First, I squashed a bug that would erratically cause the game to crash whenever a character counter attacks.

Then I added a new meter to the battle scenes. The Stamina Meter!

The way it works is, every turn the party is in battle, stamina decreases. It drops from 255 down to 0. When it runs out, the party takes excess damage. This way, there is another mechanic to pay attention to, and it incentives the quick conclusion to battles. It fully recharges at the start of each battle. During important battles (bosses) you don't need to worry about it. Maybe the party is so intent on what they are doing, they do not notice fatigue ?

I'm not sure if I like the extra mechanic or if it will appear in the end product or not.

As for general progress, I have got the first section (about 1/3 of the story) completed, and 21 out of 50 character/class combinations. The way I envision it, is the first two sections are pretty linear, then in the final third the party will have access to the airship and quests can be completed in any order, such as in the later half of Dragon Warrior 2, when you must find the crests, and the side-quests can be completed then.

Meeting priest Loras and his traveling compatriot, Hector. And that is 7/8 party members are met during the first section.

Thoughts or ideas, feel free to comment below