Update #20: Solstice Key Announcements
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, Jun 20, 2024 at 11:34:20 AM
Hello everyone! We hope you’re having a fantastic time. Summer always means a lot of updates in the gaming industry, so we want to hop on that train and bring you the latest scoop on our development.
First things first, we want to take this chance to remind our backers that today marks the Summer Solstice and, with it, the survey’s deadline! We thank all of the backers who have answered already, and we’re hyped to begin working on your rewards.
Since we still have around 15% of pending surveys, we want to get everyone’s info before starting with the reward production—you guys are spoiled with so many goodies. That means we’re extending the deadline to July 23rd. If you haven’t answered the questions or uploaded the files corresponding to your tier, don’t miss out—check your inbox!
Also, if you encounter any problems, reach out to us via DM or check our Discord server for Backer Support! We can help you quickly get all set for your digital rewards.
Next, you probably saw that we were recently featured in the Latin American Games Showcase! We were honored to participate in such an event surrounded by many talented Latin studios, and we took that opportunity to share a new trailer with the audience. If you missed it and want a sneak peek of what we went on behind the scenes, check it out here!
As you can see, there’s a lot going on in Santa Mascota during the day and at night as well. We’ve been working on bringing several areas to life, and we figured you might want to take a look at your newest haunt.
And a town is no town without its fair share of colorful residents, and not all of them are the best neighbors. Can you imagine trying to catch some sleep after a long day and having to deal with these dudes?
La Bruja is a bitter and lonely woman. When she was little, she dreamed of having many children and a big family, but after a betrayal of love and rumored dark magic, there was a change of plans. Since then, she has been roaming the market surrounded by owls that disturb the other residents and obey no one but her.
And then we have Manuel, a golden-hearted train conductor who took his father’s place after he passed away. He’s a hell of a friend, though not one to take things seriously, always up for a wild night of drinks and no strings attached. Don’t be too surprised to find him taking a smoke break after a long day on the railway – or at any point, really.
At least Manuel is one of the friendly faces around town. Some others are not exactly people you can reason with, and might push you towards harsher measures.
Then again, it’s not like wandering around town is much better. You’re just as likely to find a stray dog digging through the dirt to find a bone as you are to find the whole skeleton… and then some.
However, as much attention as the locals draw with their chaotic personalities, the music also shares the spotlight in this cultural district. Walking down the street listening to this banger definitely boosts your courage, and suddenly entering the Tequilera at night sounds like a dangerous invite you’re willing to accept.
We, at least, felt inspired and empowered afterward, bold enough to embark on a journey that can feel intimidating, but we have decided to take a leap of faith. You might have noticed some changes to our Steam store page, one of which has to do with our publishing partner.
As you might know, this is a peculiar time in the industry, and we’re seeing many changes in many respects; after much thought, Indie.io, previously Freedom Games, and we have decided to go our separate ways regarding our publishing partnership for Mariachi Legends.
The team is hugely grateful for Indie.io's support during our early development stages. We’ve collaborated with them since our last game, 9 Years of Shadows, and continue to do so in other projects. It’s been an amazing growth experience for us all, and honestly, we would have never made it this far without them.
Continuing on our own will bring a series of shifts to our studio, and with that in mind, we want to continue being transparent with you, folks. With such a changing environment, it’s important for game developers, particularly indie studios, to adapt and switch strategies.
One of the most important ones is that we’re actively on the lookout for a new publishing partner with whom we can complete Pablo Cruz’s tale. Since this new quest has become our priority, it’s expected to impact our original roadmap and delay the game’s launch, but nothing that will jeopardize the overall game's development, so there’s nothing for you to worry about.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this or any other topics, feel free to reach out via Discord. Our team is more than happy to assist you.
We’re confident this is a step in the right direction, and finding a new partner will bring us exactly to a place where we can deliver the game we envisioned and one you can feel proud of. We know this may bring up a series of feelings, but we want to make up for it by keeping you as informed as possible.
Starting next month, you can expect at least a monthly update to keep you in the loop with our progress. You’ll be the first to learn about our newest publisher, the new release window (TBD), and much more content to build up the excitement before you take on the mantle of La Sombra.
