Released Battle Gem Ponies [Unity Engine]

This project has a release available. The full version is still a work in progress.
Project Status
Demo
Project Version
0.5.6
ETA Next Version
Mar 31, 2023

Yotes

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Joined
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Posts
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Battle Gem Ponies! The fully-animated action-packed RPG adventure! An evolved version of a Pokemon fan-game turned indie project.

Rotation battles, specialized move slots, new types, gym leaders specializing in strategies instead of types, EVs & IVs that can be altered with a slider instead of breeding, a balanced roster without intentional tiers, and a version of Eevee that can switch between any of the types at will. All ideas that went into this project's conception.

Sound good? Then come along for the ride!

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Developed by the YotesMark team with the Unity Engine
Version 0.5.6

Play the Latest Demo Here!



INTRODUCTION:


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Welcome to the official Battle Gem Ponies Pre-Alpha thread!

BGP has been an idea swimming in my head for years before finally starting development in December of 2014. It was inspired by a Fire Red version ROM Hack called Ponymon where the Pokemon were replaced with My Little Pony characters. The hack went unfinished for years and the story didn’t seem to do much more than name swap and make friendship references. I wondered how cool it would be to see that MLPxPokemon idea taken all the way and fleshed out into a completely new adventure.

Fan games like Pokemon Uranium and Fighting is Magic inspired me to take up programming in high school so I could make fan games of my own. Specifically, I always wanted to make my own Pokemon game that did away with all the parts that annoyed me in the main series. Things like grinding, HMs, boring/easy fights, and evolution lines with stats too low for competitive viability would be no more! The first attempt at making such a game didn’t go too well, being just a kid with one java class and a C++ tutorial under his belt. So I spent the next 7 years practicing game development (even getting a degree in Gaming & Simulation) to build the skill necessary to craft a full-blown RPG like this.

Over the years the game has gone from overambitious Pokemon fan game to legally safe overambitious Pokemon clone with its own characters, world, logos, assets, and so on. Measures have been taken to make sure this is a Cease & Desist-proof original property inspired by Pokemon that's made from scratch.

Lots of blood, sweat, and tears are going into making this game a success. I hope Battle Gem Ponies is turns out as good as the game I saw in my head all those years ago. I can’t be the only one who would like to play a game like this, right?

Thanks for checking out the project and enjoy the demo!

-- Tony Yotes --





BREAKING NEWS:

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The Battle Gem Ponies Kickstarter has ended with 414 Backers that pledged $34,695.50!!

For anybody late to the party, Our Patreon is up so you can pre-order the game there as well.

We couldn't be any happier with how this turned out. Flew past every Launch Day Stretch Goal with an extra month's budget to spare! It's all an indie team could ever want.

Thank you. Thank everyone who pledged, followed, shared, liked, or anything to support us and show that we aren't just shouting into the void hoping someone out there cares. This campaign proved to us this game has an audience. And now we have names and faces for the people we're building this for.

We won't let you down.





CONCEPT:




Command super-powered, shape-shifting ponies in strategic turn-based RPG combat. The battle system is a variation of Pokemon's Rotation Battle in that matches are 3 vs 3 and either player can swap out their current fighter at the beginning of the turn (but at the cost of attacking last). Your pony will shapeshift between these 3 forms until each one's individual HP reaches zero.

Each pony has access to 4 moves in battle. A Light move (weaker attack able to be used many times), a Heavy move (stronger attack with limited uses), a Status move (usually a buff/debuff or non-damaging move that affects battle), and a Tutor move (taught by a trainer that the pony can't learn naturally). Each type of move has its own slot in a pony's moveset that only attacks of that type can fit into. This encourages some creative strategies and also makes more of the overall movepool useful in battle. Having a special Tutor move slot also gives ponies with trainers an advantage in battle.

To catch wild ponies to add to your team, you have to weaken them and use capture gems that "download" the opposing pony's data and allows your pony to transform into it. In order to complete the capture process though, the wild pony needs to be defeated.

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There are 18 elemental classes each with their own strengths and weaknesses. In place of the "Normal type" there is a neutral class with no special advantage or disadvantage, thus being able to cause a regular amount of damage on anypony. The classes are Fire, Aqua, Surge, Plant, Ice, Ki, Toxic, Earth, Air, Esper, Bug, Ghost, Draco, Steel, Light, Dark, Chaos, and Magic.

