MV - Fidel & The Pauper's Paradox (Sean Murray)

That moment you have all been waiting for!
It's been 3 years since I began this journey and today, I present to you:
An RTP-filled, hour long adventure with enemy AI that makes you feel like the game will crash at any minute.

Now, now, don't everyone crowd, I'll be here all day to answer all of your questions about my genius.

Yes. :biggrin: I, like Trid, wuz foolishly led to believe that Pauper's Paradox had some kinda demo release!

Hey everyone!
I didn't forget this months update. I have big news:

The plan is to release another round of closed beta alpha? tests for Fidel & The Pauper's Paradox at the end of April! (or maybe early May...)

There's a long list of tasks needing to be checked off in order to get the game into a state that can be tested, so I will be hard at work on those over the coming weeks so that way a build of the game will be ready come April's end.

As we get closer to beta test day I'll be posting here more frequently to talk about what to expect in the beta test! What kind of content will you get to see. How will it differ from my last test. How many bugs and placeholder art you'll see.
Stay tuned!

It will be a closed beta test. That means only people granted access will be able to participate! You'll have to 'sign up'(and by that I just mean get your name placed in a queue)

Currently I am not opening up requests to participate in the closed beta yet. I think the next time I post about the beta test here I will open up the queue.

The plan is, rather than get a bunch of feedback dumped on me at once, I want to spread it out over time so it's more manageable to sort through. So keys to the beta will be given out in batches. (Based on the number of people who tested last time, I assume it will just be 2 batches of about 5 - 6 people)

Keep your eyes peeled, and if you want to know when you can queue for beta testing hit the "watch" button on this thread and/or just leave a response.

Count me in!

Congrats on getting to the "wow I can acutally play this" stage!

Not actually there yet.
There's a lot of work that needs to be done, and there's a lot of work I would also like to do if I am able to get all the "need to do" out of the way first.
Right now I got the time, so let's hope I reach that deadline :LZSwink:

Well, I'll be here just in case like Tridium. I have a debt to pay lol

Hello everyone!
It's time for your monthly news on the game!

So I have been playing around a lot with VX Ace lately, and really fell in love with the scripts and ruby engine. It seems to work really flawlessly on modern hardware, and it's accessibility options seem to be unmatched, with no plugin equivalent on MV or MZ!

Of course, this means I will be resetting all of my progress and completely starting over from scratch.

Since I will be restarting it's a good time to "reset the stage" so to speak, I wanted to bring Fidel, the character, up to a more modern standard.
It only seemed fitting to make Fidel(Fiddle) into how we all pronounce her name: Fidel.

Follow Fidel on her his charming revolution to bring the sad, economically despondent tropical island to a prosperous land where all man is equal!

Get ready!


nyan =~.^=

Finally came around, comrade! Ace is the GOAT!

Now THAT'S the true april fools joke right there.

Hmm. You will be spared human, when it's time for the wasps to conquer the world.

Because Ace is better than MV in every way.

I am afraid to say that every single human NOT using MV will not be spared.
MV is simply beyond Ace. And I decree it.

I've got my cigars, I'm ready for the change! :wub Eerily tho, Fidel looks happy and hopeful in the large banner, but in the small sig banner he lookin' like "I wonder if this revolution was a good idea after all..."

Ooh, is that the human catnip-nyan?!

The reason it's a Google form is for a few reasons. Primarily, all the reasons boil down to organization. The responses will be automatically logged to a spreadsheet, which from there I can see everyone who has signed up, the best way to get in contact with them, and see whether they are going to make video content or not - and after I give them a key, I can easily mark that the key has been sent, ensuring everyone who signs up will get a key without any delay or confusion!
So please use the Google sheet. It's not a requirement, but makes everything better for everyone involved.

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The purpose of this closed testing is to improve the game.
Please read and understand the following points:

• You should make a concerted effort to leave actionable feedback in order to improve the game. (actionable feedback includes information on areas that can be improved and how those can be improved.)
• Do not publish your feedback publicly until after the beta is complete.
• The game is currently in an incomplete stage and will utilize placeholder art, missing sounds, and missing animations; bugs may be present.
• It is not possible to complete the game in its current state.
• Streaming and recording is permitted, but the watermark disclosing that it is a beta and the game's current version number must not be cropped, obscured, or rendered illegible.

---

Let's address one of the points I feel may be "controversial" listed here. Point 2, "Do not publish your feedback publicly..."
The TL;DR is to think of this like an NDA most game journalists follow. They cannot publish their review until a specific date. It's not to stop you from publishing your opinion, but to ensure everyone has a fair chance.

It's the same idea here. Since I am staggering who gets the keys so that it is easier for me to manage all the feedback (last time I was completely swamped with PMs and notifications it was difficult to keep track of everyone I was talking to).
However, I would prefer that everyone who is involved in the beta test sees the game with fresh eyes. If the people who get the keys first start publishing their feedback publicly before others have, it may change their perception of the game - for better or worse - which can change how they play the game, which wouldn't be an accurate representation of the test I am trying to...well...test for.

