Welcome to the first Development Diary for Zerra’s Adventure. The goal of these diaries is to share details about the game’s development and milestones in a traditional reading format. Without further ado, grab your cup of coffee or soda, get comfortable, and let’s begin. [b]First things first. How many years has the game been in development?[/b] Development began in 2021, based on a game of the same name I had been creating for a few years to entertain myself and my friends. During the pandemic, I found myself rediscovering various hobbies, and one day, I stumbled upon the old version of the game. I played it and thought, "I could actually make a game, couldn’t I?" Seconds later, I opened the engine and started creating. After a few months working on the story, I realized I was dedicating a lot of hours to the project, so I decided to stop using assets and start developing my own. Thus, at the beginning of 2022, Zerra and the entire game universe underwent a complete transformation into a unique, original design. From then on, my goal was to create a game I could finish and release so more people could enjoy the crazy ideas I kept coming up with. And that’s how we’ve reached this point. [b]2024: The Most Important Year for Zerra’s Adventure So Far[/b] [u]I. Major Milestones:[/u] [b]Steam Page[/b] This year, I had a clear goal: the game needed a Steam page. I wanted people who heard about it to have a place to learn more about it beyond what they could find on X (Twitter). I worked on the trailer and Steam page from January to April, and I finally launched it. It was a beautiful moment. The phrase, “Mom, look, I’m making a game,” became more real than ever. First mission: accomplished. [b]Closed Beta[/b] I had avoided this for months. I didn’t want anyone besides my friends to try the game and tell me it was broken, boring, or that I was outright wasting my time on it. I was simply too scared. But somehow, I mustered the courage and made a call on Twitter for anyone interested in being a tester. The response was amazing: people I didn’t know were reaching out because they wanted to play the game. It was strange but awesome. There was no turning back. I uploaded the beta and spent a couple of weeks updating it, fixing a few (thousand) bugs, and implementing many suggestions from testers. It was exhausting but absolutely worth it. The feedback was mostly positive, with constructive criticism that made the game much better than the original proposal. Thanks again to all the testers who took the time to give me feedback, especially those who endured game-breaking bugs :D [b]YouTube Appearance[/b] “Mom, I was on TV!” That sums it up. To be honest, when I saw Zerra’s Adventure featured in a “25 Upcoming Indie JRPGs You NEED to Know About!” video from a channel I’d followed for years, I went absolutely crazy (in every sense, haha). I remember perfectly: I was on the couch with my phone, and suddenly I saw it. I just couldn’t believe it. I started jumping with excitement, showed it to my then-girlfriend (now fiancée, hehe), and when she realized it, she was thrilled too. That day, I felt the game could be something people might want to play. From then on, I was even more determined to give it my all. By the way, thank you again, Taylor (@TheGamingShelf). Here’s the video if you want to catch my second of fame (and check out other great games to add to your wishlists =)) [previewyoutube=7yjWaFJpAf4;leftthumb][/previewyoutube] [b]II. Development[/b] 2024 was also the year when the game’s development progressed the most. What made the difference was, for the first time, I established an official schedule to work on the game. Every Tuesday morning, without fail, I was sitting with my coffee, working on some aspect of the game. It became my favorite day of the week. Some key progress includes: - Numerous battle and map animations, with different poses for various characters. - New environments: forest, cave, clouds, desert, snow, and others I’ll skip to avoid spoilers. - Many new enemies with unique designs and mechanics. - Progress in the game’s story. - Refinements to the battle system. On a technical level, I also implemented features like key remapping, controller support, and language selection (English and Spanish), along with significant optimization improvements. [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44973110/4293ba9d56776fef16e5f37af92f908f098f835a.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44973110/edf1ceeae67fc5919dac71e7f044c6c7a55a67dc.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44973110/1491d4478e9f9fc2b986b0ad17fe74d7fcf93997.png[/img] [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44973110/ce4c57e37d3980561fa35cb2e562aecd5bc7bd86.png[/img] [b]Plans for 2025[/b] 2025 is packed with plans. Here are the main milestones I hope to achieve: - Add voice effects for characters (e.g., attacks, expressions like “hey,” “ouch,” “yeah,” sighs, screams, etc.). There are no plans for voiced dialogues. - Hire a musician to create the game’s original soundtrack (This part excites me the most!). - Launch Closed Beta 2.0 early in the year. - Public demo release. - Updated trailer (I love and hate seeing how outdated the current trailer is—it means I’ve made so much progress). - Participate in SteamFest. - Game release in Q4. [b]How do I plan to achieve all this?[/b] By maintaining my current workflow and taking necessary breaks to recharge and avoid burnout. That’s all for now. If you’ve read this far, you have my utmost gratitude. I hope to share more updates on the game’s progress by the end of June. See you then! =) [img]{STEAM_CLAN_IMAGE}/44973110/c667b337cf0ab87d90f55b01aaa3dde36e5696a7.gif[/img]