Lawmage Academy News: Delayed Release and Progress


Greetings candidates!

Lawmage Academy's game development has been an overwhelmingly enjoyable journey for me so far. While I am not a full time game developer, I do work on this project in my spare time during evenings making the pixel art assets, creating the levels, and writing the story and dialogue.

Considering the 10 in-game months that needs to be developed and tested, I have decided to push back the release date. The Lawmage Academy community has always been supportive in making sure that I prioritize the quality of the game rather than compromising the quality in exchange for a speedy release. Even if I finish the game content within the year, I will still need time to do a quality assurance check, fix bugs, and market the game.

Given the current progress, I cannot finish the game within 2022. I have to set a more realistic timeline for myself and to manage everyone's expectations. As such, I am tentatively delaying the release to 2023. However, if the game needs more time to be developed, then I will move back the release date to ensure that I do not compromise the vision I have for Lawmage Academy.

But enough with the gloomy news!

Currently, Month 3 of Lawmage Academy is nearing completion. The biggest addition is the "Duel System" wherein you can challenge NPCs in the game to increase your reputation. In duels, candidates are not allowed to use items. They have to rely on their learned spells, weapons, and equipment to win the duel. There are solo duels (1v1) and group duels (4v4, 3v4, 2v4), but for Month 3 players will only have access to solo duels to ease players into the system.

The friendship scenes for Ponelius and Nephele were also added, along with a new dungeon area called Ranasas Plains filled with new monsters. Lastly, I have commissioned Puzxle to make friendship CG scenes which will play as you get closer to your friends in the Academy.

Check out the previews below!


Friendship scene with Lunelle

Dueling Hall



Duel System


New monsters in Ranasas Plains

Lastly, I am doing gamedev and pixel art streams in the official Discord server. It is usually held for 1 hour at 8:00 PM (GMT+8). You can hang out with me, meet your fellow candidates, and see for yourself how the game is being made!

Discord link: https://discord.com/invite/rChgU5tTh7

Rest assured that I am working hard to make sure that people enjoy Lawmage Academy the way it was envisioned. I believe in the saying that a delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game will always be bad. Lawmage Academy will be given as much time as it needs to develop.

Thank you very much for your continued support!

- Verinius

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Comments

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Deleted 1 year ago
(+1)

Haha! Thanks for kind words. Gamedev isn't my full time job but I want to do this sustainably. So the compromise is for me to work full time as a lawyer and work on this on the side, giving it enough time to be developed. As much as possible, I don't want to do a crowdfunding or take money from fans of the game until it's at least ready for early access. ^-^"

(1 edit) (+1)

lmao how'd u guess i'd considered tipping u lol (bc i did omg)
(also bc im not familiar enough with itchio UI i accidently deleted my initial comment eep)

No worries! Tipping or giving donations is fine because it goes back to the game anyway. e.g.) art commissions. However, at this point, I would appreciate it more if people wishlist the game on Steam and spread the word to their friends! 

More wishlists in Steam = Higher visibility = Better chances of success during launch day :D

For reference: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1377710/Lawmage_Academy/

(1 edit) (+1)

now if i could just pinpoint yr tip jar that b swell 😘 (welp i feel dumb but thats nothing new)

(+1)

If you download the game via the main page you have the option of putting in an amount. ^-^

(+3)

I appreciate you wanting to prioritize quality! I can’t wait to play the finished product that you envision! Don’t forget to take care of yourself :3

Thank you very much!

(+3)

I can admit it can take a long time to make a game especially if you're making an RPG with length close to Final Fantasy, Pokémon or even The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, even more if you're adding in exploration.

Take my perspective, I have planned several dungeons, field maps, towns, regions, enemies, and bosses so trying to work on them can take a long time especially for a solo developer. I know Lawmage Academy is different from other RPGs due to the day-based system while other games don't use time-based events.

Indeed. Thanks for your continued support GothicSimmer! :D