Everyone is welcome to publish their feedback publicly after the beta test is complete, not matter how positive or negative your feedback is on the game.

For those who are going to make video content, this is especially important for you. Video content creators will likely receive the keys last.

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Back in December, 2022 I ran the first test of my game.
So how will this differ from that test?

This is a content-rich experience.
That's not marketing buzzwords, but means that you will have full access to the completed sections of the game.
Unlike the previous test in which I locked players to a very narrow path (a "vertical slice" if you will), this will start players at the beginning of the game and allow players full access to 2 of the 3 levels (that's because level 3 isn't finished).
This means:

• Players can experience the story, beginning from the prologue.​
• Players can interact with the town, including:
  

  • Shopping​
  • Upgrading Fidel and her skills.​
  • The various systems and mechanics that tie into the Community system.​
  • Meeting the towns people.​
  • Giving gifts to the towns people.​
• Players can complete 2 levels in full.
  

  • The Seas level is fully accessible.​
  • The Cave level is fully accessible. (The previous test only allowed access to half of this level)​

There is of course a lot you can't do since it's not finished. I'll go over some of the major things:

• You can't beat the game.
• You can't do the Forest level.
• You can't complete many townsfolk vignettes.
• There is no pixel movement (Yeah I had a big update about that, but there's a number of issues that have cropped up as a result of implementing pixel movement, and so for the beta test it is disabled.)

There is also a variety of missing things from animations, sound effects, action sequences, etc.

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So if there is a lot of missing stuff, what exactly am I looking for?
Well, mostly anything. I am just checking that I am on the right track.
Combat is still not as sharp as I want it to be, but would be glad to know it's not "a completely soul-sucking experience"
Checking the difficulty & difficulty curve would be good.
Checking where I need to iron out points of friction to help the experience be smoother.
Checking whether the pacing is on the right track.
Checking to make sure the pillars of the game's design philosophy are upheld (Player choice, Player freedom)
Maybe more things I am forgetting :LZSskeptic: but I am sure people will oblige.

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So what are you waiting for?
Sign up! Sign up now for the beta test!
Here's a link again so you don't have to scroll back up

I'll be back again to talk some more about the upcoming beta test!

Hello everyone,

I'll make this update brief, and primarily pertains to those who have already signed up for my game's beta test.

My father passed away. For those who don't know, I am a resident of Japan, but an American national. Therefore, the next 2 weeks I will return to America to mourn his passing and help my brother manage my father's estate.
As a result, the planned date for the beta test is being pushed back. I don't have a new date yet. Will cross that bridge once I return back to my home in Japan.

Apologies for the trouble, and thank you everyone for understanding.

My condolences, Nolan!:kaocry:

Strength my friend. We're here if you need something

I’ll have a beer in honor of your dad tonight.
Take your time. We’ll all be here whenever you’re ready to rock ‘n roll this beta.

condolences with your dad @TheAM-Dol

Hey everyone,
I'm back home in Japan now.

So let's talk about the beta test.
the tl;dr is that I am going to delay it indefinitely - as in no date is set, but hoping for an end of May/start of June time frame.

To explain further:
I had been unemployed the past few months. I had been taking advantage of this time to work as much as I can on my game. Unfortunately between the sickness at the start of the month that left me bed ridden for a week, then my father's passing requiring me to spend another week away from development, this really put a dent in my game's development progress.
Starting May 1st, I'll resume working (woo....). Glad to have regular income again, but unfortunately I won't have nearly as much time to work on my game.
During April, I began rushing development to get the game ready for that beta test. Nothing necessarily wrong with this, but I also began cutting content that I wanted present in the beta test to ensure I would have enough time to polish the existing content.
In addition to the reworked intro that I have been working on for the past month, there are 2 other key things I would like to implement:

• One NPC only has a placeholder intro (literally it says, "Hi, I'm [NPC] and this is a placeholder intro.") I would like to implement the proper introduction for this NPC.
• The save/load game system is somewhat unique. However it has not been implemented in full. I would like to change that for the beta test.

Additionally, there are other things I hope I can also have ready for the beta test, but not necessary:

• Some cutscenes are long and need to be edited and cut-down.
• Hopefully corrections to the pixel movement plugin to improve compatibility so that it can be used int he beta test.

So with that being said, the beta test is getting delayed until I have completed the 2 key items to be implemented.
My apologies to everyone who has signed up.
I will retain the sign up sheet and contact you when it is ready. If for whatever reason you wish to redact your sign up, please PM me and I'll remove you from the list.
I will leave the sign up form open for those who wish to sign up, just be aware that I do not know what date the testing will begin.

Thank you everyone for your understanding.
Take care of yourselves.