Yesterday 29.10.2013 Valve announced a larger than usual batch of new Greenlit games, and to our great joy, included was our first game to make it onto Steam – TORaIKI’s brilliant puzzle RPG ’99 Spirits’!
In the coming days and weeks we’ll be focusing on publishing the game on Steam, and exploring all our options in the system – of course, we’ll be adding Steam Trading Cards for it too!
This is all thanks to everyone’s continuous support, and we couldn’t be happier for it. As we’ve previously announced, our loyal IndieGoGo backers, as well as those who purchased the game through our Fruitbat Factory store, or from Indie Royale, will also receive a Steam key for the game once released.
Thanks to TORaIKI’s Hoshino Tomo for the celebratory illustration!
Our other two Greenlight entries are climbing nicely as well, War of the Human Tanks is currently 90% of the way to top 100, so not far behind, and the new contestant 100% Orange Juice is already 51% of the way up.
It’s truly a joy to look at these numbers, and they’re all thanks to everyone’s continuous support.
Fixed a crash issue when counterattacked by monsters in Free Play
Improved multiplayer stability
Fixed descriptions for Blue Crow the Second and Marie Poppo
Added 100orange_debug.exe – players encountering repeated issues may use this .exe to run the game and upon a problem post debug.log on Fruitbat Factory forums for assistance
All of the games are on their way up, though of course 100% Orange Juice has further to climb as it’s the latest addition. We are focusing our efforts into bringing all our games into top 100, where they may have a chance of getting Greenlit.
I realize that we’ve kept pretty quiet after our previous release. It’s the holiday season and all, you know?
That doesn’t mean we haven’t been doing anything though. In fact, it’s time we revealed our next localization project.
And it’s coming out… today. In fact, it’s already out.
…
But don’t tell anyone.
…
We’ve had a pretty furious go at this one, the project was so fun we ended up putting the less essential things like social media, sunlight and our mortal coils aside for a while.
Ozhan‘s trying to tell me the reason for our silence was that it’s an exclusive release, top-secret hush-hush, but I’m somehow not convinced.
Anyway, the game. I’m sure you want to hear about the game!
100% Orange Juice is developed by Orange_Juice, whom you may be familiar with from games like Acceleration of Suguri and Flying Red Barrel: Diary of a Little Aviator. It’s an all-stars board game featuring characters from Orange_Juice‘s other games (including the aforementioned). Oh, and beautiful cards to collect.
100% Orange Juice contains 4 single-player campaigns, and I clocked over 40 hours playing through them (though it might just say something about my board game skills.)
The game is totally hilarious and we had a blast with the story.
It also includes multiplayer support for up to 4 players, which is a rather rare and delightful feature to come across. We’ve actually spent most of the past week improving the Netplay code to make it easier for people to enjoy the game with their friends. You can find an in-depth guide explaining the multiplayer system here. Big shout out to our coder Tony for all the work put into the code.
I could write a fair bit about the gameplay, but why not just watch the gameplay trailer instead.
Oh right, did I say the game is out today?
That’s right, you can get it exclusively through Indie Royale super cheap, so be sure to show some support for Orange_Juice‘s funky games. Available as long as the bundle lasts (for the time being).
Make sure to drop a comment on Steam Greenlight (where we launched simultaneously) too! All games purchased through Indie Royale will get a Steam key when 100% Orange Juice is Greenlit!
“Just as I am always after a unique storyline in a game, I am always searching for something unique in terms of gameplay and 99 Spirits has given that box a BIG tick.” – The Otaku’s Study
“Mixing the puzzle and RPG genre along with some anime themed influences, 99 Spirits became an absorbing and addicting title that was nearly impossible for me to put down for too long.” – Moonlitasteria
After the successful launch of 99 Spirits we haven’t been idle either. We are looking forward to announcing full details soon, but at the moment we can say that our plans for this year include three new game projects, and a cool extra on top of that.
Game Project #1 – not really a secret. If you’ve followed our earlier events you should already know what it is. 2013 release planned.
Game Project #2 – an unannounced license. It’s looking quite fun so far. Planning for a 2013 release.
Game Project #3 – something most of you can guess, something a lot of you have asked for. 2013 release…? We’ll see.
The Extra – This is something we’ve had several requests towards, so why not, we figured. It’s a lot of work setting up, but will be a big thing for us if it works out.
