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Small Chronicles :: New Hybrid JRPG :: Development Blog

WhiteSponge

WhiteSponge

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2014
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Hey everyone!

I would like to share about the upcoming game that WhiteSponge is working on - Small Chronicles!

What kind of game is it exactly?
Super small stages + Turn-based Strategy JRPG? That’s what Small Chronicles is!

Defeat monsters, gain experience! Learn new skills and acquire items to power up your characters! Plan your moves wisely as each wrong move can result in a defeat! As you progress through the game, you will unlock new worlds, new monsters, new bosses and new power up items!

All of these are in the attempt to help your main character, Kon, save his sister who has been abducted by unknown evil monsters!

Small Chronicles Chapter 1 – Key of Light and Darkness will be available in both English and Japanese for the initial release!

Key Highlights

Ω Venture into the world of Arystonia as Kon or Lyea, each with their own unique skill sets and story that intertwine with each other

Ω Engage in combat against other players, win trophy stars and for a spot in the top leagues for the awesome ruby rewards!

Ω All-New equipment growing system that allows your equipment to become better as you use them more in your journey throughout Arystonia

Ω Unlock easter eggs for hidden secrets, characters or new perspective on the story and lore behind the world of Arystonia

Ω Enjoy the original Japanese voice-overs while the characters tell their perspective of their journeys


Additionally, Duncan McPherson, the sound designer and composer of both Terra Noctis and Spell Sword, is also the music composer for Small Chronicles!


Sneak Screenshots

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What's the status of the game crafting right now? [Updated April 28th]

Click here to jump right to the latest update -> [Latest post update]


Chapter 1 is available now!

Get it for FREE now from https://itunes.apple.com/app/small-chronicles/id563177078?mt=8 ! Remember that only the first 888 people to download the game will get FREE 500 rubies!


Questions asked
Please feel free to ask questions or share opinions as it is also a learning journey for me too. I will consolidate the questions asked (and my reply to them) here so everyone can view them easily :D


Finally
Follow @SmallChronicles on Twitter or like Small Chronicles at Facebook for up to the minute updates on Small Chronicles!

You can also follow @WhiteSponge on Twitter or WhiteSponge at Facebook for up to the minute updates on WhiteSponge!

I will also update this thread regularly with Small Chronicles' development and design progress!

For now, check out the official teaser trailer for Small Chronicles!

 
Last edited:
Hey everyone! How has your day been?

I have just added tips to Small Chronicles! They will appear randomly during the game's loading scene (as shown below)!

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And here's the video version of it! :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2rtsSY0N54&feature=c4-overview&list=UUKiEF51inFjQ8lAjy0yywXw

And just 1 more thing ~ the open beta of Small Chronicles is coming to its end soon so if you want to contribute your feedback and also earn rewards for doing so, be sure to hurry up and sign up now!

You can do so at http://www.whitesponge.com/games/smallchronicles/openbeta :)
 
Hey everyone! I'm back with another update!

As I had mentioned before, Small Chronicles will be released into multiple chapters.

Chapter 1 - Key of Light and Darkness introduces the first two playable characters - Kon and Lyea.

Kon, whose sister was mysteriously kidnapped by an unknown evil force, sets out on an journey to rescue her.

On the other hand, Lyea, who is also Kon's childhood friend, decides to chase after Kon when she discovered that he left without saying anything.

Chapter 1 only tells the first half of the game's story but also introduces league mode!

League mode is where you can pit your characters against other opponents and win awesome rewards (rubies)!

So what about the 2nd half of the game?

That's where Chapter 2 comes in :D

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I will also be announcing when the open beta closes and the official release date of Chapter 1 really soon! ^^
 
Hey everyone! How's your day again? I'm back with another update on Small Chronicles! :)

A new update for the open beta has arrived! As mentioned before, this update introduces

1) In-game help content


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A great place for you to check and learn more about the game mechanics behind Small Chronicles :D

2) Tips


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3) Push notifications! Get notified when you are attacked by another league player!

4) New community forums! To join the forums, go to Help -> Community -> Forums!

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So what’s coming next for Small Chronicles? Well for one the credits are still missing from the game. This is the place where all testers will have their name appear for being awesome and contributing to the game’s progress.

Also watch out for an important announcement regarding Chapter 1 coming soon after that! Cheers!
 
Hey guys/gals how's your day? It is going to be another awesome weekend!

Remember when I mentioned that I reduced the file size during 1 of the previous open beta updates for Small Chronicles? Well I did it again...

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From the initial size of 200MB, I reduced it to around 150MB by simply changing the file compression formats for the voice over audio files. If you want to know how, do check out this post by Gamua

While that is indeed a huge decrease in size, it still exceeds the 100MB allowance for downloading apps over cellular networks. So what else can be done to further decrease the total size?

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By making the game's content downloadable! Moving the game's content to a server allows the game to be shipped with a much smaller footprint!

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As not everyone will use the in-game help content frequently, moving it to a server and making it downloadable further reduces the game's total size!

So how much was shaved off from the game's total size?

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That's almost 60MB gone! While it might not seem like a lot, it is a lot when you are downloading something with that size on your mobile device!

With that said, does that mean that Small Chronicles Chapter 1 is coming really soon? :D
 
hey everyone! How's your day been?

It has been more than 2 weeks since I last posted an update here! I have spent the last 2 weeks doing final testings on the game and also weeding out any possible remaining bugs!

