#phoenotopia

[phoenotopia]

Introducing Star Iliad!

We’re happy to announce our next game, “Star Iliad”! Now in development.

Star Iliad is a retro-futuristically themed Metroidvania that takes place inside a giant star whale.

See the teaser trailer!

In the game, you’ll play as Blythe Braves, a Star Ranger who patrols a remote region of the interstellar frontier. Heeding a distress signal, she investigates to find a curious large rock formation in the shape of a whale. Shortly after landing and locating a couple of castaways, her ship is destroyed by unknown alien creatures. Stranded and surrounded, but not outgunned, she joins forces with other castaways in a bid to escape. A big adventure ensues!

Where Phoenotopia had more Zelda-style leanings, Star Iliad dives deeper into Metroid territory with a larger, interconnected map and a stronger focus on gun combat. We’ve learned the correct lessons from Phoenotopia— which is… Guns are Good 👍 Bats are Bad 👎 (joking!)

The story won’t be taking a backseat. While Phoenotopia featured a large ensemble cast, Star Iliad narrows its focus to a smaller group of more thoroughly explored characters.

(Characters can leverage expressive portraits to drive emotionally charged scenes)

Some additional in-development pics. We have both very finished & very unfinished looking areas.

Legacy of Phoenotopia

Since Phoenotopia’s development concluded, we’ve received some really encouraging emails from fans expressing how much they enjoyed it and even sharing their concern about whether we were doing alright. This meant a lot, especially considering Phoenotopia was not a strong seller.

For a while now, I’ve felt the need to allay those fears and let everyone know that we’re alive and hard at work on something new. With Steam’s fourth anniversary for Phoenotopia approaching, it felt like the right moment to finally share an update.

True, Phoenotopia was not a strong seller, but it would not turn out to be as bleak as I previously believed. Long after sales should have dwindled to zero, the game found a small, but steady threshold—a lifeline that has kept us funded. We’ve also been able to rely on family (and the occasional side job or two) to stay afloat.

Lastly, I think the game got some organic word of mouth, so there would be random times here and there where a youtuber or renowned streamer covered Phoenotopia and we’d get an unusual sales spike out of nowhere.

So, to all the fans who supported us, whether by buying the game, spreading the word, or just sending us kind messages—thank you! You’ve sustained us in ways you may not even realize, and we’re incredibly grateful 🙇

Chronicling Star Iliad’s development with a new Dev Log! (on wordpress)

After Phoenotopia, there was a bit of wandering around and thinking about what was next.

I wanted to settle into a quieter pace of development for a while. With Phoenotopia, I had been doing long form dev log updates. I wanted to try something different – a smaller, but more frequent form of dev logging. And it appeared that the new dev blogging meta was social media like Twitter & Instagram.

But there was no point in starting right away. Because 4 years back, we didn’t know what we were working on. It would take about a year of exploring & feeling around before “Star Iliad” developed enough shape and form that it could be talked about. Then we started twitter (@StarIliad) and instagram (@StarIliad), and started posting. Not as regular as I thought I would it turns out �� short form updates have their own unique challenges and dev logging is always easy to neglect.

Still, if you’re curious, you can look at the StarIliad twitter account and enjoy the past 3 years of short form dev log posts (it may keep you entertained for all of 10 minutes).

As for the instagram account, it never quite took off, basically dying right out the gate >_>

In any case, we’re in the midst of development. It’s difficult to see the finish line from here, so I can’t announce a release date. What I can announce is the return of the dev log, where like times of yore, I will be chronicling our thoughts and tribulations until we reach the finish line. I invite you to join us by subscribing to the new dev log on wordpress.

(Also, please wishlist on Steam! It helps with the algorithm)

[zerovsilver19]

[two-cat-hods]

Opening Writing Commissions

Hi!! Finally decided to start using a hobby that I've loved doing to give myself a few extra things to do on the side, whilst earning a few bucks too! Personally, I really like writing Yuri and romance in general but I don't find myself limited to that genre, dabbling a lot in horror and adventure before.

What's off Limits? Underage, NonCon, Necro, Incest, Sexualized Gore.

What's on Limits? Anything, even explicit, apart from those things and a few things listed below. If you're unsure about some stuff, just ask me, cause there might be things I'm uncomfy with that I forgot to put in there.

What franchises can I request? Anything! As long as you give me some time to take in the character and their worlds whilst asking you a few questions on the side. The franchises I am already deeply familiar with are: Games: Deepwoken, Phighting, All Project Moon Media, FNAF (but not the books), Ultrakill, UT/DR, Omori (Off Limits for Explicit), TBoI (Off Limits for Explicit), Team Fortress 2, Celeste, Hollow Knight, Rain World, Signalis, Hades, Awaria, Helltaker, Phoenotopia, Postknight, Genshin (though I stopped playing after Fontaine) Shows: Arcane, Adventure Time, Gravity Falls (Off Limits for Explicit), Chainsaw Man, Frieren, DunMeshi, DanDaDan, Mob Psycho (Off Limits for Explicit), Evangelion, RWBY My Portfolio (for now): https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenewedSanguineFaith/works Though, keep in mind that this is mostly a lot of old stuff, because more of the recent stuff I've done, are things I'd like to keep private. I'd also like to hope that the previews I give during writing will represent my current and proper writing style. What's your rates? Generally 1 USD every 150 words, with an upfront, unchanging 5 dollars if your request is explicit (this isn't 5 dollars per 150, just 5 dollars on top if it's a smut fic). So you're looking at about 10 USD for a 1500 word 5 page, 11 size Merriweather font, short lil fic, and another 10 USD for each chapter of similar size beyond that, priced accordingly if word counts differ, of course.

