Hello World, and Welcome!

Why a Dev Log?

After having read many other indie developers' dev-logs, and having them found both incredibly inspiring and useful, I thought it might be a good idea to do the same, and chronicle my solo-dev journey.

And Why a RPG?

Why make a RPG? Because they're my favorite genre - since this is a hobby / labor-of-love project I'm just making the game I'd always wanted to play. But aren't RPGs complicated and take forever to make? Well, yes. But I'm setting certain limitations for my own ambition to keep scope in check. I also know of at least one example, "Die Dunkle Dimension", a similar game launched 30 years ago, made by a solo dev, who didn't have the advantages of modern tools and programming environments. So, I think it's feasible.

Well then, tell us more...

As I enjoy exploration and storytelling, the game will be a hommage to the Ultima series games, Ultima IV and Ultima V in particular. But it won't be a clone. The game should feel like an Ultima, but art, story and setting are of my own imagination.

Possible Tag Line: What if the Avatar had a cat...?

Play the Avatar's cat and find a moongate of your own, taking you to a mythical Asian inspired world where you will have to discover your unique feline skills and make allies among other species to save the world! (all while your human is busy saving Britannia...)

And if you're thinking "oh no, yet another game with cats", the idea is to truly capitalize on the fact that you're playing a cat. Why have a sword when you have claws? And 9 lives will certainly be useful in your adventure! And as stereotypical companion of wizards and witches, do cats not have certain hidden abilities? Maybe not a dog's nose, but maybe you'll find a good canine companion for your party to make up for that!

Technical stuff

The game is written in C. That's the language supported by the Playdate SDK, but it also allows targetting many other platforms, such as retro computers. The editor is written in C++, using the Qt framework. Support scripts are in Python and Lua. The build system is Make. Other tech used: Docker, SQLite, SDL2 and retro compilers (DJGPP, Amiga-GCC, Retro68).

Graphics are authored in Photoshop and Aseprite. And Audio? Well, that's my weakness... I'll have to learn and find out (or find a giften collaborator?)

Currently supported platforms: MS Windows 10/11, Apple macOS Sonoma and newer, Linux, PlayDate console, MS-DOS 6.22, Amiga OS 3.1, Mac OS System 7.