First Post! I win the internet

First things first

Thank you for taking an interest in my project. I'm glad you're here and appreciate input, discussion, critique, and suggestions. Though, not too much. I do get overwhelmed with too many decisions. Again, thank you.

The Game Itself

The game itself is currently still in the creative process. I'm making art and changing things often. I want to look at it and go, "Huh, okay, that's nice." There will be days and maybe weeks I don't post a blog or update. Either I'm busy spending my few hours in the morning working on this project or I'm living Outside for a bit. Not much time is planned on being spent posting about it. This is my first project in a long while I feel will be completed.

I'm planning a simple platformer with maybe too much animation, but I'm using Game Boy Studio to limit the whole scope and length of the story and game interactions. Otherwise it would be a run off calculation in a fractal picture that sends me to the Void of Infinity. You know the one.

I'm inspired by other games (obviously) specifically the Elder Scrolls series (PC) and Nekketsu Monogatari (NES). I only recently got my hands on the first three ES games after hearing Skyrim getting so much praise and playing that for the last 10 years. I picked up Oblivion but haven't taken the time to install and play it, so I don't know what all the fuss is aboot.

By inspired, I want to have a complete dialogue system, not just the simple flagged responses in commercial GB games of old. I realize that's likely not going to happen, but every time I get my hands on a new IDE I find myself trying to do things that it can't do and then giving up. But I am inspired and feel like I'm making real progress with Game Boy Studio, for which I'm grateful.

I still haven't talked about the game itself, lol. It's a platformer in the vein of Techno's Samurai Team (Downtown Special Nekketsu Monogatari Period Drama) and River City Ransom. But without all the fighting, haha. Oh, boy. Look, I want to make an Interactive Fiction game. I keep writing stories and not finishing them. But this is the first time I've felt good about starting and working on a project.

Since it's on the gameboy (or a rom, at least) the memory limits give me something to push against, curtailing any sort of rampant story and development I might want to do. Simple character interaction (walking up to object/NPCs and interacting). Simple animations.

Yeah, I don't have a great concept of the game itself, even though I have the story mostly developed and complete. I think I'm working through it one scene at a time. Looks like the max size of a rom is 4MB, so there's at least that. I just hope all the dialogue and reading material fits, haha.

Oh, yeah, one of the three features I want to develop is a journal scene wherein you the player can review Haladie's progress in the story. I think there will also be some (hopefully) well hidden clues in the text for those who like reading and figuring out puzzles on their own.

I've been listening to Dirk Gently's two stories as well. I wanted initially to base Haladie on him, but Svlad Chailey is a slob and not very pleasant, as I see him in my mind. Haladie is quite the opposite, as is fitting women of the early 1900's. I would like to make social issues at least a background observation, little notes here and there of the struggles of BIPOC and social constructs forced on queer people of all types.

But all that is still to come. I'm problem solving my way through GBS at the moment, finding what it can do and what I cannot. I'm trying to KISS, but it's so difficult with so many ideas in my head.

tchuss