Millie's cute Dad <3 I know, my development blog posts are getting more and more infrequent, but that's because I've been busy! Especially busy writing my next game's story, which isn't easy to share without spoiling the whole thing, but I'll try...
I've told many people that I will be formally announcing my next project soon, but truth be told, I'm still not quite ready to do that. However, this blog contains a brief update on what I've been chaining myself up to my desk for 2 months for. I've been very deep-in-dev (as I like to call it), barely doing much else besides work, unless you count unwinding at night, watching anime (Scum's Wish, Yuri on Ice and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu) and playing games (Zelda BotW, Puyo Puyo Tetris and MK8D). I've felt the need to catch up ever since GDC... but there's been my 30th birthday, friends visiting, crappy illnesses, doctor visits, and now a holiday to Florida, as well! And after that, I'm back in the UK for a few days to visit friends and attend the Women in Games 2017 awards! I'm in the shortlist for New Development Talent, how crazy is that?!
But also, One Night Stand has had a few interesting developments post-GDC. It's not something I can formally announce yet, but I will say there are plans to add more languages in the not so distant future. This is something that's been requested a lot, and I kinda wish I'd gotten on it sooner, but this kind of thing is tough when you're a one-woman development studio! I keep dreaming about hiring another person at the moment, haha...
Anyway, if you look at the GAMES tab above, you can now see a game called MEMORIES there. This is a working title and by no means the final name of the game, but the page does have a tiny bit of information and a few early screenshots, if you're into that kinda thing.
Because the game's development is in such an early stage, I'm not going to share too much of the story, but, like One Night Stand, Memories will be a shorter form visual novel, made in Ren'Py, where the story unravels by looking at items around a room. However, that's where the similarities with ONS end. Memories is highly inspired by my own life, with the main character, Millie, being a troubled "tomboy" (and I hate that term, but you know exactly what I mean). However, despite being a lot like me, she is into different hobbies, more masculine and clear about herself and her gender than I was at her age. She loves sports, programming, soldering, tinkering, electronics and all the geeky things that come with it. In present day, she's 23 years old and at a turning point in her life.
I think Memories will be the most autobiographical game I ever make, even if it's not actually autobiographical. Some events in the story are inspired by real things that have happened to me, but others are purely Millie's own. It's certainly a story I've wanted to tell for a long time though, as it shares some very personal moments which are close to my heart. It's especially apt for where I'm at in my life right now too... I can see myself, in future, describing it as "the game I had to make".
So far, I'm really excited about Memories, but there is a lot of work ahead... Mainly artwork. It's going to be a very art-heavy game, with numerous characters at different ages, all with a ton of expressions and different outfits, plus many different scenes and locations. I'm also storyboarding the whole game (I know, I'm crazy) so I can get evoke some real deep emotions in the player through cinematic-like shots. The animator in me will never die.
Speaking of animation, that's something I'll be cutting back on for Memories. Unlike ONS, Memories won't be rotoscoped and will feature simpler animations. Just how simple depends on time and budget, of course, and whether or not I run a crowd-funding campaign later down the line... Hmm. Anyway, the story is all written and programmed in, with game mechanics and all, though it could use testing, re-working, improving etc... you know how it is. The UI has been worked on too, but really needs a ton more time spent on it. Promotional assets haven't even crossed my mind yet either, which is unusual for me, often thinking of these kind of things first.
My artwork lag could be easily blamed on the trouble I've had for months with my Wacom Cintiq; ever since I updated my Mac to Sierra, all the lines I'd draw would be jagged and it was really, really frustrating! I figured it was best to focus on story and programming until they released a new driver (which they did a couple of weeks ago now), otherwise I was really fighting against my computer trying to draw anything half-decent.
