Mingli Art + Screenshots

So it's the end of the year, I was going to post one last minor update to the demo, but once again I couldn't get it done in time due to various things. So instead I here's some art for Mingli, and screens of one of Nyx's areas plus an H scene I added for an existing enemy.

 

Chao Mingli is the waitress at the tea house next to the inn belonging to her grandmother in Seiryu Village. She's one of the few mostly normal human residents, though despite her polite and friendly demeanor, she's a tad eccentric, a trait she shares with her grandmother. Due to the frequency of attacks by demons and spirits on the village she's also a very cautious person. In Nyx's mode the strange fog covering the islands doesn't bother her, but she finds herself alone and trapped inside her shop.

That's it for 2021, Moon Rhapsody still isn't finished yet, but I still feel the game is coming along fairly well, maybe it will be done next year...but I don't want to make any promises. I hope every one enjoys/enjoyed the holidays and keeps looking forward regardless.

End of the Year Update

 I suppose I better post an update since I said I would try not to get behind again.
Although at this point I don't feel like there's really much I want to talk about, there's still quite a lot of work I need to do obviously, and I wasn't able to get the game complete by the end of 2021 like I had originally wanted to, and it's probably going to take until the end of 2022(or longer) to finish unfortunately, considering I can only get so much done each day by myself. With the game around half way complete and the demo taking up a good portion of the total content, I don't really want to post too much more, as a lot of it needs to be saved for the full game.
But more importantly, the last demo update took me several months to get out, long after I gave all the information I wanted to give and that ended up creating a long drought of information that probably left multiple people disappointed. So I'm going to have to keep updates to around once or twice a month, instead of weekly like I used to do. This is probably a troubling sounding post and not what some people want to hear but it's the reality. I created Moon Rhapsody originally as a side project to a larger game, and it ended up becoming even more complicated than that one, and I don't want to to strip it down or abandon it due to the difficulty.
There's some new things I've added, I want to post another update to the demo before the end of the year but until then there probably won't be anything else. I'm also working on a Japanese translation with help from someone else which I've posted screenshots of a few weeks back, though probably only a handful of people here would be interested, so I'll probably find a different place to post updates on that version.

Kunoichi + Clyde Art

 

I wanted to post more this week, but I didn't really get a whole lot done, on the actual game at least, and the stuff I did work on I don't quite think is ready to mention yet. But there's a new version up with more fixes, not as many  as the last one but some were still needed. 

Also I finished art of the kunoichi thief Nyx meets at the start and Clyde the fisherman. Both characters actually originated in an earlier project some people remember, Nyx included, but the kunoichi wasn't as much of a troublemaker as she is in MR.  She still may not be as bad as she comes across.

Bug fixes:

• Areas not being reset when reloading a file.
• Can't scroll down the overworld map fully.
• Error while reloading a weapon.
• Able to rotate items while opening lock using up a different item.
• Aello soft lock when attacking her.
• Unused icon in Forest Sanctuary, missing stairs icon in Sky Garden Temple.
• Elven Robe SP recover not working correctly.
• Bladebug near first leaf key in Sasha's mode removed(Was only supposed to appear in Nyx's mode).

Also getting 100% items unlocks any missing scenes now.

Also there's some changes to the hidden mode.

New Looking Glass

 

I haven't done a devlog in a very long time, as many people have probably noticed. 
But now that the new version of the demo is out I think I can start doing them again more frequently for a while. Although usually I would post them on Sunday/Early Monday. Anyway, there were still many bugs and problems that I again missed even after the first patch, so I would recommend everyone playing 3.0.1 to download 3.0.2 which is now up.

Bug fixes:
-Kunais in in Forest Sanctuary not removable from inventory.
-Kunoichi reseting and the pitfall already clear when reloading causing softlock.
-Gates staying up after escaping with Aello.
-Missing boundaries added in some places.
-Mizuki diving onto player while in doorway.
-Hidden door in apartments not working.
-Host/Poison reset not working for hidden savepoints.
-Error when discarding clothes during cut in.
-Error when reloading a weapon.
-Basilisk in jail cell not playing proper Hscene and staying asleep if Nyx touches it.
-Nyx's default tag not changing colors.

Changes:
-Overworld and all dungeons now reset when you leave them to save memory usage, it may or may not make much difference on lower end PC's.
-The warp point at the top floor of the apartments becomes disabled instead of blocks appearing to stop the player.
-Minor changes to apartment's level design.
-Added dialogue in City of Mist.
-All status effects have icons.
-Host timer is now visible and resets to 3 min instead of 1 when saving.  
-Wyrms and Incuflies don't spawn in overworld until later.

I don't have much else right now, I want to get back to  adding more stuff but I also want to make sure all the most crippling  issues are out of the way first, especially since I neglected the ones  in 2.2 for such a long time.
Some people have mentioned some levers not working when  shot at, but I haven't been able to replicate it. If anyone knows how  let me know.
Also there's now a walkthrough of the early part of Nyx's mode on the game's page and Youtube.

