Developer's Journal 2:5

Hey everybody.  I spent most of this week working on the prologue for Part Two, which is a flashback to a bad moment in Rockford's childhood.

Yes, once again, just like Part One, Part Two will start with a fucked up moment.  Why, Monk?  Why do you insist on all this dark bullshit?  We just want to see Rockford banging a bunch of hot chicks.  Free the boobies and let's get things going.

Look, let me list some of my favorite movies: Gladiator, Last of the Mohicans, Ladder 49, End of Watch, The Dark Knight, The Green Mile, La La Land...wait, how'd that last one get in there?  Anyways, you get the idea.  I like my stories dark and sad with a healthy dose of heroism thrown in.  And I'm warning you now: I'm not promising a happy ending.  That note at the outset of the game is there for a reason: "Leaving DNA contains dark themes of sadness and tragedy."

Leaving DNA is a story about a man whose childhood repeatedly reinforced a hard lesson, and about how he's spent his adult life avoiding having to relive the pain of that lesson.  But, to quote another favorite movie, "Life is pain," and Rockford's sad-assed life choices up until this point have come with their own form of suffering.  On the other hand, I have no intention of allowing Rockford to simply "grow" and "accept that he needs to be more open with his friends," or other such weak-assed rainbow-colored bullshit without him having to face the very thing he's been hiding from.  His life's strategy so far has kept him safe, and if you choose to put him on the path of growth he's going to face some really, really dark moments there.  But at least he won't have to face them alone.

Dang, talk about dark--listen to this gloomy rambling.  I'm knocked on my ass right now with a cold, so I blame that.

Seriously, though, I don't think there's ever been an adult visual novel that's tried to accomplish exactly what I am trying to with respect to character growth.  It's a huge challenge because of the divergent paths the story can take depending on the choices you make.  The challenge is in keeping each branch interesting enough for whoever chooses it but also keeping the divergent branches tight enough that the game's development doesn't take me ten years.  My next game is seriously just going to be about some rich unemployed guy with a huge dick who fucks every girl he meets for reasons.

Post-worked renders = 181

Thank you for your support!  It means the world to me.  Another dev (Tlaero) earlier today said, "There's nothing more demoralizing than spending a long time on something and having no one seem to notice."  So I really, really do appreciate you.

--Monk