadows/

Here's our current draft at the Dreamcast box-art:


Also, we officially made it onto Wikipedia. The article is extremely impressive and is the most comprehensive look at everything we have formally and informally released regarding ES along with a complete history of its development, our team, and our entire Adventures in Game Development series... It even quotes podcast interviews where the team and I have accidentally leaked game information.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elysian_Shadows

[naiaru]

Are you guys going to be able to use the Dreamcast logo or will you have to replace it with the Watermelon "WM" (or some other logo)? And does that mean you'll be getting the game translated into foreign languages then?