I would say that I'm at the last mile (about 95%) done for the release of Chapter 1! So while that's going on, here are a few more (last few) preview screenshots!

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The last screenshot shows a last minute change that I made in the game. Basically instead of always stunning (100%), Kon's charge skill now has a chance (4 - 12%, dependent on level of skill) of stunning. This change should make the game more balanced as there won't be anymore abusing of the skill :D

I will be announcing Chapter 1's release date right after I have finished the final round of testing!

If you want to find out earlier, you can also like Small Chronicles on Facebook or follow on Twitter! Cheers! :D
 
It has been a while but it is finally time to announce the official release date of Small Chronicles Chapter 1 - Key of Light and Darkness!

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That's right! It will be released exactly 4 weeks from now on the last Tuesday of the month - April 29th! Mark your calendars right now so you won't miss downloading it!

So what happens from now till when Small Chronicles is out? Well sit tight as a new video series will be introduced! This series will showcase some self-reflection and re-collection of the game's crafting journey!

Also don't miss the official release trailer coming within the next few days too!
 
As promised (few days back), the launch trailer for Chapter 1 (Kon's version)!


Enjoy and do share with your friends and family! Thanks!
 
Time really flies!

And now there are only 7 days left until Small Chronicles is out! If you feel like you can't wait until then, here's what you need to know before April 29th!

Unlocking the game

Remember that moment when you finally reached your goal after working so hard? Can’t wait to reap the rewards? That’s why Small Chronicles is designed to be filled with tons of unlock-able stuff!

From characters, fields and stages to increasing your inventory space, you’ll have to put in effort to unlock them. What’s even more awesome is that you can’t even spend money to get them! You’ll need to play the game to do so!

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Crafting the game

Small Chronicles Chapter 1 itself took around 15 months of development. Luckily, the musical talent of Duncan and voice-acting awesomeness of Masaaki and Yue was enlisted to the game. Otherwise, it could end up taking longer to complete.

During the whole 15 months, the visuals and gameplay mechanics constantly changed and evolved to what you have lately seen.

When development first began, the game only had simple sprites and stock-like background images. Gameplay mechanics such as traps and treasure chests were pretty much non-existent back then.

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After receiving awesome feedback from the game testers, the in-game visuals was overhauled entirely.

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On top of that, adding player vs player matches was critical to improving the game’s lifespan.

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So when and how do I get the game?

Many considerations have been taken to decide what Small Chronicles Chapter 1 will be priced at. To allow most people to try the game without any restrictions or barriers, Small Chronicles will be available for download at no charge!

To do so, turn on your iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch, visit the iOS App Store on this coming April 29th and search for Small Chronicles!
 
I would 1st like to apologize as due to some hiccups in getting the game on the App Store, Small Chronicles Chapter 1 will be pushed back for another 2 weeks to the new release date of May 13th.


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On the other hand, to compensate all of you who have been eagerly waiting for this, I have made it such that the first 888 players to download and play Small Chronicles on May 13th will receive 500 rubies for free!

To do so, just go to the App Store on your iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad on May 13th and search for Small Chronicles!

Once again, sorry for the inconvenience and do look forward to May 13th! Cheers!
 
As Small Chronicles’ release date continues to draw closer, this question surfaced ~ is there a fun and interesting way to tell more people what the game is really about? And so the brainstorming began…

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The question to ask is – What was Small Chronicles really about? When I first started crafting it, I knew I wanted it to be different. I didn’t want to make a usual fantasy RPG even if I get critics blasting words at it.

So I thought… Small Chronicles is a game that lets you experience the core of RPGs in intentionally designed small stages! Well with a certain mixture of strategy and puzzle elements too.

And that’s when those words hit me. Small Chronicles is really about enjoying the little little things that life is made up of!

So without spoiling anything, here’s the video for Small Chronicles: Enjoy the Small Things in Life. Enjoy and do share it among your friends and family! Cheers!


 
Hey everyone, Small Chronicles is finally out on the App Store! You can now download the game FREE on your iPhone/iPod Touch or iPad!

Also remember that only the first 888 players to download the game will get FREE 500 rubies!

Don't wait anymore! Download away!

Small Chronicles is the first hybrid style RPG that combines pure role-playing strategy with turn-based, puzzle and online league pvp gameplay!

https://itunes.apple.com/app/small-chronicles/id563177078?mt=8
 
Alright I have some good news regarding the upcoming update!


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Yup you've asked for it so here it is! Skill and stats reset stones will be arriving in the next update!

I have added them so that you will be able to reset your skills and stats and experiment on various different builds.
Their cost depends on your highest character level so use them wisely as they don't come cheap!

On top of that, I have also made some balancing in regards to the characters' skills - specifically One Guy and Fury Storm.

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Both One Guy and Fury Storm can now only be used once per story stage and will cost you all your mana (mp) in league matches!

This will definitely make league matches more interesting! So now you'll have to decide if you want to gamble and use One Guy/Fury Storm or play safe and use other skills.

Life's more interesting when you take a gamble! :D
 
Alright v1.01 is out now! You can get it free now from:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/small-chronicles/id563177078?mt=8

Besides the mentioned reset stones and skill changes, this small update also fix some of the bugs such as:

- Lyea's flame skill causing the game to stop changing between enemy and player turns

- character stats going below their base values (such as 80HP for Kon)

- choosing story mode will occasionally display nothing in the next screen

Some items (such as those that add evasion/critical rates) have also been balanced. No more OP evading!
 
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