As it becomes more obvious people are upset after my decision to discontinue the current (v1) format of Shinzui after it got too bug-prone, I'm increasing my efforts to communicate what's going on.
For those seeing this that are not part of the community, I request that you reserve any dislike of Anime-based games. Their use of other's intellectual property is an understandable negative, and I've brought this up to the game's community. It is my stance that abandoning this project would be abandoning the fans and players it has built up; something I do not wish to do. At some point in the future I shall create something original, but right now this is my main project.
It has been nearly two years since I announced a redo of Shinzui (called "v2" for short). It's been up and down, with a lot of stuff being done sometimes then very little. Large portions of core concepts, such as the stat system, have been scrapped & re-imagined. Problems with "v1" have diverted my attention, and my life in reality has gotten busier.
To be direct: there's not a lot of actual code work done, and no icons. However, the amount of concept work decided on has been marvelous. I've updated my v2 progress topic and shall be using it more (forgot about it lol). Weekly staff meetings have started to get everyone up to speed on everything.
There is no release date, nor will there be. Rushing deadlines holds no charm for me. My personal life remains busy, but I've got a better handle on it for many reasons.
For those interested in learning more about the ideas planned, I encourage joining the game forums as always. To get started, here are some informative topics:
- The Hollow class would be totally overhauled with an 8-axis evolution grid (inspired by Lycoris).
- Several people have made topics for their personal ideas, such as Grassmaster, Invotis, Grassmaster (again) and many others.
- Briefly used concepts in Bleach are not forgotten, with spirit threads & detection being an exciting idea.
- Exploring the world will be fun yet easy, with many NPC to take quests from, most expansive being Soul Society.
- There would be a mandatory (for the first ever character) newbie tutorial that will include free rewards.
Every so often I also post code exerts for those familiar with DM to learn from, check for errors or just use themselves.
Recently I posted a calendar/clock datum to control in-game events, holidays and skill cooldowns.</P
To wrap things up, I deeply apologize for this lapse in available gameplay. It pains me to see the buzzing community start to shrink, and I am truly taking steps to better communicate what is going on with Shinzui.
It is my hope that the fans and players are patient enough to wait longer than desired for a superior product. My belief is that they are. :)