And there shall be multiple exclamation marks!!!

Yup, the game we’ve all been waiting for has finally been released and is available for sale.

Check out its fancy product page: here

Lots of new screenshots, some new tidbits of information, a Trial download at the very bottom of the page, and definitely a new

Button 😉

I hope everyone enjoys the game as much as I enjoyed making it. The Wheelbarrows are anxiously awaiting…

The game shall also be available on the exceptionally awesome Amaranthia, Aldorlea, and Overcloud9 sites soon.

Enjoy! 😀

I think the title speaks for itself 🙂

I haven’t had internet in over a week. I just got it back last night and I feel whole again. To all the wonderful people who emailed me/left comments/etc, I’m sorry I couldn’t respond in time, but trust me: I will respond as soon as I can.

In the meantime, check out this freaking awesome, full-size wallpaper depicting the new characters and the story:

Click on it, and download it, and set it to your desktop, and marvel at its beauty.

I told you the artist’s rendition would be better than mine 😉

Have a widescreen monitor? Yeah? Then check this one out!

See you tomorrow! 😀

Why is it that I seem to have titles with two completely unrelated things in them?

In any case, Duncan above is pointing towards progress. The game is almost done. But.

But? I’m currently moving into a new apartment, making things a bit hectic. I planned on releasing the game on April 3rd (although, I don’t think I ever made it official) and I’m still aiming for it, but…

But– I won’t have any internet access in my new place for like a week. And, I’d really like to spit-shine and test the heck out of the game a bit more before it gets released. If even only for a few days. One week tops.

For the record, the game is really awesome. And pretty. And fun. 🙂

I’ll keep everyone updated as from wherever I can access the internet. 🙂

And no, I won’t pull any April Fool’s jokes on you tomorrow, we’re all too cool (and too busy) for that.

I couldn’t help myself and wrote some new music for a few sections in the game. Town music always kicks ass, so I started from there.

I’ve always loved the town of Soneros as a tropical-resort-like town. Even in the very first Arvale (Journey of Illusion) I wanted it to have its own separate music track. At the time, we ran out of memory space (mobile device constraints) and it had to be shelved. But when I got around to Arvale II, I learned a few tricks on how to save more space and include more music (as I mentioned in this design article) and was finally able to include Soneros’s music.

In any case, this track is still heavily influenced on the original Soneros music, but updated with better instrumentation and well, awesomeness. I won’t give away the whole track, but start from it’s C-section (did I just say that? I mean ABABC!), the theme which sounds completely different than the rest of the track as I really like it, and it’s easy to pass over it. Nylon string guitar and the soft clarinet really mesh well and have a nice foil to the rest of the tunes poppy piano and flute melody.

Ah, and here’s the track: town3sample

Enjoy 🙂

Aside from being really difficult to type (and pronounce) his name, Krygnk is a typical Dwarf hailing from the Melonchi Mines.

Dwarves in Arvale mine the material mithryl/mythril/mithril (in Arvale, no one is sure how it’s spelled either, so they just use all three) and other precious gems. They’re one of the few civilizations in Arvale that doesn’t use the gold standard, and because of this, they’re unbelievably rich.

Krygnk wields a giant dwarven axe of course, or sometimes a pick/shovel; depending on what is closer and what he’s doing. Like most dwarves, he wears armor all the time. I explained why they do this in Episode One and it was really funny, but I already forgot what it was.

In any case, Krygnk is dragged into the party because Duncan needs permission to enter a certain part of the Melonchi caves and is only allowed to enter with a guide. As the story progresses, it involves something being borrowed from the Mines and therefore Krygnk has to watch over it. Or something like that. I might have made that last part up to distract you. Either way, you’ll find out when the game is released soon. 🙂

Arvale: Treasure of Memories (I still love how the acronym is ATM), Episode II is coming along quite well and just thought I’d post a few more screenshots of stuff.

Above is a pic from the icy catacombs beneath Invyl…

Which is one of the few times I’ve ever been able to get away with using the color purple in a dungeon effectively 🙂

Also notice in the pics above and below that there are now roaming monsters on the maps.

For example, when that wolf in the above desert cave runs into me…

It’ll go straight to something like this.

I completely forgot to post a pic of the beachfront town of Soneros. So there it is. 🙂

Oh, and don’t worry, there are new monsters to run into as well. Kinda like…

In the snowy forest…

You might run into these guys.

