Happy New Year!

To say I'm glad 2025 is behind me is an understatement. I'll get to the reasons why later in the devlog. For the first part of this, I'll talk about the more relevant topic; the recent demo update.

Some new mechanics!

Over the last few months I've been working on moving away from the Octopath Traveler battle system (OTB) that I was using. OTB is fantastic, don't get me wrong. But the mechanics didn't quite line up with the vision I had for how my battles were playing out. 

A quick example... Picture an enemy that is given multiple actions per turn, and they're the fastest of all the battlers. This would result in them having two actions to start. But what if we use a status effect to lower that enemy's agility/speed to a value that now makes them act last in the turn order? Makes sense. But then, once that turn expires, they immediately jump to the front of the following turn. This effectively gives the enemy four straight actions in a lot of cases, which makes for a very weird balance when you're trying to manipulate turn orders. What I also found was that the impact of current turn/next turn manipulations weren't really worth using. This is because they don't actually have a lasting impact in battle. Once the turn passes, things go right back to the standard turn order, neutralizing any long-term effects.

There are ways to mitigate these issues with others mechanics. But I felt that would compromise the cohesion I have now. Ultimately, this all demonstrated a fundamental flaw in how OTB worked with my overall design. Once again, something had to change. So, I went back to the drawing board and started mapping out how a CTB would complement what I currently have.

I had an opportunity implement this using Visustella's CTB battle system, but the setup was pretty hard for me to grasp. The mechanical formulas that the plugin allowed me to change didn't quite yield the results I was looking for. You can find many comments and forum posts of people having a difficult time with it too. That's not to say the plugin is bad. It's awesome. Just... not for me. I want to know my battle system's mechanics in and out. And I should be able to explain the complexities under the hood. I just couldn't do that with Visu's CTB.

With RPG Maker, most of us are confined to what other plugin developers make. But over the years, I've become more and more proficient with Javascript to the point where I feel like I can make anything I want in RPG Maker. So, why not make my own CTB that's compatible with the rest Visu's plugin suite?

And here we are. I'm happy to say that after SOOOO much testing, it's reached a level of stability that I'm comfortable with. And, it performs well on lower-end devices. So that's a plus. Do I expect players to notice a huge difference in the demo? Well, no. But this gives me a solid foundation to work with when I get into late game development and try to create some interesting battles. Not to mention, balancing battles becomes a bit easier because my understanding of the deeper mechanics.

Another addition I've made is auto-movement. Meaning, battlers will change rows automatically based on the range of the skill they're using. Using a short range attack? You move to the front before you execute it. Long range? You move to the back. This will mainly determine whether or not there's a reduction in damage. But there's another aspect. Where movement is automatic, you're not really focusing on "where" to move. But it still matters where you move to. This creates a dynamic where taking what you think is the optimal action might still come with some unanticipated risks. What I thought was neat about this implementation is that it adds another strategic layer without compromising the pace of battles. The goal is, and always has been, to keep things moving quickly and minimize the friction points that are typically found in turn-based battles with movement. In the end, I feel like I have something that's somewhat unique and enjoyable. I could be wrong, but I hope I'm not.

Now, for the next part... I'm going to get into some details about my personal life and what happened last year. So if you're reading the more for the sake of staying up to date on the game, then you can ignore the rest of this.

The scariest moment of my life

I'm going to get right to the point... In May of 2025, I was officially diagnosed with Stage 3 Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Which is a type of throat cancer. I found out after a biopsy was done on a swollen lymph node in my neck, which I was dealing with a month before. Back then, I was only told the lymph node was malignant. I didn't know what kind of cancer I had or what stage it was at. The only thing I knew is that it couldn't be operated on, and I would have to go through chemo and radiation treatment. Walking around for a month not knowing if you're going to live or die is, well... Terrifying, to say the least. But it was a reality I was facing.

So, skipping over the rest of the dramatic details, I feel the need to mention this part of my experience...

One thing I didn't anticipate was just how empathetic people can be. The news of my cancer had a real effect on some people. And I don't mean that in a self-inflating sense of importance. What I mean is... talking about a subject like this can bring people to some very dark places. It can trigger things in people, like a memory of someone they lost to cancer. Or bracing themselves for the worst possible outcome of your diagnosis. Knowing that I could have this kind of impact on people made me realize that I had to be really careful with my approach to letting people know. Ultimately, I decided that it was best to:

1. Wait until I went through some treatment and got some good news before I talked about it more. 
2. Don't make an announcement. But don't hide it either. Let it be mentioned in the natural flow of a conversation, and make sure you stay positive when you talk about it.
3. Don't make yourself a victim. No pity parties. If someone is showing sympathy, accept it,  but don't let yourself be the focus of the conversation for too long. Keep things moving so as to not put a damper on people's mood.

After a good number of rounds of Chemotherapy, my oncologist told me that I was responding well to the treatment and that scans were showing a significant reduction in the tumor, which was expected. Treatment for this cancer has a pretty high success rate. So at that point, I knew I had a real shot at beating this thing. That's when I started feeling better about telling people. The story becomes less about a grim situation and more about winning a tough battle. Combine that with a positive attitude and a smile, and we're good to go.

Now we get to the amazing news. After several months of Chemotherapy and Radiation treatment, I'm happy to say that I'm in full remission! There are a BUNCH of side effects that I have to deal with (some of which are permanent), but whatever. I'm alive. Can't ask for more than that.

I've had more than a few people saying they wish they knew about the cancer, and that I should have asked for financial help... But that's just not my style. If people found out, and wanted to help, great. But I'm just happy knowing I had people's support and good wishes. On that note, I want to thank the RPG Maker community for keeping me occupied through treatment. I didn't get to work on my game as much as I'd like to, but it was nice to have an escape. And between some game dev, watching some RPG Maker streams, and having entertaining conversations in Discord... I had a solid avenue to escape the reality of what I was dealing with when it was necessary. You guys are awesome!

Here's to a great 2026 and hopefully an actual full release of my game!

P.S. I'm a total open book about this whole experience. This is typically difficult for people to talk about. But it's not difficult for me. In fact, I'd say it helps me to talk about it. I know there are times where I'm just really curious about someone's condition and want the details... But I don't want to seem insensitive, so I don't ask about anything. You don't have to worry about that with me. So feel free to reach out!