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A major aspect of battle is the Ultra transformations. Like with mega evolution, finding special objects in the overworld will allow you to transform any one of your party members into a powered up version of themselves (sometimes with alternate elemental types too).

Another big difference between this game and the series that inspired it, is the absence of grinding. Battle Gem Ponies is designed in such a way that the player's time never feels wasted. Wild encounters are more sparse (they're also visible and avoidable), EXP is more generous and always shared with your entire pony collection, boss battles are varied and challenging, no amount of grinding will make milestones a cakewalk (battles for badges have your levels rounded out), and hidden stat values can be tweaked with a simple menu interface instead of a complex and random breeding process.

In Battle Gem Ponies the focus is on the fun of these Rock, Paper, Scissors RPG battles. The story, interactions, and animations will make you fall in love with the characters. The mechanics, challenges, accomplishments and surprises will make you fall in love with the gameplay.




STORY:



In this world, ponies are supernatural beings that draw power from magical gemstones on their bodies. Often aggressive and always striving to prove themselves through combat, ponies can be observed clashing with one another in the wild. If a pony was ever to trust a human it deemed worthy, they would become a bonded pair and the pony would fight under the human's strategic command. Many people often dream of encountering a pony of their own and being chosen to become its trainer.

You’re the new kid in town and your parent just landed a job working for one of the world’s leading pony gem researchers. Being this close to so many ponies could finally be your chance to make a bond with one…

Embark on a journey to become the best pony trainer in the world and protect the world from those who want to use the Legendary Alicorns of the Sun and Moon for evil. A mysterious organization known as the Paragon Cartel is launching a global takeover and plans to use genetically engineered ponies and mind control technology to command ponies by force!




FEATURES:


Fully Animated Battle RPG!
Every single pony and attack is uniquely animated to bring these pixel art battles to life!​
Explore a Vast World!
An enormous, vibrant region awaits! Travel through deserts, mountains, forests, graveyards, and underwater temples on your quest through the Pinto region.​
Power Up Your Pony!
Form a powerful bond with your shapeshifting pony companion and watch it grow stronger, learn awesome new moves, and take on the toughest of enemies.​
Travel with Your Pony!
Surf across oceans and lakes with any swift-swimming ponies. Teleport to the nearest Health Center whenever you like with a simple phone call. Even have whatever pony is with you smash any boulders in your path, just because they all can!​
Customize Your Team!
Choose who you take into battle from a selection of 60 Ponies and their Ultra Forms. You can alter their moves, stats, and equipment to become an unbeatable trainer!​
Hundreds of Different Moves!
Using attacks grouped into Light, Heavy, Status, and Tutor slots that make you think more carefully about which moves to take into battle.​
Discover the Secrets of the Legendary Alicorns!
Powerful, winged unicorns that embody the Sun and Moon are said to be the strongest ponies to ever live. People have wanted to harness their power for personal gain since ancient times. With recent advancements in technology, however, it might be easier than ever for their power to fall into the wrong hands...​
Collect Badges and Save The World!
You’ll have your skills tested by expert Mavens and fight for your life against the evil Paragon Cartel. Simple story objectives that fans of Monster RPGs will be familiar with, but perhaps with a few surprises along the way...​




THE PINTO REGION:



Just one corner of a brand new world…

H - Rest House
G - City Gate
C - Celestial Shrine
P - Paragon Cartel Secret Base
(start in Honeydew and venture around)

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A colorful and varied region with a gemstone motif and mysteries scattered across the map. It's meant to be an adventure lasting at least 6 hours on average. Preferably longer, and extended indefinitely with post-game content. The environments should be visually varied and filled with enough story content to keep the player interested in progressing. Every single section has at least a handful of notable experiences within.

The scope has been thought out and written in a 200+ page long game design document along with every other aspect of the game.




SCREENSHOTS:



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SOCIAL MEDIA:



Follow the game on your favorite social media sites to get the latest news and have your burning questions answered!
Interact with Yotes Games on any of the sites below.

Find Yotes On:

| Linktree |



Alternatively, you can just email [email protected]




DOWNLOAD LINKS:



The latest current build is the 2021 Combat Overhaul Demo, now available on Itch.io!
Available for Android, Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms.

Overworld Demo 2017 contains 3 areas, 12 ponies, and a Random Battle Now mode.
(Combat calculations may exhibit bugs.)

