- Restarting Development - 17 August 2023
Hey everyone, I've been taking a break on the development for SOTS for over a year now. I'm excited to announce that development has been restarted! I'm a little behind schedule as I planned to restart in July, but we're here. There is a lot more to say, but I'll wait until things have materialized more. The next update should be in approximately 2 months, stay tuned!
- Devlog #8 - A New Seika - 30 March 2022
New Design for Seika Hey everyone, thanks for tuning in. The new version of Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is still underway! In the mean time I wanted to reveal the new design for Seika. I would love to reveal more about the updated version, but there is still work to do and I want to make sure things are further along before I do so. As I mentioned in the previous devlog that the goal for the next milestone is in May and I'm aiming to have a build that can be play tested in the wild by the end of it. Other than that, I'll post another update in May. Talk to you then!
- Devlog #7 - End of Year - 31 December 2021
Wanted to give a quick update before the year closes out. Serenade of the Sirens is still in development! Devlog updates will be infrequent until I have a new working demo available. Until then the goal for the next milestone is May 2022. That's all I have for now, Happy New Year!
- Devlog #6 - Close to Playable Alpha & SOTS v1 Postmortem - 3 July 2021
Updates Hi everyone, welcome to another devlog of Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS). Wanted to give another update of the current state of SOTS and be as transparent as possible. As I mentioned in previous updates, I have rebuilt the game from scratch and am working on a new version. I'll create a beta branch with the new version but I would like to expose the latest version with a smaller group of play testers first. If you're interested in play testing you can join my discord (https://discord.gg/wzfMfGNd3q) for more details. I'm also offering a free key to a small group for play testing, so tell your friends! Post Mortem of V1 SOTS This section is a little more on the personal side as I would like to give a sort of post mortem for the previous version of SOTS as that will be put to rest soon. As SOTS is coming up on it's 3 year anniversary from being released, I have many thoughts about t…
- Devlog #5 - Quick Alpha Update - 6 April 2021
Progress on Alpha Hey everyone, the alpha version of the new Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is still in development. I'm currently working to get the game to a presentable state, but it will take more time. Development isn't going as fast as I would like but progress is being made! Also I stripped '0.11.x' from the title since this version of SOTS has its own version scheme. Other than that, I'll continue to push forward and provide more updates in the future. Thanks for tuning in!
- 0.11.x Devlog #4 - End of Year Update - 30 December 2020
End of Year Update Hey everyone, as promised here is a quick end of year update on the progress of Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS). I'm continuing to work on the new version of SOTS (will call it SOTS 2.0) and I'm still aiming to have an alpha build by 'the end of Q1/early Q2'. It's been over a year since my last game update, so my number 1 priority as of now is getting the alpha build out for feedback. One of the biggest changes to come to SOTS 2.0 is switching from full procedurally generated rooms to hand crafted ones. This simple change has caused sort of a break through for the game as it makes designing elements of the game a lot more accessible and under my control. With the way the rooms are generated changing, it has updated the way I have designed the enemies and stages. The enemy encounters I feel can be planned out a lot better. I won't get too far into the weeds of SOTS 2.0 u…
- 0.11.x Devlog #3 - Forever Tomorrows - 8 December 2020
Hi everyone, thanks for checking out another news update about Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS). The alpha version of the new SOTS is still in development and I hope to show off something soon. I originally planned to have a new build by the end of the year, but I need more time to develop the new version of SOTS. As of now I'm aiming to have something playable by "the end of Q1" to "the beginning of Q2" 2021. I'm very anxious to replace the current version of SOTS with the updated one and it's been awhile since I posted any new content. So as a cancellation for not having anything to show yet, I'll reveal something that can be listened to. Here is a track that I have planned for a cutscene. I titled this post after the title of the song as I have a constant longing to complete the game that will always come tomorrow...forever. Maybe it's not that dramatic, but I thought it was compelling…
- 0.11.x Devlog #2 - In the throws of a new alpha - 10 November 2020
Hey everyone! I'm still developing the new version Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS). I'm working hard to replace the current version of SOTS and I think the best way to introduce it is to add a beta branch/build once a playable build is available. I'll post an update on this in a future update once I have more info. I wanted to post an update sooner but didn't want to talk about things that are subject to change. I feel as though I'll run the risk of things changing regardless of when I reveal, so here I go: Seika art has been changed. Seika's home world added as an entry point before entering a dungeon. Seika can gain more attacks and abilities during a dungeon run. More items. Added a room map to see how all rooms connects. Updated minimap. Increased game resolution. Added more background layers. What has or will change isn't limited to this list. All in all, I think it's going in a bett…
- 0.11.x Devlog #1 - Starting from scratch - 28 September 2020
As I continued to work on 0.11.x update I realized that I'm building on an unstable core. As I eluded to in my previous update, the biggest challenge has been shedding what's already there. I also previously rebuilt Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) but I just recreated the same game with "better code". This time I'm rebuilding with the intention to change things radically for the better. As of now things are good so far. I'm planning to have a playable build for the new version of SOTS by the end of the year and I'll give more details in a future update. Also one thing to note is that the demo and full release versions may be identical with the initial release of 0.11.x.
