Daily Devlog #4

The Toughest Part is Focusing

When I conceptualized the game, I knew I wanted it to all take place on one map. Granted, I thought this was going to be a monthlong project at first, so there was no reason for me to think that I needed additional maps or levels. The Studio stage would be where the story took place and where all the scare would happen. The only other character besides the first-person player was Goji - and I had no idea how I was going to implement him.

11/07/2024

The good thing about today was that there was no need to mess with any blueprints in the game whatsoever. This morning I might have tweaked something that was bothering me, but from there I moved on to putting some finishing touches on the Tutorial Stage. If there is one thing that might be missing is some interactable objects. You see, you get that tutorial to interact with objects, right? 

Well in the game prompt, it reads something like, "Interact with your environment to learn more about your surroundings". However... there nothing to interact with in the stage besides the story specific objects. I could leave it at that, after all, interacting with objects, light switches and doors is what's important. The point of the tip though is to encourage looking at things and interacting with them to see if the narrator has something to say. So I will inevitable have to go back and add something. Sometimes it's just better to have than have not.

Moving onto the decorating the Studio, I'll admit this is a teeeedious process. All of the assets come out of the inventory the wrong size, so I have to resize them. Everything is in individual folders so I have to search manually for what I am looking for. The inventory window closes when I click out onto the map, so I have to open it again. On and on and on... 

Of course, there is also thinking in 5D, figuring out where everything is going, rotated how much, floating how high, leaning how far, etc. It's exhausting - and there's no brain work involved! XD In the end, I finished a very important portion of the map, the large main corridor next to the Soundstage. It feels so good to walk from one end of the corridor to the other with things all around you instead of a wide empty space. 

Going past the Producer's office, there is a little bit more decorating to do before getting to, what I have affectionately called, "The Dark Hallway". It's a looooong couple of hallways... and a beast of it's own to manage.