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Magfest Demo (02/12/23)

Download: https://yotesmark.itch.io/battle-gem-ponies






CREDITS:



Engine, Development Tools, & Plugins provided by Unity3D and its Asset Store

Orchestral Composition & Soundtrack
Eric Eom (Euleom)

Chiptune Composition, Soundtrack, & Sound Effects
Justin Heng (bluco)

Game Design, Production, Marketing, Pixel Art, Animation, Writing, Programming
Tony Yotes (YotesMark)

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This looks like a super cool game, and you've put an incredible amount of work into it!

That fighting system is really creative, and I think it's really going to create all kinds of new strategies! Pokemon so often tend to fit into a niche that's more based around hard-hitting attacks or multiple status moves, so forcing players to use both is going to be quite interesting! (especially with more restriction on how often moves can be used!)

And I love how varied your designs are! Even with a common base across all your designs, they go in so many interesting directions! (especially with those Ultra transformations!)
 

Yotes

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That fighting system is really creative, and I think it's really going to create all kinds of new strategies! Pokemon so often tend to fit into a niche that's more based around hard-hitting attacks or multiple status moves, so forcing players to use both is going to be quite interesting! (especially with more restriction on how often moves can be used!)

And I love how varied your designs are! Even with a common base across all your designs, they go in so many interesting directions! (especially with those Ultra transformations!)

Thanks! I really want this to turn into a series where I can throw in every idea I've ever had to mix up the Pokemon series. With this first attempt I really want to hit the basics and make a campaign that's fun to go through and even replay. No grinding, more challenges, and give players combinations to experiment with freely.------------------------
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Here's a look at the 2nd draft of the Battle Gem Ponies roster! The aim was to make a diverse and colorful cast where there's a favorite for each type of player. There's cute ponies, cool ones, elegant, tough, and even scary ones. Something for everybody!

Going to touch up a few of these sprites to make them just right before preparing them all for animation. Most of these guys have ultra forms too, which are still being finalized, so stay tuned for more ~​
 

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Battle Gem Ponies DevLog #150 (Roster Complete)

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Finally finished everypony and their ultra forms! They're in need of cleanup, but sometimes you just gotta move onto the next step or the bigger picture will never be framed. Can't believe I've been on this for over 150 weeks now... Time to kick things into even higher gear to get this game out on time for a Spring 2018 release!

This week is filled with tons of exciting news, updates on Yotes Games as a business, retrospection on previous games, plans for the future, and tons of inspiration for getting through the rest of the development of Battle Gem Ponies.

Get a MAJOR gamedev update to make up for the weeks of silence below, on this week's devlog! yotesgames.com/battlegemponies

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And as a bonus, check out the current roster standing next to the their first draft Ultra forms.​
 

Yotes

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Release feels so close. It's like the pieces are all in my lap and I just have to follow the instructions to put them together. The final version of Battle Gem Ponies is so clear in my head now that I'm fanboying over it sometimes.

In the last 7 days I charted out exactly how all 360 battle moves will look, I recreated every menu, rebalanced the battle system, came up with catchier names for things, sorted out details for a DLC & multiplatform launch plan, and closely studied just about everything that makes the games that inspired this one so great.

To keep track of things I made a week-by-week breakdown of the rest of BGP's development. Counting down what's left to do to get the game to a launchable state. If you wanna find out what the Yotes Games Wednesday Milestones are, look at the list below and get a full picture of everything that's going on at the official devlog site!

To-Do List (organized by week):
  1. Scene Reconstruction
  2. Map Building
  3. Battle System Revamp
  4. Battle System & Placeholders
  5. Cinematic Systems & Polish
  6. Alpha Build, Test, & Launch (+ Localization Volunteer Request)
  7. All Text (+ Localization Drafts & Begin Volunteer Review)
  8. Battle AI & Cutscene Event Planning
  9. All Game Content (Complete Alpha)
  10. Closed Beta Test & Polish (+ Press Outreach, Announcement, Screenshots, Trailer)
  11. Animation & Art (Overworld)
  12. Animation (Pony Sprites)
  13. Animation (Ponies In-Game)
  14. Animation (Moves)
  15. Early Access Beta Test & Balancing (YouTubers, Google Play, Steam, Itch)
  16. Press Outreach (Review Copies, Launch Trailer, Date in Description)
  17. Launch Prep & Bug Fixes (Manage Contacts, Wiki Site)

Aiming for a June 20th 2018 release date!
Can't wait to whittle this list down and get a finished product in your hands!
 
