Hey. It has been a month since I have posted. When I first started posting updates, I promised I would post updates when I have interesting things to show off. So, believe it or not, I have kept that promise. Now what that means is that not much interesting has happened with this project. That is because I am lost. I am completely lost. As lost as a five year old in a mall who lost their Parents. Let me explain myself.
In short, I have lost motivation and I feel that I am not reaching the current Fangame Standard.
Long story, The Game was made as a fun project as I quite enjoyed The Sea Shift at Austin's 2 by Scribby and I really wanted to try and put my own spin on it as the original had no story. Development started quite fun as I enjoyed designing and modelling the Characters. Not only that, but it was somehow fun to design the location, mechanics and write the story. I will call this Version 1. During Version 1, I got a ton of encouragment from friends and "friends", along with a ton of followers on the gamepage which raised my confidence and made me feel encouraged. However, the version was scrapped due to me not being proud of it. It felt like a 2017 game and only a single step-up on a 150 step ladder from the original game (Keep this ladder in mind). Because of this, I decided to completely restart development.
During Version 2, I managed to improve the graphics and Location by making it more unique and interesting in my eyes. So, with this new priority, I went on to create Version 2, which is the version that you see prominantly. It included the Office gameplay, and explorative investigation section and a remake of the Overworld from Ellie's. The development for the Office and Investigation segments were smooth and fun. It was only when I got to the Overworld that I felt a little drained from the project. So, I decided to take a break. During this break, I played a ton of FNAF Fangames, mostly modern ones just for fun. It was all great until I returned to the project and I felt a striking issue:
The Fangame Standard.
Now, you're probably not positive on what I'm talking about. But I would describe The Fangame Standard as a Visual Standard. You may have noticed that a lot of Fangames that matter nowadays have the most beautiful and very realistic graphics. Amazing models, amazing renders and lightings, etc. Well, If your game doesn't have this visual style, no one will care about your game. I mean, look. I'm all for making a game for fun. I certainly had fun with it. But the thing is, I also want to make the game to provide a fun experience. But what if no one plays it because it just looks dull, boring and dated? That would suck. So, I spent about three months tweaking things. Visuals and Textures were tweaked while I tried to develop mechanics that I really didn't find fun to code. Every time I was proud of what I did, I stupidly played a fangame as a break and that pride just vanished. It kept happening over and over and over again. I create something, feel proud of it, look at something superior and then I realise how much of an amatuer I am. It made development difficult, and so I unfortunately have come to the conclusion to put the game on hold. I don't know how long it will be on hold for, but it's on hold until I have the skill. What I didn't understand was how much skill and effort you need to remake something. You need to balance improving the original, making it recognisable as the original, making unique and interesting changes while not stepping too far away from the original. Not only this, but a remake needs to be BETTER than the original, which I cannot currnetly fufil. I will probably work on a simple project or two before I return to Sea Shift 2, but just know it will absolutely be continued in the future. I just need to have a simpler project to refresh myself and improve my skills.
I'm so sorry to anyone who was anticipating this game, and to all of the people behind the scenes such as voice actors and my good friend Pikanik Bla. My lack of skills, small amount of people to ask for advice and my desperation to make the game reach the standard has gotten to me and ruined the fun of the development for me. I hope I can return to this project very soon and release something for people to enjoy. However, I won't leave you with nothing. I have uploaded a Gameplay video of the Office, and may release an unfinished build for everyone to try-out. I thank you all for your patience, and hopefully your continued patience.
Thank you.
8 comments