Big things a coming (Patreon)

Thanksgiving is right around the corner! I hope you have the opportunity to relax a bit this coming week. If this time of the year is stressful for you, hang in there! There are a couple of family members of my own that I have to expend a lot of energy just to not engage with them. We'll get through this, though. Anyway, let's talk games.

Originally I had a goal to not start working on an overarching game until I reach $500 a month. But I'm too eager! So I've begun prototyping some different things, trying to get a feel for what might be possible.

So far I've been publishing sort of disparate scenes as standalone short stories, but I do intend to connect them in a singular world. One of the big considerations I've been...uhh...considering, is whether you should be able to date the women in the game.

Maybe it's just because I've been playing Disco Elysium lately, but I decided to try and see if I could cobble together a point-and-click system with highlighted objects and a top down camera. And...yeah, it actually wasn't too difficult with the help of some tools from the Unity asset store:

Now just imagine the cube is an NPC, let's say...hmmm...an ice cream vendor, and the sphere is a bench to sit at with your date. And of course she spills ice cream on her blouse and needs to change so you hop into the nearby store and she tries on clothes but doesn't quite pull the curtain all the way shut...okay I'm getting ahead of myself.

Next step for the prototype is to figure out how to get your date following behind you. I've done something like that before so I just need a refresher.

Keep in mind, this system would still use 2D sprites popping up when there's dialogue.

The real question is whether this is all outrageously beyond the scope of a solodev!

Maybe...but maybe not. That's what prototyping is good for I guess. I have a few more ideas to experiment with before committing to it. Once I figure some more things out, you'll be first to know!

Stay excited

- Hat Jump

P.S. This work is not been replacing this month's monthly short. That game is still coming, and it's a doozy. More on that soon:)