Friday Rambles and Game Dev Update 2024-10-18

It's the Friday Rambles.

Real Life Stuff

I did a lot of real life stuff this week. It was a busy week.

Merch Stuff

I packed and shipped a bunch of merch. It takes a lot of time to pack and ship merch. Here's a tweet that I didn't post. ~Supporter exclusive~

if you want to make a poor gamedev/artist get up from the computer to pack an envelope with stickers and merch and go to the post office just for you, then you can order now at my shop! -> link

It brings in a good supplemental income and it's awesome that Endless Monday fans have a way to show their support, so I'm happy to do it, but dang if it isn't a lot of time and work.

Social Media Stuff

I spent two days doing social media "work" because there was a big new migration (which is still ongoing) from Twitter to Bluesky this week. Some big changes to policy and basic functionality really set off the artist community including in Japan and Korea for once, so I was spending a lot of time finding Twitter friends on Bluesky and posting old art so I could get some followers while I was at it.

Above: Follower count doubled literally overnight

It's tempting to say "oh everyone's just gonna go back to Twitter after a week" again, but this time it feels different. Maybe it's just the big rush right now but I've been getting more visibility than I have in the past like 2 years of Twitter, not to mention every other big exodus event for Bluesky, so maybe it's a little more active this time around. I think we're getting close in any case, there's no shortage of bad decisions the leadership at Twitter can make to get more and more people to leave until the network effect collapses and there's no reason to be there anymore. Hopefully I'll have to make new business cards for next year's Tokyo Game Show with my Bluesky handle on it instead of Twitter.

I made a list with just Chance Thrash in it.

Above: The list with just Chance Thrash in it

Anyway. Moving on.

Game Dev Stuff

Last week I talked about the little popup jingle for being inspired, and said that it would be different for each type of inspiration. After posting, I almost immediately decided not to do that, because it would mean a lot more work (at least 6*5=30 times more work), and doesn't add anything particularly useful or good. I think this works just as well.

Above: More generic, but I still like it more anyway. I'll make it look gooder later

Being bound by the physical limitations of time means i have to make compromises, and oftentimes these compromises end up working better than the original idea, anyway.

As for the script, I wrote a few thousand more words. I'm done with the first draft of the main route (the six normal mode project files). Minus the ending. Which I'm still working on.

Above: So it goes

I'm going to talk a little bit about the process, to make the post a little more interesting.

The game is comprised of various "routes" with each leading to a new "inspiration." This is not new if you've already played the vanilla Dreams and Deadlines. Each one is fairly independent of other routes and can be completed in any order, but some things you find in each route might affect other routes. You will need to complete a certain number of routes to get to the ending.

This is a fairly non-linear way of playing through a visual novel, but it also adds some player agency and complexity to the game which might be more compelling for players (or at least, for players like me). This also allows me to write the game in more manageable pieces, but the challenge is getting all these disparate pieces to converge into a satisfying ending. You can tell me later if I've succeeded.

I'm also going to do a pass after all the routes are done to add hints and connective tissue and overarching plotlines throughout so that all the routes have some grounding in some common theme. And then of course, add a bunch of funny non sequitur moments and secret routes. Why is the bonus chapter bigger than the original game? If I ever think about making a bonus chapter again, I'm gonna slap myself and make a sequel instead.

Above: Skye tells it like it is

According to my project management thingie, I still have a bunch more flavor texts and secret routes and side quests and set pieces to do. And the ending. That's what I'll be working on next week. I'm still trying to get all the dialogue done by the end of the month so I have at least a ghost of a chance of getting the thing localized by Winter Sale. I'll be using placeholder graphical assets, and I'll draw the final versions of the sprites in parallel while the translators are doing their thing.

I'm really tired and my brain is a bit overheated, so I did some UI coding to cool off a bit. Yeah, yeah. The new project files are bigger and taller, so I needed to change the UI a bit to accommodate them.

Above: as for the pictures themselves, I'm done(?) with 2 so far

Updating the UI code is such a pain in the butt (because so much of it was written when I had even less of an idea of what I'm doing than now) that it makes me actually makes me excited to write more dialogue.

I wish I could have done more, but between getting distracted by social media things and real life obligations that took big huge chunks out of my work day, this is mostly it.

The End

Thanks for sticking around, and thanks for your support, as always. Next week I'll be writing more script so I can get it done by the end of the month. I don't think I'll be as busy in real life, so it'll probably be a little more productive. See you next week!