Instant Takedown

Still working on the next update for the demo, and I still have some semi important things to add before Nyx's mode will be fully playable start to finish. I might not get done till the first or second week of September, but I'm still going to try and finish it before end of August anyway. Most of the content left I want to add is side stuff but there are some scenes and dialogue that still need to be added. At least though a lot of bugs have been fixed already so the process of play testing likely won't take as long as the last update for ver 2. A couple things I added recently were Nyx's takedown move shown in the gif which works only on humanoid enemies when they are unalerted, and a new mode has been added, or more precisely I expanded an existing mode that's a currently a spoiler, and said mode probably won't be locked in the next update.

Seiryu Tower

 

Small update, I'm making progress but last couple weeks have been a little slower. A lot time spent just drawing assets I still needed to do. Like I said in the last devlog, I changed how the next demo version was going to be set up originally so it ended up pushing things back somewhat. I also said I wanted to add more side content to the next version in place of another full dungeon and boss, but that will still require some time, but hopefully not too much. The screen is of a tower temple that sits behind Seiryu Village's main market, I disabled some foreground elements so it's more visible. What purpose it serves I won't spoil yet.

Ogre Battle

For those wondering when the next update will be, all I can say is sometime within the next month, probably towards the end. I ended up having to redo how I was going to structure Nyx's demo and one area I was planning on putting in I decided needed too much work and was better off saving for the full game, I wanted Nyx's demo to be around 1/3 of her full playthrough like Sasha's but I don't think I'm going to quite manage making it that long within a few weeks, so it'll probably be just one dungeon and some side content, with maybe some more added later on. I mostly finished adding an early boss this week though still missing one attack and it's H scene isn't fully animated yet. Some people might think it looks familiar.

Enhanced Destruction

I wanted to post last week, but I got too focused on something else and wasn't able to get much done, so I just didn't bother. I don't really like posting devlog updates if all there is to say is I added a few new areas or made some gameplay tweaks. As for this week that's pretty much all I did as well, but I did manage to add a feature I was thinking of doing for a while, which you can see in the gif posted. I felt losing clothes should have a little more to it than just disappearing off the player's body, and also because most of the H scenes don't show any clothing, so I figured this might be a decent compromise. Unlike the H scenes the cut ins will still be visible if censored modes are on, but Sasha and Nyx will keep their chest area from exposure if they lose their underwear.

Mt. Kuon

 

I made some progress this week, but I had to go back and work on areas in Sasha's mode that I felt still really needed it before on move on to finishing the rest of Nyx's. I want to expand on Sasha's mode in the demo a little bit more, and change some aspects of it as well, but there probably won't be any more major content updates for it afterwards until the game is finished, especially since some people have already taken hours and hours to beat it.

The screen I posted is Mt. Kuon, which has nothing to do with the ps2 game, and which I also once posted a very long time ago, but it's gone through a ton of changes since then and now has multiple interiors throughout it. The area is home to many highly dangerous and shadowy foes, all the way up to the peak.

World Wanderer

 

A lot of my time was spent doing audio related stuff this week as well as trying to tie up loose ends in the game's plot. Which means I mostly had my head on my desk or laid in bed struggling to think of what I wanted to do. I feel like writing isn't one of my strong suits. So I didn't get much done on the actual game part, but I think I now have a much better picture of how the final product should flow from start to finish. Although I feel like I may have to make more cuts in some places so that certain things and events fit together more smoothly.

The artwork is of a mysterious kitsune named Eriko, a non resident of the human world. She can be spoken to in the demo, but she doesn't like to be bothered.

Another Forest Temple

Got a fairly decent amount of work done this week, still focused on Nyx's side of the game. Basically Nyx's mode is more action oriented, with areas that make avoiding enemies more difficult, where as Sasha's is more survival based, this is of course since Nyx has more SP recovery to work with, but resource management is still something to worry about just due to the limited inventory space.

Without spoiling any story elements, Nyx doesn't go through the same areas as Sasha, mostly anyway. The one video I posted was actually a little deceptive in a sense, because Nyx doesn't go into that wooded area in the demo or the island Sasha starts on at all, but her mode will still be about as long as Sasha's, it depends on the player though I guess.

The screens are from another forest dungeon similar to the one in the current demo, some of Nyx's dungeons will be like alternate versions of Sasha's but not all of them. One last detail is Nyx's mode has more gloomy looking environments than Sasha, but the tone is more upbeat, basically to reflect the personalities of the two characters.

Steady Progress

I don't have much to report in this devlog other than I've started adding the dialog for Nyx's route and I decided what the out what content I want to add for the next demo update, not counting any potential patches. I expanded on one island in the map and decided to cut another fairly large one that, I felt was out of place and made navigating around with the boat awkward.

