Lawmage Academy
Lawmage Academy News: Postponed Release and Progress Update
Greetings Candidates!
It has been a long journey since I started working on Lawmage Academy. What started out as a casual passion project to discover myself and what I am capable of doing evolved into something way beyond my expectations. Lawmage Academy, a simple game built in an old RPG Maker MV engine, gained the attention of so many people and those that played it truly enjoyed it for what it is.
The most recent achievement for Lawmage Academy was winning the “Best Game Direction Award” in CONQUEST 2023, a huge event in the Philippines featuring artists, streamers, events, and games. It was unexpected since there were so many amazing games in CONQUEST 2023. I think Lawmage Academy did so well because I decided to learn pixel art and listen to player feedback in the earlier versions. I could not have reached this point without everyone’s help and encouragement.
Aside from CONQUEST 2023, I also attended the first Philippine GameDev Expo. It was a very unique experience for me because the event was more of the business side of game development. To prepare for it, I finally made my pitchdeck and was even able to pitch my game to Nintendo! While my meeting did not lead to any commitments, I think it was a valuable experience for me regardless.
If you are reading this right now, I would like to thank you for taking an interest in Lawmage Academy and supporting the game through your comments and engagement in the social media posts. Truly, I would not have reached this far without people like you taking an interest in my game.
I would also like to take this opportunity to apologize for the lack of updates and slow development of the game. It is difficult for me to admit it, but the release of Lawmage Academy will be postponed once again.
In December 2022, I realized two things: I needed to work on my health and finances.
So, I took the opportunity to get a second job in a law firm that accommodates lawyers like me who work in non-profit organizations. I also got a gym membership and a coach to help me improve my fitness. In order to keep up with the stress, I felt that I needed to improve my body as well. Hence, 2023 was spent working to improve my quality of life. I started lifting weights, learning mixed martial arts (MMA), and saved up for my emergency fund.
Lawmage Academy took a backseat this year, which is why I barely posted any updates. I also became inactive in Twitter, now X, because I did not like how the platform turned into. Now I am more active in the Lawmage Academy Facebook page and Discord.
However, even though the game is being postponed, development is still in progress. This year, I prioritized the writing for the characters and the art that comes with the character quests. Here are some of the new scenes for Lawmage Academy!
Alyssa's Friendship Scene - Alyssa looks sad. I wonder what they are talking about?
Ein's Friendship Scene - Ein showing off the potion that he crafted. What kind of potion is it?
Jin's Friendship Scene - Wait a minute. Are they outside? At night?! Does that mean we get to go outside our Houses at night?
Lawmage Academy started as a personal journey of self-discovery. It was nice working on it at my own pace, without anybody expecting anything from me. Since it gained a bit of popularity and attention, I felt tremendous pressure to finish it. This pressure stressed me out and I had to reflect why I am making this game in the first place.
Since I started this journey for my self-enrichment, and not as a business or as a source of income, I have decided to continue to treat it as a passion project. I will continue working on the game in my own pace, and I apologize to everyone who were excited for the full release on November 2023.
Thank you all so much for your interest and support. I am immensely grateful to you all for taking a genuine interest in my indie game.
I will announce the new release date when I am ready.
Sincerely,
Verinius
P.S. I might start streaming the development of Lawmage Academy in Youtube soon. You can follow @LawmageAcademy in Youtube if you are interested in watching future streams.
Comments
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Take as much time as you need!! Lawmage Academy is an amazing game and we're all really excited for the full game to be out, but your health and well-being should always be your number 1 priority. I hope you're doing better now, and know that no matter what we'll be patiently waiting for the release! :]
I hope I didn't do anything significant in the game, as I no longer remember what I was doing before the current "final" due to the fact that I had been playing this for a very long time in the past. The whole fan crowd is waiting for the new year and a new update, which we hope will be great. (both size of game and quality of new year)
Our bodies are ready :)
I played the demo after PGDX and I am honestly excited to see what you have been planning for the game! Can't wait for when the full game comes out and I know it will be worth the wait. So take your time! Especially since you are solo-ing this, which, by the way, you have my immense respect for. I can bare do game designing without going utterly insane! Take care, stay hydrated, and rest well!
