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About this blog

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Every month or so, we'll come out with an update on the game. Sometimes progress is super showy & eventful, sometimes it's boring behind the scenes stuff, but they're always kept interesting and have a hopeful message about determination.

The blog is separated into parts to flow consistently. There's a summary/introduction/teaser linking to the full blog post on my website, then from there you'll get screenshot highlights, a list of tasks completed that week, a list of lessons learned, at least one paragraph of an interesting thought/idea/feature, then either a Patreon thank you, articles/videos my stuff has been featured in, or download counts for all my released games so far. Then the blog post ends with a paragraph or two about next steps and my thoughts going into the new week.

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The aim with all this is to inspire other developers the way teams like Mane6 inspired us. To show game development is possible, and even though it takes forever, the progress is visible, the results are tangible, and the process is rewarding.

And for the more casual fan, this monthly blog shows that the devs are not dead, the project is still being worked on, and you'll get to play new content very soon.

So saddle up and come along for the ride!

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www.yotesgames.com

Entries in this blog

Battle Gem Ponies (October DevLog): A New Frontier!

We're entering November with an all-new team setup, changed plans (for the better), a miles long checklist of finished tasks, a new potential source of funding, and cute little pony sprites you have to come see!   Time to show off what a couple weeks of hardcore indie development will getcha in this spooky good October devlog!
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Battle Gem Ponies (September DevLog): Major Buildup

Wild leaps in progress and productivity as we're settling into the flow of being a team. All just in time for the biggest game dev session yet. Next month is going to feel like half a year's worth of work done in just a couple weeks compared to rate we've been going so far.   There's been all kinds of improvements in terms of art, menus, and code architecture. It's really shaping up beautifully and we're excited about what we'll be able to deliver in just a couple months.
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Battle Gem Ponies (August DevLog): Gettin' Stuff DONE!!

Battle Gem Ponies (August DevLog): Gettin' Stuff DONE!! Been quite the busy month over here at Yotes Games. A whole feast of features to show to you about this fine August of progress. Talkin' about overworld animations, palette swaps, engine setup fixes, team collaboration improvements, new menus, and new mechanics.   So let's get right to it, over on the main blog!
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Battle Gem Ponies (July DevLog): Yotes Games Team

Nice to have a crunchy month to work on this day after day. Things are really starting to shape up around here. Visions of running a full-fledged indie studio get clearer all the time now that I'm enjoying a taste.   This month's major milestones include training a new programmer, adding a menu to the playable build, putting over a hundred working moves into the game, and creating a huge cast of human characters to meet in the overworld.   If you're curious about
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BGP (June DevLog): Spare No Spritework Setup!

It's been a colorful month of new discoveries and a bunch of mouse-hand cramps. Gearing up the BGP cast for more efficient animating and coloring as well as crossing off some long-procrastinated tasks like "DESIGN THE LEGENDARY PONIES ON THE TITLE SCREEN". Which was fun!      Along with a million other tiny things (gamedev or otherwise) that made this month... Interesting? Yeah, interesting. Get the full deets on the main blog if you're curious. 
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Battle Gem Ponies (May DevLog): The Starting Point

With the first release of a playable build (still Patreon Exclusive until a June update) comes the bold new start of BGP. Playable updates as we make them, growing this game up from sprout to giant tree. Documenting everything along the way. Take a gander below the break to see the development shenanigans we've gotten up to over the past month here at Yotes Games.
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First New Build of BGP in Over 2 Years!

Available to the patrons out there keeping development going for so long. We're opening the curtains a bit and letting some of you inside to get a better look at what we're working on. this here is the very beginning of a very fun project. Download the Battle Gem Ponies Combat Demo on Itch.io using your Patreon login to get a download key for Windows and/or Android. The old demo will still be available on the same page as before until the public Combat Demo release. More details on thi
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BGP April DevLog: The World is on FIRE!! (but we're workin' hard anyway)

We're mid-apocalypse as showtime approaches! I'm sure April 2020 has been rough for pretty much everyone. And the team here at Yotes Games is no exception.  Spritework, cut budgets, major losses, and hard lessons finally learned. It's been pretty busy. Get a full update on the new decade's most destructive month yet as it relates to Battle Gem Ponies and see how we plan to rise from the ashes, developers reborn!
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BGP March DevLog: Corona Con Cancellation Craze

Some crazy new decade we're having, huh? Should come as no surprise now that delays and scrapped plans are happening left and right, even here at little ol' Yotes Games, thanks to ya homeboy COVID-19.   Get some details on how we're handling the situation on the main blog.
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Babscon 2020 is Cancelled, but the Show MUST Go On!

Unfortunately, the Babscon Arcade Showcase won't be happening this year. But we're going to make the most of this and take some extra time to get an even more polished Battle Gem Ponies combat demo out to everyone over the convention season! Hope you can look forward to it with us! - Yotes Games Dev Team
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BGP February DevLog: Fully Functional Battles!