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Yotes

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As an apology of sorts for missing the release deadline (hate how that always happens) here's the updated sprites for everypony in the game:
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Working with a new level building tool tonight and hoping to get a new Alpha demo out in the coming weeks.
 

Yotes

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This past month has been the most productive by a mile. This game is stuck in development heck NO LONGER! We're coming out this time. And strong. Getting my new programmer up to speed was the closest thing I could call a setback this month. Things have been just rocketing forward since he got the bugs off my back.

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 past 30 days and now the prototype phase is at least 50% complete.


Otherwise come back in a month for some big news. Because now that we have momentum going, a new demo you can play will be here before you know it.

Or for now, come checkout a quick summary of October's progress on the Yotes Blog.
 

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The Battle Gem Ponies Combat Demo is Here!!

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If you aren't incredibly hyped right now, you really should be. This is a monumental occasion after all! After YEARS of behind-the-scenes struggle, TENS of THOUSANDS of dollars drained from life savings, MONTHS of delays, and an incomprehensible amount of time sitting in front of computers yelling "WHHHYYYYY"... Yotes Games is proud to present...


Our first public upload in 3 or 4 years after starting this entire project over after tragically losing every project file for the 2017 build. Since then this game has gone from a solo-indie project to a team-powered labor of love and it's looking all the better for it!

We truly cannot wait to hear what you think of this battle system we're creating.

Go ahead, click and give it a try!

(It's playable on Android, Windows, Mac, and even Linux)

Bugs are being noted as we march toward our Kickstarter in August. We'll be diving headfirst into remaking overworld gameplay for the next couple months, so your feedback on this half of the game will fuel us til then. Feel free to share BGP around with anyone you know that could be into this sorta thing. It's the start of something very fun over here...

More updates to come!

 

Yotes

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Battle Gem Ponies Combat Demo Tour



Made a walkthrough video going over the game's development history and unique mechanics. (Timestamps included)

Showing how a Pokemon Uranium inspired MLP mashup turned into a fully-fledged commercial indie effort. As well as all the special little touches that makes BGP an interesting take on the Monster Tamer genre. Check it out and give our YouTube channel a Subscribe while you're at it.

We're gonna start posting a lot more content very soon.
 

Yotes

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Our Kickstarter is LIVE, and nearly funded!
Hopefully anyone who's been keeping an eye on BGP's development will at least give it a look. We're offering all kinds of rewards like getting your own pony drawn, creating a canon character, and all kinds of other stuff only the earliest Patrons ever got!

And this crowdfunding campaign comes with a New Free Demo too, so pretty sweet deal all around.

Thanks for following the development of Battle Gem Ponies, btw. One of the best parts of making this game is knowing we won't be the only ones who get to play it.
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BGP (June/July DevLog): Pre-Kickstarter Madness!

The long overdue June/July Devlog is here! (And in video form!)


From now on we'll be doing these instead of the usual monthly writeups on the Yotes Games blog since its more fun & easy to watch/listen than navigate to a particular website and read. So subscribing to our YouTube channel will keep you up to speed on everything! Plus you get to hear all our voices on this rotating cast of devs in these short podcast style updates.
 

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The Battle Gem Ponies Kickstarter has ended with 414 Backers that pledged $34,695.50!!

For anybody late to the party, Our Patreon is up so you can pre-order the game there as well.

We couldn't be any happier with how this turned out. Flew past every Launch Day Stretch Goal with an extra month's budget to spare! It's all an indie team could ever want.

Thank you. Thank everyone who pledged, followed, shared, liked, or anything to support us and show that we aren't just shouting into the void hoping someone out there cares. This campaign proved to us this game has an audience. And now we have names and faces for the people we're building this for.

We won't let you down.
 

Yotes

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In case you missed it, here's the Countdown of the final moments of this awesome and exhausting Kickstarter campaign:
 

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Got a fresh new demo up, with a smotherin' of Bug Fixes for ya!
Every glitch and error we could find since vending at Everfree Northwest.

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You can Play It Here!

