v0.2 demo is now released!

QUICK EDIT:
v0.2 patch 1 has been uploaded. I've made some minor tweaks and changes to balance out the characters' effectiveness. I've also added an option to change screen resolutions, with full screen mode.

ORIGINAL POST:
You can now download Hololive Isekai version 0.2 and play the demo. There's A LOT of changes added to the game since version 0.1 and I'll be going through each of them in this post.

Story Scenes

Let's go over the major gameplay features that has been added into v0.2. First major addition is the story cutscenes. I've mention that I wanted to add a visual-novel style storytelling segment into the game, and now the feature is inside. Currently, it's still quite bare-bones, but we are slowly trying to improve the architecture of the system. Maybe we can explore branching story paths which unlocks secrets.

UI Improvements

From the v0.1 to v0.2, I have made major UI improvements. There are more information available to the players - damage numbers, passive abilities, highlighting, etc. However, there's also a lot of areas for improvement. While the information is now available, there's still the issue of how the information is presented. Presently, the UI design is... terrible. I definitely need to work more on that. One of the major change that is required is the targeting system for combat. That will be the top priority for me moving forward.

Characters

Let's talk about the main stars of the show. I'll go over each of the character and what were some of the design plans I had for the characters. Design plans also include how a character is supposed to fill in as a character gameplay wise, but at the same time, have their gameplay fit the image of the actual Hololive girl.

Shirogane Noel

Noel is the introductory character for the player, as such, she's designed to simple and straightforward to play. Mace to face, moderate amount of damage, self-heal, and the tankiest character among the five playable ones. However, she falls off quite quickly once Marine and Rushia joins the party. She's still a decent tank, but she's not exactly tanking. Moving forward, I still want Noel to be go-to tank for players. So some design changes have been planned.

Usada Pekora

Our favourite comedian bunny girl. I feel that Pekora is actually in a very pretty good place. Pekora was meant to be a risk-taking character. She has the lowest health compared to the rest of the characters, but she's also the only one with the ability to dodge, as such, coupled with the ability to draw enmity from enemies, Pekora actually makes a good tank - a less reliable tank, but a tank nonetheless. Pekora also uses an ammo system for her attacks, but it seems that it's not clear to some players that Pekora will automatically forage for one carrot if she's at the front two positions. I will definitely need to work more on presenting such information in the future.

Uruha Rushia

Rushia is meant to be a reliable damage dealer. She can deal damage to units in all four positions. She also has a rage meter that builds up to a powerful single target attack, or players can delay usage of that attack to heal. Rushia is kind of like the archers of role-playing games, powerful, single target damage dealers, with some decent utility. Currently, I know her skill-set is pretty underwhelming, so moving forward, I want to design her around that idea of a single-target dps. Also, I can probably think of some sort interaction for her with the "corpses".

Shiranui Flare

Ah. Flare is one of characters that was designed to be a dual class. While staying at the back, Flare can heal and provide strength to her companions, much like her stream persona. She's also seems to be most level-headed one among the 3rd gen, as such I wanted Flare's gameplay to let players feel like level-headed tactician. Things like planning ahead with buffs, burns, protection, and a timely reposition. As of now, Flare can feel underwhelming when being compared to hard-hitters but other than a few number tweaks, I think Flare is in a pretty good place for future content.

Houshou Marine

Marine is easily one of the top picks for many players based on the feedback given to me. Why? Because she hits so damn hard. As the only crit-based character, it's easy to see why Marine feels so overpowered. Her damage can be unpredictable, sometimes she hits hard, sometimes she don't. She also spots a resource system known as Doubloons (fitting for the pirate theme), which allows her to hit even harder the more she hoards. The design goal for the Doubloons is have the player decide when it's a good time to "blow the load". Agreeably, Marine is very strong right now, so I'm planning to tweak a bit of the numbers to bring down Marine's effectiveness, but I still want players feel satisfying to see her do critical damage.

Future Plans

So let's clear out some frequently asked questions on the Reddit thread and other social media.

• Are you going to include more characters?
  • Yes. I plan to include all Hololive JP members up to 4th generation, that was the initial plan. As for other branches and 5th generation, we have wait till we are closer to completion before planning for the others.

• Are you going to release for iOS or mobile devices?
  • I do wish I could, but as of right now, I lack the necessary equipment and experience to build and test the game on these equipment. So for now, the game will be mainly for PC.

• Do I need to pay for the game when it releases?
  • No. It will be free to play.

• How can I support you and the team?
  • Currently, I'm not taking any donations. I don't feel right taking your hard earned money for work I don't feel is up to standard yet. You can support me by sending superchats to your favourite Hololive members.

I got some plans laid out for future content. There will of course be more enemy types. More Hololive characters will be joining the fray. Different settings. UI improvements. Also, additional game features. Originally, I had planned to have an exploration feature, where players can move around freely, interact with objects and do some simple puzzles. However, I did felt that the feature was lacking, so it has been shelved for now.

As for me, personally, this project has a lot of ups and downs. As a content creator working a full-time job, I spent most of my evenings after work and weekends just coding, drawing and designing the game. It is tiring, but seeing the positive reactions of the community and all the support you guys have given me, it energizes me to work harder for the project. This is my personal love letter to the fan community as well as Hololive which has brought me out of a creator slump.

Content?

I would love to interact with the community more, so I'm planning to stream some of work-in-progress and chat with like-minded Hololive fans. More details about that in the future. 

As for now, this project has reasonably tire me, so I'm taking a couple of weeks of break to cool off. I will still work on the project, just not as fervently for the next two weeks. It's important to rest.

Appreciation Segment

Hololive Isekai will not be possible without the help of talented individuals who has very kindly volunteered to help me. While I may be the one who started project, my team's work is no small contribution to the project as well. Please do give them some love as well:

Maruseu, the artist behind the cover art and the larger portraits of the game. [ Twitter | Pixiv ]

LightingGrey, character and enemy gameplay designer. [ Itch ]

Geek96boolean10, the feature designer for story scenes as well as artist for the skill icons. [ Reddit | Tumblr ]

Trail, currently helping with art as well. [ Twitter ]

Ecchilover, designer and QA, as well as the one person who refuses to give me their social media.

Currently, we are lacking someone who can help out with audio. So, if anyone would like to volunteer their skills, we will be more than happy to welcome you to the team.

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Of course, I also want to thank the translation channels that has helped me a tremendous bunch when I was researching on what sort character quirks I should implement for each of the Hololive girls. Translation channels take the interesting bits of a long stream, translate them and put it out for everyone to see on a regular basis, and that's no easy feat.

Here's a list of translation channels that I watch a lot of. There are definitely more comprehensive lists out there, but these are the ones I personally watch, in no particular order:

• Ritore Translations
• Vtube Tengoku
• HoloLive etc Cuts
• CMT
• InAccurateSubs

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Also, the Hololive girls, who have brought so much joy and entertainment to all the fans in the community.

Shirogane Noel [ YouTube | Twitter ]
Shiranui Flare [ YouTube | Twitter ]
Usada Pekora [ YouTube | Twitter ]
Uruha Rushia [ YouTube | Twitter ]
Houshou Marine [ YouTube | Twitter ]

Thank you once again for playing the demo. And I hope you guys will continue to support me in the future.