I’ll try to keep today’s dev diary short as I’m already writing it quite a bit past my self-imposed deadline. There’s no point in going over my usual justifications for procrastinating so I’ll move on directly to following up on my last entry. Firstly, the progress made so far.

Unfortunately I do feel like I’ve done less work compared to the previous 2 weeks and I was already a bit underwhelmed by my progress back then but there’s still good things to report on, possibly even something with some positive long-term effects. I’ve been working almost entirely on the writing, no new sprites or anything to pad out my list of accomplishments this time around. As mentioned in my last dev diary entry, the plan for the last 2 weeks was to try to avoid writing in chronological order and just move on to the scenes I specifically had in mind and then try to think about how to connect them once they’re all done. Well, that didn’t quite happen for various reasons but what did happen was a bit of a breakthrough in terms of pacing all the specific events I had in mind as well as coming up with multiple more. Writer’s block was not kind to me for quite a while but for two glorious days it all fell into place and I was able to put together a semi-rough outline for quite a big chunk of the game. Obviously I wish I could’ve done more but I do genuinely feel like I’m standing on a much more solid ground than I previously did and with some luck and off-days from major real life obligations I could see the script coming together fairly quickly(by my standards at least, I’ve always been a bit slow at making any sort of art).

Besides that though, I do have more thoughts on my mind that I’d like to share in this fortnight’s entry. In particular, I figured I should talk more about my thoughts on the game’s puzzle design. As previously explained, the puzzles are intended to be more of a complimentary aspect to the game’s puzzles and only provide a nominal challenge to players, at most being a respite between the more important story moments. In reality of course there’s no way to guarantee that easiness to them without making them all just be different permutations of the game’s intro – a section that’s little more than a glorified list of instructions for the player to complete before being shown the next cutscene. There’s multiple reasons for that – not only do I want to give players some sort of stimulation to keep them engaged but I also think that there’s a unique opportunity for characterization in those moments.

As the game developer, I know exactly which items and which props the player has access to at any given time(barring any unforeseen glitches). With that information and a vague idea of what the average player could think are plausible solutions to a given puzzle, I can take all of those solutions that are wrong and still attach events to them that not only hint at the right answer but also say something about Vanny. In fact, I’ve already done this in the demo. I’ll give that specific puzzle as an example of what I mean so if you don’t wish to be spoiled, skip the next two paragraphs.

In the second section of the game (Vanny’s (parents’) home apartment) there is a locked door that the player is required to unlock. The player gains access to a hairpin which is required to open it, but not in the way the player might initially expect. Their first instinct might be to try to pick the lock with the hairpin, but attempting that leads to Vanny admitting she can’t actually pick locks like that before noting that it wouldn’t be of much use anyway – the key is already inserted into the keyhole from the other side of the door. She then takes a moment to consider that fact before the interaction is over. There’s several things I’m trying to convey through this interaction – firstly and most obviously the player is informed that this isn’t the proper solution to the puzzle but that they are in fact on the right path in using the hair pin. Secondly, there’s obviously the little factoid Vanny reveals about herself that she is in fact not MacGyver and can’t just pick a lock on a whim. And lastly, there’s a subtle unusual vibe to the whole interaction that I think adds to the overall mood of the game – Vanny believes that she is completely alone in her home, but when she sees what could be evidence to the contrary (a locked door with one entrance with the key on the other side of the door which would imply that someone has locked themselves in the room) she’s oddly nonchalant about it and doesn’t really acknowledge it. At this point in the game there’s still some grounding in the events that are occurring, but elements of unreality are starting to creep into the game and will only escalate from there.

There’s one issue I have with that whole interaction after getting some player feedback and that is that it could probably be a bit more clear. The solution to the puzzle is to slide a piece of paper under the door and then use the hairpin to push the key out of the lock and onto the paper, at which point it can be pulled out along with the key which could then be used to unlock the door. This is actually a fairly common trick/puzzle that has appeared in multiple games, tv shows, movies, etc. It even has its own TV Tropes page. My game’s version of the puzzle plays it 100% straight with no twists or subversions. Despite that, there can still be players who encounter the trope for the first time and I know of at least a few cases where my hints at the intended solution weren’t clear enough for some people. On the other hand though I also wouldn’t want to just give them the solution of the puzzle, of course. Another thing of note is that it’s also possible for the player to find two separate other keys that are intended for other locks before they ever try unlocking the door. Trying to use them on the door doesn’t have a separate interaction where the players are told that this is the wrong key, adding that simply slipped my mind at the time. That’s a mistake I’ll need to avoid in the full game.

The puzzle issue gets compounded further when the psychological/supernatural elements become a more major part of the narrative – the puzzle design will need to reflect that by incorporating more unorthodox and abstract solutions but giving coherent hints for those solutions that are still vague enough to require some effort from the player as well is going to be a challenge. I can’t say I have it all figured out at the moment, I suppose it’s something I’ll just have to feel my way through as development goes along.

I don’t have much else to add at the moment without veering into other topics so I will end here things for now. For the next two weeks I’m hoping I can do even more progress with writing and hopefully also work more on other things like sprites and music. I have been eyeing Aseprite as a potential pixel art tool I can add to my arsenal, its animation features seem a lot more convenient to use than FireAlpaca’s barebones offerings on that front. As for my next dev diary entry, I’m planning on talking a bit more about the artstyle of the game, what it intends to convey, what inspired me and so on.

Thank you for reading this far, if you have any questions or comments I’m always happy see them and respond.