Author: kojagiri

This is the latest feature in Ocuara (which was added on a stormy night in June 2020, amid the dead-and-dismal COVID lockdown).

Rules:
– You can have any number of pets.
– But only one pet can follow you at any time. They get jealous you see…
– Pets can have beneficial abilities, for example Tigra the tabby heals you a little just by being cute and meowing
– You cannot “buy” a pet – they choose YOU

Hi everyone, we’ve been away for the longest time – and here’s a nice little update. Leaderboards are online

https://play.ocuara.com/leaderboard

Likewise, Player level leaderboards are also up

Check out mine at https://play.ocuara.com/char/kojagiri

I’d written about the roadmap here – so now it’s time for an update!

Intro story when you start the game: This has been added, and a bit of backstory is also available. PLUS if you signed up before this was added, you can speak with Capriste to get the backstory again!

Quest system and Quest log in the popup: We now have a quest system, as I’d written about in this post. In addition, Capriste shows you the quest log – so be sure to check with her from time to time. Your own ‘Quest diary’ button? That’s something to look forward to in the future.

Background image: This was added. The water backdrop that you see on the main map – at least it doesn’t look like an island surrounded by endless void!

Wearable item slots: You now have these! Helm, amulet, cape, armour [body], bracelet, shield, weapon, ring, boots. But items have not been made, once they are we’ll release them to you. For now you can get a crossbow and a sword on the mainland, at the training range north of Bradshaw.

Teleport functions: Added! You can use this through the summary menu [button in the top-right corner of your screen] => Teleports section. Currently just one, but you’ll be able to earn more teleports through quests. There are 15 different teleport points already [which will be enabled for you in time].

Donation tracking: You can now check the counter for the month on the donations page.

We were planning some limited edition collectables for donors, but the one donor we have at this point has asked for some more quests – so we’ll be honouring his request! Donor collectables is pushed forward.

New objectives added:

• Custom cursors that indicate action possibilities – at least basic ‘talk’ and ‘attack’ cursors would help I think
• Shop buying should be completed [sell to shop can be done later]
• Monster name should show the level of the monster, with some sort of level comparison indicator red/amber/green so you know whether this monster will likely kill you, or not.
• I want to get at least these quests ready:
  • Shelley’s mom [done, but wants slight rework]
  • Get to frozen skull [one npc left]
  • Forest maze [partly done]
  • Mushroom from the Centre of the World [partly done]
  • Kill rats for Stefan [done]

That’s it folks! Remember to watch my stream on https://www.twitch.tv/kojagiri and join my discord at https://discord.gg/afCsvW for a quick feedback route! Thank you.

Our objective is to make an awesome Retro MMORPG that will be fun to play AND maintain – so naturally some things take a back seat. It’s not like I don’t want to do these, it’s just that there’s limited time. Bandwidth is limited as well – so the following will be “Stretch Goals” that we’ll do when we’re able to generate a certain level of funding FOR the game.

Amounts noted are TOTAL funding goals – the moment we cross this we’ll plan for the corresponding feature.

• $500+: Player leaderboard for currencies [coins, crowns, gold, diamonds], hidden items, quest completion, character level, and level-per-skill [eg. top in Attack or Defence].
• $800+: Choice of character class – which is added as a permanent tag on the character – eg: undead class gives high stab resist but poor fire resist, dryad class gives high regen rate, etc. We have thought up over 12 different classes! But once we cross this threshold we’ll figure out which ones to add, in collaboration with you all in our Twitch stream.
• $1000+: Creation of Magic! Items, quests, NPCs, staves, wands, magic attacks! And a magic skill tree.
• $1500+: Characters Graphic Upgrade! We will get an awesome pixel artist onboard who can help us revitalize our game art – in this goal we’ll be getting new outfits (at least: skirts, blouses and accessories for the ladies + t-shirts and shorts for the guys. Plus some headgear and variety of shoes – we won’t add any new slots here)
• $2000+: Hell has frozen over! Part of hell is now ice! New sub-map in Hell which has some awesome new mid-level [Level 40-50] enemies. Plus one instance dungeon after you clear the quest in this region! Isn’t that a bargain.
• $3000+: Sealed doors, chests and other stuff that you can only open with a special item: eg. key or bomb. This is in addition to the already existing hidden items on the map – so there’s that much more to explore and find! Some of these will be UNIQUE items that will NEVER be duplicated.
• $5000+: More revive locations! Each with it’s own benefits / disadvantages – choose one that suits your style.

These stretch goals of course are in addition to the overall game plan. Do you feel the game was fun and that some of these goals would be really awesome to have in-game? Then consider supporting the development – every bit counts toward the next stretch goal!

I’d like to take a moment and thank the others that have influenced my perception of RPGs and MMOs – this inscription shall stand, forever.

Capriste in the little house north-east of Monksfoot Island can now give you a list of quests available. Each quest comes with it’s corresponding start/completion status, so you know exactly what’s left to do.

Since the questing system has become super-simple and quest development can be done realtime, I’ve put up a Twitch stream explaining how it all works. Check it out here – https://www.twitch.tv/videos/556233495

If you liked this, do support us by subscribing to our Twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/kojagiri/

Ocuara MMORPG has a real-time combat system. Not only can you fight monsters in real time, you can also see other players fighting in real time.

The video below shows me and another of our testers trying out different things. I was testing the auto-retaliate function while recording [I’m the player in the middle with the yellow square] – and my colleague was running around acting all high-and-mighty-knight-in-shining-armour. He’s trying out the real time combat aspect while checking the logs to make sure nothing goes awry.

[update] I received some feedback about my recording framerate. I just found that the settings were at 15fps!!! That totally explains the jerky look of the video. I promise the game runs much smoother… And I’ll update the setting for future video recordings.

Over time, we’ve realized that combat – especially real time combat – is a valuable part of the gaming satisfaction experience. It just doesn’t feel ‘fun’ unless you’re slashing, bashing or killing something – and I think it’s down to how gaming has evolved over time. We can debate that – but essentially quality combat that yields good rewards is always deemed a positive gaming experience.

Why don’t you come over and try the game – it’s free to play and negligible effort to sign up. Head over to https://play.ocuara.com and start right away!