Dev Log #1 | How our video games teach players life lessons and why it matters.
Hello, all you spicey gamers, Gideon here, the Director of Night Spasm and the founder of FanFaction.
My crew and I always have a lot to say, so we'd figured it would be worthwhile to actually say the things roaming in our head. With this new Dev Log plan, we can all freely announce statements from behind the scenes. We're very excited to discuss our future plans, interesting moments in the workplace, and our viewpoints on various topics of the gaming and entertainment industry.
I'd like to kick this first Dev Log off with a summary of recent events (and maybe a bottle of Sprite):
The FanFaction team has been branching out to new vistas; our music designers are learning graphic designing skills, our graphic designers are pursuing story writing, and the rest of us have been experimenting with Unity. One of our business partners, Kellen "Endevours", has been assisting our team with the ins and outs of Unreal Engine 4 and also managing our Copywrite claims (thanks again Kellen!).
Throughout Night Spasm's several updates, we've been planning ahead. We have so many other video game ideas that are getting closer and closer to coming into effect. Some of these ideas include a Mario Party-inspired RPG game, a fast-paced rogue-like with an alien protagonist, and some video game renditions of unusual or uncommon sports!
Additionally, we've been planning out the future of the Night Spasm series. We've come to the conclusion of how Night Spasm will end and how other Night Spasm games will come into play. We've taken a lot of inspiration from games deemed similar to Night Spasm, such as Undertale, Breath of the Wild, Final Fantasy, Fire Emblem, and even Animal Crossing. Most of the video games we've played over our lives have had some influence on Night Spasm's story, gameplay, and most of all its music. Did you know that MOG's personality was somewhat inspired by Master Chief's personality from the game Halo?
And it's not just other games that influence our games; a lot of movies and personal experiences were the sources of some important Night Spasm moments. For example, when I was trying to design Inevit's back story and role within Night Spasm, I began to seek inspiration from the movies my family and I would watch on Friday nights. I wanted to design a villain players could have empathy for, and since Night Spasm is all about freedom of choice, I had to make Inevit someone worth accepting over the heroic characters.
I immediately thought of Thanos from The Avengers, as Inevit and Thanos share similar goals in their stories. However, it wasn't until I watched Episode VII of Star Wars that I realized my villain was similar to Kylo Ren. As Kylo Ren is a villain most viewers tend to feel bad for, I began watching the rest of the Star Wars sequels with the idea in mind that maybe Kylo Ren is actually the good guy. And thus, I began observing other villains in movies, and I began to realize that every bad guy has a redeeming quality in them. I basically designed Inevit to be ambitious yet objective, so much so that he can appear either evil or an inspiration.
This is the kind of thinking my crew and I support as we design our games. Every little detail in our games has a meaning behind it, maybe a joke or the answer to a question that comes later on. Sometimes it can take over 10 minutes to fill a single box of dialogue; we take every perspective into consideration and find a way to either change, destroy, or improve the player's philosophy on something. Psychology is what makes our games special.
As we begin to design and develop more video game projects, we think critically about everything. Our games are made to tell the player what kind of person they really are. Video games have the power to change people's life, positively and negatively. With Night Spasm's adaptable "freedom of choice" mindset, it's easy to find moments in the game that apply to your life. Plus, the achievements and consequences in Night Spasm come from the morals and presuppositions of the player, meaning every significant change in Night Spasm happens because of how good or bad of a person you really are.
This is just Night Spasm though. I, personally, believe everything should have a deeper meaning behind it, but that doesn't mean it has to be dark or impactful. Sometimes games serve as activities you can play with your friends. Sometimes games are meant to make you laugh. But I think we can all agree that video games have one aspect in common: inspiration. Whether the inspiration is intended or not in a game, a game will always influence someone's life. And that's what we at FanFaction are here to do.
That is all I have to say for this Dev Log. In summary, we are working hard on other games along with Night Spasm. We hope we can create interactive and life-changing games for you to play!
Please consider following the Night Spasm Steam Community page and our other forms of social media. Your feedback and support are greatly appreciated. See you on the next Dev Log and keep those controllers busy!
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