Sunchaser Progress Update and Demo

Hello, Sunchaser fans!

I say "fans" even though most of you haven't had the chance to try the game yet. Luckily, that will change very soon.

Sunchaser will be ready for release this summer! Not only that, but you all will have the chance to try out the game for free during the Steam Next Fest June 9-16. The demo will start at the beginning of the game and end after the first dungeon.

All the content for Sunchaser is complete, so all that remains is polishing, bug testing, and adding improvements. There is still much to be done!

About the world of Sunchaser

Before talking about what I've been working on, I would like to describe a little bit about the world of Sunchaser for those who are unfamiliar.

Sunchaser takes place in a small town somewhere in Oregon called Mallard. The town has a history of monsters and heroes. Our main character is the next hero who must take up the mantle of the Sunchaser and defend the town in a moment of crisis. The main character's dad would do it instead, but he is on a work trip and is mysteriously late coming home.

The town of Mallard has four main areas:

The Suburbs

The suburbs of Mallard are where our hero lives. Many of the town's residents have been turned to stone, and our hero vows to save them. Our hero also faces off against creatures made of dark goop and local bullies that have something our hero needs to progress.

The Concrete Forest

The Concrete Forest is what local residents call this overgrown park. Vines and wild trees cover the landscape, making it hard to navigate.

Memorial Park

Memorial Park is Mallard's cemetery. Unfortunately, zombie-like creatures roam the premises, looking for unsuspecting victims. This is also the darkest area of Mallard. It always seems to be overcast and stormy here.

Snowy River

North of Mallard, there is a beautiful river that crosses snowy fields. Our hero senses that there are many secrets hidden here.

Hidden Areas?

There are many hidden areas around Mallard. And what's up with that giant mansion by the river?

Now, let's take a look at some of the improvements I've been working on:

New Maps

The main overworld map has existed since one of the earliest versions of the game, but now there is a map for every dungeon and sub-area. This will make it a lot easier to navigate the more confusing parts of the game.

The overworld map

The River Dungeon map

The Concrete Forest Dungeon map

View Collected Trinkets

Trinkets are the key collectables in Sunchaser: our hero uses them to save people from petrification, and they each have some kind of importance to one of the side characters. Previously, the player had no way to tell what trinkets they already had collected. Now, there is a menu for viewing all the collected trinkets, and whenever a trinket it collected, an image of the trinket appears on the screen. Much better!

Technical Changes

As always, I have been making lots of technical changes to fix bugs and improve performance

Thank you for your support!

Keep an eye out for Next Fest June 9-16 so you can play the demo. Have a fantastic day!