NaNoRenO2020 - Week 2 Devlog

Welcome to week 2 of the ongoing development of my upcoming game, Dear Devere. Week 1's developer blog can be read here.

"The gods know what the final score of the football game will be, but we still have to play it." -Critic A.W. Gomme



The following quote (which I had heard whilst listening to an episode of Crash Course Literature ) reminded me of another quote from one of my favourite films, Run Lola Run (a 1998 thriller about a woman reliving a day repeatedly as she attempts to save her boyfriend from a robbery gone wrong). The quote is said at the beginning of the film, foreshadowing the story's theme:

"The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. Everything else is pure theory."

While I am not into team sports involving balls (favouring Jeet Kun Do instead), I do really like the sentiments and poetry of those two quotes. I interpret them as being about the importance of trying to do something, despite the chance of failure. Because in the act of trying, whether you succeed or not, you will still learn and develop from it.

Why am I starting this game developer's log with quotations about trying? I hope you already understand. If not, let's review:

Week 2 progress and plans for week 3:

Voice Acting: I've finished filling out the Voice Acting Spreadsheet for the VN's Prologue and Act 1 and have handed it to the voice actors. Recording for the Prologue and Act 1 is in progress. I will hopefully have time to fill out Act 2 during week 3.

Programming UI: I've now programmed a the screens for the Credits, Help, Main Menu, and Settings pages. It still needs some tinkering (the Credits screen needs to be updated with the social media links of all the collaborators, the Test Sound buttons need to be updated with the proper audio clips, and I want to add SFX to the Quit screen), but the majority is complete now.

UI Art: Completed. Added the Main Menu art assets to the game.

Art: I've been working on the postage stamps and CGs. I also spent more time collecting photos for the game's collage aesthetic. I am currently behind schedule with the art assets (I wanted to have completed some of the envelope designs to show you), so I'll need to focus more on that during Week 3. I'm getting more used to my technical method of creating art in this style, and I've found a great brush by Kyle T Webster (called "Paintbox - Cool Drag") that I've been using to imitate the rough edge of ripped paper. That will help speed up progress.

SFX: All needed sound effects have been collected. I also recorded a flute version of the JKO logo (using the music creator Midicity) that will play every time the game is booted up. I use this JKO logo as the splashscreen of my other games, along with the notes C, G#, and D#. In Three Guys That Paint, it was a guitar strum. In Eight Sweets, it was a piano. This time, it will be a flute to reflect the instruments used in Celtic folk music.

Music: Paul Robins is making wonderful progress with the tracks.

Promoting: I posted one of the art assets I've made, the UI I've edited from the Fade by Moon Tea template, and a screenshot of an early art style test I made. I plan to continue posting about my progress on my Twitter account.

Livestreams: I did an art livestream. You can view a recording of it here. And here's a short Clip highlight of it if you're in a hurry. I hope to do another developer livestream, but I'm not sure when.

So ends this week's log. I'll hopefully have another one for Week 3.