Aaaand one month full of crunch later, we've got battles! Actual working in-game battles! You can swap forms, use moves, alter stats, drain meters, and everything! Some visual effects are still a bit rough but all that's coming in the polish stage. The most important bit right now is getting the logic behind everything working as intended. Now, some of the special side-effect calculations have yet to be implemented, but we've thought through all the dirty details and are confident about kno
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BGP (January DevLog): Battle System Framework

Rapid progress continues. We've got menus up and running better than ever, some really polished placeholders, fleshed out design notes, charts and graphs for pony stats, hundreds of character animation files, and most of the math behind the revamped battle system!   You'll need to get more info on the Yotes Games website this time, cuz this one's gonna be a doozy!
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Battle Gem Ponies (December DevLog): Prototype Detailed

Battle Gem Ponies is shaping up nicely. The fun little details are being added in now and we're seeing how far we can run with the little things being implemented in this prototype.   We've got villain concept art, working data, cutscene scripts, character animations, working menus like the Ponipedia, and calculations for the battle system all done over the holiday break!   Come see the nitty-gritty details to kick of this new year of gamedev over on the 1st
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Battle Gem Ponies (November DevLog): Getting the Little Things Right

Despite numerous distractions like travel, coma-inducing Thanksgiving meals, and an intense workout regiment to counteract it all, progress is still being made towards BGP's public prototype launch. There's a lot of little changes being made behind the scenes to turn this into a super smooth operation that can sidestep mistakes of the past and there's still a couple week's worth of problems to solve before we can touch the combat system itself.   See the full Patreon Exclusive posts
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BGP (October DevLog): Full Speed Ahead!

The initial hurdles of learning to work together and getting a foundation in place for the project are all behind us now. The Yotes Games team is hard at work every day and we're knocking out features one-by-one.   Come get a big ol' month's worth summary of the game's progress on the Yotes Games Patreon Blog!
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BGP (September DevLog): Forming a TEAM!

This past month has been the most productive by a mile.        A nice new tradition I'm starting up is putting up 2 Patreon updates a month now. One at the beginning of the month and one at the end. These posts are getting super meaty and full of news now, so the separation gives some breathing room to the avalanche of content to talk about. This month's posts are about finally finding a programmer to help me exponentially speed up development. We got a lot done in just the pas
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BGP (August DevLog): Variables n' Messes!

Long story short, the 600+ variables required to make Battle Gem Ponies work have been put into a new usable form that'll make what's coming next possible. With all the ingredients finally here it's time to whip up a fresh and playable version of the game!   See the full Patreon Exclusive post here! Otherwise come get a glimpse of the game's upcoming development tasks on the Yotes Blog.
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Battle Gem Ponies (July DevLog): Aha! Now I see...

Still chipping away at this project one day at a time. Real life hurdles still slowing me down and demotivating me, but even just looking at the roster of pony sprites on my phone throughout the day inspires me to keep pushing forward to make this thing real. Another devlog went up and I want the world to know about it. See the full Patreon Exclusive post here! Otherwise come get a brief summary of the game's progress on the Yotes Games Blog.
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Battle Gem Ponies (June DevLog): A World Restored!

Starting development on things I can actually show off with visuals! Tilemaps recovered from oblivion, and steps towards an explorable overworld, this time made with a lot more common sense and cleanliness. Catch details on all that and more in this month's DevLog for the prototype of Battle Gem Ponies! (Get on the Patreon Hype Train for Exclusive Posts about the making, and remaking, of the game!)
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Battle Gem Ponies DevLog (April: Align the Stars!)

The first Patreon exclusive Yotes Games post just went up for those curious about the game's progress this past month. It's got screenshot breakdowns, what roadblocks have been stumping me, and a look at what's to come over the next 30 days.      Chipping away at this project one day at a time. Looking forward to generating some YouTube hype as soon as the prototype build is done. Check out the full post here!
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Battle Gem Ponies DevLog (March: Warmed Up & Eager)

The Unity project has been cracked open and filled with placeholders and tools for actually developing a playable build now. One screen at a time, one placeholder at a time, one feature at a time.      There's a long road ahead and I can already see myself going mad trying to animate all these ponies and debug every feature, but that's what makes this work. It's the tedious price paid to get to where I wanna be. And where I wanna be is online sharing links to my finished game for folks to check
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Battle Gem Ponies DevLog (February: Charted Out)

Off to a slow start but settled into a decent development routine at last. Plus, I've got heckling coworkers now to poke & prod me on a daily basis about getting this game done. Also, a new Pokemon game was announced, and it looks like its following the same formula I'm getting tired of, leading me to feel more fired up than ever to deliver my take on the elemental turn-based RPG system.      If you want to know exactly what's on my dev plate going forward, then you'll like the production d
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BGP @MAGFest 2019! (Our 1st 4-Day Con Booth)

This past Magfest certainly was an adventure! Supplies were gathered, 2 friends volunteered to help, and we ran the biggest Battle Gem Ponies booth yet. And for 4 days straight! I thought some folks out there would like to see what that adventure was like so catch a write-up on this indie dev experience on the Yotes Blog...  -->
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BGP DevLog (January: Foundation Framework)

Itching to kickoff the new year with great progress on Battle Gem Ponies! Gotta admit, I'm sorta stumbling out the gate in this race here, but I'm getting a rhythm down now.   See what I'm talking about on the main blog.
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BGP DevLog #198 (Thoughts in Order)

Nothing impressive to see here, kinda just another week of getting my ideas straight. Converting messy notes into legible text, then giving that text some context to make sense with the rest of the vision.     I'm working on the design doc some more, basically. Combing through each and every detail of the game again to make sure nothing is boring, too derivative, tedious, or pointless. I want to charm the pants off of folks the whole way through. And I absolutely want to make sure to vaporize an
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