Sons of the Forest problems (Patreon)

This has been a very difficult preproduction week thus far. And this will be a difficult post to make. But here goes.

For the last couple of days I've been intensely stressing over the footage for the Sons of the Forest video. As I've been wrestling with an uncomfortable realisation as a creator.

I don't think this is working as well as I was hoping. And the principle problem I have is the duration. I think I have indeed made the script too long.

When I started, you might recall that I wanted to focus entirely on the differences between The Forest 1 and Sons of the Forest in order to keep the video shorter. But that method had a major downside in that I couldn't use any of the funny moments that happened in the livestreams, because most wouldn't work out of context.

I worried that such a format would be humourless.

So I pivoted to the same approach from the original Forest video - a walkthrough the story, introducing the plot elements sequentially, sprinkling the funny moments throughout as they're encountered, then using the proper opinion pieces to bookend every few segments (a 'see saw' of quality, the problem of scale, etc. More substantial observations about the gameplay and its consequences for the play experience).

But in doing so I think I've gone too far. For by the nature of a sequel, Sons of the Forest is juggling a lot more balls than the original. Introducing far more elements. And it's plunged me into this uncomfortable position of flatly recounting things in long lists. Where the amusing moments can't keep them interesting. And the things that should be more interesting are too spaced out and unmemorable.

If anything the post it note wall that shows chapters illustrates the issue. And it's obvious in hindsight.

The pink ones represent the plot elements I felt I needed to setup (cannibal behaviour, circling helicopters, etc). The blue parts are where my own observational opinions are expressed with opinion pieces (though pretend there are about 3-4 additional blue post it notes after the last one). And whilst this is only a rough guideline, the pink outstrips the blue by a large margin.

The blue really needs to be the focus. But I've now placed in so much pink. It all comes across like filler. And its putting the brakes on the whole thing. Content for the sake of setting up other content. Necessary, I felt. But not all that interesting to watch.

The second thing bothering me is the heavy time commitment required because of that length. This is a very time intensive project for just one person. Measured in months. It would be different if I were a production team, I'm sure.

I'm currently here in the overall scope:

Though that's a little misleading as it makes it seem like we're near the halfway mark. Those final three post-it notes concerning the conclusion are gigantic.  So really we're more like 1/3rd to 1/4th of the way through development.

There's months of work left. Half a year, I reckon. If the first video was anything to go by. Meaning I'd need to commit to this until next Feb or March.

That's the sort of thing you commit to if you know it's a sure-fire hit. 

And on reviewing the work so far I'm not so sure it is. It's all too big. Too ponderous. The conclusions too plain, at least in the middle parts where story elements are being listed. Youtube is full of videos flatly going through game lore. I don't want this to be that.

Additionally what's also bugging me is that I've got other projects that have been languishing for ages. Other things that this is going to take priority over.

The Divinity II series needs completion. All of Halo remains unedited. Heck, the Dungeons and Dragons bullshittery needs this same multi-month treatment and I reckon it'll be received far better.

I'm asking myself does this project, considering its size, deserve priority over all of those?

And the third major problem is - I don't think this one concludes in a way that's is interesting as the original Forest video. And that's something I'm really struggling with.

Because the sequel doesn't have a flaw that's even half as cool...from a content creator perspective.

The discovery that The Forest made the literal forest an afterthought on its own story - is notable. It's absurd. A good exclamation mark to go out on. But Sons of the Forest doesn't have that. It doesn't have an equivalently strong gotcha.

Heck, I outlined the conclusion back in the post from April:

The conclusion of this game is neither a shocking failure nor a fist-pumping success. It in my opinion, not bad. But certainly has wrinkles. Follow by an 'and this is how I would personally unwrinkle them'.

Then I go into a deep dive into how Endnight (the developer) seem to have this persistent habit which is admirable in most circumstances, but shoots themselves in the foot when it comes to a mystery plot.

And that is interesting. But I don't think it's strong enough to dedicate 9 months of full time effort, if that make sense? Not like the first Forest game.

I'm so very sorry to you all. I feel like I've screwed up and wasted your time with such a confession. Spending 3 months on the script in this form, only to be eyeing up the drawing board and considering a rethink.

But on reviewing what's been done, and more importantly what's still to be edited, I feel the need to own my screw up. Ponder the problem. Reassess. Decide what I'm going to do about it.

Perhaps I should dip into an alternate bullshittery project would be wiser for the moment. Something to remain productive. Please do tell me your overall thoughts.