There's also always the negotiation of prices available at the first communication up to the midpoint preview for the fic, so we can always insure that you have a fair price for what you're getting for it That's It? That's everything! If you're seeing this after I talked to you about it on some other platform, then let's get to negotiations so I can send you my paypal and stuff! If you're someone who found this post through tags and are interested, first of all thanking for reading all of that, secondly you're free to DM me here on Tumblr (sorry if im ever late, i might be busy so sorry @_@) for any talks with me being free on Discord and Bluesky as well if you'd like to request to talk there instead. Toodles!

[mackerelphones]

"Game of the year," the coveted status one awards only to what video game one liked most of all the ones they played that year.

GotY 2023: Pheonotopia: Awakening. Tons of fun from start to end. Tens of hours of nonstop entertainment that kept me hooked for weeks. For comparison, most video games don't even lose my interest because they never gain it in the first place. Perhaps I should finish the video review I was making of it

GotY 2024: Dungeon Munchies. No contest. Unfortunately, the gameplay is just fine, and it is definitely not optimized for controllers. But the storytelling in this goes so much harder than anyone could possibly expect that I fell in love with it. Exactly the exhilarating mixture of farce, horror, and extreme sadness that I search for. One of those where whenever I wasn't playing it, I was chomping at the bit to get back to it

Honorable mentions for 2023 and 2024: Dead Estate and Anthology of the Killer

Dead Estate: Many hours (70!) of fun and entertainment. The final update came out this year, so it's finally complete. The new Steam thumbnail does sort of spoil the surprise that the cast of characters is larger than it first appears, though

Anthology of the Killer: This series of comedy-horror adventures has been trickling out episode by episode since 2020 but was only completed in 2024 with the final episode, "Face of the Killer." Because I've been playing each episode as it came out since 2021, I don't feel like this qualifies as my GotY 2024. Consistently clever and brilliant. Just one perfect line and memorable scene after another, for hours. Erudite, delightful, hilarious but also surprisingly haunting. I think about it often

***

I barely played any video games released in 2024 itself. The only ones I can recall are Felvidek, the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake, and Psychopomp: Gold (and of course Anthology of the Killer, but since it began coming out in 2020, I do not consider it as "belonging" to 2024)

Felvidek is surprisingly difficult. The mistakes in the fake Early Modern English kept ripping me out of it so that I never got invested. I found it kind of embarrassing, and such a letdown when the graphics are so striking and the setting so unique. Maybe if I kept going it would have hooked me, but I think I'd have to start over for the challenge to be possible

PMTTYD remake has much nicer graphics than the rather ugly original, but the new OST is usually too noisy. Some of the new tracks layer it on too thick. But even so, it is PMTTYD, so it's 5/5. Something-something Vivian (the longest thing I posted online in 2024)

Psychopomp: Gold has a fantastic aesthetic, dark and pixely and grimy, but the narrative, such as it is, has little to offer, and the gameplay is also only serviceable. The story is far too concerned with "lore" to the exclusion of the characters or drama. I never cared about anything that was happening. But I can't knock that aesthetic! If you're as scared of the dark as I am, this is a very tense video game

***

I haven't posted much on any of my accounts lately because, given various events in the world, I feel there are certain things I should say, but also that they would be embarrassingly, shamefully useless to say besides my increasing fear of saying anything. So simultaneously I should say certain things before I dare say anything else, but also I shouldn't say those things at all. I don't know if I'll be more active in 2025, though I doubt it.

[ryunumber]

Gonna suggest my favorite with Gale/Gail (Phoenotopia/Phoenotopia: Awakening). I'm sure there's something since she was once riding the tankman tank and newgrounds stuff has fun connecting to one another sometimes. (though i wouldn't be surprised if it would need a LRN or ERN instead of (S)RN)

Gail/Gale does not have a Ryu Number.

[simplyghosting]

I will not stop talking about this game

[ceramic-galanter]

Phoenotopia: Awakening is very pretty (and 60% off on Steam right now)

Phoenotopia: Awakening is a stunningly beautiful indie game

It's got a lot of everything - fishing and cooking minigames, puzzles, interesting NPCs to talk to, countless sidequests, great music, cute enemies, post-apocalyptic setting...

there's so many hidden secrets and small details that must have taken forever to implement. The world is really immersive, with some surprisingly meaningful moments where I least expected it.

the game doesn't have nearly as much attention as it deserves - it's a bit of a hard game (I really recommend choosing 1-star difficulty for the QoL changes) but a lot of the challenges that frustrated me starting out were actually entirely optional. It also took me embarrassingly long to notice enemies don't deal contact damage unless they have spikes.

