Devlog 5/2/22: Going well, I think!

Hey, all! It's been a good 5 months since the demo was originally released now. Not all of that time has been spent working on this game (I have other projects, some more personally investing than others), but I do, in fact, work on this game sometimes. So, what's that like?

In the previous devlog, I stated that puzzle design for Part 2 was going to be a bit difficult. I've made two "areas" now, and am starting work on the third one. With that in mind, I think I can say with confidence: Yes, it really is as difficult as I said it was. If not for the extremely thorough preparation I made in regards to the game's core progression, I'd probably still be at square one. And it's literally only going to get harder to wrangle everything further down the line. I intend to take this game to its limits, and that includes the limits of my own mind in figuring out how to make my ambitious puzzle ideas for this game even functional. Perhaps eventually I'll run into a brick wall that asks me to chill out and scope down a bit, but I haven't hit such a point just yet.

I've said what I wanted to in regards to the puzzle design, so now here's just some neat stuff I've made since last time.

EXHIBIT A: Hub doors for "The Great Beyond", the first stretch of new content in the full game. So far, I have completed two areas (and the testers, bless their hearts, are keeping me mindful of sequence breaks and other cheese solutions). I don't intend to show any actual puzzles, but things like the visuals/locales I think are fine. The doors below are for testers only; traversal will not be so easy in the final game.

EXHIBIT B: A cropped picture of the second area. If you pay close enough attention, you might notice that there is nothing noteworthy here.

EXHIBIT C: A dialog system for the game! I actually made this quite a while ago, but I'm proud to show it nonetheless. A robust (enough) dialog system was necessary for some of the story aspects I have in store for the game down the line, but it's also a fun tool I can use now to insert some more expressiveness and charm into random parts of the game. My art skill is still pretty limited, but I have practiced a bit these past few months, so I should be able to knock out things like character designs and portraits. As for the writing, things might be a bit more susceptible to change.

That's about all I wanted to share for now. Development is slow, but stuff is indeed happening, and puzzles are indeed being made. Look forward to it, although probably not any time soon. Thanks again to those who enjoyed the game and/or have kept their interest in it!