Which, I hate having to do because I thought it was an interesting location and it was there for a long time, but I think it's probably for the best. I don't have any screenshots to show right now so I drew up some more art. Top-Bottom: Basilisk, Krasue, and Aello.

The basilisks are common enemies that live simple lives of pillaging and raping, both against humans and other demon tribes. The Krasue is a dangerous spirit that appears during rainy nights in the fields and constantly hungers for flesh. The last is Aello is a headstrong, virtuous harpy from the forest who appears in the demo hunting evil spirits. Despite her heroic ambitions, Aello often has bad luck and finds herself in trouble, but she always tries to keep her head up. She also doesn't get along very well with Nyx, though they're still friends.

Demo v2.2.1 Released

Moon Rhapsody Demo v2.2 is now available for everyone to play.

2.2.1 fixes the issues I mentioned in the last devlog and some minor bugs here and there but otherwise isn't much different. I spent the week trying to get some work done on my other project, but will probably go back to MR next week because I want to get Nyx's mode in the game soon. 

Overall I would say MR is about 30-40% done at this point, which is less than where I wanted to be at now, but the time spent ironing things out and fixing problems always adds up.

Anyway next major update will probably be around mid or end of July, and will hopefully be at least halfway done by then.

Also here's a new piece of art for Sasha. Made a few edits.

Ruined Village

 

Sorry for the lack of devlog updates the last few weeks. For those that don't know, version 2.2 of the demo is up on Patreon until probably next weekend when I will post it everywhere else. This version doesn't have Nyx playable in it yet and old save files won't carry over unfortunately, but there are multiple changes to the world and gameplay balance, new items/weapons, and a new H scene with variants. The last boss is also easier, provided you're unaware of the original intended method of fighting them, or aren't going for 100%, otherwise there'll be a third hidden easier method to defeat them. For those that do have the demo be aware there are a couple serious bugs at the moment. If you go into the Ship Graveyard before the Forest Sanctuary it will crash the game with no error, and may still happen later too but going into the forest dungeon seems to fix it, also do not check the nightstand in the apartments on the top floor after encountering the boss, it may cause one of the chests to open up and lock you out of 100%.

Thoughts...

Back again with another devlog. So since I've posted the 2.1 update Moon Rhapsody has gotten some more attention in various places and I've been able to get a more clear picture about what issues it has and what different types of gamers think about it, and overall I feel like current demo is.....okay, maybe not shit, but heavily flawed, and the game is probably more difficult than it should be.

Now some people may say the game is fine the way it is, but people comparing it to Dark Souls and saying it's even harder bothers me because that's just not the kind of game I wanted to make, and I'm honestly not even really that good at Dark Souls or many hardcore old school games. A lot of the difficulty I think comes down to the game simply not telling players the best way to play it, which I don't like doing because I personally like it better when games leave it to player to find the best solution, but I think the main problem for me at least, is it just doesn't give the player many options in terms of where to go at the start and ways to experiment.

MR is supposed to be a more open world type of game and with the current demo being broken into stages, it forces players to progress in a specific way, and unless they get a good handle on how the game works, they will probably get stuck and die repeatedly at some point.(Which someone did actually point out to me beforehand may up being a problem. )After playing through it a few times I think the mostly linear progression and non stop dungeon crawling definitely does hurt it.

So I wasn't sure if I was going to expand on the current demo or just make another version, but I'll probably make one more version that has an open structure like 1.0 and 2.0, but with more to do in it, but I'm likely still going to to make some changes to the current demo so it's not quite as punishing to new players.

Also, I've been looking at the overworld a lot and decided I had to make some heavy changes to it. Specifically I moved a very large portion of it to the south part of the map where I thought there was too much water and expanded on the space I moved it from. I had to do this also because of the main town Seiryu Village being part of that section was not in a good location and very hard to reach being essentially being all the way at the northern most part of the map. The only reason I had still had it there was because the map shrunk to about 1/4 of it's original size, so it would of originally been at the center. Now however it's much closer to the start and I can make the northern part a more interesting place to explore.

The girl in the artwork attached is Rune, a naga woman who loves hotsprings and teasing Satcher. She also like Satcher, often appears in dungeon areas giving advice. While Rune is friendly, most other Nagi outside of Seiryu Village attack Sasha or Nyx on sight.

The Dark Artist

 

 

Nyx Cheshire, the mischievous blue bakeneko who lives on the haunted island of Makishima with her older brother is now playable, not in the demo version yet unfortunately, that won't be for a while. Players will be able to choose either Sasha or her at the start of the game and can play through 2 different stories. Unlike Sasha, Nyx prefers using her magic paint over guns which has it's advantages and disadvantages. Nyx can use it to either fire drawn projectiles or create tags that can be triggered to explode or cause a reaction. The type of tag assigned to the paint can change the effects of the spell and a large number can potentially be found. Nyx also uses a kusarigama as her default melee weapon, the chain part giving her a lot of range and can pull foes toward her to slash with the sickle part.

