Developer's Journal 2:14

Hey everybody.  It's only 9:30 p.m. here but I'm totally bushed.  I'm in the middle of doing spot renders for this last scene I've been working on--there was a subsurface scattering issue with one of the character's models that led to a wonky light effect in a bunch of renders, so I'm fixing that and then I'll be headed to bed early.

In this scene's previews, you can see that Aghavni, supported by MC, is aggressively interrogating someone, but I'm going to leave that person's identity a mystery for now so we leave plenty of plot for you to uncover.  I'll finish up this scene tomorrow and get started on the next one, which is moment of reflection and recollection for MC, including a brief flashback to his childhood.

I mentioned before that I have already picked out several songs for key moments in the story.  I picked out the ending/credits songs for Parts Three, Four, Five, and Six months ago, but I still looking for one for the end of Part Two.

I think the end credits of an episode are an opportunity that most devs fail to take advantage of.  Frequently, you'll see the last few renders of the episode and maybe something interesting happens and then immediately there's a render that says, "That's the end of this update!  Save here."  Now, I do have a render that says that, but it comes after a credits sequence.

Why do I bother with a credits sequence?  Well, a couple of those credits renders are important, like where I give a shout out to my supporters and an acknowledgment to Dark Assassin for the Android mod.  But the credits sequence is important for another reason.

If you recall, Part One ends with Aghavni telling MC that the crime lab found a match for the Orcs tattoo.  That's a simple cliffhanger, right?  I could have cut right to the "save here" page after that sentence and it would be a fine ending.  But that would be a wasted opportunity.  Instead, music, carefully chosen, starts just as she says that.  The song conveys both mystery and excitement and I think it is absolutely perfect for the emotion I'm trying to create in the player.  But in order for that to happen, the player has to actually listen to the music, even if they are processing it subconsciously.  So an immediate cut scene to "save here" isn't going to do that, because 99% of players will just save the game and return to the main menu without taking in the music.

Having a credits sequence is a way of causing the player to unconsciously sit through at least a few seconds of the music.  This creates a stronger emotional response to the end of the update.  And you HAVE to finish strong if you're going to ask a player to wait months for the next update.  That last impression of the game is the one that will stay with them.

So that's why you'll see some renders in the credits sequence that don't seem that important, like, 'All music licensed' or 'Made with Renpy' or 'Made with Daz3D'.  There is a method to my madness.

And the credit sequence will continue to be included at the end of each previously released Part because I still want the player to have that reaction before they move on to the next Part.  So someone who plays through LDNA for the first time when Part Two has already been released will still have a credit sequence at the end of Part One before the game advances to Part Two.

Okay, that's all for this week.  Thank you all for your support!

--Monk