Dev Log #5

Hello hello, it’s Danish again 🙂

This is going to be a shorter dev log (similar to Dev Log #4) This week, I’m, mainly going to try and focus on writing the entire plot and basically the entire game/ story. It’s going to be long, but definitely doable (I think?)

So far though in terms of a technical approach, I will be using Twine, as I was inspired by The Temple Of No, which involves interactive text, some audio, and visuals. It’s not a coincidence that Temple Of No also uses Twine, but as I mentioned in my proposal:

This is because it seems simple enough to use, such that the default settings are great for a basic room movement. Furthermore, the basic capabilities are more than enough for the basic components of my story, such as moving from one space to another, and making simple decisions.

Dana H. Interactive Story Proposal, 2022.

I also talked about how it’s complicated, yet easy to learn how to use it (as there is a “cookbook” to read). It’s going to be a learning curve, as I have no experience and background knowledge in computer science or any type of coding, but I think it’ll be fun!

I think I might add some audio aspects, such as occasional creepy sounds, ambient noises, maybe even some voice acting? (though I’m unsure if the voice acting will be right for the atmosphere. Though, this idea is pending).

I will most likely not add visuals (such as mini doodles similar to Temple Of No) as A) I do not believe in my own artistic ability, and B) it might take too long to implement. If I do end up having time, simple visuals may be included if time allows for it.

However, the game will mainly consist of text and a LOT of reading.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE?! Yes, of course there is more. As somebody who not only skims through text to find important information, or somebody who highlights every word in a textbook because I can’t be bothered to read- you’re probably even skimming through this right now-!Big blocks of text suck.

They just aren’t fun to read, look at- why do they exist? Yes, sometimes they are necessary, I will give you that, but for my game, in terms of technical aspect, I will try and avoid big text boxes for not only my sanity reading through every scenario, but also the player.

Now, will this affect gameplay? No, I will still try to make the game interactive, and the story/ experience rich and immersive. Just because big blocks of texts aren’t included doesn’t mean that the essence of the story is gone, but instead it allows for further dialogue exchanges and also actions. It allows the story to be expressed in another way then just “look at this really detailed description”.

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Still, big blocks of text can be included in other ways, such as breaking it up into individual sentences, or adding an interaction in the middle to continue the story. It keeps the player active, and interested. That is one of the things I look for in the game or a story.

Even adding colors or different text faces (fancy word for font) also adds meaning. They can add variety in a dessert of monotony.

In conclusion, that’s the basic technical aspects of the story [as of now]. These will be demonstrated or explained more in depth when coding/ implementation begins next week-ish.

That’s all for now folks, see you in the next one 🙂

– danish

Editors Note: Dev Log #6 is out! Check it out