Behind the Scenes Peek at Our Process (Patreon)

My wife and I just got back from visiting some National Parks out west, and while we had a blast, I'm happy to give my legs a rest and be back pulling together Marion's Chapter 2!

Since I'm wrapping up the second pass on the script files, there's no new art or music to share this week (that'll change soon :D), so instead I thought it might be fun to share what goes into the "coding" phase of each chapter.  This is a long post, but hopefully an insightful one!

Writing:

The source material we get from our authors reads a lot like a novel. Here's a sample:

Coding, First Pass:

To convert it into a Visual Novel format, I start by pasting it in directly into the script file of the game.  Next, I break the text up into bite-size pieces that will fit the in-game textbox, and start editing it like any other draft. Do things flow? Is everything consistent with what we've written so far? How can we optimize the scene to best fit the Visual Novel format? Any opportunities for a little levity, or to explore what Malcolm is thinking? Where's a good place for a player choice? That sort of thing!

Along the way I add in the basic code to show (and hide) backgrounds and sprites, making notes to myself how I want them to move or pan across the screen. I start tossing in music and sound files as well. Sometimes these make the text redundant, and I can streamline the script to rely on visual and audio cues. I also start to fill up my asset list with all the new sprites, expressions, sound effects, scenes, frames... anything new that will need to be drawn or procured!

Coding, Second Pass:

Once all the author material for a new chapter is uploaded into the script, that's the first draft! Then it's time to go through it all again and make it playable. That means directing expressions for each say statement, inserting pauses and reading for pacing, coding and testing on-screen movements (which often include syncing up multiple moving parts), adding in temporary assets where none yet exist, placing behind the scenes triggers and variables to let the player navigate through scenes and imagery later, etc. It's tedious, but seeing the game take shape at this stage is really special!

Play Testing & Polishing:

It's playable! Now what? Well, at this point, I send it to the rest of the Dev Team for review, and then we hop on the list of assets that needs drawing/procuring. Once enough priority items on the list are done, and after I've gone through the feedback I've received from the Dev Team, it's ready to go to those of you in the Beta Tester tier. Lastly we wrap up the last assets that need doing, address any additional Beta Tester feedback, et voila: the latest build is ready to go!

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Thanks a ton to everyone here who helps make it possible! I hope this post is insightful. If you have any questions about specifics, or where we're at in the process, I'm happy to talk shop anytime here or on Discord! In the meantime, I'll be getting back to work-- tallyho!