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[TheGentlebros]

We have been Greenlit!

Hello everyone! I am a member of The Gentlebros, and we're a 3 man team from Singapore!

Let me just say that its always been our dream to start our own indie studio(we're all ex Koei Tecmo devs),

and we can't wait to share with you guys our next project! We really want to get feedback as we work on the game.

Cat Quest is an open world adventure game for mobile devices(woo!) and PC!

We're still really early in development but we do have an exploration teaser to show!

Gameplay

We're aiming to build an accessible open world adventure that works great on mobile, and also something you can continue playing at home.

Think of it like a cross between Skyrim, Zelda and Final Fantasy, but streamlined to work well on mobile devices.

Players will play as an adventuring cat(that you can customise!) as they explore a massive world at will.

Around the world, will be monsters that you can fight or try to avoid!Combat is completely real time where players can get in close to attack or cast spells from afar. Enemies will also have clear tells before each attack so you will have time to run away or plan your next move!

There will also be caves and dungeons scattered around that you can enter for pawesome loot!

We've also scattered many secrets around the map too, so exploration should be really fun!

There are even super duper strong monsters and enemies that roam the world, offering end game goals if players want a challenge.

Quests

To be honest, we're still working on the tools we'll need to build quests,

but we've penned an epic story filled with dragons, ancient races and lost civilizations!

And we can't wait to work on it! Seriously, we can't!  

Right now, we're just going to keep posting updates as we have them,

but we hope we can get feedback from everyone here as we do!

Sometimes, we're not sure if something works, or is appealing to people.

We hope whatever we've shown so far is cool though!

Follow us on Twitter @TheGentlebros!

Like our Facebook page too!

Gentle fist bump!

[TheGentlebros]

Some more updates!
We got the player character's animation up and running!

[bdsowers]

I do love that overworld. It's ridiculously lush and vibrant. Is the whole game in that style?

[RIPPorkins]

Meowza! Design looks great! Very interested to hear how the transfer from mobile to PC goes. Will it be the same gameplay, or specific gameplay for each platform?

[TheGentlebros]

I do love that overworld. It's ridiculously lush and vibrant. Is the whole game in that style?

Yes the whole game is in this style! 

Meowza! Design looks great! Very interested to hear how the transfer from mobile to PC goes. Will it be the same gameplay, or specific gameplay for each platform?

It will be the same exact gameplay(albeit some graphical improvements on PC). All the videos, gifs and screenshots were taken off a mobile device, so you can expect the PC version to look even better!   
In addition to that, we're aiming to do some form of cross play. So you can play at home, and bring it out onto your phone and continue playing while outside.

[TheGentlebros]

We finally got enemies chasing players in the game.
We're one step closer to having combat in the game!  

[TheGentlebros]

We got updates!

So we got our initial combat up and running!



All you need to do is run close to an enemy, and your cat will automatically start attacking. As a player, all you need to worry about is positioning, as different enemies will require different positioning patterns to defeat and take the least damage possible.

Before this we tried a more traditional JRPG styled combat system, but we much prefer this one as it doesn't take you out of the world, and makes everything way more seamless.

[TheGentlebros]

More updates! We tested the combat system with a ton of enemies, and it worked out great! Super excited!

[nam1995]

Reminds me of Don't Starve, but with absolute vivid color palettes.

[zminusone]

Too bad cats aren't actually this cute... sociopaths all of them

[TheGentlebros]

Reminds me of Don't Starve, but with absolute vivid color palettes.

Thank you! Don't Starve is awesome!

Too bad cats aren't actually this cute... sociopaths all of them

Its a love/hate relationship, honestly!

[TheGentlebros]

Leveling up is in!



We probably want to make it even more grand and epic once we start polishing this game, but so far looks pretty good!

[TheGentlebros]

Cat Quest poster just got done! What do you guys think? 

[TheGentlebros]

Hi everyone!

Would just like to get a rough idea. From what you all have seen so far, would you all rather pay a price for the game and play it normally, or prefer the free to play model?

[madzgamer]

First I would like to say that I really like the current premise and your art style and overall colors choice is superb.

Now to your question - I really long for good mobile oriented Buy-to-Play games. And with your game being a open world one, BtP would be a bit cleaner solution. It's quite immersion breaking when you get message like "Your kitty is tired and wants to sleep for 59 minutes. Fortunately you can buy Super Extreme Overcooked Energy Cookies to continue playing right now for just 0.99£!".

On the other hand I see why as a developer I'd go with FTP - smaller cuts lost to piracy, bringing updates to game can be profitable, more exposure to gamers, etc. And whose to say that you can't figure out some interesting FTP concept without sacrificing gameplay.

Although with cross-play you can reduce piracy considerably, by holding save games in your own server. And it would be awesome, if you could buy the game(either from mobile or PC for the same price) and continue playing on the other platform for free.

TLDR: if you think you can acquire a fan base before launch, go with BtP. If not, FtP is probably safer bet. I think with a game like yours, you can make it work with both

(If you posted the question as a poll and my answer was too vague, then my opinion - Buy-to-Play. )

[TonyManfredonia]

Buy to play, definitely. With a game like this (and I look forward to seeing more, by the way!), I think it'd appeal more to a BtP audience. Although FtP can be a good model, you'll probably find more appeal from the slightly-not-so casual gamers.

I can't wait to see what's beyond the overworld! It's a gorgeous art style so far. Happy Cat-ventures in your development! I will be subscribing to this one

[TheGentlebros]

Thanks madzgamer and amanfr01 for the suggestions

Buy-to-play is certainly easier to design as well, but yea, people keep telling us premium is dead on mobile, no one buys games anymore. Although this saddens me, I feel there might be some truth to it. Unless the game is a popular franchise I know(Hitman GO I'm looking at you ), I hardly ever buy a game off the app store.
I could be wrong though! I wish I had some metrics to show how much premium games make on average on the app store!

Just throwing it out there, but how do you guys feel about free to play games that come with an option to 'Go Premium'. Meaning that you pay some money, and the game removes all f2p elements and basically converts it to a premium(buy-to-play) title.

[Screen Head Media]

What can I say, the game looks just awesome (cats are great for games ).
The movement over the map is great, really nice syle

Concerning your question FTP vs PTP:
In general I like pay to play way more, also on mobile. I always seek out for great premium mobile games to play. But as others mentioned before, you would need a strong fanbase (that is willing to pay upfront) to make a successfull buisiness out of it.

On the other hand I think you got a great style and appeal (judging from the images) which would work in the mobile segment. It's colorfull, it looks simple and fun and it has kittens :D
But you have to design especially for this and I'm nor sure if you can incorporate a good system into your game, which leads to players spending mones, without ruining the experience. Also there is much more competition in the free segment.

Whatever you choose, I will play it

[TonyManfredonia]

You could do a FtP model for the phone, and a BtP model for Steam (as I noticed you'll be bringing it to that platform). All the functions that Steam has could be "extra" for the FtP mobile version.

Just a thought that I'm tossing out there. Ultimately, it's your choice, and as a completely external consumer I respect any decision you make!

[TheGentlebros]

Thanks for the responses, everyone.

We're definitely going b2p on Steam, and probably going for a f2p on mobile but with an option to go premium at any time. We're also prototyping some f2p monetization ideas that we hope won't be distasteful! But if things don't seem to work out, we'll just convert it to a b2p.

Aaaaand here's an update from us this week! Testing different armors on the cat!