As always, we are deeply thankful for your constant support and encouragement as we continue working on Mariachi Legends. We at Halberd feel honestly blessed for having such a wonderful community, and frankly, this game would not exist without you, so we want to make good on your trust in our team. Know that we want to deliver a quality product, and we’ll keep putting measures in place to craft the experience you deserve.
Remember also to follow us on socials to keep up with more news!
Update #19: The Value of Legacy
almost 2 years ago
– Thu, May 23, 2024 at 01:40:26 PM
Hello everyone! It’s been a while. We hope these past few extremely hot months have been good for you! Believe us when we say that, at least here in Mexico, we wouldn’t mind a bit of a cool breeze, but perhaps it’s not in the cards just yet.
It’s always tempting to see what the future has in store for us, even if it’s just a quick read. So, we’ll live vicariously through our community and listen to what Madre Catrina interprets for you. Take a look at these newly designed tarot cards. What do you see here?
There’s even more than just a heat wave stalking the streets of Santa Mascota. We're excited to share these enemy animations with you as well!
And today, we want to finish by sharing a WIP on UI that our amazing graphic designer has been working on. This is the aesthetic we are looking for. What do you guys think?
We’re also working on hit VFX to enhance the combat feeling and make Pablo’s escapades more flashy. Here’s a sneak peek:
This is the perfect opportunity to remind you of the backer survey we’ve sent to your email! The deadline is exactly in 4 weeks, during the Summer Solstice, AKA June 20th, so don’t miss out. The surveys should be in your inbox, so check out the email associated with your Kickstarter account if you haven’t done so already.
If you encounter any trouble filling out the survey or modifying information, remember we have a support channel called MCL Backers Manager on our Discord server to answer all your questions.
Still, many of you have let us know either through DM here or on Discord that you have encountered some trouble along the way, so we wanted to dedicate a small FAQ space for you here:
- I have a Hide-My-Email email on Kickstarter and haven’t received the survey yet; what happened?
Backers with an Apple-associated email address are more likely to need help finding the survey and receiving messages from Backerkit. If that’s your case, please contact us. We can change your Hide-My-Email address to another or send you the survey link directly.
- [For La Sombra and El Santo backers] For the offerings in my altar, can the small object I select be something related to another game?
Due to copyright issues, it’s likely we could get into trouble, so we kindly ask you to choose something not copyrighted.
- When will I be charged if I put extra add-ons to my pledge?
If the order includes extra add-ons, credit card info will be gathered at the end of the survey, but the card will be charged approximately one month before the rewards are sent. We will let you know about this date in the future.
- Will my shipping address be locked after June 20?
No! Locking orders do not confirm the final address where we will ship the physical rewards. That deadline will be around one month before the rewards are sent. We will also let you know about this date in the future.
And that’s it, folks! Stay tuned for more updates as we progress through development!
Update #18: The Cryptic Cript
almost 2 years ago
– Tue, Apr 09, 2024 at 01:42:35 PM
Hello everyone! We hope you’re all doing great. A lot has happened lately; we sent the surveys for you to start thinking about how to personalize your experience in Mariachi Legends, we launched our pre-order store, and we even got to experience an eclipse, so it’s only fitting we continue this trend and share some development news with you!
The art department has been very busy working on cool assets for different levels, and we’re super excited to show you one of our favorites: La Cripta.
Not exactly a place you stumble upon by accident, this underground cave system crackles with old magic and is home to deadly vermin and drunkards of questionable professions—because they truly deserve each other. But if you go deep enough, this ancient Cenote features an even greater supernatural being that only appears to a few unlucky ones. Chances are you’ll meet them when you least expect it.
Inside, you’ll also come across specific kinds of altars, sanctuaries not of peace but of an eerie stillness. They serve as the calm before the storm, AKA one of the most crucial parts of any Metroidvania— the save rooms. You might have seen some pics before, but let’s have a look at it live.
We hope you’ll be thrilled to hear more news on the game’s development after this, but we also know you might have been left hungry for something to play, so we've got you covered. Today is the official launch of Eden Genesis! If you want to embark on a journey of mind liberation in a cyberpunk setting, go ahead and check out their Kickstarter campaign now!
