2 More weeks until Ato is released, I’ll eventually continue the old coding tests series, but lately I feel it’s best to stay relevant with the game.

Right now, I’ve been testing the game myself for the higher difficulties, which are not just damage and health increases, but are also designed to slightly tweak level layouts/puzzles, and some boss attacks are modified (attack may start sooner, shorter parry window, more projectiles, more reach, etc.).

Steam Achievements will be featured in the game, there’s 80 or so, I do have some difficulty dependent ones, (though for the hardest difficulty one, I probably will only require the player to beat the first couple bosses). Actually I’m testing that particular difficulty myself just to make sure it’s not absolutely impossible, it definitely is fun for me and can get really stressful/tense compared to the lower difficulties (having knowledge of bosses and attack cancels is an obvious must). I just hope all in all that people are pleased with these adjustments to the new difficulties

I think this is the first of the few times I’ve tried having more unlocks in a game even if they’re cosmetic. It definitely is getting me intrigued if I were to explore unlocks more in the future (though honestly I’m one guy and if I had to focus on anything it would be to just make the base game as good as possible instead of getting caught up with adding all sorts of features)

I feel fairly content with Ato, which is rare because usually there’s a lot of regret when I’ve made games. If I really were to have any regret it probably would be that I underestimated how much the project would have grown, though frankly I think it benefited the game and I feel comfortable with the amount of content that is in Ato.

I’m definitely concerned about how the game is even going to get picked up by others (since I hardly have much of a following).

While the reception of Ato compared to other games out there is nothing, I’m still genuinely appreciative and humbled that there are people that discovered the game outside of my own efforts. Because the reality is that there’s only so much I can do to try and email/market others to tell them about the game. I just want to say that I’m thankful that there are people out there that have written articles on the game and have enjoyed the beta.

I can only hope that my work pays off, but all I can care about right now is making sure the full game works properly and gets out there.

Thanks for reading,

-Brandon

p.s. Here’s some free Wallpaper images.

You can download higher resolution versions from the Press Kit Here