Not only technical issues, but I learnt (as I'm an artist first, game developer second) that I spend way too much time on artwork early on. I designed Millie's bedroom, perfecting every little detail, without really understanding what needs to be there yet and why. I think I spent nearly a week on what became a sub-par background... what a waste of time! This is why I tweeted a few weeks ago "Developer graphics saved my game", because who knows just how much more time I would've wasted? Never-mind the lack of planning and game's direction too.
So, I threw together some crappy assets which will serve as placeholders for the game's structure. This meant that I was able to carry on with the narration design without getting bogged down on how the game should look. It sounds silly, and pretty obvious, but when the narration is based on the exploration of a bedroom, it's difficult to write the story first... That's what I thought anyway, I did it that way around with ONS, but Memories isn't the same. It's bigger, more complicated and the story unfolds from the particular objects you discover. By using developer graphics, though, I've been able to simply crack on with the foundation of the game, which is now a hell of a lot more sturdy. So, artistic game developers, take note! It's okay to use placeholders and ugly images until you have time to replace them – heck, I encourage it! (Heh... I sound like I've never even used placeholders before, but when you're a solo developer who's specialised in art, it's very hard to remember the benefits and reasons for using them.)
Anyway, tomorrow I am packing for my holiday. I sometimes feel guilty as, being an indie developer, I feel I take vacations quite often compared to others, but screw that, down time is important. I say this a lot, but I still see developers getting ill, stressed, burnt-out or feeling pressured to work constantly. Despite popular belief, it's not cool to do this. I've been deep-in-dev for weeks, and I'm slowly feeling burn-out creep in. That's never good, but it is good to recognise the warning signs and take a break. Otherwise, productivity, passion and perspective deteriorates.
If this is you, and a holiday isn't available right now, then perhaps take an afternoon off, away from the computer, in nature, or with a coffee. Or maybe play some other games for research, or even just for fun. You do you. Too many games industry folk seem to believe that you should work your ass off to achieve your goals, but I don't buy that at all. Sure, you should work hard, avoid slacking-off etc, but never, ever feel guilty for taking a well deserved break, or not taking your laptop with you. Those are my 2-cents anyway... I feel I should end every blog post with a rant like this, haha!
Anyway, take care of yourself folks! Until next time!
I've told many people that I will be formally announcing my next project soon, but truth be told, I'm still not quite ready to do that. However, this blog contains a brief update on what I've been chaining myself up to my desk for 2 months for. I've been very deep-in-dev (as I like to call it), barely doing much else besides work, unless you count unwinding at night, watching anime (Scum's Wish, Yuri on Ice and Shouwa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu) and playing games (Zelda BotW, Puyo Puyo Tetris and MK8D). I've felt the need to catch up ever since GDC... but there's been my 30th birthday, friends visiting, crappy illnesses, doctor visits, and now a holiday to Florida, as well! And after that, I'm back in the UK for a few days to visit friends and attend the Women in Games 2017 awards! I'm in the shortlist for New Development Talent, how crazy is that?!
But also, One Night Stand has had a few interesting developments post-GDC. It's not something I can formally announce yet, but I will say there are plans to add more languages in the not so distant future. This is something that's been requested a lot, and I kinda wish I'd gotten on it sooner, but this kind of thing is tough when you're a one-woman development studio! I keep dreaming about hiring another person at the moment, haha...
Anyway, if you look at the GAMES tab above, you can now see a game called MEMORIES there. This is a working title and by no means the final name of the game, but the page does have a tiny bit of information and a few early screenshots, if you're into that kinda thing.
Because the game's development is in such an early stage, I'm not going to share too much of the story, but, like One Night Stand, Memories will be a shorter form visual novel, made in Ren'Py, where the story unravels by looking at items around a room. However, that's where the similarities with ONS end. Memories is highly inspired by my own life, with the main character, Millie, being a troubled "tomboy" (and I hate that term, but you know exactly what I mean). However, despite being a lot like me, she is into different hobbies, more masculine and clear about herself and her gender than I was at her age. She loves sports, programming, soldering, tinkering, electronics and all the geeky things that come with it. In present day, she's 23 years old and at a turning point in her life.