Our second title, 99 Spirits, has just made its worldwide English release. Released in Japan Fall 2012, the first RPG produced by the Japanese indie game circle TORaIKI, 99 Spirits was the recipient of the December 2012 Indie Dev Grant, and raised 252% of target funds in a successful crowdfunding drive on IndieGoGo.
You can now join Hanabusa on her eventful journey to destroy the evil spirits.
We want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who’s supported us along the way.
May you enjoy the game!
A big shout out also goes out to TORaIKI who’s cooperated with us closely through the entire localization process to make the English release the best it can be, and patiently dealt with our countless requests.
Thank you very much!
We are celebrating the release with a 10% discount for two weeks (until 14.6.).
Moreover, we have updated the homepage with game guides and a music section, check them out!
Still haven’t played the game? The Demo is free and just a click away, what are you waiting for?
We have been sending review copies of 99 Spirits around for the past week or two – if you haven’t gotten one but would like to review the game, just shoot us a message.
Our current status is such that the game is fully in order and we are preparing the gold master to give to our distributors this weekend.
Almost all IndieGoGo goods have also been produced, save for the game discs for the special collector’s edition, which of course will get the release version of the game. We will ship all of them together when they’re ready.
Today we got some big news lined up concerning 99 Spirits‘ localization progress.
First but not least, the translation and editing of 99 Spirits script and graphics is now officially complete!
With a month to go till the 31.5. release date, we will be spending it testing and polishing the game to be able to release it in the best condition possible. In this context we want to express our thanks to the alpha testers for their feedback which has helped root out several issues and given good ideas to improve the gameplay in various ways.
We are also focusing our efforts into getting more visibility for 99 Spirits. If you write for a game blog or news site and would like to preview 99 Spirits, don’t hesitate to shoot us a message.
Secondly, we are happy to announce that a playable demo for 99 Spirits is now available for download!
You can get it from our homepage and in time from our distributors. We are excited to hear your feedback!
Who knows, there might even be a little Easter egg in the demo…
While we are hard at work preparing the game’s upcoming release, there is a bunch of exciting news to share.
We have had people on Steam Greenlight commenting that they would like to have 99 Spirits available in the Japanese language as well.
Hence, not long after announcing that 99 Spirits will carry dual audio, English and Japanese, we now have the pleasure to announce that to meet popular interest, we will also be including the original Japanese game in a Deluxe version we will be offering(similarly to our previous release War of the Human Tanks). Players will be able to choose between installing the game in English or Japanese.
Those who would prefer to enjoy the game in its original condition will thus benefit from having it available from major digital distributors.
The alpha version of the game has meanwhile been extended to the full game, and now also includes the promised English audio option. Check out the new build from our backer forum if you have access, and let us hear your thoughts.
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In other news, the IndieGoGo pledge rewards are coming together nicely as well, and we’re currently gathering backers’ wishes regarding the T-shirt and body pillow details.If you’re a backer, make sure to check the IndieGoGo updates and our forums for more information. We need a confirmation of the chosen goods by 30.4. at the latest.
We have received spectacular new art for all of them from TORaIKI, as you can from the image above.
The great reception has been great for 99 Spirits on IndieGoGo and there’s much to write home about.
Currently at 134% with 5 days to go, we are striving towards the stretch goal which would allow us to also localize the 99 Spirits Fan Disc released in Japan this winter.
This is a sizable addition, and it will be added to all pledges that include a copy of the game for free!
It’s a shame that this kind of extras seldom make it outside Japan, and we hope we’ll get the opportunity to release the fan disc, which is a visual novel format side story for 99 Spirits.
Big thanks to everyone who’s helped us get this far!
And in other happy news:
After considering feedback from the audience, we have decided to add dual audio to the game. You heard right.
We will always keep the original Japanese audio in our releases, but we’re not unsympathetic to those who prefer playing with an English dub either. What’s most important to us is that all players can enjoy the game.
In our release of 99 Spirits players will be able to toggle between Japanese and English audio at will, giving everyone the best of both worlds.
For the English version, we have the pleasure to announce that Amy Ann Burke will be narrating the opening and voicing Hanabusa in combat. She has previously done acting work for the BBC and is currently voicing in the animated webseries “JRPG Parody” (the irony of which we’re not blind to).
We hope this addition will prove useful to many players.
Fruitbat Factory 