Devlog #6 Doing Stuff

Nov 6, 2022

SECTIONS

1. Productivity 2. on with the game 3. print stuff 4. streaming 5. a little vent

1. Productivity

  Productivity has definitely been on the rise for me, specially regarding the game. However, it’s mostly been more of the mundane “needs to be done” type work, but again… It needs to be done, so.. I’m doing it.

So as of writing this part I’ve just finished adding all the locations and linked them all up. This pretty much allows you to explore the entire town now, I just need to add the visual content to each location to replace the place holders I currently have.

I’ve also been working on the music for every location as-well, I want every location to have a unique soundtrack and for it to feel quite ambient and immersive. The way I’ve been producing the music is actually quite interesting.

I’ve been creating it all on my phone, using an app called Caustic, which has some customizable synths on it, that you can make sound quite like a retro console. There’s also a good amount of more modern effects that you can add. I know the old consoles couldn’t do most of these effects but, it works perfectly for what I want out of it. You also can’t add a modern twist on things without using modern techniques.

Normally I’d use my main PC for working on music, but Caustic just feels right for chip-tunes, it helps that it has a bit of a retro user interface also. The tunes are also quite short in most part, them being made to loop, averaging around a minute long. So I just work on them whenever, and because of that, its pretty much perfect.

2. On With the Game

Moving forward with the game then, I’m going to committing some time every night at the end of the day to just build the world. I’ve got all the locations mapped out on the main map screen now, so I’m going to add the place holder screens for each location and also add the characters to them also.

The point of that is just to get the game working on par with the scope of the entire game, I’ll make it look nice later and on the days when I just can and want to.

Once the entire frame work is done and everything is in place, that’s the time when I’ll trim out the demo. Because the rest is just down to me doing all the art and music. Which will definately take time, compared to everything I’m doing now.

There’s actually a few things I could do regarding this. No matter what, I need some kind of funding if I’m to put in the amount of effort I need to complete this, and also to market it and to just simply get the game seen by people.

So my ideas are; Get a demo out there and use it to build support, via something like Patreon or Kick Starter. From that point on I either raise funds to speed up the development process and just continue till the game is ready. Or I do release after release of an unfinished game. With (hopefully) continued support and build it around some kind of community towards the game.

I’m probably leaning more towards the first option at the moment, I say this because I already have the entire vision of what I want the game to be. So changing it all to what a currently none existant community would want, doesn’t make sense to me at all. Although that might be a fun way to build a game in the future.

But again, raising funds for this project is absolutely something I need to look into, specially if there’s the store costs to consider also. There’s still plenty of time to go just yet though. So once the demo’s ready, that’s when I need to start focusing on what I’m going to deliver and have everything as clear to everyone as it can be.

3. print stuff

Jumping into my print business, I’m currently moving my office to a smaller one. It’s only the production side though, my main work desk is staying. Although my old office’s purpose has now changed. It’s now more of a lounge area with some desks in the corner. It looks nice.

My main guillotene is still out of service, I don’t remember if I actually mentioned this in a previous post. But just to inform or recap; It’s what I need to trim larger amounts/piles of paper at one time, so for things like magazines, books, brochures, notebooks and pads etc.

So as of right now I can’t do any of that, which is annoying because it’s pretty much my local specialty and an essential part of the pipeline for some of the other finishing machines I have.

So again as of right now all I have is a hand trimmer, which slices a sheet at a time. You can pile them up but are limited depending on the thickness, also doing it this way is not so accurate so I just don’t.

This minor set back has significantly reduced the catalogue of things I was currently capable of producing until I can afford a replacement. So I’m probably going to have to offer some types of none extra print services I don’t really want to do. Such as door to door distribution services and so on.

Other than that I’m currently just reaching out to people, trying to build a client base offering to them what I’m able to do right now. Which isn’t a lot, but it’s a start. I’ve got my stock in and I’m ready to go with what I’ve got, to build it up from here.

4. streaming

I’ve been putting a lot of effort into both the comic and the game, over this past two weeks especially. I’ve wrote a lot of story for the comic along-side designing a good amount of the characters that are involved so far. Today I was just recently working on a full color finalized versions of one of the characters taken from my concept sketches.

In the next devlog I’m more than likely going to post up a video of what the game is looking like, and then another showing what I have done since that video. I’m also highly contemplating streaming my development and art sessions so I can use clips of these the create some videos. Either talking about what I’m doing or maybe even about the community in general.

I know it’ll be more work but I’m sure it’ll be do-able, I mean, I’m getting the footage whilst I’m working. The videos don’t need any fancy editing if it’s more about the subject matter over it being an amazing spectacle… unless thats actually the point of the subject being talked about, but I degress. I’ll just start it with my next session, streaming it onto twitch or something.

There is no plan to stop writing like this atm (the DevLogs), any videos I post I will do write-ups for also, where I can probably give personal opinions or add anything that wasn’t said during.

Others probably wont need expanded write-ups neither as another point to having them is for proof of work. I feel like with the AI text to image tools available now, as an artist, it’s vital to show some kind of proof of work, the method, the journey, all of it really…

5. a little vent

Also there’s the fact that people might even provide help in someway, it’s amazing how much an outside eye can help you see sometimes. There are obviously downsides to sharing a journey or documenting just about everything you can, like trolls or whatever.

But the thing is I could be a saint and someone would hate on me for it. I posted a pixelart on instagram a few years ago and someone had a go at me saying I wasn’t obeying the correct style of the era or something like that, do better or whatever.

I remember getting really annoyed and messaged back something like; art is art, and that art is subjective. If I want to experiment and try something new with a retro style, then why not?

I mean, imagine getting so offended on instagram that like this guy… just scrolling down, and then eventually seeing my simple pixelart post, a pixelart that is so against his own strict beliefs of what makes a pixelart a pixelart. He stops scrolling and his blood begins to boil.

So Instead of just ignoring it and scrolling on, he spends his very own time to tell me his absolute dismay.

My picture effected him so much, that he had an actual emotional reaction and had to tell me all about it. I mean, in all truth, it’s good in a way I guess. I feel that art should be able to create a discussion as people connect to it. It’s just a shame that he became the gatekeeper of what a pixelart is.

It’s trivial but I’ve come to expect it. All I can say is; If you create art and I mean really create. Don’t ever be afraid to experiment at every given opportunity, find what works for you. I guarantee you, people will love it. They’re out there. And you’ll probably find that the people who’re most vocal about not liking it do too. As you’ll notice a few weeks later after they rip off your artwork.

 

8. Next Step

I’m just going to keep this list as it was in the last devlog, as I have done very much, but nothing on this list.

Here’s my todo list for the game:

  • name every single character
  • Write dialogue

 

For the comic:

  • Storyboarding
  • layout design

 

 

Thank you so much for reading 🙂

D.Stuart

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