[EN] Initial Release

ESPAÑOL: Este devlog está en inglés, si querés leer la versión en español, hacé click acá.

We did it!

Sorta.

Kinda.

We actually didn't finish the game as we initially imagined it, but we did finish a demo! 

But what happened? How did it come to be? Why isn't it how we planned it? Where did we go wrong? Where did go right? That and more will be hopefully answered in this devlog.

We came into this jam with a little preparation. At first it was only Byutaki and me, the dynamic duo who participated last year and made Take a Hint! But I kept wondering if it would be beneficial to add someone else- after all, while we could handle most things and use some free assets, I thought it'd be cool to include a background artist! That's how Dana joined the team.

This was Dana's first jam, so we had a good time getting to know each other and imparting some knowledge we have from our past experiences. After that, what most we did to prepare is to decide the order we'll work in for assets and script. As we depended on the theme, we didn't go with a strong idea on what kind of story we were going to tell, only that we were going to make a visual novel.

And then... it came! The theme! It waaaaaaaaaaaaas: Time Loop!

"Oh, boy!" I thought "What an exciting theme! So full of possibilities!"

And yes, it was in fact full of possibilities! We got straight to brainstorming, trying to come up with different ideas and concepts. We were deciding between about three or four story ideas, but something that convinced us as soon as it was mentioned was an aesthetic idea brought by Dana: The limited colours.

By using mostly black and white and bringing a few colors, we could highlight different things, maybe through different loops, different colors would be highlighted. We all agreed that was a really fun concept!

With that being definite, we thought the best story to tell would be obvious, of course... A MURDER MYSTERY THROUGH TIME LOOPS!

...What? That's not what we ended up doing? Well you're right! It isn't!

I loved the idea, it seemed super exciting as a concept, something I'd love to play! ...But as a writer, I started getting really anxious about the thought of having to come up with a proper mystery and write it in a day. I love mystery, but writing it is a massive struggle for me-it's a difficult genre! While I thought a game like that would be extremelly fun, I had to accept I just couldn't do it justice in a mere two days, I just didn't feel confident. So we went back to the drawing table.

Then, we returned to one of our first ideas: Someone goes through a conflict and repeats it in dreams, finding new information each time. Much simpler, right? That could be a good one! But we needed the specifics. First, I thought of a death, but then Byutaki suggested something else, which ended up being our final choice: The divorce of someone's parents.

Byu mentioned how she saw stories of divorce, but not as many of how that divorce affects the children, and we agreed it was a good story to tell. I was still a bit nervous about not measuring to it, but I was going to try, darn it!

Having already participated in WGJ last year, I was sure I was going to be able to properly scope our story. However, I was very wrong! Not only did I think of multiple scenes, but also a point and click mechanic and more out-of-dream sequences! Yup, totally doable in two days!

...NOT!

Obviously, I started freaking out a bit when I realized I could not even finish the SCRIPT on the first day, because there was so much and I was getting stuck at quite a few points. Luckily, WGJ offered some mentors and one helped me out of a roadblock! I super appreciated that- having mentors there was actually an awesome thing.

Either way, I did cut some content. And we decided to make the script shorter in general for my sanity. It may not be what we originally wanted, but I think once it's finished it's still going to be a neat experience!

This taught me to be a bit more cautious with my scope in jams that are this short, maybe to limit myself to one sprite, one scene, things like that. I'm lowkey looking forward to next year's already, so I can put what I learned to use!

I'm really happy of the people I got to meet, of the things I've learned and of the things I'm making. I hope you look forward to the finished game!

Goodbye and have a good one!