Where does the time go? Right behind us, apparently!

Well, it’s 2026 (and nearly March!), so how’s the seemingly endless work on Betrayed Alliance Book 2 going? Well, for anyone still following, let’s take a quick look!

Lots of under-the-hood programming, particularly regarding enemy encounters (and other encounters) in the “Forest Maze” area. To that end, I’ve also rigged up a couple of battle encounters – the first with an upgraded basic enemy with two knives, and the second, an ogre-like enemy with a club. A big thanks to Karl Dupéré-Richer for the enemy designs!

They were a lot of fun to animate. This also included programming some additional battle effects with special medallions the player can find in a few hidden corners.

Speaking of hidden areas, I also have been updating a few of those for the player to find.

In February, one focus was going through the background log and finding backgrounds that are still outstanding. In SCI Companion, it looks like this:

I then work on updating the scratch art. Every time I check out my list of needed backgrounds I think, wow, only about 20 left to do! Then, after I complete them, I think, hmm, with these done, now there’s only about 20 more to complete! Somehow, no matter how many backgrounds I complete, I also find more areas that need just a bit more expansion. Here are a few of the most recent backgrounds I’ve been working on:

As always, artwork is the easiest thing to show off, whereas a lot of the programming and systems implementation don’t shine through very much – not to mention cutscenes, dialog, and the like (I also don’t like showing everything to preserve a bit or mystery). It’s been a really good couple of months in terms of progress and I feel like I’m seeing the finish line. Maybe it’s just a mirage, but the final elements are starting to take shape and fall into place. Now it’s a matter of implementing the rest of the elements, tying up loose ends, then get this thing into beta testing. I will not yet dare to forecast dates, but…I’m feeling good!

In fact, from time to time, I also put in a little work on the interior of the Player’s Guide and Game Manual. There’s always something to do!