A thought about the MoonFall series: Are my games novels?
Hi everyone! This is going to be a long rambling essay-type thing, so feel free to skip it if you’re not into those. The only practical item I have to discuss is that the next installment in the MoonFall series, Baldr’s Squid Isekai, is nearing the end of its crowdfunding period. So if a weird parody game with meta elements is interesting to you, go check that out here.
Okay, moving on. Some of you may know that I trained and endeavored to be a novelist. This fact will explain a lot about why my games are like the way they are. The MoonFall setting and the characters in it have been rattling around my head for almost 20 years now.
At times I play off my work as “just porn games,” and this is not entirely false modesty. I do think that my games are the products of a lone hobbyist with limited resources and experience, because that is nothing but the truth. But I also have tremendous, impractical ambitions for the series, and I think some of you who have delved deeper in, and peered behind the curtain, may have been entranced by it. At least, I hope so.
Like many creatives, I want to create something beautiful. Something profound, that stirs the human spirit and questions the basic principles that govern how we live our lives. The fact that I’m attempting this through a bunch of porn games could perhaps be explained as part of my own brand of irreverent humor.
Because of the above, I don’t approach game development the same way that most others, even indies do. My games, individually or taken as a whole, are not profit vehicles in which to slowly milk consumers so I could live extravagantly. Each of them are created with intent, puzzle pieces of a larger design.
While they can be enjoyed individually, they are designed to be part of a whole, slowly filling in a grand tapestry of secrets, lore, mysteries and characters. My games are in many ways more similar to novels in a long series than games.
I won’t lie, these attempts can sometimes be clumsy. There are numerous obstacles in tackling alone a project that would normally take entire teams of people. But I think there is great value in preserving a singular vision for a work, that every element of a game is made by a small team, or even a single person.
The opening installments of the series (The Singularity Wish, Singularity: Tactics Arena, Memoirs of a Battle Brothel) were my initial forays into the medium. They were learning experiences for me. The tentative first steps into unknown lands.
Now that I have some measure of my abilities, I will begin attempting more serious work. Expect a significant increase in production value and overall quality, especially when it comes to narrative as we move into a more steady production schedule.
And there is no time like the present. As the names of my games may indicate, the issues of artificial intelligence and our shared uncertain future are of great interest to me. We are living in, dare I say with some humor, interesting times.
The MoonFall series is my (perhaps fumbling) exploration of truth and meaning. Is that wildly grandiose for a bunch of porn games? Yes. Is it good art? I can’t tell, creators are cursed to forever be distanced from understanding the quality of their work.
But I could do far worse than chasing an unreachable dream. Something something, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
And whatever comes, I’m glad I get to share the journey with you. I think this is the start of something really special.
-ManlyMouseDan
Okay, moving on. Some of you may know that I trained and endeavored to be a novelist. This fact will explain a lot about why my games are like the way they are. The MoonFall setting and the characters in it have been rattling around my head for almost 20 years now.
At times I play off my work as “just porn games,” and this is not entirely false modesty. I do think that my games are the products of a lone hobbyist with limited resources and experience, because that is nothing but the truth. But I also have tremendous, impractical ambitions for the series, and I think some of you who have delved deeper in, and peered behind the curtain, may have been entranced by it. At least, I hope so.
Like many creatives, I want to create something beautiful. Something profound, that stirs the human spirit and questions the basic principles that govern how we live our lives. The fact that I’m attempting this through a bunch of porn games could perhaps be explained as part of my own brand of irreverent humor.
Because of the above, I don’t approach game development the same way that most others, even indies do. My games, individually or taken as a whole, are not profit vehicles in which to slowly milk consumers so I could live extravagantly. Each of them are created with intent, puzzle pieces of a larger design.
While they can be enjoyed individually, they are designed to be part of a whole, slowly filling in a grand tapestry of secrets, lore, mysteries and characters. My games are in many ways more similar to novels in a long series than games.
I won’t lie, these attempts can sometimes be clumsy. There are numerous obstacles in tackling alone a project that would normally take entire teams of people. But I think there is great value in preserving a singular vision for a work, that every element of a game is made by a small team, or even a single person.
The opening installments of the series (The Singularity Wish, Singularity: Tactics Arena, Memoirs of a Battle Brothel) were my initial forays into the medium. They were learning experiences for me. The tentative first steps into unknown lands.
Now that I have some measure of my abilities, I will begin attempting more serious work. Expect a significant increase in production value and overall quality, especially when it comes to narrative as we move into a more steady production schedule.
And there is no time like the present. As the names of my games may indicate, the issues of artificial intelligence and our shared uncertain future are of great interest to me. We are living in, dare I say with some humor, interesting times.
The MoonFall series is my (perhaps fumbling) exploration of truth and meaning. Is that wildly grandiose for a bunch of porn games? Yes. Is it good art? I can’t tell, creators are cursed to forever be distanced from understanding the quality of their work.
But I could do far worse than chasing an unreachable dream. Something something, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.
And whatever comes, I’m glad I get to share the journey with you. I think this is the start of something really special.
-ManlyMouseDan