Friday Rambles 2023-09-29

It's the last Friday Ramble of the month. It's October in 2 days!

Well, so, it's pretty clear I won't be done with the Halloween update by Halloween, so I'm postponing it to later.

Above: Sorry for making you put up those decorations, Hana

And since it's stupid to release a Halloween update after Halloween, I'm going to be reworking the story to something else, which is great because now I don't have to draw a bunch of extra sprites of characters in costume, but probably sad for everyone else because I won't be drawing extra sprites of characters in costume. Felt too much like fanservice, anyway, and I want to focus on story, and retcon^H^H^H^H^H^H I mean address or expand upon or conclude various things that were kind of left open in EMDND without the distraction of making a big seasonal thing. (Except one big scene I already made revolves around Halloween, so I'll definitely have to get creative about how I shove it in the game)

Anyway.

Actively Online readers may have noticed my updates on Twitter/Insta/Whatever that EMDND has finally reached 500 reviews!!!

Above: My high effort thank you post for the social medias

Finally, I can rest. I've already talked about this on the social medias, but man, it really is overwhelming to get such a response for my first game ever, featuring something as personal as my own OCs. lol.

We made it to 500 with our 100% positive rating intact, and now that I've used that part for marketing (BTW: The game is on sale!!!!!), I'm less worried about trolls or mean people adding negative reviews. In fact now I'm fully expecting it very soon, because I think "Overwhelmingly Positive" rated games are held to a higher standard, for better or worse, and some people just can't resist being the one to be the first to do something. For better or worse.

Above: Screenshot, for posterity

And of course, thank you, Patreon supporter friend, for the support, as well. I know a fair number of reviews came from you. Thank you thank you

Moving on...

Until we reached 500 reviews earlier today, I was not doing very well in the gamedev world. I spent a bunch of time fixing bugs in EMDND that I accidentally added while stripping out bonus stuff for a hotfix update. I was anxious about Steam Review Numbers. I gave up on the Halloween update. I tried, but gave up on, a standalone Lumber Lass.

Above: This game was not fun.

I was sad about Game 2. The idea I had while jogging did not speak to me anymore. I did get some work done on it, though. Not really anything gameplay related, just a bunch of technical stuff. I worked on like 3 different projects this week, but nothing I made was fun. What the hell is "fun" anyway? EMDND was fun for me to make AND play, so why can't I do that again? Whaa...?

So I just played a few video games, hoping I could kickstart my brain that way, and maybe figure out what makes a game fun. Gotta play games to make games, you know?

Video games I played

Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog

Above: Very cool PC-98ish aesthetic. Very kawaii sprites.

This game pops up every once in a while on my timeline and it's been on my wishlist, but I found out it had a demo while looking at Tokyo Game Show news, so I played it. The game hooked me from the intro (especially with its visuals), so I'm really looking forward to the full version. I've never really played any PC-98 games so I'm not sure how faithful it is to the retro ADV game systems of yore, but I guess that doesn't really matter as long as it's fun and interesting today.

Why is it Fun: Cute sprites? Cool robots? Walking through corridors and talking to people? Green? Cohesive aesthetic that evokes nostalgia for a bygone era?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2118420/Stories_from_Sol_The_GunDog/

Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective HD Remaster

Above: Play Ghost Trick

I got the Ghost Trick HD Remaster. I had already played this game before, like 10 years ago, but man I had forgotten how fun the game is. The animations play at actually more than 15fps or whatever. Hi-def sprites. So good. I played a few chapters, wishing I was cool enough to make something like this.

Why is it Fun: Satisfying puzzle solving? Performing actions amidst a ticking time element that makes you feel like you're really cool? Awesome and hilarious animations? A deep and personal mystery to solve, involving characters you care about?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1967430/Ghost_Trick_Phantom_Detective/

Every Letter

Above: A screenshot of Every Letter from the Steam store page. I'm not good at writing letters like this.

I don't know how I found this game. I think it popped up in my timeline somewhere. I think @nicolith posted about it. It's a game that puts you in the shoes of a letter ghostwriter, working for a service that takes requests from people who want to send letters to someone else but lack the words or ability to do it themselves. It's basically a fancy creative writing exercise disguised as a game, but I found it pretty meaningful. You get to peek into peoples' every day lives, connecting with them emotionally and write letters that can positively impact these in-game relationships between two strangers. And unexpectedly, I learned to be a little kinder to myself.

All the while you can't backspace and you have to manually enter newlines by pulling a lever. Real cyberpunk typewriter action! My gripe with the game is that you can't change from fullscreen mode, but it's free, so whatever!

Why is it Fun: Allows the player to exercise their own creativity? Satisfying typewriter typing feel? Wholesome and cozy concept with interesting people and situations ? Made me cry?

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379720/Every_Letter/

Bejeweled 3

Above: Bejeweled 3

The ol' standby. I played this for a few hours just to feel something. But I didn't. So it goes.

Why is it Fun: This game is not fun.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/78000/Bejeweled_3/

Okay, I'm going to go work on Game 2. Or not. Maybe I'll play more video games for research this week, because it's almost certainly more productive than sitting at my desk staring at my screen trying to force inspiration. Maybe I just need to get abducted by an alien android and get sent back in time.

Thanks for your support, as always!! See you next week!