Friday Rambles and Gamedev Update 2024-01-19

It’s the third Rambles of the year. Whoa, already 6% done with the year! 58% done with the month! The month is middle aged now. Feeling old yet?

I’ve been pretty busy, with this and that, and such and such, and so on and so forth. Doing as much as I can to get ready for the things I’m waiting to happen to happen.

Game things did

I signed up Dreams and Deadlines for an in-real-life game expo that’s happening in the summer. It takes a long time to apply to these things and I also have to pay money to apply. If I’m accepted (and I have no idea how likely that is), I will be flying overseas to sit at a sad looking table with a laptop on it so people can walk by and maybe sometimes play my game and read a bunch of text. Why did I do it? Um, because it comes with a Steam Festival that I’ll have an excuse to discount the game for…

Above: phone sprites updated for kr

Localization work continues. The translators are working hard, and first drafts are still on track to be done as scheduled by the end of the month. I hope.

In the meantime, I’ve been working on UI stuff so we can go right into playtests after the translation work is done. I’ve finished the KR UI work, but it’s pending the final strings before we can consider that really complete.

Above: obviously test strings, but i’ve (finally) coded this stuff in a way that it’ll still work as expected no matter what the strings are

Above: dream sequence font fits perfectly at 1:1 pixel size (still test strings)

So, 9 months after the game has launched, I’m still working on it and not the next thing. But I’m hoping it’ll be worth it in the long run, since more audience → more people buying the next game. Right?

Above: now unused intro dialogue

As far as the Dreams and Deadlines content update goes, I’m still brainstorming and changing stuff around, because everything I’ve been trying out has been too long and serious and does not add to the story in a good way. I feel like this particular story is just, like, done and over with, and adding more to it within this game itself feels like it’s just diluting its impact.

Above: now unused new project documentation

The biggest problem I was having was that it was too similar to the existing game. It was like another night of doing project work except with a bunch of other stuff happening, but the premise required a lot of setup that felt like it was just replaying Dreams and Deadlines. And it was also getting too lengthy, since it was gonna be another full project. If I’m gonna be releasing a free update that costs me a lot of time and resources to make and localize, I’m gonna make it fun and different (and short), and not like, just remaking the original game. (plus I don’t want people to expect me to add an entire extra game to every future game I make as a free update, i mean i still gotta keep making new games to sell so i can pay rent and eat lol).

Above: me. fr. fr.

So, I’m salvaging what I can and refocusing my effort onto a more lighthearted bonus thing that doesn’t actually have any effect on the story at all, like a true omake chapter. That way people playing it won’t have the expectation of it being some kind of lengthy canon required-reading thing, and I’ll have more fun with it, and it’ll also be less dev/localization time and resources. Win-win-win. Will it still be out by the summer? lol

Not games things did

My new stickers arrived from the printers so I added the new stickers to the stickers shop. Two of the designs had printing errors so I wasn’t able to use them. Darn. Anyway, people seem to like them. I spent a day packing orders.

If you buy two or more items by end of tonight (Friday), I’ll include a free Blythe print! And you can get a discount by using this link: LINK

Above: wow new stuff

I’m debating whether or not to stick these on my new laptop. I guess I should… but it’s so new and shiny…

I’m also thinking about making a new website for games and dev studio info, all professional-like, with a blog on it. I’ve been thinking about that for months, but when I applied to the expo it asked for a website, and my current website (while functional, I guess) is a little barebones for a professional “studio” website. So I thought about it again.

Other stuff

The world of game marketing is annoying and difficult, because you have to actively go and beg big online media sites and people like Geoff Keighley to talk about your game on their websites and consider you for awards and stuff. Which takes too much time and effort and money for someone like me, who is already too busy making video games or drawing Tiger-chan comics to sell plushies. So it’s always a pleasant surprise when a gaming site (typically Japanese) talks about my game, or a podcast (Gigaboots, in this case) nominates my game in multiple categories for their yearly GOTY Awards without me doing anything. Such categories as: “Best Rat of the Year,” “Most Hideous Creature,” and “Best Scrimblo of the Year.”

Above: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRRr1d2iAeQ Sadly, Tiger-chan did not win Best Scrimblo of the Year, because she “knows fear.” Whatever a “Scrimblo” is.

I generally find these while namesearching Endless Monday because how else am I going to keep my finger on the pulse of the latest video gaming news. The biggest bonus is that when people write or talk about your game without you telling them to, it’s because they have actually played it and care! And so, thank you, cool people, for playing and caring about my game.

Bye

This next week I'll be busy packing boxes for moving. That'll be fun. Anyway, that’s all I have for now. Thanks for your support, as always. See you next week!