It's been a while since I've written a diary, but it was more because I had nothing to do. Now I have enough thoughts to write them down here.

After the full release of the second part, I returned to the remake of the first. However, as I said, there will be so many changes compared to the current game that even the word "remake" will be insufficient. But I will not drag out the text and just get down to business. This diary will be more my reflection on the development. It will be filled with my thoughts and reflections. Much of what will be written below will not make it into the final version of the game, and much I will not touch on for now.

The combat system has been slightly reworked compared to Souls Of SoF II. We will also have an initiative bar and the ability to dodge. But also as an additional option to avoid damage, defense will appear.

In previous games, defensive builds simply did not work. This time, this problem is solved. Heals are divided into two categories. The first ones heal 50% of HP and mana (like in the past) and are analogous to Estus from Dark Souls, i.e. they are replenished at bonfires.

The difference from the previous game is that this time they will take a whole turn from the player. I did this for the sake of balance. The second type is consumable. Such heals can either be bought in limited quantities from NPCs or knocked out of mobs. They do not spend a turn, but at the same time heal much less.

I also tried to add more varied buffing magic that manipulates stats during combat.

An example

I didn't really like how covenants worked in the last game. This time, the presence of a covenant will also affect the gameplay. At the moment, 3 covenants are planned. (1 is already 100% ready).

God's Servants - Ability to invade an NPC's world to help repel an intruder.

Denasik's Followers - Ability to invade an NPC's world to kill him.

Lunast's Knights - A semi-secret covenant that allows for an additional ending.

The covenant will be leveled up through a certain NPC using a covenant item. The "God's Slaves" have a black violet, the "Followers of Denasik" have a sword shard. The "Knights of Lunast" have not yet come up with one. But it is likely that there will be none at all.

Vial is an assistant for leveling up the "God's Slaves" covenant.

Flos = dethroned princess.

The Ghost of a Follower is an assistant for leveling up the "Followers of Denasik" covenant.

SoF-chan (updated sprite) - your companion throughout the adventure.

The issue of volume. During the development of the second part, I was guided by a rather strange principle that I noticed not only for myself, but also for many players. "The larger and more voluminous the game, the lower the content bar for players." On the one hand, this is logical, because it is really difficult to create a huge and high-quality product at the same time. But "Souls Of SoF" is already on a fairly low bar as a product. That is, even if you compare it with other self-sufficient indie projects, it will be quite mediocre. Therefore, during development, I tried to create a game that was as voluminous and wide for exploration as possible. It's hard to say how successful it was. The first part of the game takes an average of one and a half to three hours to complete. While the second part takes 5-8 hours without delving into the endings. And if you try to collect all the endings and possible content, it can take even more than 16 hours. This is probably the reason why many people liked the game.

"The longer you look at an ugly person, the more attractive they become" - I don't know if this is true, but for many it works that way. And apparently, this principle also applies to games. All this long text was to the fact that, as in the case of Souls Of SoF II, I try to create as voluminous and wide locations as possible, as well as longer quest lines. At the moment, the game has 98 maps (far from the final number), which is about 2 times less compared to the second part (178 maps).

And this leads to another rather big problem. I will call it "The Quality Dilemma". Honestly, it would be hard for me to say what I expect from the entire series of games. Speaking about quality assessment, I understand perfectly well that with my level of development, it will not be possible to make something really good simply from the point of view of logic. Also, I would not call this game unique. It doesn't break moral boundaries like Black Souls and it doesn't have a brilliant plot like F&H. However, the longer I make the game, the better I want to see the result. But what happens, I can compare with the first analogy that comes to mind. If you don't know the multiplication table when you enter 9th grade, but by the end of the same year you've learned to solve equations, then your level of mathematics has increased by ~700%, but you still don't know mathematics well. Or, if yesterday you didn't earn anything, and today you started earning 12,000 rubles, then your growth is 12,000%, which is simply a huge indicator. However, you still don't earn even a living wage. The same thing is happening with our game. No matter how hard I try on graphics and gameplay, there is "quality inflation" and now I have to do even better just to catch up with the rest of the market.

At the same time, a natural question arises: "Do you need to follow the market when you are making a low-quality product on a dubious engine, inspired by an equally low-quality product on a dubious engine?" The answer to this question is "No". However, in this case we will have to devalue the time and effort invested in advance. And not only the effort of the two people making the game. But also of those who support it. In general, this is a very complex discussion, which has not led me anywhere yet.

The next thing I simply cannot help but mention is the lack of ideas. This problem is the root of many other problems. I will try to explain it more simply. Black Souls is inspired by fairy tales of different writers and folklore of many nations.F&H takes inspiration from various religious faiths, creating a world full of long-established images tailored to the game's lore. For example, in one of Black Souls 2's winter locations, there is a sheep merchant. It could have been a simple dummy, but in fact, it is a reference to a character from the fairy tale "Alice Through the Looking Glass."

If I had to create a generic consumables merchant like the one described above, I would either have to come up with a new unique character or actually make a simple dummy. The first option is irrational, because the player does not meet the merchant very often, and the second option is a manifestation of "lack of ideas". Souls Of SoF, although inspired by the above-mentioned games, cannot afford to take ready-made images due to the lack of a single theme. Reviewing my finished products, I noticed that this results in an inability to clearly explain the picture of the world to the player. However, nothing can be done about this. Unless Souls Of SoF III becomes a fundamental rethinking of the previous parts. But it is too early to think about this.

These three elephants are the basis for all my doubts about my games. Then there are turtles, wolves and other representatives of the animal world. I want to give you the opportunity to help me and offer something to solve the above difficulties. For now, these are the main demotivators and authors of problems.