when you’ve been working on the same area for 14 years, it becomes so familiar that each new object added becomes a foreign invader. it must justify its encroaching presence or be erased!

it can make the whole process take rather long. back in 2012, when my plan was to make my take on ‘zelda x demon’s souls‘, i wish i’d realised what an undertaking that might be 😀

with that said, i’m getting close to finishing the overworld. it’s a game where, having beaten the introductory level, the world opens up and you and your companions are free to explore in any of four main directions.

so then the hub world becomes especially important. believe it or not i’ve probably spent over a year just working on the right music for it alone. and then recently i went on a nostalgic trawl through all i had attempted over the years and realised a lot was usable, it was just that i needed to seed a variety of songs, given that a huge amount of your gameplay time will be spent around this central hub known as the Temple of the Silent Gods. it was more that i was spending so much time with each song developing it that nothing could ever live up to that amount of scrutiny. i realised i had done some decent work maybe. it was just how best to present it…

this week i’ve been working on a ‘set piece’ area that i’m really excited about, inspired by re-reading Lord of the Rings. i love those memorable encounters with the things that lurk in the dark, unexplored corners of the world.

i’m actually so into this right now. i hope i can maintain this momentum until the finish line.