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Update on the re-evaluation of game content (and some new verbage!)

Over the past several weeks since announcing the freeze on development to reevaluate game content I have determined that the following three parts of the story can no longer go ahead as planned: A community decimated from within. In my original concept this was intended to address the prevalence of vaccination conspiracy theories, but due to the subject matter I can no longer continue with the development of this scenario as a result of the obvious comparison to actual, ongoing events related to the coronavirus. Deadly substance manufacturing. This was supposed to be a Breaking Bad reference involving a similar situation, but like the vaccination conspiracy arc it can no longer go ahead as planned. Material analysis lab. In the process of changing the opening act I initially considered using verbage held over from the original concept to make a substance analysis scene of it (similar to the scene in Half Life which sets off a similar chain of events). This is the only part of t
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Coronavirus Impact Statement: Indefinite Project Delay for Content Review, Publicity Planning on Hold

As you all know by now, the COVID-19 coronavirus is impacting the entire world and creating a major health crisis for millions of people. Originally it was taken as an illegal form of public scare tactics (because Wuhan which is in China) but has since been exposed as a very real (and very deadly) public threat. Because of the unknowns relevant to the circumstances as of this update (and the lack of resolution to be confirmed anytime soon) I regret to announce that I am placing an indefinite and immediate hold on the development of  Mystic Advent to address the following issues: Full and complete review of existing content: An extensive reevaluation of the entire dialogue script to date will be required to isolate anything that I no longer feel comfortable with out of respect for the situation; Alternative scenario designs: Building on the first point, if there's anything where I can replace content without adversely affecting the narrative as originally planned I will do so
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Yet Another Update on Platform Targeting

Once again I have run into significant problems with code contributions. As I feared when I tried working off my own code, the deployment using the initial build type for device versions (Android, Xbox etc.) has failed once again. But! There may still be hope as I have since noticed that in one of the expansion packs on my development accounts is the presence of a code extension that is designed specifically for this kind of situation. With any luck I may be able to resolve the Xbox issue at a minimum with the advent of being directed to this code extension. I will update you all on the results once I have had a chance to give this a shot.
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Unplanned Platform Reevaluation: Redacting iPhone and iPad support

In a rather unfortunate and unexpected turn of events the Mac system that was scheduled for use in creating the mobile device versions of Mystic Advent has encountered an unrecoverable system failure. After trying everything I could reasonably do (wipe config, rebuild boot sectors etc.) I couldn't get it back to working order and ultimately nothing helped. As this was the only Mac within my budget (and also because I had to do a heavy customization job to even support my workload) I have unfortunately been forced to make the hard call in canceling the iPhone and iPad versions of  the game. Obviously I am disappointed in this outcome, but the realities of indie development mean that for a test system that normally costs into the thousands to fail like this means that I basically don't have a choice . This in no way affects other releases of the game which are still on track for the November 2020 launch plan - I have only been forced to abandon iPad and iPhone due to this unfo
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Progress on Release Preparation

After all sorts of tests and verification to see what works for which target I have officially settled on my platform configurations. Things may be different in appearance between versions as a result of the multitude of differences in what works where, so here's what I'm doing: On Android there will be a Mode7-style overworld render, while on Steam, GameJolt and itch I will be using a more extensive render that utilizes babylon.js for generating the field depth provisions. The primary difference between these rendering styles is that babylon.js utilizes GPU-level processing while the Mode7 render echoes the retro callback with on-the-fly processing that is not as intensive. The reason for the split rendering targets is that I have not yet managed to get the babylon.js render to function on the Universal Windows runtime that I require for the Xbox build, and the code release for RPG Maker MV that implements babylon.js is technically still in beta. This is why the system requi
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Regarding Consumer Privacy

It seems that I have hit a snag with my publishing plan in that some of my packages have triggered a mandatory privacy disclosure request. As this is standard protocol for these situations I am going to be absolutely clear on where I stand as the creator of Zero Break Game Design. First of all, whether it's for support, purchase verification or errata investigations there is absolutely no requirement for personal information to be collected as a part of the process. PERIOD. Anyone who even dares to ask for this information to be shared does not represent my trade name or those who are hosting my game distribution , and neither me nor the distributors of my products will EVER ask for this information in ANY unannounced transmission. Second, neither I nor my distributors will EVER disclose or sell your information to unauthorized parties, and will only do so for general purpose reasons such as offers for related products, sale pricing and the like (and ONLY if you're cool wit
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Release Platforms for Mystic Advent

Following up on the announcement of Mystic Advent , Zero Break Design has determined its first set of distribution services for rolling out the game. Currently the game is targeted for release on Steam, GameJolt and itch.io with special features targeted at each individual service. These are the most common platforms for what the project intends to accomplish and have been selected for maximum reach and distribution potential. Steam is by far the largest and most commonly-trusted service for game publishing and distribution and a perfect fit for the project as the primary distribution target for the Mystic Advent experience. Combined with secondary mirror hosting on itch.io and GameJolt, the distribution potential for all three services will afford the maximum outreach possible for the scope of the project. Microsoft Store targeting for Windows 10 and Xbox is also in progress.
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