_Abstract: Updates regarding the past couple weeks, development plans, and the state of things so far.
_Update: Work started on the initial RPG Maker title as planned. So far, I have completed overworld map which I anticipate is the easiest step so far. Not much planning has gone into this one and I haven't even thought of a name for it until today. Before I truly start work work on the original four titles, this game is just an assessment to see how well I can do in this engine. Development is supposed to continue until the end of October but that deadline may come with extensions.
Over the past couple months, I've been realizing more the effect of persistence on creative projects. Typically I would work on an idea in long durations to grind out as much progress, however, the final product and my well-being suffers from that kind of work ethic. Instead, I'm moving forward with time management stratagems such as the Trident Method. My basic understanding of it is that a little bit of progress each day surpasses the effort to try and accomplish as much as possible in the shortest timeline. In other words, slow and steady wins the race. Each week should contribute to goals in the long-term.
_Challenges so far: As always, the distractions have been a recurrent problem. ADHD? Probably. But I have a solution that came about the same time I was redesigning Lexine's character: If the formula doesn't work, then change the formula. Ideas can go stale quickly if not immediately acted on. That's why staying creatively limber is important, especially if it's hard to achieve results.
I learned something from PirateSoftware on YT about ADHD and that's the importance of immediate feedback. The fun part about games is you almost immediately recognize the consequence of your efforts. The majority of the time-and this is especially true in academia-it takes time to notice results and I can see that is why anyone with an attention deficiency would get bored more quickly than others. I've heard one theory that it's an evolutionary leftover from the hunter-gatherer days. You go outside to forage and hunt and you needed to be quick and deliberate with your decision making or else you'd get eaten by a pack of lemurs or something.
Does it work? Yes. Then continue.....Does it work? No. Move onto something else.
The capacity for long-term strategizing must've become more advanced when humans finally went agrarian.
_Concerning Art Direction: As stated previously, I've been watching a lot of DanMachi on the Roku Channel. It's a good place find free anime if you don't mind a few minutes of ads here and there. I like the way Japanese artists handle fantasy because in my experience they maintained a child-like sense of wonder which is at the heart of a good fantasy story. You want to craft a world you yourself would like to get live in and let the audience decide whether or not they themselves would do the same.
Unfortunately, the other three titles lack the clarity that Fyreflight has. April Lindemann has been just as hard to write for as she is to draw. There's an essence of her I'm trying to capture in any given medium and as always, I miss the mark. Video games show no difference right now. Additionally, Twilight of the Dead is struggling because if you want to make a zombie story that distinguishes itself, you have to be wholly original and I see that the way to do that is by treating the zombie apocalypse as the whipped cream to a milkshake. Lust and Lechery will make do so long as I can create the slice of life elements using my engine of choice.
_Obscura Files: April has always been somewhat of a narrative vagabond. She's been written into multiple stories but has had no defined setting of her own. I try taking inspiration from works that are somewhat contemporary and driven by narrative, sometimes with a twist of mystery to it. Times like these, I need to shut down the indecisiveness and roll with my intuition. Right now it says to keep the geography of this world but change everything else about it. That way I maintain a setting that is more familiar while still allowing for creative agency. Furthermore, Obscura Files should make do with a smaller scale for now. With that out of the way, I can move on to more pertinent aspects of the game's development.
_Twilight of the Dead: To keep this title from becoming another passing fancy, I need to reference what has interested me in the past as far as zombies go. I've said in an earlier entry that the outbreak is always more thrilling than the following apocalypse, this isn't to say it's better. It's fun to see the unique ways people adapt to a crisis and this can be done well by tracking the timeline of our characters from zero-hour to the end of the world. Three IPs to draw inspiration from: Highschool of the Dead, World War Z, and The Last of Us.
_Lust and Lechery: To reaffirm my intent behind making this game, I wanted to create my own stylized version of Vrelnir's Degrees of Lewdity. But I want something more driven by an undercurrent of Lovecraftian plots. With this in mind, it's still very important to cultivate that sandbox and let the player run wild for the most part. As the title implies, the game rests on the crux of NSFW gameplay. Worldbuilding isn't so much of an issue here as I can always take the GTA approach of designing my own custom city or even a whole ass state. Slice of Life as a genre would be the best way to start building that sandbox I mentioned. With that in mind, I recall the idea to focus on characters in a group housing or sorority type of situation. The newest challenge I identified is the matter of how to handle the main character. Another important reminder, maintain the RPG functions throughout development.
_Current Situation: Job interview tomorrow, the position's full-time, pays more. I could use that money to fund development while saving enough to move out. Living in a house with five people is a really lame arrangement. Que sera, sera I guess.
_Closing Thoughts: My dad doesn't know I quit my job so I fill the hours by staying out of the house during that timeframe. Furthermore, a new job means I can replenish my coffee budget and stress less about responsibilities. I also have a cat to feed. With the basics of the worldbuilding issue resolved, I can move onto more meaningful parts of game development, the specifics of art direction and mechanics and the like. I foresee that my timeline is a steady gradient from the artistic side of things sliding into technical details.
I've been completely ignoring the RPG Travel Kit. My decision, moving forward, with that project is to keep it light on the custom elements but still bring forward something to showcase with each DevLog. Remember, I'm still just transferring data from the core rulebook onto smaller print.
_Quote of the Week: "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is right now."-Chinese Proverb