Game Dev Diary #1

Game Dev Diary #1 Just wanted to toss out an update on how things are going. I'm aware I'm not posting every single Friday so I wanted to at least establish a line of communication with you as I work on my game development dreams! First, what kind of game am I working on? For those of you that have played the Coffin and Andy and Leyley, it will be in a similar vein. Gameplay segments on an isometric board, CG's, and VN segments. A heavy focus on character writing and storytelling with Olivia as the main character on her first day as a transfer student to Forgery High. Where she encounters a girl that will change the trajectory of her life forever. Please note that this is NOT an RPGMAKER game. I am learning GameMaker for this so I'll have a bit more functionality (and control over the design) then you might expect! However, before all that! I've always been of the belief that you should learn to walk before you run. So the current game project is more of a testbed. A "game to learn how to make a game" if you will. The working title for this prototype is "Olivia's Daydream" and it will be teaching me how to make games, it isn't terribly sexy, but it is vital in the creation of the real game. Here's a peak at an example of the face assets I've made for Olivia. My goal isn't just to make a VN with some sexy scenes. (thought it will have them!) I want to make a legitimate gameplay experience. The sexy scenes will still be there of course. But hopefully more substances than you'd expect! Comedy, a pinch of drama, character development, that kind of stuff! Current graphics aren't representative of what the MAIN game I hope to make will look like. Right now it's kinda Undertale-y. But Much like The Coffin and Andy and Leyley, I'm aiming for hand drawn environments once I do the real project. Here's an early example of my attempts at layout and pixel graphic designs. I'm following Peyton Burnham's video series on making RPG's, so anyone that's seen it should recognize that I followed his sprite design fairly closely! All of this is to say that I've been hard at work and am thoroughly enjoying what I'm doing. My next update should be even more substantial with dialogue systems implemented, a save system, and hopefully an item/inventory system. I still plan on delivering at least two drawn artworks per month as I work on my game in the background. So if you are subscribed to me right now, there will still be the usual content. I couldn't do this without your help so I appreciate you sticking with me and want to assure you of that. I hope to make a game that'll really knock your socks off this year. Thanks for sticking around and please be excited for AKO as you've never seen them before.