Development update: January-June 2021
For a while, I’ve made occasional Twitter threads detailing the current state of my big game development projects. I wanted to do another update, but this time, I decided to do it in blog post format, so I can tell you what I’m working on without having to discretize my thoughts into 280 character tweets that clog up your timeline.
This time around (as is common for these updates, I’ve noticed), we have two projects to discuss. So let’s get into it!
The Words In Your Mouth
Surprise! I’m making The Words In Your Mouth, a visual novel puzzle game about relationships and communication. Should everything go well, it will probably launch as my first commercial video game.
I wasn’t going to talk about this for a while, but after a conversation I had with someone, I realized there was zero benefit to keeping this a secret. The game’s art isn’t that good at the moment, so I didn’t bother setting up a Twitter account for the game yet, even though it has a very “GIF-able” and appealing main mechanic. But if you’re reading this, I take it that you probably don’t care about super polished art. So, here’s a brand new “GIF” of the puzzle system in action, even though it’s actually a video file with sound effects:
Most of my game development time this year has been spent on developing this game. I’ve had this idea for a while (about late 2018, IIRC, so about 2.5 years!). I’ve made a few prototypes/sketches, but it wasn’t until the beginning of this year that I really started development of this game in earnest. And it might be even longer until this game finishes (though I hope I can get it out before I finish college, at least).
From a puzzle design standpoint, I’m pretty happy with the system I’ve come up with; I think it’s unique, and integrates with the story in interesting ways. When compared to my other games, the puzzles in this game are easier, and smaller, and probably not as “deep”. Still, I think it’s fun and approachable (especially for newbies). Plus, a lot of the gameplay mechanics interact with the narrative for that sweet, sweet ludonarrative-cohesion (For those who saw my “The Mechanics are the Message” talk, my development philosophy for this game is heavily based on that).
As for the narrative itself: it’s complicated to explain, and I don’t want to spoil too much of it. Hopefully, it won’t be too many years before all of you can experience the game first hand!
N Step Steve
The launch of N Step Steve: Part 1 went a lot better than I was expecting! Design wise, I was worried that the first part of this game would be harder to make (Since I was retreading on old ideas and had to re-tutorialize every mechanic), but now I’m wondering if part 2 will be able to live up to the quality standard set by part 1 (at least by my own internal judgements).
I had to make a few post-launch changes to address some things, and spent time porting the game to different websites (i.e. putting in sponsor logos, sitelock, etc.), which involves more work than it sounds like. But after all that, I think it’s safe to say that I’m (probably!) done with the first part of the game.
Of course, that leads to an obvious question: “How’s the progress on part 2 going?” The honest answer to that question is: there hasn’t been a whole lot of progress. Most of my game development efforts went into making Words and doing post launch work for NSS: part 1.
It helps that I can reuse a lot of programming/art/etc. from NSS pt. 1, and there are some levels I made way back during the development of part 1 (before I decided to split this into two parts) that I can definitely use. However, it still has a long way to go!
I’m definitely not on track to release the game this year, but my current goal is to release this game some time in 2022, should things go well.
Going forward
Given the circumstances, I’m surprised I shipped two commercial web games in 2020. Things are looking up, but I probably haven’t fully recovered from the emotional effects of the pandemic. Not to mention, starting college. During the virus-infested-year-of-our-lord twenty twenty.
Still, I’d say I’m pretty happy right now. I’m working at a slower pace, but making steady progress on my projects.
On the off chance that you read through this entire article without having any prior knowledge of my work: hi! I’m Ethan Clark, a college student and game developer. You can follow my aforementioned Twitter account here, if you’d like.
