Devlog #5✨

Good evening, everyone!  

It's been quite some time since the last blogpost, hasn't it? The newest version release is looming on the horizon, and there are only some things left to polish and a bit of artwork to finish. Before the full release, there will be a closed test version available for Patreons so you can try it first-hand. The game will be available on itch.io shortly after.  

With that out of the way, I'd like to talk about one specific part of the creative process of designing the game: choosing what makes it onto the final version and what doesn't.  

Before making the final version of an artwork or the story script there are many, _many_ sketches and drafts. Most of them end up not making it in the game, but they are the foundation of valuable ideas or designs that get transformed into the final content. Other parts need to be redone because future developments in the story or design fit better if they are changed. That may include rewriting some parts of the story, redoing some of the artwork or similar.  

It's always a bit painful to discard some art piece I've been working hard on, but it's also important to know when to change something for the betterment of the game. The artwork doesn't necessarily goes to waste, though! It may be useful later down the line for a different story or be repurposed for other means, like making a blog post about unused art.  

Here is the draft of an art piece that didn't make it onto the final version release:

Here, Attics was initially showing the player around the town when they arrived there. After writing and  remaking some of the story, it was discarded in favour of something much more engaging, which may or may not involve a special character talking to the human (that's you!) and Attics. However, it served as a good base for a different story event that actually did make it into the final version!

And that's everything for this post! Next week, I'll talk about how I set up the story of the game, the design it follows and some of the game exploration.

If you have any feedback or questions, please feel free to contact me! I want to make this game as good as I can, so as many people as possible can enjoy it.

Thank you all so much! ❤️