Xploquest is a project that started 20 years ago. Here is its story.
I'm a fan of role-playing games and especially video games. I have very good memories of the sagas Ultima, Wizardry, Might and Magic but also Zelda in a rather adventurous type. I still play of course. Right now for example, I spend a lot of time on the last Zelda, Breath of the Wild.
I always wanted to develop games but I lack patience, especially with coding, not to mention the graphics.
My first game is a text-only role-playing game, developed in basic on a PC. Subsequently I devoted myself mainly to the writing and the realization of film, leaving the development of video game.
And then I got the idea of Xploquest, a simple idea in fact: A role-playing game with lots of exploration and where you have to manage your gold. The map is divided into zones and each movement is actually a trip of one or more days.
As I wanted to develop quickly, I decided to work on Hypercard, a very accessible tool.
So I spent several months developing my game and I got to a first prototype.
First, Hypercard managed very badly the color and it seemed difficult to release a game in black and white, even 20 years ago. In addition, I felt unable to make quality graphics, which seriously undermined my motivation (what good to make an ugly game).
So I decided to drop the project and dedicate myself to something else.
It was only 13 years later that I took over the project.
I had free time and I was still thinking about this game that I had not finished.
Hypercard no longer existed but a software took over (there was even a reduced price for Hypercard owners): Runrev which later became Livecode.
It had many advantages over Hypercard:- He managed the color without problem
- It allowed to compile on several platforms (Window, Mac, Linux, Ios, Android)
- The development language is the same as Hypercard
So I bought
Runrev and I resumed the development of the game. I took advantage to
modify a little the design of the game and I pushed the management
aspect of the character.
I spent several months on this version.
I opened a blog
on the "Gamekult" website to broadcast the game. In parallel, I was starting
to work on a new version with new features because I was still far from
what I wanted to get.
Obviously my game did not really move the crowds and my motivation began to decline seriously. I decided to take a break and dedicate myself to other projects.
I left Livecode to switch to Gamemaker, cheaper and more suitable for video games.
So I went back to zero to develop Xploquest.
For the first version, I re-used the graphics of previous versions to save time.
I also simplified the game and made some interface changes.
After a test phase, I decided to publish the game on the stores at the end of January 2017.
I made some additions and improvements quite quickly following the returns of some players.
I'm a fan of role-playing games and especially video games. I have very good memories of the sagas Ultima, Wizardry, Might and Magic but also Zelda in a rather adventurous type. I still play of course. Right now for example, I spend a lot of time on the last Zelda, Breath of the Wild.
I always wanted to develop games but I lack patience, especially with coding, not to mention the graphics.
My first game is a text-only role-playing game, developed in basic on a PC. Subsequently I devoted myself mainly to the writing and the realization of film, leaving the development of video game.
And then I got the idea of Xploquest, a simple idea in fact: A role-playing game with lots of exploration and where you have to manage your gold. The map is divided into zones and each movement is actually a trip of one or more days.
As I wanted to develop quickly, I decided to work on Hypercard, a very accessible tool.So I spent several months developing my game and I got to a first prototype.
My prototype worked quite well but several things were frustrating.
First, Hypercard managed very badly the color and it seemed difficult to release a game in black and white, even 20 years ago. In addition, I felt unable to make quality graphics, which seriously undermined my motivation (what good to make an ugly game).It was only 13 years later that I took over the project.
I had free time and I was still thinking about this game that I had not finished.
Hypercard no longer existed but a software took over (there was even a reduced price for Hypercard owners): Runrev which later became Livecode.
It had many advantages over Hypercard:- He managed the color without problem
- It allowed to compile on several platforms (Window, Mac, Linux, Ios, Android)
- The development language is the same as Hypercard
So I bought
Runrev and I resumed the development of the game. I took advantage to
modify a little the design of the game and I pushed the management
aspect of the character.
I finished my game and I had it tested to several people of my entourage. The feedback was rather positive and as I was motivated, I decided to make a new version more ambitious.
The new version had a much larger map, caves to explore in addition to dungeons and some interface improvements. I also added quests.
I spent several months on this version.
I also decided to broadcast the game in web mode, which required the installation of a plug-in on the browser.
I opened a blog
on the "Gamekult" website to broadcast the game. In parallel, I was starting
to work on a new version with new features because I was still far from
what I wanted to get.Obviously my game did not really move the crowds and my motivation began to decline seriously. I decided to take a break and dedicate myself to other projects.
I decided to resume the project about a year ago. I
always thought about the concept and especially the fact that being old
I no longer have the time or the motivation to do long, complex RPG, with lots of dialogues that bore me most of the time. I liked the idea of a game that is played quickly and that that one can return several weeks later without feeling lost.
My concept lent
itself well to this type of player that I am and I decided to redo my
game by adapting it this time for smartphones.
So I went back to zero to develop Xploquest.
For the first version, I re-used the graphics of previous versions to save time.
I also simplified the game and made some interface changes.
I spent about 5 months developing on Game Maker to get an Ios version and an Android version.
After a test phase, I decided to publish the game on the stores at the end of January 2017.I made some additions and improvements quite quickly following the returns of some players.
Looking at the game, I
realized that visually it was not good at all, the game was rejected by the
vast majority of sites I asked to talk about. I thank the only one who spoke about the game and very positively (rpg-site.com).
So I decided to
completely redo the graphics and design of the game. I spent about 3
months in order to obtain a result that seems acceptable to me for a
free and independent game.
I released this new version, V1.2 at the beginning of May.
I decided to work on the sequel quickly. It was little work because I had a good base with Xploquest. I decided to make a bigger map with new terrain types and new monsters.
In order to bring real novelties, I added the creation of potions and I modified the cellars by passing them in side view and adding puzzles with magic.
At the development level, I mainly spent time on the caves. I released the game in 2018 for $2.99 on IOS and STEAM. I did not make an ANDROID version because I had very few downloads of the first one on GOOGLE PLAY.
The sales were very low and after a while and after several promotions, I decided to give the game for free.
I started thinking about the 3 but as I was a little discouraged, I put the project aside to devote myself to other things.
About 2 years later, I started working on XPLOQUEST 3 and more specifically on the game design. It was a long period of cogitation and I couldn't manage to set myself a clear goal. The approach to the game changed regularly. I was doing development tests on Game maker but I couldn't motivate myself. I was even considering completely changing the concept.
Finally, after several months, I made the decision to return to the basic concept of XPLOQUEST and make it a visually pleasing game for PC and why not on consoles. So I reworked my routine for a resolution of 720P and playable with the keyboard and a controller.
For graphics, music and sound, I bought assets (especially on Humble Bundle).
I worked on the project for a while and then I stopped for lack of motivation.
More than a year later, I got back into it with the goal of finishing it and selling it on STEAM. My objective was to make an XPLOQUEST as finalized as possible. The game remains on the same concept with a few changes and above all, a much larger map. I added some new things like having 3 passages with combat on each terrain.
I spent several months (evenings and weekends) finishing the game and released it on January 19th for MAC, WINDOWS and LINUX.
I quickly realized that the game was generating anecdotal interest with very few sales.
So I gave it free at the end of March 2023 (a few months after its release).
Thus ends the story of the XPLOQUEST trilogy.