• December 28, 2023
• in ANARCHY
• 8 min read

Rendezvous

Heyho, ho ho! 🦌

It's December 28th – you know the drill. 😏

If you're reading this, ANARCHY's final update of 2023 is live! Rendezvous (0.1.4) packs big changes to ParAdise's combat & field experience, a whole set of Steam Inventory Items, a new quest UI, pathfinding adjustments – and so, so much more!

Utopia on Earth

The preview already introduced field battles and variations as the two flagship features coming with Rendezvous. Since we've covered them there, I'd like to use this post right here to not only look at what's new, but also at ParAdise itself.

In other words, we'll use Lorna's question as a starting point to pose two questions of our own. What can ParAdise do for you? And secondly, what does ParAdise want from you?

One of Four

Initially, Lorna's little adventure was conceived as a prologue – and in many ways it still is! There's lots of exposition including a whole bunch of question marks. In regards to ANARCHY, ParAdise carries a special responsibility to establish ground-rules from which we can extrapolate the rest of the game.

However, ParAdise also has a story of its own. TRACHI's goal to portray social dynamics is here represented by Lorna's struggle not only to make sense of the world – but to find her place in it, too.

Introduction

At the moment, ImmigrAtion is just a Fragment with a little snapshot from Lorna's past. Those of you accustomed to TRACHI however already know: Things are rarely as they seem. At some point between tomorrow and February 28th, we'll rip away the tapestry and expose the world for what it is.

For a brief time, Lorna will get what she wants. A large load of truth, served with a gigantic slice of humble pie. Fortunately for everyone involved, Lorna won't have to cope by herself.

Vox Populi

TRACHI itself is full of people who love nothing more than to lend a helping hand. Whether it's a battle to the death or any other forms of social interaction, Lorna can count on the fact that everybody involved wants to leave their mark – including you.

After all, some of you were already around when TRACHI's calendars struck 1923. Contrary to our three-day vacation in and around a now famous city, we're no longer just standing by.

The World & You

AUTONOMY's interaction boiled down to triggering dialogue and/or changing scenes. In ANARCHY, we'll also be interacting a lot. However, there is now a whole range of interactable objects eagerly waiting to be used.

From Monoliths to Fragments to Signposts, Quest Boards, shops and doors and ladders – ParAdise already serves an entire buffet of interactions arranged exclusively for you. All of these and the ones currently planned follow a single, overarching goal.

Progression

TRACHI has always been about personal growth. What's new in ANARCHY is the ability to quantify this kind of progress via stats, equipment, consumables or quests. For that matter, a major chunk of development time was spent on establishing pipelines that not only facilitate changes to these systems, but also present them to you.

A user interface that accomplishes all of that is not just a commodity, it's an essential element of every game with an ambition to call itself an RPG. Coincidentally, one of these elements has also been reworked for Rendezvous.

Laundry List

Quests by itself operate on a meta level. They don't do much on their own, but they're often the main indicator of where you currently are within a game. Starting from which quest is available where and when and how – all the way to what they want you to do. Which doesn't count for much if the game keeps that information from you.

For that reason, the Quest UI itself has undergone a complete rework. There is a now clear distinction between quest text (narrative flavour), requirements to complete the quest and – last but not least – rewards. This should give you a clear idea of what you need to do in return for what – and why someone wants you to do it in the first place.

Motivation

For all the breadcrumbs and leitmotifs I'm trying to implement, I constantly remind myself that these things don't necessarily mean much to everyone. If you prefer to run around and kill things for fun, that's okay! In fact, you're actively being catered to.

By far the biggest change ANARCHY brings to the table is the introduction of combat segments. Battles not only constitute the third pillar on which the entire game is built upon, they are also the most striking indicator of how well you've navigated the RPG systems mentioned above.

Frontier

Shortly after the release of 0.1.3 (Marche), I set my mind on transferring combat from dedicated battle maps to the field map itself. Even though fights in ParAdise were already heavily impacted by things you brought along, there was always a potential for more.

For starters, I wanted to put an emphasis on the place you're initiating battle from. Secondly, I wanted to give patrolling combatants the ability to join the battle too. Those are two of the reasons why – starting today – field maps will feature the entire trinity of exploration, conversation and battle segments.

DMZ No More

In effect, groups of enemy combatants are now placed directly on the field. Walking up to one of these then triggers a battle. Every combatant in range is placed on a map-wide grid where you then also get to deploy your friends.

The battle itself keeps running until one of three events occur. Either you win and get to continue exploring – or you're defeated and reconstructed at the last Monolith you rested at. In addition, there is also a new Escape command that functionally works the same as being defeated – except enemies don't get to dab on your remains.

Persistency

No matter how the battle turns, the overall rules of the world stay the same. Things die if they're killed – and stay dead until something triggers a Monolith. This means you're largely in control of respawn cycles, barring those that happen when you're defeated and/or flee a battle.

Most objects (e.g. ladders or doors) remain unaffected by Monoliths. There's also an option to eventually introduce enemies that only (re)spawn under certain circumstances – if they respawn at all.

Coherence

If you've played ExcommunicAtion, you're already aware that spawning things is not a power reserved by Monoliths. In fact, Ganymede himself already publicly proved that TRACHI's people are not as irreplaceable as they claim to be.

In fact, most characters were already a collection of different versions that represent a snapshot of a specific moment in their lives. Which brings me to my final point for today.

Variation

From ANARCHY's (conceptual) birth in February 2023, I was eager to solve two things. First and foremost, I wanted to give you the ability to customize the appearance of TRACHI's people. Like every other type of interaction I mentioned, the primary goal here is to give you more control.

The system shipped with Rendezvous introduces variations as a piece of equipment that changes the visual getup of the character you're equipping it on. To equip as specific variation, you need to have the corresponding Steam Item in your Steam Inventory.

Ecosystem

It's been a big effort building this bridge, but the good news is: We got it built. Integrating Steam into the pipeline enables variations to be driven directly by your Steam account.

In other words: Your personal collection of variations is driven by your participation in the patch-challenges each month. If you'd rather skip these, you can still purchase the Items through the Steam Item Store a couple of months after they're no longer obtainable ingame.

Fundraising

As with everything else I've mentioned so far, the monetisation model also tries to leave you as much freedom as it possibly can. I believe everyone should have a chance to interact with the game, which is why there's no up-front price tag on any of the TRACHI games.

However, I am also incredibly ambitious. There's thousands of talented artists struggling to make a living by producing the same triple-A fanart over and over again. If possible, I'd like to shake things up and introduce these people to an upcoming brand.

Long story short

In my mind, TRACHI deserves to be big. On the other hand, good things take time. That's why I set aside two full years to graduate from RPGMaker to a big boy engine the same way I started as a writer and became a person making video games.

The end of 2023 marks the end of my initial training arc. Starting next year, I'll have to perform. If you'd like to be around for that: I'll be right here! And if there's ever anything you'd like to see – I'd be delighted to make a change together with you!

At any rate, I wish you all the best for 2024. 🎉 Big hugs to you – and a giant shoutout to both my family and friends for putting up with me. I'll be back in a week or so with more plans and a little roadmap for our journey towards ANARCHY 0.2.

Until then, I remain – as always – your biggest fan! 😊

much love
nory