Ob Iter

Or so i estimate is probably left to do before i can finally release the first 2 chapters of this never ending project.

It feels like enough hours to still be daunting, but in perspective after the thousands of hours that have already gone into this project, it's also the light at the end of the tunnel. Will i manage to get this done before the end of 2015? I hope so. I don't know so ... but i'm close enough now that it's certainly possible.

I'm finally satisfied with the game-play foundation ... which has taken a lot of tinkering over the years. Part of the complication with releasing this in parts, is what happens if i want to go back and make a significant system side change later that wrecks the save file for those who have already started playing. I hope to avoid that.

I've got a choice system in the game which adds to variables depending on the player response, and then will start to make significant storyline branches later on depending on the values, so it's very important to cement those. I went with 4, which should be more than enough for combinations.

I've also got plans from Chapter 4 onward to implement a 'home town', where the player can recruit characters to live in the town. Therefore i need to plan ahead a bit in terms of putting these named characters in the game world ahead of that point in development. I've added variables for every one of them so that i can make branches later.

I also want there to be some non linearity involved, although the plot of the game is pretty linear ... i want the world itself to be properly filled out. I want there to be changes to places the player has already been to, and allow the player to revisit them. Side dungeons, town characters, etc, etc. So i've opted to just give the player open warp to previously visited areas right from the start. If there's a story sequence that would make it unreasonable to allow warping i can just temporarily disable it for that sequence. Given the linearity of the plot, it will always make some kind of not-sense to have warping, but i imagine people are not likely to complain about the feature. It's well worth having.

With all the work on the foundation in good shape, it's really the graphics more than anything that are the time consumer now...

Honestly, i have struggled for years with learning how to make the game look GOOD. It never came easy for me. This game looked like **** once upon a time. ... and i just can't put out a product i am not proud of. Inevitably, there will be the odd clash here or there that i won't have actively noticed. Or a design choice that will irk someone ... and i'm sure to have more lightbulb moments along the way, or take good advice to further polish this aspect. Thankfully, this CAN be pretty easily updated after release without breaking the save file.

I'm reasonably happy with the visual presentation ... FINALLY. Although it is taking a heck of a lot of work. The backgrounds are typically painfully slow to create, although worth it. I've also opted to work around the tileset and color limits by using objects as my tileset graphics in large part. Every map has a basic tileset that i've edited together to simplify things some, but vastly, it is an ever growing array of objects. Hundreds of different kinds of walls, dozens of floors, plants, paintings, lights, trees, etc, etc. So even when i'm doing a more tileset based map (by design interior locations are tileset based and exterior are renders), it still takes a LONG time.

Originality is important too. I want to keep away mostly from the standard rips that everyone has seen a dozen times before ... although i'm giving myself some slack on that. Some flowers, a nice looking piano, a bookshelf. Selective stuff that can fit in. I can replace them later if need be. In all, Google images is my friend. OK, not entirely as though i drew everything by hand, but a brick wall texture i will consider to be freeware. If it's not, i'm giving credit.

I guess really, it comes down to me being satisfied. In the bigger scope, the project has just gotten so massive over the years that it feels impossible to finish. That's where my choice to go episodic came in. I can buckle down on these first two chapters and have them out with another 500 or so hours work. That's something real. About 10 hours of play ... ish. And with the foundation in place, the rest will come quicker, and it will be easier to be motivated. So things will keep rolling along.