Massive demo update!

I've been working hard on the development of Hotel Paraíso, which is currently around 50% complete. I will share more info later, but today it's time to get a fresh new version of the demo.

Why updating the demo now

I stopped caring about the demo after the Steam Next Fest last June, not expecting more players afterwards. However, some people are still playing it from time to time.

The metrics suggest that about one third of the players don't engage with the demo.

Of course it's impossible to know why: maybe they don't like the combat, or they find some technical issue, or the tutorials make it confusing (this one I saw happening myself).

So I used some time to get the demo up to date with the latest features I have been adding to the game, as well as a reworked tutorial and more playable content.

What's new (patch notes)

New combat rooms

After you clear floor 10 and reach floor 9, where you play as Xi Long, a new menu option is unlocked.

The game tells you about it, but just in case: Go to the Team menu > Rooms and you'll find a "stage select" kind of menu. Previous room stages can be played again, but a new "Extra" version of those is now available. These are optional combat rooms and are much harder than the story ones!

Tutorials changed

If this is your first time playing, the game now features a complete rework of the first two combat stages.

Previous tutorial asked you to read a lot and then play the combat. The new one is going to walk you step by step through the two main mechanics of the game: color chain and team management.

The combat system is fairly simple, but it's very different from any other game.

I didn't realize how confusing it can be when not explained properly. I hope it works better this time around.

New customization settings

You can change now the font or background color for the menus and dialogue. I tried to make sure readability is as clear as possible.

New "Inspect" command

During combat you can now use the Inspect button (defaults to Q on keyboard and RB on controller) to check details of enemies or the current character.

It's not that useful for the demo section of the game, but it needs to be there!

Fixes and adjustments

No matter what you do, there is always something that can be improved or fixed in the game, and you realize sooner or later.

I reworked some assets, fixed code bugs, revised the controls and even added a very small dialogue at the beginning of the game that will make sense in later sections of the game.

It's not unlikely that I will continue improving this demo section of the game in the future. I want to keep the demo accessible forever.

Since it's the onboarding to the game, it needs to work well and be engaging!

What's next

I'm planning a Steam Playtest for the future. This is a Steam feature that some indies use to get feedback. It essentially lets you play the game for free for a limited amount of time.

My goal is not only to improve the game using it, but also provide a way for players to experience most if not all of the game story, except the ending.

You might think... what's the point of doing that? Well, it's too soon to tell, but one of the reasons is that the game will have three endings. My main goal is to make sure the way to the first ending is as enjoyable as possible, I don't mind if the way of achieving that is allowing anyone to play for free.

For everything else... make sure to follow AzulonDev on social media. Thanks a lot for your support!

Azulón