Thank you so much!!
Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I really appreciate you all!
Great to hear you've been doing well. Happy to wait for such a good game. The cutscenes look amazing.
Lazy Dev!
you've been busy bro! It's been a treat in itself to watch the progress and growth of this, even if life has ya worn out. Super excited to hear you had a shot at Nintendo, you been there once you'll make it again I'm sure.Keep up the hard work homie!
~Lazy Gamer
My man!
In case anyone is wondering, this guy right here is the Snofawks miniboss fight in the Headmaster's Office. xD
🤘🦊🤘
I do have to admit that developing an RPG takes a long time mostly because not only do you write the story and code the game but also design the maps and graphics assets. My characters, for example, are resized to 48x56 and I do some editing which can take a long time as I have to do it with 12 characters (frames). I don't know how long the game is supposed to be other than the clue of 200 days. The game does mention a "year" which could hint future years like how Harry Potter spans 7 years across 7 books (or 8 films).
I know taking too long to develop a game could draw away interest. For example, Paralives got interest because if the state The Sims is in with The Sims 4 constant pushing in DLC costing over $1000 and the dissatisfaction of Eletronic Arts' handling of the game, not helped with The Sims Freeplay and The Sims Mobile being viewed as bad games among the series. TS4 is already 9 years old as of this writing and there hasn't been a new Sims game since Mobile in March 2018. However, Paralives hasn't gotten a confirmed release date although Life by You is confirmed to have a release date. Another RPG Maker game by the name of Didnapper 2 took a long time since it was going to be finished in 2019 than 2020 and finally 2021 (and that game did have a 3rd demo in May 2020 that covered Chapters 1-3, and they didn't release a new demo after that).
On the other hand, Hogwarts Legacy took a long time to release after its announcement before eventually releasing on February 10, 2023. Despite the long wait, it was regarded as a successful Harry Potter game especially since it was the Harry Potter game released on PC/console since LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 from November 2011 (fun fact, the US/Canada release date is the same as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim) and the mixed reception of Hogwarts Mystery mostly because of the Energy mechanic and microtransactions which is an issue with mobile games.
The Nintendo Switch is an interesting question since RPG Maker MV doesn't have a way to export to consoles. Both MV and MZ can export to Windows, Mac, and mobile while only MV allows exporting to Linux. There is a console version of RPG Maker MV (also known as RPG Maker MV Trinity in Japan) but the console version of MV isn't compatible with the PC version of MV and vice versa. I don't know about RPG Maker Unity since I haven't used that version before (only RPG Maker MV and MZ is what I mostly use). Yes, RPG Maker MV and MZ does have mobile exporting, but the game is meant to be played on a computer since the UI elements aren't designed for a small phone screen (I watched my playthrough on my Google Pixel 7a and it looks viewable although the tiles [48x48] and the battle interface look too small compared to my AORUS 15G 15.6" screen).
I do hope to revisit Lawmage Academy and try to do a Syle only run (and maybe another with just Syle and Alyssa) which you have mentioned in 0.8 (some people complained it say 0.7; it's basically the same as 0.7 except with new backgrounds and cutscenes reflecting you only having Syle). I haven't done Lawmage Academy since late 2021 (I also covered Didnapper 2, Eternal Dread, and Eternal Dread 2 as well).
I do agree about Twitter. Ever since Elon took over Twitter and renamed it to X (and killing the Twitter Bird), it has gotten worse than it used to be. For example, you can't view a Tweet's replies anymore which you used to be able to do. The fact that Elon is planning to charge everyone to use the server isn't helping and could be driving people away from the site.
OMG THIS IS SO EXCITING! I’m so happy that you’re taking the time to take care of yourself, and hope that developing this game as well as other aspects of your life will bring you immense joy! Take care!!!!
Good luck and take all the time you need, we'll be waiting patiently.
good luck with your health also i will always be watching for new updates of this game even if its postponed again and congratulations with your achievement just dont neglect your health -abyssal28