Archive for November, 2011

Metamorphosis

The world has changed enormously in the past couple of weeks.

For me, the city is now the most exciting part, it brings together all the mechanics in new combinations, and requires a lot of improvisation to get through.  There are also more choices as to where to look for supplies, so each playthrough will have quite a different feel.

The art and atmosphere are very different, it’s lonely and bleak, instead of cramped, putrid and claustophobic.  Hopefully it’ll provide a well-needed change in pace when the player arrives.

My good friend, Stephen ‘increpare‘ Lavelle came round yesterday (you should but his new game, English Country Tune, because it’s beautiful), and was the first person to test it yesterday.  It took about an hour, even though I gave a lot of prompts – partly because things needed polish in the level design and AI, but also because we just wanted to get through it quicker.  It would probably take longer without me backseat-playing, and that’s without even going into the sidequests.  I’m surprised and pleased about this because I was concerned the game wasn’t long enough… But it’s looking like it’ll be at least 2/3 the size of game like Silent Hill 2, if the player explores some of the optional stuff.

So, what else?  A lot of new items, puzzles fully implemented in the city, most of the sidequests, improvements to monster AI, meat-handling etc, adding of coloured text (which you can see above.)

Besides that, I’ve spent a lot of time on the climax of the city area, a very cool boss encounter and the final scene which leads to the final environment (which I’m going to start midway through next week.)

Also, I know I said I was going to do a dev-diary – well I have the video camera now, I’m just trying to get the right tripod / setup to do it, but it shouldn’t be long.  Will have to be soon, though, as I might actually finish game itself within a month or so, with beta phase / polish early next year as planned…

We’re nearly there folks…  Keep the fingers crossed everything goes smoothly and I’ll have a nice psychological survival adventure for you early next year!  I genuinely can’t wait to share it with you.

2011
11/26
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The Last Street

It’s been another really productive week.  In fact, content has gone in so fast I’m playing Lone Survivor and it’s different every time!  I must say, despite the stress and exhaustion, I’m really happy with this part of the game.  It’s a chance to use all the skills and mechanics the player has learnt up to this point, it’s a lot less linear than the other areas, there are multiple solutions to how to get from A to B…

There are two rooms which actually have a mini-challenge in them You can repeat, because the idea of the city is to stock up on resources before entering the final level.  One of these gives random loot which is a lot of fun, the other is a place where you can stock up on a different commodity, or trade things, much like an earlier room (cryptic at all?)

The city itself is really important to the plot in a visual sense. I’m leaving a lot of clues around.  There is actually about 30% more background art than there was two weeks ago, to give you an idea of how much my drawing claw aches.

All that’s left to paint and script are three locations, which leaves just under two weeks this month to add:

– A new enemy.

– A couple of cutscenes and a ‘boss sequence.’

– Extend the parallel story arcs which begin in the first 2/3 of the game (for characters you can revisit, the radio, the diary etc.)

– … before starting on the final level (whose location I can’t reveal!)

Anyway, I don’t often write down the specifics of what I do on this blog, I tend to leave those on devlogs, such as on TIGsource… but I thought I’d share every stage of the process from now until completion, once a week if possible, as a kinda motivating factor.

It’s sooo hard to keep up the urge to push onward, when evey day you’re making a tiny dent on this terrifyingly huge list…  But breaking it down helps, and I think my setting milestone deadlines is also the right thing to do for the project, as it’s a game that’s in danger of attempting to include simulations of pretty much everything (I have a toothbrush item drawn, for example.  I’d definitely add shaving if I could – although it would be hard to show visible without You’s mask.  Deadly Premonition flies perhaps?)

I’ve decided I can easily release the game in a tighter form, and add additional ways to look after You, sidequests and so on, without throwing the balance of the game off, at a later stage.  I’m still going to put in everything I realistically can, though.

Next week I’ll try and share some behind-the-scenes stuff, to show you how it’s all put together.  I’ve been meaning to do this a long time, and if I write it down here, I may feel guilty enough that I have to do it!

2011
11/12
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The Fog

The ending of the game has always been foggy, both literally and figuratively.  The city is foggy, partly for atmosphere, partly for reasons other than atmosphere, and the endings I’ve always only know vaguely what I wanted to do… but now comes the time I need to work out the specifics and weave them into the last 1/3 the game as I create it.

The fog seen from inside.  Needed to make a special kind for this room which is one of the few where the perspective flips to show the door you came in from.

Don’t expect clear answers or explanations in this game – you’ll have to go searching quite deeply for them, and you may form a different but equally valid interpretation to my own (which I will try to keep secret, and not impose within the game.)

That said, I have figured out what it is I am prepared to reveal to the player, and the rough form of the endings now, which is actually a massive psychological hurdle to get past for me.

One such location, Superflat World, from my previous entry.  Can you see what’s playing?

I’m still on schedule, but very exhausted.  I’ve worked between 12 and 18 hours a day on LS for around four months now.  If it actually sells, I’ve had to promise my wife and daughter I’m never going to put them through this again!

As to what I’ve actually been making, a lot of time has gone on two crucial cutscenes in the city area, and different versions of them depending on certain factors.

Looking forward, there is one more major thread to be introduced via the final character in the game, who links certain things together in the story.

Also in the city will be a new kind of creature, (something I’ll be working on next week), as well as drawing more actual locations and adding them in.  Other than that it’s just a case of implementing all the puzzles I have planned, the set pieces, the music, the art and the scripting in the city, and then hopefully moving onto the final environment as planned at the start of December.

If I finish ahead of December I’ll try to get more sidequest stuff in with any spare time I have.  I am considering holding back certain ideas rather than do them half-heatedly, and using them in a post-release free update.  I think people would rather see it sooner, and without half-finished things in it and a bit later…

What do you think?

2011
11/05
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Daunting Door

For the last six months, I’ve been ‘just about to start the city’ environment in Lone Survivor.  Instead I’ve been honing the first three worlds to a finished standard, gradually adding, changing and even dropping mechanics.  The game has got a lot wider, but very little longer.

The IGF version I put together, as with all the others since before my Indiecade entry, ended with You stepping out of the Wing Court Apartments onto the street for the first time.  That door has always led nowhere, and that fact has become increasingly daunting.

Well I’ve finally broken that barrier, and I’m working hard on the new area.  It took a long time to work out the scope, and eventually the map I was going to use.  It’s still likely to change as I have a time-budget now I can’t really afford to run over, so cuts will be made if need be to simply get this game out the door!  There’s plenty of stuff to do in LS already, so I’m not going to pad the content out if it doesn’t need it either.

So in the city I plan on having a couple more sidequests like the coffee ones.  Even though these are not crucial to beating the game, and add time to development, the flavour they add I think is essential to the game’s subtext.  My inspiration is definitely Deadly Premonition in this respect, a game I loved very dearly.  In fact the more this project rolls on, the more I realise I’ve subconsciously been influenced by its mechanics – not just the coffee!

Outside Superflat World

2011
11/02
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