- Progress on 0.11.x and General Updates - 28 March 2020
Progress on 0.11.x The updates have been less frequent but Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is still in the works! Progress is going pretty good as I continue to redesign and make changes to the game. The next update will be the biggest change yet to come to the SOTS universe, but this won't be for awhile. I'm not in a position to give a hard deadline, but I estimate the next update may be out by the end of the year at the latest. I'll try to give more frequent updates until then as the next build finalizes. So rather than continue blabbering on about an update that's not here yet, I would like to take the time to reflect on the past, current, and future state of the game. I'll do that by talking about specific areas of the SOTS. Background SOTS began as a game jam game for the GameGirl Jam. The theme of the game jam was to make a game that contained a female heroine that took place in a r…
- 0.10.0 & Beyond - 26 November 2019
Hey everyone! It's been a little while since the last update. SOTS (Serenade of the Sirens) is currently undergoing major design changes. There are things that will be added, removed, and modified. I took a break from working on SOTS to come back with a fresh new perspective. I now have a new direction that I want to take the game in and this update is the first among many that will be part of this new direction. The update includes changes to enemy health, player damage, and bug fixes. There will be more updates in the near future, stay tuned. Please be mindful that save wipes will happen occasionally before the game is moved out of early access. Changes: Tweaked player and enemy stat balance Fixed bugs related to audio and bosses
- 0.9.5 - 26 September 2019
Bug fixes: Bug related to Boss Eva Some vibration and screen shakes not being triggered.
- 0.9.4 - 23 September 2019
A small update to save user option preferences (including key mapping).
- 0.9.1 - 0.9.3 - 28 July 2019
A small series of updates to make changes to controller vibration and bug fixes. Changes: Updated controller vibration Bug fixes
- 0.9.0 - Rebuild - 15 July 2019
Hey everyone, it's been a while! I have finally finished rewriting Serenade of the Sirens and 0.9.0 update is complete. The original scope of the 0.9.0 update was to update the layout of the procedurally generated levels and the item shops, but as I dove further into it I realized that a rewrite would be more beneficial as opposed to just refactoring. What I didn't expect was how long the rewrite was going to take. Instead of going down the path of the rebuilding the game, time could have been spent working on new features. The trade off was having a better structured project, making some needed changes to the fundamental systems of the game, and preparing the future for more changes. I've been striving with the last series of updates to get the core game solidified so I can expand upon it and I feel like with the latest update the core of the game is at a place I have been wanting it t…
- Upcoming Release of 0.9.0 & Rebuild - 27 May 2019
Hey everyone! It's been awhile since the last update. I normally give updates once I have a new version of the game out, but since the latest version has been in development for awhile now I thought I would give an update before release. In my previous update, I explained how I would be updating the levels and item shops in 0.9.0. I thought long and hard about this and decided to rebuild the game from the ground up! This was done not only to have a better level layout that fit the vision of the game but to also be able to easily add more features in the future. With the trajectory of the current phase of development, 0.9.0 should be out with the next 1 - 2 months. If anything changes, I'll be sure to provide an additional update in the future. Besides changes to the levels and item shop, there will be tweaks to the graphics as well as music/sound effects. As a cancellation prize for the…
- 0.8.0 - Wide Screen - 21 March 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F33517612%2F2e5a2a1ca98a2442aa7637c889ffd40427eb2ee5.png Serenade of the Sirens (SOTS) is finally widescreen! This gives Seika much more horizontal visibility. There is also a new title screen as well as changes to the background and tile colors. The next series of updates will focus on enemy (including bosses) and item changes. This will be contained within 0.8.x versions. Version 0.9.x will have updates to levels and the item shop. There is also other changes in the works, but I won't reveal until it's further along. If any of the plan shifts I'll provide details in future updates! Changes: Updated screen resolution to wide screen New title screen Updated tile and background colors
- 0.7.1 - 3 March 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F33517612%2F8d3ee39b876f6c63029a5208f917625b87ef0fcf.gif Changes: Added diagonal attacking Ability bug fix
- 0.7.0 - 27 February 2019
Hey everyone! Here is another update for Serenade of the Sirens. The most notable change is Seika's main attack changing from a close ranged attack to a projectile. I believe this change aligns more with the direction that the game is heading in. I would like to also make a note that due to upcoming updates, which includes newly added and updated enemies, levels, items, and end game powerups, there will be at least one save file wipe. I will go in more detail in a future post. Changes: Changed Seika's main attack from close ranged to projectile New items that alter attack speed and adds damage to dashing Tweaked Seika's movement Lowered overall game volume
- 0.6.20 - Level Makeover - 2 February 2019
https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F33517612%2F6211ea20b9e765f22191e4e60b5e0e0c39cfeb7e.png Hello everyone! Pushing an update to add changes to the level backgrounds, tiles, and coin sprites. I also made changes to the amount of areas in the beginning part of the game. The next series of updates will focus on polishing and tweaking the existing elements of the game. I also have additional content mapped out for the future, stay tuned! Changes: Updated level backgrounds and tiles sprites Updated coin sprites Tweaked amount of areas at the beginning of the game https://cdn.steampulse.org/steam/asset?u=https%3A%2F%2Fsteamcdn-a.akamaihd.net%2Fsteamcommunity%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fclans%2F33517612%2F03d68a6017b62f7235d1654aacf361164ead6a3c.png