And while you’re at it, if you haven’t checked your email for the survey link, take a dive into your inbox and join the party! Remember that if you encounter any issues with the surveys we sent, we have a special channel dedicated to creating tickets that will allow us to help you sort everything out!
Stay tuned for more updates on Mariachi Legends!
- The Halberd Team
Update #17: Rights of Admission
about 2 years ago
– Wed, Mar 27, 2024 at 10:57:43 AM
How's it going, everyone? Hoping you're closing March on the right foot. We have some exciting news to share with you!
We've been teaming up with Backerkit over the past month to finalize our backer surveys. It's a simple process where we'll gather essential details from our backers, like crediting preferences, preferred platforms, shipping addresses, and more. Some of you already got a taste of it as part of a test we did last week, but we're now ready to get everyone on board!
We created a Slides presentation as a survey walkthrough if you need guided information on completing everything! You can find it here:
You’ll find a big surprise we have for everyone! We know many of our backers from only-digital tiers were hyped about physical rewards but couldn’t make that upgrade then, or maybe you missed the chance of adding an extra physical copy. We moved some things around, and rewards like the "La Sombra" Limited Edition statue, the "Madre Catrina" tarot deck, and the Nintendo Switch physical copy are now available for purchase as add-ons! You can find the "Add-Ons" section inside the survey!
We've also been working on a Pre-order Store for everyone who missed the our campaign. So, if you have any friends or family who were pumped for the game but couldn't join us on Kickstarter, let them know they'll be able to get their hands on physical goodies!
The Mariachi Legends community is huge, and we know many of you might want to take your time selecting a killer name, a cool reference pic, or just choosing which dessert you want people to leave in your Altar de Muertos. And you should, too! This is a fun process; we want you to feel like you’re part of Santa Mascota.
Deadline for surveys
Still, the team needs time to implement everything in the game, so we're giving all backers enough time to think things through and submit all vital info and files by June 20th, 2024, on this year's Summer Solstice.
After that date, your answers will be locked. You can think of it as confirming your order, which will be placed later. Once that's taken care of, we'll let you know when the charge will be made to your credit card, which should be a few months before we send the rewards.
Be on the lookout for an email from Halberd and Backerkit today. If you have any questions or problems with the survey, we've got you covered. There's a new channel on our server called 📩-mcl-survey-support, where we can help you with any information you need.
Friends of Halberd
While you’re browsing the server, you’ll notice we like to have as much variety as possible so that our community can talk about the many things they’re passionate about. From our game channels, we know we have many die-hard Metroidvania fans there (just like we are).
If you’re looking for an upcoming option in a medieval setting that lets you teleport to a Final Fantasy XV-inspired sword, check out Eden’s Guardian! You can already support their campaign on Kickstarter!
If you want to know more about the game and its rewards, click here!
Socials
Don’t forget to keep up with our socials for more Mariachi Legends content!
Update #16: La Sombra dives into a Cyberpunk universe
about 2 years ago
– Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 02:18:39 PM
Hey everyone! Two updates in less than a week? We’re just all really hyped about sharing news with you, and we loved the response from our backers when they redeemed their icons on Discord. If you haven't gotten yours, go right ahead and join the band!
Today, we have a different kind of update to share with you: a clash of worlds, a merge of past and present, and one of the coolest we’ve done so far!
La Sombra dives into a Cyberpunk Universe! Mariachi is set to explore the cyberpunk realm of Eden Genesis in an exciting collaboration with Aeternum Game Studios. Get ready for a blend of tradition and futuristic vibes as our iconic Mariachi takes on the neon-lit city in this thrilling venture.
Mark your calendars for March 5th, as Aeternum launches a Kickstarter campaign for Eden Genesis, a game that combines the essence of classic 2D platformers like Dustforce and Sonic with modern, hand-drawn art and dynamic gameplay.
Here’s an exclusive sneak peek of our collab. Check it out!
Stay tuned for exclusive sneak peeks of Mariachi in this cyberpunk makeover, keeping its distinct flair alive. Join us in supporting the Kickstarter campaign and dive into an electrifying adventure. More exciting collaborations are on the horizon—our little secret.
Follow us on social media for all the latest on Mariachi Legends!
