SWORD OF SYMPHONY - Dev Summary - July 2023

Hi guys!

Hope you've all been doing great!

Apologies for the slight delay in this dev summary - though I'm sure after seeing the new monthly dev summary animation, you can guess why that happened xD

Last month went pretty much as planned - with all the tutorial level content being completed. This is as close to the goal I set (which was to finish the level), since the only task left in the tutorial level is to implement all the content I made for it into the game engine - which won't take long at all. Therefore I consider what I've achieved a win, baring in mind how ambitious that goal was.

Tutorial level content FINISHED...

Out of everything I've done last month, I'll say this is probably the accomplishment I'm most impressed at myself by. I set myself the goal of finishing the tutorial level from start to finish in July deliberately, despite how unrealistic the goal actually is, because I wanted to push my capabilities, the speed of my workflow and my ability to work tirelessly towards a goal despite the hebetude I'll feel during it. I definitely felt the pressure I inflicted upon myself, but I can absolutely guarantee it was worth it; there's something about telling 1M+ followers that you're going to do a task that makes you genuinely fear failure to accomplish said task - but sometimes you need a tangible deterrent to failure in life. As driven as a person can be, we as humans will always do more to avoid pain and disappointment than we will risk to experience pleasure and reward; however, if you can set up your life so that those things are intertwined, you'll always have motivation when you most need it... and BOY did I need it last month. Doing the content for the tutorial wasn't the most 'fun' task in the game's development (to put it lightly), but I'm glad I got it done and all I'm left with is just to implement what I've made for it into the game engine.

(You can see the progress I've made on the tutorial in the behind-the-scenes channel of my community discord as a mid tier patron or above).

Implementing tutorial level content into the game engine...

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, this is the task I'm currently doing now (as I type this). As there's not much I can say about this step, since it'll be quick, I'll use this opportunity to answer a few popular questions I've received about the tutorial level:

• Q1: Can we skip the tutorial if we already know music theory?

A1: Yes, though I'm sure you'll still enjoy it regardless ;)

• Q2: Will you be able to play examples of each note/musical concept to help us remember them?

A2: Absolutely - in fact, I'm very glad many of you asked this; because I've prepared a whole mechanic which'll allow you to do that in a very cool and interesting way, which I'm looking forward to sharing with you all very soon. The events of the game will also remind you of what you've learned in the tutorial in various story-related ways.

• Q3: Will you also include the American musical terminology for the musical concepts in the tutorial?

A3: Yes. I am from the UK, so I'll be primarily using UK musical terminology and that will also be the official musical terminology in the game's lore canonically. However, whenever there's any mention of musical terminology in the tutorial, the US equivalent will also be present in brackets. I'm also planning to potentially have an option in the settings, which allows you to switch between UK and US terminology for the rest of the game.

Brand new monthly dev summary animation...

Like I said in the previous monthly dev summary, I'll make a new monthly dev summary animation (which I hope you've all enjoyed).

I'm glad I managed to squeeze in the production of this, considering the particularly ambitious tasks I set for myself last month. My goal is to make a new one for each new part of the game I'm working on, so the animation reflects the state of the development. My aim with this is also to deepen your immersion into the world of Sword Of Symphony as an audience, since all the monthly dev summary animations do in fact canonically take place (in chronological order) before the events of the game itself; hence, the last one will take place just before the first events of the game. This'll allow you to feel like you are growing with Stefān, and the other characters, as you all wait for the game's eventual release, and you'll also be able to have a mini glimpse of what they're getting up to in their lives before the events of the game. I very much look forward to doing the others!

This is also good for me as it exercises my animation skills. As I said in the previous update, the way I animate has dramatically improved. Each time I animate a scene like this, I hone my understanding of different practical concepts in my workflow in real-time, hence you'll all also be able to see the gradual increase in quality in each monthly dev summary animation I release...

(You can see the progress I've made on the new monthly dev summary animation here and in the behind-the-scenes channel of my community discord as a mid tier patron or above).

Goals for August & Conclusion...

This month, there are 2 other obligations in my personal life that I must attend to (one of the being outside the country), though despite this, I still aim to finish implementing the tutorial level content in the game engine and begin doing the cutscene that leads into the first level by the end of the month (or by the 10th September at the very latest, though I don't think it will get to that).

I'd like to thank you all for your continued support for this game, even if you're not a Patron (or actively following my social media pages - though I highly encourage that you do). Even though I am very driven to succeed in this game's development alone, your enthusiasm gives me the extra boost of energy to push me through the long arduous life of game dev.

All our patience, yours and mine, will eventually pay off - you can count on that! ;)

Until then, I'll speak to you all in the next update!

- Stephen