Devlog #004 - Commit #1916 (Patreon)

Published:

2026-01-23 16:00:30

Imported:

2026-06

Content

In the interest of providing more frequent progress updates (that you don't have to join Discord for), I'll aim to summarize what's recently been worked on in these "Commit #nnnn" posts.

Here's how January's been going for CE:ROM so far.

Story Planning

I have the major story beats as well as the big picture actions that each major character will do already planned. But, as I get down to the meat of the actual content, I've been wanting a way to keep track of all the details - a way better than the summaries I have in a simple word document.

I like spreadsheets.

I made a big story planning spreadsheet in order to better keep track of each character (including when and why they appear; what they did or say; major events; etc) and major story beats/themes.

At a glance, I can see when a particular character or thing comes up. And by hovering over each cell, I can see the specific points that I need to have the actual dialogue portray.

A big advantage of this is I can way more easily write a summary of "what" needs to be done (for example, "Gets frustrated over unreliable K-Tech hardware"), after which it becomes something I can use to help write the actual dialogue ("End of life?! But it’s hardly a year old, what the shark, Spark? Typical Kobold abandonware!"), which is effectively "how" the summary is implemented.

Another big advantage for me is that, by putting things on a timeline, it becomes way easier to tell when exactly things happen or don't happen. For example, 'is this character showing up too frequently?' Very easy to see by just looking at my checkmarks.

Anyway, the "actual" writing is currently on Chapter 3. I anticipate my writing velocity to increase.

Character Design

I also spent about a week designing and drawing new characters that you'll eventually meet.

I've had them planned for a while, and I finally got around to actually creating their visuals. Pictured here is Redding Deepscale, who will fulfill the game's Steam page promise of being able to meet a dragon corporate suit.

Even though I knew I'd need this character, I wanted to get their design done before I started writing their dialogue in earnest. I didn't know exactly how they'd end up looking, but I didn't want to start writing before deciding, as their appearance definitely influences the type of dialogue I give them. (In fact, it's already happened once before.)

With this (and at least one other) character designed, I can more confidently move on with writing their specific lines...

Game Implementation

Most of this current week has been spent implementing 3-1. Due to the game's backend design, most of the work has been writing and scripting the specific dialogue lines the characters say during the operation to guide you.

As the game progresses, you'll gain more and more agency regarding the order in which you tackle things. For example, in 1-2, you're asked to do tasks in a fairly linear fashion. In 3-1, there are many more things to do in an order that's up to you to decide.

This is great, of course, but it also means there are a lot more possibilities of dialogue. For example, say Spark asks you to fix Part A and Part B, in either order. Upon finishing A, Spark would then instruct you to finish up with B. But if you finish B, Spark would need to instruct you to finish A. This is a very simple scenario, of course, but I bet you can see how giving more freedom of options means more potential lines of dialogue.

As the complexity of each operation is rising, I decided there needed to be a better way at telling the player what they need to do at any given time (without resorting to some sort of "Objectives: Blah" solution). For circuit board components, I'm adding some LED indicators.

Hopefully, these will reduce the cognitive load on the player (freeing it up for me to ruin with other stuff~).

In-person Event

Cutting Edge: Roots Of Mutation will be in-person at the upcoming FWA 2026, May in Atlanta! I'll be demoing the game (very likely with the option to use a Wiimote and Nunchuck!) for a bit. Maybe I'll have stickers? We'll see. (Do y'all know any good sticker makers?)

Wow, a business card!

If you're around, feel free to stop by! I'll be using a "floor" version of the game, which is basically the Steam demo but with the story heavily cut-down. But perhaps I'll have an additional level to play...