And no trip to the Melonchi Mines would be complete without…

Riding in a minecart! Heck yeah!

Again, all pics above may not reflect the finished product, may turn into a cheesecake, and may cause you to crave pizza. I can’t be held responsible for any of those. Except maybe the pizza. I kinda want one myself now.

In any case, stay pizz– tuned for more Arvale stuff soon.

Because honestly, it saves me from having to type a lot.

And gives me more time to work on finishing the game. While the artist will probably get mad at me posting his early sketches publicly, I just can’t help sharing how awesome his work is.

In any case, this is a sketch of one of the new characters in Arvale: Treasure of Memories, Episode II. And here is a bit of purposely vague info on him:

This character is mysterious to the the group and no one has any idea who he is, where he came from, or what his motives are. After overhearing a conversation from Duncan’s party, he suddenly insisted on helping Duncan with his quest. When asked for his name, he hesitated and simply replied, ‘…call me ****’.

No, he didn’t pronounce four asterisks, nor did he swear. I’m leaving that for suspense.

From his appearance, he dresses a bit like a Ninja (or in Arvale terms, like the warriors from the ancient land of Konija), but the main weapons he seems to use is a heavy, two-handed, long-sword, not a light, one-handed, Katana.

Don’t worry, as the game near completion, it’s a bit of a snowball effect and lots of new stuff to share comes out, so I’ll have lots more to show over the next couple weeks 🙂

What do you think? Awesome? I do. Awesome.

This, along with a lot more other great things ended up in my inbox today (some related to Arvale, others telling me about a great sale on magical pills which will make me stronger in the bedroom, which I could really use because I often get tired when doing housework… oh, oh–… that bedroom? Nevermind, then)

I didn’t want to give it away all at once, so I thought I’d just show this really tiny peek of one of the character’s rough sketches.

Awesome.

Arvale:TM Episode II is coming along quite nicely and I just thought I’d share some screenshots with some of the new locales and describe some of the new features in the upcoming game.

Above is a shot from the Melonchi Mines. A mystical place where Dwarves hang out and mine precious ores all day. Why they mine precious ores all day is kind of a mystery, even to many of the Dwarves.

The Melonchi Mines are located on its own continent in the middle of the ocean. Notice the neat crescent shape the continent makes on the MiniMap. Oh yeah, there is an optional MiniMap available in the game now. Quite handy in larger towns and dungeons.

Of course the new MiniMap is completely optional and can be turned off from the brand-new options menu. The options menu can be accessed from the regular in-game menu and also allows you to adjust the Music, Sound Effect, and Ambient noises separately from each other.

See? Now the MiniMap is off for you purists who like having no MiniMap like in Arvale: Treasure of Memories, Episode I 😉 Above is a shot of the Soneros part of the Soneros-Ivyl continent, which used to connect to the Invyl half of the continent…

Ages ago it was the same continent, but then they split apart and their climates drastically changed with Soneros being mostly desert and Invyl being mostly snowy. Although lately… no wait, I won’t spoil that 🙂

In any case, to travel between the two continents, you take a ferry from a small town named Queous. They recently tried to build a bridge to replace the ferry, but that didn’t work out too well.

In any case, it’s still a long journey to the town of Invyl. Which is full of Elves who are the best blacksmiths in the world of Arvale. Elves have a really long lifespan, so that probably allowed them to practice a lot. That, and there is nothing else to do for fun when it’s so darn cold out.

You’ll have several opportunities to use your full party during battles. Notice the slight changes to the battle menu, which is much easier to view your entire party’s stats. Also the battle backgrounds will reflect where you actually are on the map now, instead of the trippy whirlwind thingy from the first Episode 🙂

And of course (I know some of you have been waiting for it)…

The game will have plenty of Wheelbarrows to speak with. You know, if you want to. It’s entirely optional, of course.

That’s enough sharing for now. Expect more sneak peeks of stuff over the next couple weeks. 🙂

Oh, and it should be noted that all of the above screen shots are s work in progress, do not represent the finished product of the game and can change into cheesecake by the time the game is finished. While unlikely, it is completely possible according to quantum physics.

Anything else you want a sneak peak of? Any other juicy tidbits of the story you want to know? Let me know and I’ll try to post them in the next update.