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Yeah, see, I keep trying to impress upon you how large this game actually is.  The LPer is maybe 1/10 of the way through the game so far.

Arseny:

Well, the LPer actually stumbled right past the first Corridor without finding it in the first video where he goes to Aries.  Even so, yes, there's a really big gap between when you start the game and when you start coming across Corridors regularly.  That's by design.  Because Zodiac has more things going on than TGL did, I need to spend more time teaching the player about other aspects of the game.  I don't toss in the Corridors until later.  Even so, remember that this game is taking people 30 - 40 hours to finish, so finding a corridor 4 hours in isn't that bad, really.

But, yeah, Zodiac isn't TGL.  It just borrows some themes and insights from that game, and, I think, improves on them in a unique direction.

I didn't like your concept art, so I tooled around in MS Paint for five minutes.

Dem tactical high-heels!

For those who want to watch other people play instead of playing it yourself, we now have a Lets Play in progress.  You can check the first video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-R12t5BTYk

The Let's Player uploads new segments every 2 days. 

Note that the version he is playing does not have the bonus features I'm finishing up on my side:
4 endings, from worst to best, obtained by taking alternate plot routes through the game;
Boss Rush mode; and
Fighter Rush mode (we know it as TGL mode)

Sure, man!

Well, the main character and enemy sprits are fine, I think they get the job done. 

It's the background graphics, HUD, and Subscreen that I'd focus most of my work on if I was doing just one thing.  Like, just take a look at NES-era subscreens to see what I mean.  Different areas are usually put into nice little boxes or otherwise organized somehow.  More like a web site, less like a spreadsheet, ya know?  The background tiles just somehow seem... flat.  It's kind of like Earthbound's graphics, only it contrasts with your sprites. 

I dunno, you need to think about what your artistic vision is and implement that, ya know?

Might I suggest you move to a tile-based system for your backgrounds as well as your character sprites?  The gameplay you're showing is quite compelling, but the clash between the 8-bit, tile-based sprites and the higher-res, somewhat bland backgrounds is really jarring for me.

Are these still the placeholder graphics, or is this intended to be the final version?  They look quite rough, still.

Polished beta testing is more or less complete.  There are some quirky things remaining, but nothing with a good effort / reward ratio at this point.  The only things left to do are:

1) Add additional content (alternative endings, boss rush, TGL mode)
and
2) Correct any major bugs someone finds that none of my testers located, of course.

And -- you'll like this, Arsiney -- I have a solution to the quest loading problem.  Go here:

https://www.purezc.net/index.php?page=projects&section=downloads&id=557

If you get the drop-boxed documents, everything you need is right there and you just have to point and click.  Run the "!!!!RUN ME!!!!" file and start a quest and off you go.  There's no need to muck around with the qst loading screen at all.  Now, you probably still want to configure your sound and controls (I use 50% SFX to music ratio and I configure controls like an original SNES controller) but that's up to your tastes.

Couldn't be easier!

Updated the game with new player physics and new music, among numerous other bug fixes.  In the home stretch now!  Anyone who wants to provide feedback for inclusion is running out of time.

I take your point, Arseniy, but I feel like there's really no way I can make sure people stop and read how to load the file for sure.  I mean, right now I have:

1) Described how to load the .qst file in the opening post of this thread;
2) Discussed loading the file with you in this thread; and
3) Provided a link to a manual showing you screenshots and step-by-step instructions to load the file.

I don't know that putting the information on the top of every page discussing the game everywhere is gonna get the job done if what I've done already hasn't.

The better option is to arrange it so that the game auto-loads and none of this is necessary.  That's possible, but it won't be done until the game is bug-free and polished because it will involve the ZC devs making some tweaks for me.  If they're willing.

Bump: I have updated the opening post to include some more information and a video showing gameplay to entice more people to try it out.  The more who play, the more bugs I can detect faster!

But that's the whole point of the maps!

Hah!  Good point. 

Here's the technical skinny on maps.  The program I'm developing in does have a map feature.  I don't want to use it, however, because I am doing things with the code and game design that would make the automated map feature do weird and unexpected things.

However, there's nothing stopping me from coding up a custom map solution.  That is, I can add a script that duplicates the map system and displays that when the player hits the map button.  It would be independent from the subscreen.  If this is a common request (for maps) then I may look into that down the road in development.  More people need to play so I know what to prioritize, though!

Oh. Too bad it has no map. So confusing.
Could there be more player friendly way to save game? Also you did not mentioned the F5 in manual.

Good point!  I will add F5 to the manual.

As for the no-map feature... each area in the game is a solid rectangle from 0,0 to 7,F, so a map would show you where you had not yet explored but not much else, really. 

Arseniy, for detailed explanations you can read the manual, located here:

http://www.purezc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=66216

I will put a link in the Opening Post.

I do not use the map function for the game.  The idea is to make the player work things out using the coordinate system instead. 

There is a way to save.  When your character dies, you will get the option to save.  Alternatively, you can press F5 to automatically quit the current game and go to the save screen.  IF YOU JUST TURN OFF THE GAME WITHOUT SAVING THEN YOUR PROGRESS WILL NOT BE SAVED.

The enemy update is now complete.  There are a few minibosses here and there to upgrade, and I'm re-vamping some of the later game major bosses to be more challenging and consistent.  If you haven't checked out the project yet, now is a great time to do so and give me feed back on the enemies!