 

 

Another key difference about Nyx is, being a very energetic demon girl, she recovers her SP automatically to full most of the time, whenever she isn't stunned. However Nyx generally takes more damage than Sasha, loses SP faster when struggling and swimming, and her paint might require a little more practice to wield and has to be crafted. It cannot be repaired like a gun if it is used up. Because of this, Nyx doesn't use a tune up kit like item for paint, rather she uses an item that improves her overall magic skills like a more proper RPG. While Sasha can also use spray paint and tag effects, she is unable to combine it with the crystals needed to use magic.

And, of course, Nyx will get violated by enemies if her clothes are stripped off just like Sasha. Most of the failure scenes are variants but she will have some that are unique to her, and Sasha as well.

 

A new adventurer approaches...

 

Wow, it's been a long a time since I did one of these. I hope everyone got to try the new demo version of Moon Rhapsody at least. There's still several bugs in it I'm trying to resolve and will probably post another version update this coming week. From the feedback I received, not knowing where to go a lot of times seems to be the biggest problem people have, so expect there to be additions to the map system and more hints scattered around. As for progress on the game, I'm about halfway if not a little more finished with implementing the other mode I mentioned before and previously said would be an an end of game unlock. It will instead be available from the start and has the player controlling a different character instead of Sasha. Which people may have guessed if you read my comments on discord, and might have already have an idea who it is. All their animations minus H scenes are complete, including basic clothing variations ingame and in menu. The stuff the remains is mostly gameplay involved, and I still need to change the NPC dialogue for them. Unlike Sasha this character will not use guns at all and is slightly more vulnerable defense wise, but instead they have unique abilities they can use and also have less restrictive SP recovery.

The next thing I want to mention is I decided to start a Patreon, which took me a lot of time to consider because I don't like asking for money even though I intend to sell the game. As much as I would like a game like this to be a huge success, due to the crowdedness of the indie games market, the chances are whatever I make from the final product will likely not be enough for me to survive on without finding another job, which is...very difficult for someone like me, without going into shameful details. I've been lucky enough to have a decent amount of savings and inheritance money to survive the last few years, but that won't last me forever. Even if I could find a another job, it would likely heavily impact the work I do on the game as it's often done in the past whenever I have to focus on something else. But the tiers will include getting your name in the credits for $1, access to future early builds of the game in advance for the $3 tier, and for the $10 one I'll give everyone who contributes for one month a digital art book when the game is complete and also the choice to have their own unique item(consumable), headgear, or graffiti tag in the game provided it's appropriate, nsfw is okay but nothing too extreme please. Now, when I say graffiti tag for the last one what I'm referring to is an ability that functions like a perk or skill not in the current versions of the game. It's something that only works when you use a spray paint item(which acts as a weapon) and you typically have to be nearby the tag or in the same area or dungeon for it to function with a limit to how many can be active at once and some having timers. I might show more of it in the next devlog along with the other character. They will be 32x32 pixels max

So if anybody wants to support the development of Moon Rhapsody please consider becoming a patron, it would really help me.
Link: https://www.patreon.com/Kosmic91

Looking Glass Isle

 

So I kind wanted to have the demo update out by now, but it looks like it's still going to have to be a couple more weeks before I can release it, sorry to say. Hopefully no unforseen events will make it more difficult to finish before the end of January, but I can't make any promises. 

 Here's some of things done recently: 

 -The hub that connects the 4 locations for the v2.1 demo is finished. As I said the areas will be the tutorial dungeon, the Forest Sanctuary which was only partially in the first demo, Makishima Island which is in the current demo, and the city in the mist from the first demo. The last 2 will have a lot of changes to them. 

 -Finished the giant insect boss that I posted before. 

 -Completely redid one of the existing H scenes. 

 -Spent quite a bit of time working on boss music this week but I think it came out pretty good. 

 I got most of the important parts taken care of anyway, it's mostly a matter of polishing and making sure everything works now.

Into the new year...

Updates are probably going to be sparse for a while now while I try and get the demo 2.1 update ready. Some things added recently:

-Forest Sanctuary dungeon is mostly complete but I still have work to do on the boss and the music for it.

-Finished a tutorial dungeon that will be added to the demo. It's in the starting area that isn't currently part of it.

-2 H-scenes finished, one seen partially above.

-I started working on something that will likely be an end of game unlock but I'm going to need to pause it for now.

That's it for now, the update I want to do will have 4 areas in it, all except the tutorial dungeon are currently playable in the 2 demos I put out but they'll be significant changes to each one. That will probably be the most content it'll have until the game is finished, hopefully before the end of this new year.