BGP PATCH NOTES (Sept. 5th 2021):


The Big News

  • Passive Pony Abilities & Equips Now Work as Intended
  • Menu Issues, Resolved!
  • Glitchy Moves, Fixed!
  • Typos, Corrected!
  • Particle Effects, Adjusted!
  • Background Tinting Animations, Restored!
  • Shield Moves Actually Shield You!
  • Attack Info is Displayed Correctly!
  • Unimplemented Moves that Should Be Hidden, Now Are
  • Buffs & Debuffs Go Up & Down Properly
  • Pegasi Should Now Fear Flying Rocks
  • The Endure Mechanic Works
  • Devil Shot Deals Actual Damage Now
  • The Hidden Spire Trap Activates on Forced Swap-Outs
  • 2-Turn Moves Now Show Relevant Info in Menus
  • 2-Turn Moves Don't Trigger Enemy's Impact Side-Effects until they Actually Land
  • Made Things More Clear When You're Running Low on Gem Power
  • The Badly Poisoned Malady Now Deals Appropriate Damage
  • Malady Afflicted Debuffs are No Longer Permanent
The Specifics

  • Air ponies can now be hurt by Earth attacks while Burrowed underground
  • Ponies hiding Underground or In the Sky can no longer force the enemy's self-targeted attacks to miss
  • Pony nicknames won't disappear when you return to Team Select after a battle with custom nicknames
  • Move animations that can change the background color now work as expected
  • Barrier's reduced Damage Calculation now works
  • When restoring HP with a leeching move, the camera will always make sure the healed pony is shown along with the healing text
  • Sleep Dust will tell the player when it fails
  • Moves not implemented yet have been removed
  • Stats Screen won't wig out in the middle of battle when a barely noticeable "null animation" issue comes up (the null animation issue was resolved too)
  • 2-Turn Moves display the proper POW number in menus
  • 2-Turn Moves exist as 2 different attacks behind the scenes now So we can have unique effects for Turn 1 and Turn 2 that won't get mixed up as easily
  • Moves with POW that "varies" show up as "--" instead of "0"
  • Sleep Malady can last more than 2 turns
  • Change Moves screen used to sometimes show the wrong pony's info. Now it double checks for the most recently highlighted pony
  • When rapidly pressing buttons, the game can trip up. We addressed this on nearly every screen in the game
  • When out of GP and forced into "Tackle Mode", unusable moves get removed from play
  • We can finely control where we clamp the Stat Stage Buffs. (currently set on a -3 to 3 scale instead of the initial -6 to 6)
  • Speedster passive ability now works
  • Poni-Bot's Battery Doesn't absorb enemies' self-targeted moves
  • Thestra's ability activates every 3 turns she's on the field, instead of every 3 turns period
  • Life Drain particle effect animation flows in the correct direction now
  • Death Glare consistently lowers the same stats each time
  • Rock Toss & Rock Riot now harm Air ponies just like the description says
  • Star Spurs Equip now works as described
  • Hidden Spire hurts ponies that are swapped in after a KO
  • Fixed Ember Tornado trap animation
  • Yawn no longer resets itself
  • Gigazorb now works when used by or used on Mauss
  • Bide will only deal damage when the user actually takes damage, not when the opponent uses a move that could/will eventually deal damage
  • Venom is now guaranteed to apply Poison
  • Devil Shot now makes its POW 1/2 of the user's EATK stat
  • The UI will show you when Buffs & Debuffs are applied, right when they happen
  • Getting a 9+ Combo on a Multi-Hit Move no longer causes the Hit Counter to stay onscreen
  • Exiting Battle now Resets Bonus Value assignments and Toggling "Disable BVs" button won't erase what you assigned them to
  • Mini Pony Sprites Animate properly in their little boxes across all menus
 

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Updated our Patreon Description, Goals, Rewards! A 2nd chance for anyone who missed out on the Kickstarter Hype 🚂
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We now have the funds to make the game, but let's see if we can grow the studio over time and make bigger/better things. 📈

Join in on the journey (or maybe just grab yourself a T-Shirt) on our Patreon.
 

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BGP Devlog #3 (Combat Update & Crowdfunding Surveys)

Glad to have this huge game feel update out into the world, and looking forward to something even more awesome next month.
 

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2nd Combat Overhaul Hotfix is up!
Addressing issues with Secondary Neutral class affecting Ace values and Mauss being immune to Status attacks.
 

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See what's up with the numbers behind our Combat System in our new Breakdown series video! ⭐
 
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