Well, I did it! I released a prototype! I know prototypes are supposed to be much earlier in development. Like, why did I spend so much time on visuals (not even that good? except the girl sprites, thank you Chocomint!) and post-processing. But better late than never.

The prototype is a bit of a buggy mess. But it's my buggy mess. And prototype's aren't necessarily for bug-hunting (though if you see one that's not listed on the main page, let me know!). This particular prototype features a tiny bit of the gameplay loop and I am mostly interested in the feel. 

I'm very worried a 3-person-party doesn't entirely work for a survivors-like, but so far I've received decent feedback, so I'm happy about that. I think there's a lot to be explored here. Right now I'm excited about elemental combination effects. If an enemy is hit with a fire ability, and then a water ability, a new ability spawns (like a steam cloud or something). That incentivizes players to bring different elemental girls, and it also makes the "multi-person party" worth it.

At least, in my head :)

I think my other worry is that I, as a solo dev, I may have bitten off more than I can chew. I am trying to do a survivors-like and a darkest dungeon "hub world"-like system with sanity. Both of these mechanics are literally games by themselves. I don't know where I got the gall to think I could merge them. It's literally two games in one.

Can I do it?!

Only time will tell.

And my third worry! I make RPG Maker videos on YouTube. This game, though, was made in Godot. I feel like publishing this prototype has opened a can of worms I'm not ready for: primarily, releasing a video about transitioning from RPG Maker to Godot. I'd like to make videos about Magical Girl Manager on my channel and I think that specific "transition" video would go over well; otherwise, people will ask, and I'll have to answer. I mean, I don't have to. But I'll want to.

But maybe I'm totally overthinking this!

So, my first devlog. Hopefully not my last - but very possible, lol!

And just for posterity's sake, here is the current bug list:

In this version:

• Normally wands will be dropped by bosses, but in this version you can just select one.
• Stats don't do anything to the abilities yet (ie: a girl's cooldown doesn't affect anything yet)
• There's only 1 "relic" right now (Pink Moon Stick)
• There are only like 2 upgrades for the wand and the relic, and some upgrades like "duration" don't work
• The game lets you start with a full 3-girl party if you click "Quick Battle"
• Death doesn't work so good right now
• Ignore the girls' "tiers", that's a later mechanic
• There's a bug where upgrades to one wand are also applied to another of the same wand; also, upgrades carry over between battles now (they shouldn't)
• You have to drag the wand over the girl's stats, not her sprite. I'll fix this eventually!