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The Story is Complete

  • Red_Nova
  • 10/25/2019 01:20 AM
  • 2788 views
Last night, I finally implemented the last main cutscene of the last route. From a story perspective, Prayer of the Faithless is done.

...Okay, I won't lie: I've been sitting here staring at those first two sentences for a good twenty minutes now without writing anything else because I just... can't believe it. I wrote the sentences, and I still can't believe it. I keep doubting myself, going back through my notes and the build just to make sure I'm not forgetting something. But nope. The scenes are done. They're actually, really, honestly done. The game can be played from the prologue all the way to the end credits.

That's not to say that there isn't much left to do, of course. After finishing up my little slash and burn campaign, my first priority was to get the story complete before seriously tackling the other components. The story of Prayer of the Faithless was the last big obstacle slowing me down, and the biggest reason why the game has been taking so long to get done. As I mentioned on Twitter earlier, getting this story written down and done was the longest and toughest things I've ever had to do since I started developing games. And now, here it is. Complete and playable.

I won't lie and say that I don't have reservations on how this story concludes. Maybe there's a theme that wasn't thoroughly explored, or maybe one or more characters could have been fleshed out more. However, the main aspect of the story, the resolution of Aeyr's and Mia's stories and their conflict with each other and their situations, has been wrapped up nicely. Everything else can be polished out with a little extra work. For the sake of keeping my anxiety to a minimum, I'll save my thoughts and feelings on the story's conclusion until after the game releases and just focus on the fact that the story of PotF is done after five long and brutal years of work.


Trill's dialogue will always put a smile on my face.


So, uh, what IS left to do? Well, like I said, there are still quite a few components of the game that were left by the wayside while I focused on the story. My slash and burn campaign did a lot of slashing and burning, but not much regrowing, so now I'm going to focus on that. Enemy stats have been reworked, but that caused troop balance to get thrown out of whack. Excess item types have been cut, but that left a lot of empty item events scattered across the world. Remixing enemy and item placements is not a lot of extra work overall, but work that needs to be done all the same.

And then there are the tilesets. If there's one thing that this game has taught me, it's that I need to really practice my pixel art before I attempt something large scale again. Half the game's dungeons are unfinished visually because my lacking sense of aesthetics could barely encompass anything beyond "point A to point B," so ramping up the tileset is the next big item on the list.

Finally, there are skits. Despite them being some of my favorite things to work on (I'm a sucker for relaxed party banter), they also haven't gotten much attention from me. Luckily, now that the main story is done, I know what themes and plot threads can be fleshed out and explored with a skit. I've jotted down plenty of skit ideas, but they need to be implemented.

So... where does this leave the game? Well, remember back in January* when I said PotF would be completed in 2019? ...Yeah, I don't think that's going to happen. I've learned a lot of painful lessons in time management and personal pacing that will undoubtedly make future projects better, but they don't really help to bring this project to a close. I'm gonna focus the rest of the year on polishing everything I can, and will get back to you when I feel confident enough to start the next round of testing.

Anyway, I know I say this a lot, but progress (slow as it is) is still being made. The implementation of the last cutscene is done, and so with it the hardest, most brutal challenge I have ever faced not just with PotF, but my entire game development history, has been conquered.

For now, though, I'm gonna go get some rest.


*: Christ, I actually went back and reread my January blog and am cringing so hard at how I let all this time go by. Let me reiterate my earlier statement that I'm more critical of myself than anyone else could be and, anxiety or no, I am frankly embarrassed at the promises I make and consistently botch. Someone slam a pie in my face, because I feel like such a clown.

Posts

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unity
You're magical to me.
12540
So glad to hear that things are progressing so well, and getting the main story locked down is HUGE! :DDD I am so exicted!!!

Sounds like you still have a lot of work to do, but getting something so big out of the way will hopefully be a huge motivator!

author=Red_Nova
*: Christ, I actually went back and reread my January blog and am cringing so hard at how I let all this time go by. Let me reiterate my earlier statement that I'm more critical of myself than anyone else could be and, anxiety or no, I am frankly embarrassed at the promises I make and consistently botch. Someone slam a pie in my face, because I feel like such a clown.


If I've learned anything about game dev, it's never to hold devs that do this as their side hobby to deadlines (myself included). Life's just too random, unpredictable and messy, and planning these things out is a shot-in-the-dark guess at best.

What I'm trying to say is not to be too hard on yourself ^_^ It happens to the best of us.
Congrats my friend!

PS Jan until now is nothing. It took me from like Nov to May to finish my thing and it was like 99.7 percent done in Nov.
Whooo! Congrats on getting to another milestone!
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
Inching ever closer to being complete. I'll promise rainbow text when it actually is!
This is big news! And now's the perfect time for refinement. It's all easygoing from here!
Congrats! Game done is an important milestone, and seriously don't feel bad over not wrapping up the whole entire project by 2019. Unless game design is your full-time job or you've promised a crowdfunding audience a completed product by X date, game design deadlines are goals, not requirements.
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
author=unity
So glad to hear that things are progressing so well, and getting the main story locked down is HUGE! :DDD I am so exicted!!!

Sounds like you still have a lot of work to do, but getting something so big out of the way will hopefully be a huge motivator!

author=Red_Nova
*: Christ, I actually went back and reread my January blog and am cringing so hard at how I let all this time go by. Let me reiterate my earlier statement that I'm more critical of myself than anyone else could be and, anxiety or no, I am frankly embarrassed at the promises I make and consistently botch. Someone slam a pie in my face, because I feel like such a clown.


If I've learned anything about game dev, it's never to hold devs that do this as their side hobby to deadlines (myself included). Life's just too random, unpredictable and messy, and planning these things out is a shot-in-the-dark guess at best.

What I'm trying to say is not to be too hard on yourself ^_^ It happens to the best of us.


Thanks, unity! It's funny: I always tell people not to be too hard on themselves whenever they get like this. I'm really bad at taking my own advice.

author=zDS
Congrats my friend!

PS Jan until now is nothing. It took me from like Nov to May to finish my thing and it was like 99.7 percent done in Nov.


Thanks. That final .3% is often the longest percent to get through, huh?


author=Malandy
Whooo! Congrats on getting to another milestone!


Thanks!

author=Marrend
Inching ever closer to being complete. I'll promise rainbow text when it actually is!


Motivation has now increased by 120%!

author=Sgt M
This is big news! And now's the perfect time for refinement. It's all easygoing from here!


Here's hoping!

author=kumada
Congrats! Game done is an important milestone, and seriously don't feel bad over not wrapping up the whole entire project by 2019. Unless game design is your full-time job or you've promised a crowdfunding audience a completed product by X date, game design deadlines are goals, not requirements.


Y'know, there was a time when I seriously considered attempting a Kickstarter for this game. After everything I've been through, I can't be more glad that that I decided against it. The pressure to deliver something would have been too much to handle.
CashmereCat
Self-proclaimed Puzzle Snob
11638
Yes, Red_Nova. Can’t wait until the final product. You have done so incredibly well!
Red_Nova
Sir Redd of Novus: He who made Prayer of the Faithless that one time, and that was pretty dang rad! :D
9192
Thanks Cash!
I would totally pay money for a commercial release of this game, but I agree kickstarters can be nerve-wracking. I build my content first, then kickstart to enhance it, specifically to avoid ever getting into a situation where the thing I've promised to do feels daunting.
trill: *speaks*

aeyr: amalie come spam piercing light i'm scared
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