Instead of the usual elemental rock paper scissors, I'm looking to take Virtumon in a different direction. I want emergent interactions and mechanics that leverage the real time battle system.

Hopefully, that will result in the kind of battles we see in the Pokemon and Digimon Anime and make Virtumons feel alive.

For example:
Wet halves incoming Fire damage but doubles Electric damage.

Burn deals damage over time, but also causes the Virtumon to flee. This separates it from Poison which just deals damage. It also cures Bleed as it cauterizes wounds.

Poison also scales with the attacker's Special Attack (serves as poison potency) and is calculated against target's Special Defense, giving it a higher potential of damage than Burn.

Bleed deals 2% of Max HP every second, bypassing defenses.

The abilities in order of appearance:

Flamethrower
Unleashes a stream of fire that sweeps upward. Inflicts Burn.

Needle Burst
Shoot out 16 needles in all directions. Inflicts Bleed.

Poison Cloud
Creates a slowly moving poison cloud. Inflicts Poison.

Mine Field
Drop 1 "mine" that reduces speed if stepped on. Inflicts Slow.

Hydro Cleanse
Cures Poison but leaves the user Wet.

Next I want to add a Water Cannon ability as a counterpart for Flamethrower. It will inflict Wet, but I also think of having it knock back the user leading to a more defensive ranged style.

What do you think? Am I cooking here or is this too out there?

The game is a Virtual Pet + Monster Tamer where you raise, train and battle.
The idea behind the first capsule is to showcase a variety of designs.

The second has fewer but larger examples.

In the thirds, I tried to showcase the fact they battle and evolve (not sure if it's clear) but I'm afraid it's less readable and more confusing.

What do you think?

I've been contemplating this for a while.

Besides being used by another small web game, "Metamon" is also the Japanese name for the Pokemon Ditto. This may or may not become a problem in the future.

On one hand, “Virtumon” fits the theme and genre pretty well, and if I’m going to rename it, doing it now is obviously better than doing it later.

On the other hand, I've really grown accustomed to thinking of these creatures as Metamons, so changing the name feels surprisingly difficult.

What do you think of Virtumon?
Is it a downgrade, an upgrade or do you have another idea?

I’ve been working on two changes to Metamon lately:

First, I decided to remove death from the game. At least for now.

Instead, older Metamon can be recycled and give you "Legacy" points for the next egg you raise from that family. The main difference is that this now happens on your terms, rather than as a surprise because you forgot about the game for a while.

Second, you can now store your Metamon and swap between them, kind of like the PC system in Pokemon. This lets you build a collection while experimenting with different partners, and I think it fits naturally with systems like online battle.

I hope these changes make raising a Metamon feel less stressful and more rewarding, while still keeping the core V-Pet experience intact.

What do you think?

Here is the Steam page if you wish to see more:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4690320/Metamon/

These are teen, adult and prime stages (3-5) from my game's Nature Egg family.
I thought the humanoid look will fit the aesthetic Digimon fans enjoy so I'd love to hear what you think!

The inspirations are:
Red cap mushroom + red riding hood
Inky cap + goth witch
Destroying angle mushroom + white witch / angel of death

I wanted the final evolution to be more calm and graceful but I feel that it might be missing something. I'd love to hear what you think could improve it.

If any one is interested, here is the Steam page for my game:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4690320/Metamon/

What do you think about the new design?
Can I improve the evolution scene itself somehow?
What do you think about the naming: Fungal -> Fungothic?

Edit: Forgot link to steam page if you want to wishlist the game
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4690320/Metamon/

I'm trying out a new way of showing off Metamon designs and animations.

This is Scareclaw, an adult Metamon in the [Nature Guardians] family.

The animations are: Idle, eat, pet, charge(for ranged attacks), melee and sleep.

What do you think about the name and design? Would you be happy to have Scareclaw as your partner?

I'm trying to create a wide range of creatures that are cool/mysterious/cute in different ways so that everyone can find a favorite.

If this looks like something you'd enjoy, you can check out the Steam page here:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4690320/Metamon/

So my NH35 arrived and it seems that the part that I need to push down to pull the stem out is too far in under other parts. Am I wrong or is that not supposed to be the case?

I assume I can take it apart to fix it but I am not sure that I am ready for that yet.

I had this stretch goal in mind that turned out to be much easier to implement than I expected.
Metamon can now switch my game to any color palette procedurally.

I thought this will be nice for people who are tired of the Game Boy green and it might also come in handy for a future Game Boy Color update with a different palette for each monster.

Which one is your favorite? I have a soft spot for what I call "MS-Pink".
Feel free to suggest any other palette you'd like to see!

