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Main Extended Edition Act 1+Act 2 Progress Blog

Alright so I'm doing a blog post here that will contain progress on all of my work for Acts 1 and 2. If I want further updates to notify you all I'll just post on this one. Having a more organized spot to update will help me greatly, of course. Check back every couple of days at the earliest if you actually want to see change frequently. I will no doubt have updated this within a couple of days and at a time, it's how I work. Micro-Updates. Oh man.

Act 1 Progress
A major rewrite was done, and I've come to the realization that the writing is only as good as the length for this particular act. If I want to improve the writing even further, act 2 will be the place to do it. Either way, I'm working on the design now. There was plenty of it to go over, such as more guidance from Mr. Pharell's gab windows in the tutorial(there wasn't enough this time :P), and more information conveyed during the level.

Act 2 Progress
Working on the intro and level preparation.
Goal: By August 23rd
Intro: 90%
  • Main Cast Graphics Completed

  • Mapping Completed

  • Intro Planned

  • First Draft Completed

  • Wrote in a few small scenes

  • Second Draft Completed

Office Hub Set-Up: 25%
  • Hub Prepared, Just needs Interactions. Waiting a bit before doing that.

Level Preparation
  • Mapping

  • Cast Character Graphics

Level: Savel Market Town: 50%
Level: Lisbit Attribute Research Facility: 0%
Level: Amalasuintha Abandoned Docktown: 0%
Level: Pirate Islands' Hunter's Isle: 0%

  • Levels' Settings and Cast Planned


Working On:
  • Savel Level Cast Graphics and Mapping

  • Revising Act 2 Intro Dialogue


So there, I'll update this blog as I work, and post when significant progress has been made. There, I like this set-up better :P.(Oh, also, I'm writing screenplays for a combination of movies and TV show episodes depicting the Mass Effect series... as a hobby, of course. :P)

Posts

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The 0%s are depressing. T_T But yay, progress! Please make the dropped item at the beginning in the tutorial clickable even if the hint is already gone. I know you don't want to make hints "clickable" unless the player has actually witnessed the event, but in this case it's super obvious and rather annoying that it disappears in 0.5 seconds.
Well I suppose the 0%'s could be seen as 5%'s since I've done some planning. I have a feeling I'm going to crank out the intro, level mapping, and character graphics in no time.

Also, I looked at the tutorial clue and increased the amount of time it sits there a while back. If you noticed, it wasn't a problem with the other clues in the actual level. That's because I timed it better then, and the tutorial was made while I was putting together the last stage and took a break to do that quickly. It must of been rushed, I guess.

P.S. also, most of the work over July was filled with distractions, it took me awhile to find a good way to plan, and then the second half was a focus on rewriting act 1.
I updated the progress a bit to show what I'm really working on and my goal. This blog's progress will outline level prep + the intro and Office Hub Set-up. When the levels reach 100% that means their map and characters will be ready for me to start putting the level together + writing the level.

I plan on posting images as I get the levels and intro done :)
I just finished the first version of Act 2's intro.

Beware, some thinking out loud at where I'm at with the writing.

I like it so far in terms of characterization and each character's separate arc. Evelyn's attribute is surfacing a bit more, although she's private about it. Amelia is somewhat interested in the spirit, but only a little and more concerned with helping the patients and a new main character, Damien Sloan, enters the scene. He's another consultant, but with the attribute of deduction. His arc is about assumptions that come with deduction, and he'll point out a few things about Amelia and challenge her. A very important addition to the cast, and will hopefully be the key to moving things along. He challenges each of my three main characters, with Mr. Pharell being the character to challenge him back.

A quick introduction for each patient and then bam! The meat of the game begins. I'm revising right now, but I'm getting paranoid about the transition from act 1 to 2. I'm losing track of where I am, not sure what the player might feel when going into this next act. I want to make sure I use this act to fix some things with the characters and advance them. But they need to be well connected from act 1 to act 2.

I plan on adding input from Amelia during levels, including Anglow's. Also, there will be more interactions with the characters while in the "hub" of the game. I'm planning on releasing Act 1 before Act 2, so watch for that. It still could use some work in my eyes, and it's still the shortest act. But this time around, once it's done, don't think of it as it's own story standalone story, but the introduction act now.

Wow, long post. I'd make another blog, but I'd rather keep this one as a progress updater until I finish act 2 preparation and act 1's changes.
Update!

While act 1 isn't done, well... I've got a gut feeling it needs more work even though I went through it completely, but while it isn't done, I'm going to release a public beta. It's not going to take the place of primary download, of course. However, it will be up there for downloading. It's a lot closer to a finished revision, but it's hard to write and not have many people to bounce ideas off to.

Expect it soon! Also, it's in the format of the extended edition, and you'll be able to enter act 2 and play the intro as well! I'm going to make it so it ends at the end of it though, rather then leave it where it is now. Right now, you can walk around after the intro but there's no interaction yet so why leave it like that? :P. So feedback on the intro of that will be helpful. But know that this could mess up your actual experience with the fully refined, complete game. That depends on how you are though!

So to sum it up, I'm looking for feedback on the new tutorial set-up, new dialogue additions and revisions to the level and the intro, how well the conclusion transitions to the next act, and finally, if you want to, how well the introduction to act 2 feels.

I'm getting excited to see what people think about my attempts to improve act 1... *sweat*
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