Mini-devlog (4/3/23): Makin' the last puzzles!

Hey, all! Just a reminder that I'm doing OK. Since the last devlog, I've ended up making some pretty consequential decisions, but not ones that increase the scope of the game. Actually, what I ended up doing was *removing* one of the things I initially had planned for the game. Specifically, it's something I teased in the previous major devlogs (including the one with the part 2 map), and something observant people might have found out about in the demo. For some, that might be enough to realize what exactly I removed from the game.

As for the reasoning of why I removed that thing, the simplest way I can put it is that I didn't have enough ideas to make it work out how I wanted it to. I did get *some* good puzzle ideas out of it, so you might still be able to experience some of it in a different context now, but I think it was severely stunting my ability to make the game whenever I had to think about it again. So it's gone now!

Anyways, I'm at the tail end of puzzle design now, so I'm going back through and adding/changing some Part 1 puzzles to lessen some confusing parts as well as hopefully make it more enjoyable overall. I might still have a few puzzle ideas in my sleeve to add to Part 2 at the last second, but those will happen at their own pace. I've also incorporated quite a few user-made puzzles into a certain area of Part 2, which I think will be fun! (The designers of those puzzles will be credited ingame.)

Also, I finished writing the cutscene for the end of the game! I haven't actually made the cutscene yet, and I still have to write the rest of the story as well (It's still only about 20% written, I'd say), but it's progress nonetheless. I ended up taking a few breaks and stumbling on a few hurdles in development, so that 6 months time frame I mused about last time probably isn't in the realm of possibility anymore, and the 1 year time frame is looking dicey as well. I'll still try to do what I can, though.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading!