What the f^$# is Ormagi Press?!

...oh, wait, does it still show up as a lame, ugly "Watch on YouTube" hyperlink text instead of an ugly YouTube embed iframe? Okay, this is very upsetting. And lame. You could have at least been able to watch the announcement teaser trailer for the game without clicking away from this place.

Oh well, if you want, you can also click on here as well, it will also take you to the announcement teaser trailer, in case if you missed it, somehow.

Anyway...

Steam post imageHello! This is Colbeala Moghes writing. My pronouns are 'he/they', and you may call me Cole. Or "Polyvishap" (which is spelled "poly-wee-ship"). Orrrr "PXLDUD" (which is... "Pixel Dud", but "Pixel Dude" is also fine lol).

And this is Ormagi Press, the game I am busy making whenever I feel like it (and usually when I have the energy and motivation for it) ((and when I don't feel burnt out)).

Since I have seen some folks do this kind of thing, I figured I'd also make a reasonably sized post on here, so I get to tell you just a bit more about this game and set a few expectations... the first being that:

1. From now on, this game's Steam News area will be only reserved for very important news about the game, whether it's a release of a demo or the game going gold, patch notes, etc., etc., so, if you wanna follow the game's development, you will be able to find links at the very end of this post. So, I won't be posting super frequently on here. (cos I found out for myself that the Steam News page is not that great of a space for sharing devlog reports, but... ah well lol)

2. This game will not be releasing in a long while, as I am still ankle deep into its development, so, there is no concrete release date at the moment, and I won't be promising one any time soon. Plus, I don't wanna rush the process, just so I don't burn myself out and also don't end up with this game launching as a broken fucking mess...

3. Speaking of, I might end up releasing other stuff before Ormagi Press releases, but it's just so I don't burn out working on the same game over and over again and I don't end up going insane...

4. This is more so an IYKYK clarification, but - if you somehow were sticking around here since the very, very beginning (I honestly doubt you remember, at this point it's been, like... how long now??) - Yeah. That game that started off as a childhood pet project? It's rebooted into Ormagi Press. It's pretty much still the same game, except I now know what the hell I am doing, and - believe it or not - that game was dangerously close to being canceled altogether. It's not over the game scope issues, but it had to do with the fact I was still out of it when I was returned into society, and I had a PTSD-induced mental breakdown at my former job position. So, yeah. The clock has been reset.

What is this game even going to be about?

Have you ever watched "Groundhog's Day", or anything similar to it? It's gonna be basically that, but it won't be a 'time loop of the present'...

Not getting the hint yet? That's alright, cos when the time finally arrives, you'll eventually see what I mean for yourself.

But basically, Ormagi Press is going to be a very unconventional horror adventure game (at least, by modern video game standards) that will have you adjust to ever so switching gameplay styles, and that will often depend on which of the two scenarios you'll pick to start piecing together... a rather messy interconnected story. And it's "messy" as in like the "I don't even want to remember any of this happened" kind of messy, especially in case of it being the story of this game's protagonist, Nathan Philips.

He's one of the few "Night of Wrath" survivors, and you'll be quite literally digging deep into his brain, experiencing what he had experienced - or, rather, what memories of that he's unable to suppress.

The Two Scenarios - What he knows that others didn't?...

So, on the game's store page, we've established that Nathan received a mysterious letter, inviting him and his classmates to some 'Stramedia Safehouse Facility' place ahead of its official opening.

• Accepting it, he would involuntarily discover what's happening with the narrow, but somewhat massive Stramedia place, and hopefully safely escape it before his life is claimed by monsters that somehow broke free during Nathan's school trip tour. In terms of gameplay, despite it mainly taking place on a side scrolling game field, it would probably be a good place to start learning the basics of how this game really works, explore different options... get yourself comfortable with it at your own pace and prepare for shit to hit the fan. You will know when it does that.

• ...but, should he have declined, he'd still find himself out in the Human Wasteyard, having to make his way out of it before it gets nuked in an attempt to destroy the previously mentioned lurking monsters that breached containment. In terms of gameplay, things here get turned upside-down on their heads, as not only will there be a lot of first-person segments, you will also have to be pretty resourceful with your stuff while you're always in danger. Also, you're on the clock. Make every second count.

And you will be just getting started before you take a railway trip to Hell and back...! =)

Some cool things to expect...!

So, what's an overview news post without the obligatory features list, huh?~

The game's still in development, so this list is not final - but I honestly don't feel like updating it super frequently for now - but I still feel like these features are worth mentioning!

• You know how the store page casually mentions you being able to tweak the game's difficulty settings however you see fit? I actually didn't mean it like "oh, you may pick a lower difficulty setting, if you'd like, bleh-bleh-bleh" - sure, you can still do that! - but you can actually customize your difficulty, picking apart every individual difficulty parameter, whenever you decide to return to the main menu lobby to catch a well deserved break for a moment!

• Speaking of settings, there's more where that's from!... and the list of game settings will still be growing (and hopefully will keep growing even after the game releases)! From camera comfort settings, control configurations for both keyboard AND gamepad controls, and filtering out how much cusses and gory impacts during combats you'd like in your game*, I hope I'll be able to provide enough options that can help improve the experience for you!

• You can actually play the game with your XINPUT (Xbox-adjacent), DualShock 4 and DualSense (PlayStation), and Nintendo Switch Pro controllers, as well as anything that somewhat resembles a gamepad! Not through Steam Input - I've made sure that's entirely optional in worst case scenarios - but I mean that you can actually play with those listed controllers natively without the need for external third-party XINPUT controls emulating software! (and gamepad control configurations are saved for each individual gamepad type!)

• Oh yeah, and its got basic level Steam Cloud support. So, you can continue playing the game if you switch to a Steam Deck or get a new computer, if your old one breaks. Though, you may wanna opt into using Steam Cloud if you haven't already, so your saves can actually carry over.

  • Before you get concerned, I made sure it also doesn't accidentally carry over the game settings intended for one system specifically. So, you won't have to worry about having to reconfigure the game settings over and over again any time you switch devices back and forth... Thought I'd let you know, cos some games with that green Steam Deck Verified status are guilty of that... ಠ_ಠ

• ...Oh, yeah, and I am developing this game for Windows and Linux computers. Like, actually natively supporting Linux as well. Pretty cool, huh?

• DISCLAIMER: Mature content settings will NOT be downplaying any sensitive subject matter and won't remove words like "kill", "suicide", or anything like that. Yeah, just thought I'd let you know, considering the kind of game Ormagi Press is, and it's definitely something worth keeping in mind if you're an interested passerby who just so happens to rely on gaming-related content creation as an income source (and especially on certain platforms with ridiculously bullshit content policies).

What I am saying is - you'll have to play the game at your own risks and discretion, and I am saying this in advance that I implore you to take a long break from the game if things will get overwhelming. In fact, taking breaks in general should be encouraged!

I'll still be pretty busy with the game for as long as I am not bored and tired of it, so I don't rush it!

If you wanna follow the game's development, I'll be gradually posting a lot more frequently about it on my personal BlueSky and Mastodon profiles (you'll find them tagged as #ormagipress... which as on the nose as it will get.)

More relevant info can be found on the game's web page!

But, yeah, that's all for now! See you on the flipside and stay safe!

-- Cole