Hey there! :D New Deadbeat update, though this one is a bit less exciting than usual. The biggest, most noticeable feature is that there's now a rough mini-map in the top-right corner of the screen, which should become prettier with time.

The real changes here are behind the scenes: I've taken the first few steps out into the big scary world of Actually Making The Rest of The Game Beyond The Vestibule Wastes, and I've been making progress!

And, for the first time, I can provide a set of milestones that might give some insight into my priorities, and how much it'll take for the game to be done:

MILESTONES:

-World Complete: The world structure of Deadbeat is finished. You can move from room to room and region to region without caveat.

-Room Complete: The level structure of Deadbeat is finished. Rooms have their own unique identities, and are populated with appropriate items and enemies.

-Gameplay Complete: The gameplay of Deadbeat is finished. All enemies, bosses, items, calls, and level features are fully implemented.

-Story Complete: Cutscenes, dialogue, and lore are all written for the game, and placed appropriately.

-Interface Complete: Menus are fully usable and elegant. UI is complete.

-Art Complete: The game has its own non-placeholder art and music assets.

-Polish Pass:

-----Balance Complete: Make sure gameplay is balanced by using playtesters going through the full game.

-----Editing Complete: Make sure writing is of desired quality, using playtesters going through the full game.

-Marketing Complete: The world knows about Deadbeat.

-Release!

Laying it all out like that has helped a lot in terms of making sure I know where I'm going! :D The future for Deadbeat is bright!