Status Update - Oct 2023

PREAMBLE

Hello.

If you're reading this, you must be just as interesting in this project as I.

Or perhaps.

You're interested in...

Something more?

Do you remember being somewhere else?

Maybe I can take you there for a bit. Or, perhaps...

You can even leave your mark on it.

What do you think?

INTRODUCTION

I am making a game called "THE TWILIGHT REVERIE." It is the first in its series.

The game will be released in many "Chapters," the first of which I started development on three months ago. Since that time, I've been working hard to figure out the rest of the game.

This is the type of game that would normally have many team members working on different aspects of the game.

A writer, a composer, a sound designer, a map designer, a battle designer, a sprite artist, a tileset artist, and an overall director. Instead, all of those roles end up being filled by me.

The good news is that a few days ago, I completed a significant milestone regarding the game's design. I completed readable outlines for every chapter in the game, including first-pass dialogue for almost all the cutscenes, examples of the music, etc.

Although certain details are still hazy, the flow of the game and all major events and battles that take place are now clear.

In summary, I largely spent the past three months writing, composing, designing, and drawing. However, that's not the whole story.

I have actually attempted to develop the game in that time too. Development started around mid-September and 99% of the work was spent on investigating and testing alternative game engines to Kristal, which I was using for initial builds of the game.

Without getting into the details, I decided a few weeks ago to go back to Kristal after all. It still felt like the best fit for the project. So using what I had as a base, i've started creating Chapter 1 since October 2023.

A lot of progress has been made since that time. I believe I can complete this chapter, content-wise, before the end of the year (not accounting for extras, bugtesting, and polish).

I feel very confident. Oddly, even though I ended up using the original engine, I don't regret the lost time. Not only was I still busy designing the game, but during that long period, I was able to think of many ideas that mad`e the game's story and characters better.

STATUS ESTIMATE

Since there's a lot to read, I'll try to put the status of the game in rough, numbered estimates.

CHAPTER 1

Phase 1: Design

Main Design 60% (dialogue, etc.)

Initial Setup: 100% (stuff involved setting up the base to make the game, adding debug tools, documentation, etc.)

Phase 2: Implementation

Art: 30%

Cutscenes: 20% (75% are started, needs second-pass)

Bullet Patterns: 60% (enemies are mostly completed, bosses are about 40% done, needs second-pass)

Non-Bullet Battle Elements: 30% (Some ACTs are done and enemies are fightable, but interactive ACTs and SKILLs need to be completed and polished and the bosses aren't programmed outside of bullet patterns)

Audio: 80%

Maps: ??% (Most are started or placeholder, most need second-pass. NPC interactions are completed in nearly all spots where written.)

Other: 15%

Phase 3: Finishing

Balancing: 0%

Bugfixing: 0%

Secrets & Extras: 0%

Polishing: 0%

(Honestly, a lot of this stuff FEELS like 75% to me, but the truth is that what's there is quite rough now. Polish ends up taking a lot of time, so the real actual time value may be around 25% done..? We'll see what happens.)

PROGRESS CHAPTERS 2+

Phase 1: Design

Story and General Game Progression (First-pass) 100%

Cutscene Dialogue (First-pass, lacking cutscene instructions) 80%

Map Design (textual) 70% (varies per chapter, earlier chapters totally completed)

Map Design (drawn) 0% (this takes a lot of wrist energy so I don't do it until I start programming)

Enemy Design (conceptual) 50% (all bosses are known)

Enemy Design (bullets/visual) 33% (varies per chapter, earlier chapters totally completed)

Music (Concept) 95%

Music (Completed) 40%

Visual Design:

BG concepts (First-pass) 75%

Important Characters, Bosses (First-pass) 100%

Phase 2

Sprite Art 15%?

Phase 3

Release Readiness 0%

(These numbers can be somewhat deceptive though. My design style is to reach the moment where I have to make something, then suddenly think of something different at the last minute. This is always how it's been with me and my work. It feels like no matter how much I plan, everything comes down to what I think of at the last second..)