Developer's Journal 3:3

Hey everybody.  This week I finished work on the renders for Malena's apartment in the opening scene of the episode.  I also worked on the training scene at the park, but I really struggled to get it right, making mistakes with lighting and with trying to fill in the background.  After a few days of having to redo renders from the scene multiple times, I decided to step away from it for awhile and I have started working on the first courtroom scene.

MC's trial in Episode Three is much different than Jamie's trial in Episode Two.  While both scenes help to establish foundational themes for later parts of the story, MC's trial is a bigger part of his life than Jamie's trial was, and so it gets a larger treatment in the game.  While Jamie's trial was presented as just a single, emotionally impactful scene, MC's trial will be presented from jury selection through closing argument and will not carry the same emotional wallop.  Undoubtedly, I will have some players scratching their heads wondering why I spend so much time on this instead of moving the main plot forward.  But, as the game's synopsis has stated since I released the demo, Leaving DNA is largely about events which lead MC to question his dedication to the justice system he is a part of.  In order to tell that story effectively, I need to establish a starting point for his values and beliefs.

The case featured in MC's trial is based loosely on a personal experience I had serving on a jury for a murder trial that lasted several weeks.  Obviously, no player wants to sit through all the details of a case that took weeks to get out in real life, and the fact is that most of the time courtroom proceedings are rather mundane.  So I have to find the right balance where I present the themes that are relevant to the story while presenting the case in a way that is interesting and will keep the players' attention.  This may be a balancing act I continue to fiddle with after getting feedback from the playtesters.

That's all for this week.  Thank you for your support!

--Monk