Jesse Lozano

How has the Month been for Stillness –

my break ended, and school has begun for the final time, so work on Stillness slowed yet again. this time, it wasn’t so much a lack of time, as much as an extreme lethargy. Senioritus, maybe? I dunno. pre-production and narrative planning continued, but thats stuff’s a secret. 😉

What I said I would do (and did it get done) –

• Finish refactoring the intro (finished)
• Playtest (nope)
• Finish level 2 (nope)
• adding polish to levels 1 and 2 (nope)
• Stretch:
  • Start level 3 (nope)
  • Mock up more conversations scenes (nope)
  • Paper prototype the emotional control mini-games. (nope)

What got done-

so, the one item I did get done, was the item I was wrapping up at the end of December, and obviously, it did get all wrapped up just a few days into January. the opening is now reversed, so it should be better to get across.

 

(I like this shot, so I’m using it again.)

beyond that, again, not much but narrative structure stuff. I’ve found difficulty trying to describe Stillness‘s narrative structure in a simple snappy way. Currently, I’ve landed on a “overlapped anthology” as the term. basically, a set of completely separate stories, with the only truly shared element is the main character’s presence within the story. these story’s occur in the speed the player wants, the idea that they can all be happening at once, overlapping in the main character’s life, to make it feel like life. chaotic, and disconnected. it is one of the core aspect of the game.

So Its very important to plan all of it out, so it can have that feel, without sacrificing quality to any of the stories.

Time Spent –

not counting and pre-production time I spent:

• finished intro refactoring – 1 hour (I was so close!)

What to do next-

I want playtesting, and polishing the opening level/intro to be the next priority, so it is!

in general, improving either the player feel, some early art assets (I’m looking at you, bed CG), and some of the tech I used at the beginning.

no clue if February will even have more time, but in general, I don’t like this lethargy I’ve been in the last few weeks, and will be getting to this in some capacity, for my own sanity, at least!

so, in list form:

• Playtest
• Polish Level 1 and Intro
• Stretch:
  • Finish level 2
  • Start level 3
  • Mock up more conversations scenes
  • Paper prototype the emotional control mini-games.

Closing Notes-

poor footing for a new year = nothing new in my life! 😛

how bout you? :3