I think Memories will be the most autobiographical game I ever make, even if it's not actually autobiographical. Some events in the story are inspired by real things that have happened to me, but others are purely Millie's own. It's certainly a story I've wanted to tell for a long time though, as it shares some very personal moments which are close to my heart. It's especially apt for where I'm at in my life right now too... I can see myself, in future, describing it as "the game I had to make".
So far, I'm really excited about Memories, but there is a lot of work ahead... Mainly artwork. It's going to be a very art-heavy game, with numerous characters at different ages, all with a ton of expressions and different outfits, plus many different scenes and locations. I'm also storyboarding the whole game (I know, I'm crazy) so I can get evoke some real deep emotions in the player through cinematic-like shots. The animator in me will never die.
Speaking of animation, that's something I'll be cutting back on for Memories. Unlike ONS, Memories won't be rotoscoped and will feature simpler animations. Just how simple depends on time and budget, of course, and whether or not I run a crowd-funding campaign later down the line... Hmm. Anyway, the story is all written and programmed in, with game mechanics and all, though it could use testing, re-working, improving etc... you know how it is. The UI has been worked on too, but really needs a ton more time spent on it. Promotional assets haven't even crossed my mind yet either, which is unusual for me, often thinking of these kind of things first.
My artwork lag could be easily blamed on the trouble I've had for months with my Wacom Cintiq; ever since I updated my Mac to Sierra, all the lines I'd draw would be jagged and it was really, really frustrating! I figured it was best to focus on story and programming until they released a new driver (which they did a couple of weeks ago now), otherwise I was really fighting against my computer trying to draw anything half-decent.
Not only technical issues, but I learnt (as I'm an artist first, game developer second) that I spend way too much time on artwork early on. I designed Millie's bedroom, perfecting every little detail, without really understanding what needs to be there yet and why. I think I spent nearly a week on what became a sub-par background... what a waste of time! This is why I tweeted a few weeks ago "Developer graphics saved my game", because who knows just how much more time I would've wasted? Never-mind the lack of planning and game's direction too.
So, I threw together some crappy assets which will serve as placeholders for the game's structure. This meant that I was able to carry on with the narration design without getting bogged down on how the game should look. It sounds silly, and pretty obvious, but when the narration is based on the exploration of a bedroom, it's difficult to write the story first... That's what I thought anyway, I did it that way around with ONS, but Memories isn't the same. It's bigger, more complicated and the story unfolds from the particular objects you discover. By using developer graphics, though, I've been able to simply crack on with the foundation of the game, which is now a hell of a lot more sturdy. So, artistic game developers, take note! It's okay to use placeholders and ugly images until you have time to replace them – heck, I encourage it! (Heh... I sound like I've never even used placeholders before, but when you're a solo developer who's specialised in art, it's very hard to remember the benefits and reasons for using them.)
Anyway, tomorrow I am packing for my holiday. I sometimes feel guilty as, being an indie developer, I feel I take vacations quite often compared to others, but screw that, down time is important. I say this a lot, but I still see developers getting ill, stressed, burnt-out or feeling pressured to work constantly. Despite popular belief, it's not cool to do this. I've been deep-in-dev for weeks, and I'm slowly feeling burn-out creep in. That's never good, but it is good to recognise the warning signs and take a break. Otherwise, productivity, passion and perspective deteriorates.
If this is you, and a holiday isn't available right now, then perhaps take an afternoon off, away from the computer, in nature, or with a coffee. Or maybe play some other games for research, or even just for fun. You do you. Too many games industry folk seem to believe that you should work your ass off to achieve your goals, but I don't buy that at all. Sure, you should work hard, avoid slacking-off etc, but never, ever feel guilty for taking a well deserved break, or not taking your laptop with you. Those are my 2-cents anyway... I feel I should end every blog post with a rant like this, haha!
Anyway, take care of yourself folks! Until next time!