Development Update 5/5/24
Hey jswessler! Where is Tale of Two Sardines???
Alternatively: Breaking News: TOTS Script Found Dead in an Aerospace Major Dorm Room
Well, it's complicated.
At the center of everything is Miko, a character who, in the original script (and in hindsight), was an extremely one-dimensional character masquerading as someone interesting. Miko's original character arc was "Hey, I'm in Japan! Wow, here's a lot of things happening around me that aren't very cool! Oh look, here's a world-shattering plot twist! What should I do now?!"
Miko has gone through several revisions in her character. I've really spent most of this time thinking about the world Miko lives in. Since AATAG's release, I have spent a lot of time workshopping the world that both these games take place in and used that experience to make Miko a much better protagonist.
Deep down, don't we all want to be fleshed out characters?
The game itself has also undergone many changes in its message. Instead of focusing on the plot twist like the original script did, the new script focuses more on Miko and the world around her.
Here's an honest update on where I am with the game.
Story - 95%
TOTS's fully revised script is basically done. There are a few things I still need to figure out, but most of them depend on how I feel the rest of the game comes out. I don't want to spoil anything, obviously, but here are a few highlights.
Programming - 50%
Programming is coming along. There are two more puzzles I have to implement and one that I need to seriously rework. There's not too much else I have to say here. The puzzles are going to be more involved than AATAG, and most of them are going to involve special mechanics or gimmicks that many of you enjoyed with the light and sound puzzles in AATAG.
This part is what I least enjoy doing, and its most of the reason the game has taken this long to make. The scope of this game is much more fleshed out than AATAG and with that comes a heavy increase in the programming and level design.
Art - 40%
With Miko's visual design change, I need to go through and redo all the art that's gone into the game. More than that, though, I need to rethink how I approach game art in the first place. AATAG's art more or less didn't use any background or pose references. At the time I thought it would be fun to challenge myself, but three years later I've learned the value of using references.
I am also changing all the animated character portraits to static ones, similar to other RPGMaker/top-down pixel games like Paper Lily or Ann. This is annoying, but the resulting portraits are way better and way more expressive than before.
Music - 50%
This is the part of the game I most enjoy doing. I actually have 6 songs already made for this game, and my plan is for 12-13 songs in total. I have switched from using Musescore to Ableton Live 11 for music which led to a huge increase in production value.
Cool! What else?
I'm also splitting my time working on a separate project, a speculative platformer called "Upwards". It started as a fun project last year, but I've recently seriously considered it as a full-scale game alongside TOTS. Upwards is being actively updated on my GitHub page, although it's not quite ready for testing yet. Here's a screenshot of what I have right now.
Yes, all the blocks have smiley faces on them. It's supposed to make you feel happy, among... other things.
Of course, I'm also a full-time student in a field completely unrelated to game development. TOTS, like AATAG, is a passion project inspired by what I love, not a full-time job. I grew up surrounded by old RPGMaker games, and I hope TOTS captures the feel from those old games while introducing modern mechanics and ideas that players want to see today.
Thanks for reading and sticking around! I'm going to try to post every week or two here and mirror them onto my discord server (you should join that, by the way! https://discord.gg/ssJhqeZbDC)
Weirdly enough, most people I know in person fit into one of these emotes.
- jswessler
Alternatively: Breaking News: TOTS Script Found Dead in an Aerospace Major Dorm RoomWell, it's complicated.
At the center of everything is Miko, a character who, in the original script (and in hindsight), was an extremely one-dimensional character masquerading as someone interesting. Miko's original character arc was "Hey, I'm in Japan! Wow, here's a lot of things happening around me that aren't very cool! Oh look, here's a world-shattering plot twist! What should I do now?!"
Miko has gone through several revisions in her character. I've really spent most of this time thinking about the world Miko lives in. Since AATAG's release, I have spent a lot of time workshopping the world that both these games take place in and used that experience to make Miko a much better protagonist.
Deep down, don't we all want to be fleshed out characters?The game itself has also undergone many changes in its message. Instead of focusing on the plot twist like the original script did, the new script focuses more on Miko and the world around her.
Here's an honest update on where I am with the game.
Story - 95%
TOTS's fully revised script is basically done. There are a few things I still need to figure out, but most of them depend on how I feel the rest of the game comes out. I don't want to spoil anything, obviously, but here are a few highlights.
- More than two endings (including one "good" ending and at least one "neutral" ending)
- A real character progression for Miko
- Callbacks to AATAG and other pieces of media
- 1000% more worldbuilding
Programming - 50%
Programming is coming along. There are two more puzzles I have to implement and one that I need to seriously rework. There's not too much else I have to say here. The puzzles are going to be more involved than AATAG, and most of them are going to involve special mechanics or gimmicks that many of you enjoyed with the light and sound puzzles in AATAG.
This part is what I least enjoy doing, and its most of the reason the game has taken this long to make. The scope of this game is much more fleshed out than AATAG and with that comes a heavy increase in the programming and level design.
Art - 40%
With Miko's visual design change, I need to go through and redo all the art that's gone into the game. More than that, though, I need to rethink how I approach game art in the first place. AATAG's art more or less didn't use any background or pose references. At the time I thought it would be fun to challenge myself, but three years later I've learned the value of using references.
I am also changing all the animated character portraits to static ones, similar to other RPGMaker/top-down pixel games like Paper Lily or Ann. This is annoying, but the resulting portraits are way better and way more expressive than before.
Music - 50%
This is the part of the game I most enjoy doing. I actually have 6 songs already made for this game, and my plan is for 12-13 songs in total. I have switched from using Musescore to Ableton Live 11 for music which led to a huge increase in production value.
Cool! What else?
I'm also splitting my time working on a separate project, a speculative platformer called "Upwards". It started as a fun project last year, but I've recently seriously considered it as a full-scale game alongside TOTS. Upwards is being actively updated on my GitHub page, although it's not quite ready for testing yet. Here's a screenshot of what I have right now.
Yes, all the blocks have smiley faces on them. It's supposed to make you feel happy, among... other things.Of course, I'm also a full-time student in a field completely unrelated to game development. TOTS, like AATAG, is a passion project inspired by what I love, not a full-time job. I grew up surrounded by old RPGMaker games, and I hope TOTS captures the feel from those old games while introducing modern mechanics and ideas that players want to see today.
Thanks for reading and sticking around! I'm going to try to post every week or two here and mirror them onto my discord server (you should join that, by the way! https://discord.gg/ssJhqeZbDC)
Weirdly enough, most people I know in person fit into one of these emotes.- jswessler