And, obligatory Steam page link where you can see the default color:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4690320/Metamon/

I don't like that V-Pets have a "Bad" line where you need to neglect your pet to get a specific evolution, but not having one is too boring imo.

The middle ground I found is to have a "low discipline" line where you can ignore the discipline stat.

What do you think about this decision?

As for the designs, I’m really happy with how they're coming together. I'd like to hear any name ideas for them!

If you wish to check it out, there's a Steam page and a demo coming soon :)

With the demo release for Next Fest in October coming up, I'm working on a bunch of additions to make Metamon the best it can be.

Visitors

Wild Metamon can now visit your container! While they are visiting, they'll interact with your Metamon in a few Sims-like ways. When they leave, they might leave behind an item as a souvenir.

Items

You can now collect and give your Metamon items to hold. Items will have a variety of effects both in and outside of battle. Maybe they can keep mood up or reduce the risk of injury during training?

I'm looking for any interesting ideas beyond "+1 to stat" 👀

Cravings

Metamon will sometimes crave a specific food for a short period of time. Giving them what they want gives the same happiness boost as their favorite food.

I hope this will make the downtime feel a bit more engaging.

Do you have any ideas for what other things Metamon may do to make them feel alive?

Storyline

You’ll start receiving emails that slowly introduce the world and lore of Metamon. They also act as a soft tutorial, but you can completely ignore them if you want.

The first emails are from Professor M, the creator of this program. He built it to research Metamon in an isolated environment and published it to allow people around the world to join in on the research.

Eventually, you'll start receiving emails from other users and even some factions that may have very different ideas about what Metamon should be.

Besides... what do we really know about Professor M?

Petting

A small update but Metamon can now have enough petting for a while. Keep showering them with attention after that point and it can actually have the opposite effect.

If you want to support Metamon, you can wishlist it on Steam:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/4690320/Metamon/

Hi

I just ordered parts for my first build. I found a dial I like but I want to replace the indices.

I didnt find information on this but as far as I can tell, it seems that I need to push the existing indices out by applying pressure to their "feet" from the back side and push the new ones in. Is this the way to go?

Is that glue on the back side that I need to remove first and re-apply?

Metamon is a VPet game I am working on where you raise a digital creature that lives on your device.

The lore is that Metamon are newly discovered life forms made of data. The game is a widget built to contain and research them.

The first egg is the "Nature Egg". It was found in "Dir Forest" which is a sprawling mess of directories and files on your hard drive.

In a VPet fashion, the above is just one possible evolution path you can take. I try to keep evolutions surprising but still feel connected. This line is more tightly connected than other Metamons which can branch in and out of this "line".

What names would you give these guys?
I think about adding digital terms but I'm afraid it might get old fast.

And I'd be happy to hear any other feedback on their design :)

I'm working on Metamon, a VPet game where you raise, train, battle with, and evolve monsters.
The Steam page is live and I am working towards building a wishlist before launching in December.

I'm experimenting with revealing individual Metamon every day in the form of these fake trading cards that show some game info and lore on X and Bluesky.

Do you think it's a good idea or too corny?
I don't want to mislead people into thinking it's a TCG game but I think it fits with the whole 90s monster collecting franchise meta-theme.

Have any of you tried this before or have tips on how to make such posts more engaging?

I'm experimenting with different evolution animations for my VPet game and I'm having trouble deciding which direction to take.

Which version do you like the best and why?

Small context: The theme of the game is "digital creatures that live on your device" so the pixelated version is meant to symbolize data moving around, as opposed to the more natural morphing versions.

If the style looks interesting to you, I have a Steam page here

What do you think about these designs?
They are all the 3rd stage (out of 5) from the same egg. I tried to make them distinct enough while keeping to a theme of a magical forest.

If you're interested, check the Steam page

I’ve been working on Metamon, a desktop VPet inspired by Digimon, Monster Rancher, and old school virtual pets.

You raise a creature on your desktop while you work or browse.

Care for it, train it, send it exploring and watch it battle. Eventually it evolves into many surprising species depending on stats, care, neglect, and other hidden factors.

Each egg can evolve into ~20 species across 6 life stages, and I’ve been trying to make the evolution paths feel more experimental than “good route” vs “bad route.”

One thing I’m experimenting with is the battle - expanding on the old Digimon autonomous battles, Metamons fight in a 2D fighting game style, making decisions based on their stats and abilities.

I’d love to hear feedback from monster taming fans:

• What do you want most from a PC virtual pet?
• Do auto battles sound appealing or would you rather control actions directly?
• How do you feel about the permadeath aspect of virtual pets and hard core raising conditions?

If it sounds interesting, i'd appreciate it if you checked my Steam Page and add it to your wishlist 💚

Music in the trailer is by the talented n0ke