Visual Novel Dev log # 6
Absolute Shining: A deep sinkhole filled with breathable water
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I moved out to the middle of nowhere in a small house last month. Of course, moving out here and getting settled took a some time. But now that I am out here, it feels like I am in a bath all of the time.
I finally feel as alone as it is possible for me to feel.
When I’m out here, I can hear the pauses and the quiet when it finally comes. I don’t think that these things expected me to find the most quiet corner and stare at the wall when they turned up the sound.
Oh, I haven’t really talked about the game yet. I’m sorry if you came here for that and all I had for you so far was me blogging.
I had planned on having a lot of assets in the game. Mostly visual assets. I have definitely cut out a chunk of work for myself, and sometimes I don’t feel like I have that much to give. Though, I really want to finish it before the year is over. If it takes slightly longer than that I might be okay with it, but I want to finish the game. It is starting to feel exactly how I want it to feel though.
Here are some unstructured thoughts about the game:
I’ve been reading a lot about renpy and looking at other people’s games - there are more possibilities than I thought
I keep putting dialogue choices without consequenses in the game - I just like how they feel - will this make players less engaged when they realize that bad things can happen no matter what they say or do? Will people feel cheated if there are 10 choices that doesn’t matter and 1 that does?
I’ve been having trouble with the music - mostly just deciding what kind of music to put in - taking a break from making music last year made me feel oddly self-aware - but the solution is just to make a lot of music and try out how it feels in-game
I found an old song that I made 10 years ago, and it actually fit the mood better than my more recent things
I’ve been thinking a lot about numb limbs - what do you think about numb limbs?
I think it feels really good to switch between the “nvl format” and the other setup where the characters stand in front of a background and act with the text at the bottom of the screen (I don’t know the names of either of these layouts)
I was looking at pictures of bonobos in human institutions and it made me think a lot about the game - I want my characters to feel a bit like those great apes pointing to the pictures in front of their caretakers - but of course it’s a little different here
I’ve been thinking a lot about despair - I kept thinking about someone asking me why none of the characters protest, rebel or run away - when I “look around me”, I don’t see anyone making a fuss or rebelling - not really - everyone seems to be trying to make the best of a bad situation and numbing themselves (myself included) - looking at this, I can’t imagine my characters rebelling in any meaningful way
What a gloomy video game, huh?
But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have a game that felt a bit like moe dropped in a large cold room? A cold moe echo and an unconnected phone reciever being picked up in the autumn wind
Thank you so much to those who are still cheering on me, it really means a lot.
Life has been too eventful lately. I want there to be a hole in the clouds. I want just a few months where nothing bad happens so I can make all of these paintings and songs.
𓇗 The next dev log will be on December the 10th - Send me your strenght anonymous 𓇗