Progress Report: Final Crunchdown [Part 1/5]

Have ALL Ponies Fully Animated. That was the goal for November.

Progress has been made in the animation & spritework department, but only half of what we wanted was finished. Lessons learned, and feedback noted.

We've got priorities written down and it basically boils down to fulfilling promises and implementing what people expect in an RPG like this...

Overall goal being get this game done in a timely manner, and cut off the fluff we just don't have time for.

Read more and check out tons of pony animations on our Patreon Post

Almost November Already, Huh?

If you remember seeing me at TrotCon or Everfree Northwest, you'll remember me excitedly stating BGP Lite would be released on App Stores by Halloween! Well... That's not happening. [More details on exactly why below.]

Unity Fees Won't Stop Us

We've been getting messages from Battle Gem Ponies backers with worries that the Unity Per-Install Fee could delay or even cancel the project. Here to say now, that won't happen. ❌

Not only are we expecting to not come close to the 1M downloads & dollars a year mark to trigger it, but this project's been through way worse hardships than an engine change over the years. We'll do what we've gotta do to make BGP a reality and not allow a greedy company to bankrupt us with poorly thought out monetization schemes. 💸

Especially in order for us to keep the promises made to every person who supported this Pony RPG dream with their own hard-earned money! 🦄 

The Big Fat Kickstarter 2nd Anniversary Writeup! 🎊

 

Happy Anniversary (Again), guys!

This marks the end of Year TWO of development since it was funded by the 414 generous folks who backed the potential they saw behind Battle Gem Ponies. (Thanks for that, for real guys.)

The #1 thought on the YotesMark team's mind is making a game that lives up to the hype we've promised. To not be another Kickstarter disappearance story. So we've kept regular updates going every step of the way. A clear and detailed task list so we always know what feature is needed next, and what features need to be cut for time to ensure it's out by Early 2024.

Back From TrotCon 2023!

Our first TrotCon was magical! 🤩✨ 

Can't wait to come back with a finished game and do it all again, but bigger! 🌟

Tons of new people are now interested in the game, our Discord numbers have shot up 15%, over a hundred people downloaded the demo, and we gathered lots of feedback to further improve the game and booth setups! 🎮📱

Plus, we caught the eye of some pretty large streamers, finally met some BGP community members face-to-face, and we met several cool folks to collab with someday. 🤝📈

Artwork Update: Sprite Rigs Complete!

It took about a month and a half, but ALL the pony sprite pieces have finally been drawn and as of right now I can begin the frame-by-frame animation process!

Should be done and in-game by April's end (but given how that estimate's measured in gamedev time, we'll see how that goes 👀).

Backer Rewards (Wave 1): Complete! [New Merch Shop on RedBubble]

Everyone who ordered Add-Ons from the BGP Kickstarter should've gotten some special stuff  in the mail recently, or can at least expect it to show up before March 1st.

(If not, double check your address listed on Kickstarter and let ol' Tony Yotes know if there's been a mixup.)

It's been so nice to see the posts of people opening up their packages and we can't wait for the next wave with all the international ones and the PILE of T-Shirts to come!

More details on that and new stuff that's available now beyond the page break below!

Available Now: The New Battle Gem Ponies MAGFest Demo!

 

New #BattleGemPonies demo is up! 

Jam-Packed with improvements based on feedback from #Magfest2023!

Play It Here! 

yotesmark.itch.io/battle-gem-ponies

Battle Gem Ponies Made Waves at Magfest 2023! 🌊

You might've caught this over on our Twitter already, but...

Our showcase at Magfest was a huge success! It proved to us that BGP has the appeal necessary to capture viral opportunity. Once you see it, you can't help but take a closer look (and like what you see!)...

We've now had literally hundreds of strangers come up and play the latest Battle Gem Ponies demo, follow us on social media, and give us the precious feedback we need to take things to the next level. Our next in-person appearance is likely to be TrotCon in July (fittingly celebrating a video game theme this year) and if we're lucky, we'll get in touch with someone willing to install BGP on devices in the Arcade at BABSCon this year too.

Notes have been taken on how to improve our booth for future expos and all of this makes great practice for when we try to go stand alongside the big names in gaming at PAX one day.