View the full post here Incident Dweezil

If you ever said to yourself ‘I could go for some pixelated late 90’s skeuomorphic design’, I may have the device for you!

Not only is this an ‘in world attempt’ to explain things like Map, Music, Options, Game Same/Load, it’s also a subtle nod to the Commander Keen Dos games where the main menu was Keen’s rad watch;

Pie? Pie!!!!

The TODO-List motivator gadget now has PIE!

It’s great to see at a glance just what sections of the game are IP or Not done yet. Helps me zero into an area when I want to get a lot done in a short amount of time.

When I showed it to a very clever buddy of mine, he very cleverly quipped;

You’re good at refactoring your TODO list! Clever Buddy

And dang, if that didn’t summarize the last quarter century of my life!

Away with placeholders!

Thankfully I’m getting pretty close to moving onto replacing all the temp / placeholder pixel art that I used to Greybox the levels, with original art and the occasional asset from my years of buying assets.

I recall waaaay back, when I was trying to do everything cheaply I thought ‘I’ll just make all of my assets, save money that way! Build skills!’ and bless my younger self, that was such an admirable goal!

However, due-dates don’t care how the art is made, as long as you have the proper licensing & crediting, while most players only care if the game is enjoyable, so take solace Past-Claw, you rushed forward and reached for the stars, but fell into an open sewer.

It’s my game, but their adventure

Another thing I hope to achieve is give as much player agency on things as is practical for the genre, time and my skills. This isn’t an open world sandbox, but I hope by providing multiple paths, players will more often come up with a goal, and then take the practical steps to achieve it, and when they do, the narrative proceeds.

This is in contrast to pre-internet, classic games where everything had one way to do it, and if you got stumped, all you could do is start wandering around rooms hoping inspiration to hit, or some random thing occur and guide you back onto the path.

To be clear, this is not a gigantic game made with a team over years, so I’m pretty much jus saying ‘most paths of progression have multiple solutions, and the solutions are pretty varied’ so as long as it doesn’t break the narrative, or prevent other parts being developed well, I’ll keep up with it wherever I can.

Soft of like; “Playing the game can be rather easy to comprehend, and somewhat speedy at first glance, and then as deep as a player wants it to be.”

Misc Bits

• Refactored the ‘Char in Danger’ logic and UI display
• Big overdue Attic update to match other rooms.
• Locker, Tub, Box, Hid logic update
• Lot’s of Yaks & various priority Room Updates
• Further tidying of Audio Clips
• Ensure Emma keeps her Extendo-Arm 2600
• Moved around images, adjusted puzzle flow
• Added a Bathroom to the first floor !!!!!