Act III intro scene. Still some idle animations pending, but pretty much 99% ready.
Delightful. I want to ask you, and probably it's a really stupid question, but, how many hours per day (more or less, an arithmetic mean) do you and you partner work in this game actually? Just for curiosity, 'cause you said it is like a hobby for you, (make games I mean), and this game looks pretty complex, narrative, artistic and technically.
In Thomas' case, it's pretty easy to estimate: he usually works 8-10 hours a day Mo-Fr. Of course, there are days in which he just feels like playing Darkest Dungeon all day, or he has other stuff to do, but in general he's pretty consistent. On the other hand, when he gets a paying gig, he can spend literally three months without working on the game, which does bring things to a screeching halt sometimes but it is what it is.
As to me, ehhh it's hard to quantify, because in a way I'm working on it 24/7. Since I do everything else, I might spend days searching online for royalty-free or public domain music, or sounds, or actually making music, or writing dialogues, or thinking about puzzles in the shower. Coding is probably what takes me the least time overall, at least compared to all the time I've put into writing, designing and plotting the story.
And, if isn't too much pretentios, can you tell me something about the game process; how you work; how you organize the plot, the dialogs, wich tools are you using for that; if the artistic decisions are just of your partner or both must agree together, etc etc etc.
Ehhh it's a bit of a mess, to be honest XD We had no idea of what we were getting into, and our workflow has been extremely chaotic, but I'm trying to get things back on course by using a proper design document from here onwards. But in general, Thomas has ultimate deciding power over most visual stuff, and I take on more of a general game direction role, apart from actually writing every text. There's a lot of overlap though when it comes to puzzles, for example, and stuff like gameplay and pacing, where we both contribute pretty much equally. I really think we should have divided tasks more strictly from the start, but it's ok, we always end up figuring things out
And last, but not least, I see in internet an italian book called "if on a winters night, a traveler"; the 4th act will be based in that novel or something?
Not really, it's more of an inspiration because of the whole "story-inside-of-a-story" concept, but it is in no way an adaptation. My brain works in a very collage-like kind of way and I tend to grab a lot of little things here and there that kind of make sense for me when put together, if that makes sense? Like for example, in Act II you can listen to a fragment of La Traviata, which is in turn an adaptation of the Dumas novel La Dame aux Camélias, which is hinted at later by a pot with camellias in another part of the mansion, and in turn white flowers are referenced in a book you can find elsewhere which has a fragment of The King in Yellow, which in turn is linked by many to Thomas Ligotti because of True Detective, and in turn a Thomas Ligotti text is quoted in Act III. That's an example of how my brain works XD
Sorry for the silly and annoying questions, Laura!
Not annoying at all!
Everybody loves talking about their creations
Gracias y saludos desde Argentina!
¡Gracias a ti, y saludos de vuelta desde Berlín!