(also make sure you get the fishing rod as soon as possible)

[robotoooo]

Starting to notice a trend in the games I've been playing lately...

[the-bearer-of-bad-ideas]

bird girl doodles from class because now that ive figured out how to draw her im having fun doing it

theres context for the second one but i think its funnier without

[elric-murphy]

Drew an outfit swap, between two of my favorite Metroidvania(ish) games! Y'all should check out these titles if you're into the action-platformer genre.

[phoenotopia]

Star Iliad DevLog # 02: The Importance of Pacing

When it comes to making commercial video games, let's just say it's not our first rodeo 😎

(It's our second)

Steam automatically compiles various play data from gamers. From Phoenotopia, I know that we have a roughly even split of keyboard users and gamepad users. From achievements, I can tell which bosses were defeated and how far the player got (although our implementation of achievements requires the user manually unlock it, so it's less useful data). Today, I want to focus on one specific data point—the median playtime for Phoenotopia.

Unfortunately, the median playtime clocks in at 4 hours.

I think that's right when the player reaches Atai.

(Atai - the death place of so many playthroughs)

A working theory has been forming:

Atai is the first real "slog" where players are stuck in one place for a long time. It’s a big town with 70+ NPCs to chat with. It’s easy to get lost, feel like you're not making progress, and then tap out.

Two major quest lines must be completed before reaching the second dungeon: getting the bombs and getting the flute.

Get BOMBS

Meet Lisa and learn of her plight

Find the bomb maker’s house—it's locked.

Tell Lisa you need to unlock a door.

Lisa refers you to Garnet, who gives you a “watch the kids” quest.

Play hide-and-seek with the kids.

Comb through the entire town looking for the kids

Go to the bomb maker's house and claim bombs

Get FLUTE

Meet Lisa and learn of her plight

Find the jailed Ouroboros man—he wants wine.

Go to the tavern—no ID, no wine.

Talk with Lisa and get her ID

Dye your hair to look like Lisa

Buy wine with fake ID

Go to the Ouroboros bandit and exchange it for the flute

Phew. Looking back, that is a LOT. And we don't even have a quest tracker >_>

I love romping through towns and chatting with NPCs—it’s my favorite part of JRPGs (the genre I’d be making if I weren’t making this). But maybe I let that influence the design a bit too much 🤔

During these quests, there’s very little action—unless players explore optional caves (which don’t quite scratch the itch). So after 1-2 hours of town questing, many players drop off. That’s why so many runs end at 4 hours. That's my theory anyway.

That brings us to today’s blog topic: PACING

Long story sequences should generally be avoided—it's a sign of poor pacing. If a long sequence can’t be trimmed down, it should at least be broken up with action. Think of it like making a burger—it needs balance.

(Atai is like the burger on the left—only meaty "story" sequences. A well-paced game is like the burger on the right — it utilizes crucial tomato and lettuce "action" set pieces to mix things up)

Now, one of our new core design goals for Star Iliad is that if you take any 90 minute slice of gameplay from anywhere in the game's campaign, you’ll experience all of the following:

Exploration

Combat

Puzzles

Boss Fight

New Upgrade

Story Progression

That's the core "game loop". Of course, to stay balanced presents its own challenges because we can only control so much. Players set their own pace, and some will inevitably get lost. As designers, we can mitigate this by packing the game with so much content that there's always something new around the corner - make getting lost fun!

(It's going to be a lot of work though...)

It does raise some challenging design questions. For example, how can you deliver "story" sequences when you're deep in the whale's intestines, far away from town?

Our answer is to employ something akin to Metal Gear Solid's codec calls. It's the future and people have "cell phones" (or holographic communicators in our case). You can call NPCs and they can call you (Players can also ignore calls if they'd prefer less story)

To conclude —pacing is important! No more hour+ long story sequences! Excepting a couple scenarios - say at a crucial turning point in the game. Long exposition dumps need to be earned. Pacing is something we’re going to be vigilant about through all of development.

(Steve Ballmer understands how important Pacing is)

Thanks for reading!

(Next update will be in two months, at May’s end)

[yourfaveisfriendshaped]

Gail from Phoenotopia Awakening (which i guess also includes Gale from the original phoenotopia too)

Gail is friend-shaped!

[zoishi]

Una Gran aventura de plataformas | PHOENOTOPIA: AWAKENING

[montylont]

I just got In Stars And Time, and im wondering if theres any like, blind guides out there? Stuff that points me in the right direction or give hints on how to reach side content that i can possibly miss without outright telling me what it is or what it entails. Because knowing me, i will miss it, but i don't want to just play next to a guide which tells me everything about the event leaving no room for suprise.

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

[tulipfemme]

okay goals for today:

1. play video games

2. sign up for halloween murder mystery event

3. buy costume for said murder mystery event

4. play more video games

5. survive work

[simplyghosting]

This game had such a good OST and this one in particular I could listen to for hours