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April Q&A (Answers)
🕑 Added 2025-04-08 00:00:03 +0000 UTCHallo! Here are the questions from April and one from a while ago that I never got around to answering because my answers were eaten at some point (sorry Milo!)
1. What type(s) of music does each LI like to listen to (if they like to listen to music)? I know we chat with Asher about this a bit, but I'm curious about the others' interests, too.
Asher - Everything. Literally everything. There is no particular music he dislikes and we all know he likes opera, particularly Mylorien opera.
Daaz - I imagine he has very eclectic taste and tends to gravitate towards specific songs than genres or artists. (Far be it from me to know what specific songs he listens to a thousand years from now. Rofl)
Kav - He probably doesn't listen to much Terran music so I can't name specific genres. But I imagine what he listens to when he's alone is quiet and soothing.
Noel - A range of stuff. He likes dancing so anything with a good beat in particular.
Raif - Probably a mix of things that ranges from loud and hard to soft and soothing depending on his mood. If you walk in on him working, it's probably something loud and hard though. I imagine whatever soft instrumentals he likes, he saves for his down time. And the rest of the time it's very rock and metal.
Yren - Probably listens to a lot of pleasant music - and to things we'd probably call 'indie.' I imagine he has eclectic taste like Daaz.
2. Related to that, are any of the LIs musical in any way? That is, can they play any instruments and/or sing?
Asher - obviously is quite musical and he does play several instruments.
Daaz - used to play as a child and through his teens but was never super passionate about it and is out of practice these days.
Kav - he does play (or used to). He hasn't in years but probably could if he got his hands on a familiar instrument.He hasn't had the heart for it for a long time.
Noel - he doesn't sing or play an instrument but really enjoys dancing and is quite good at it.
Raif - does not (not well anyway. I mean, I imagine he hums to himself when working sometimes. But that doesn't count).
Yren - sings decently but doesn't play an instrument
Any idea on when/if this is going to come out on Steam?
If it does, it won't be until it finishes most likely. I don't want to deal with updating a steam build because it's kind of a pain in the butt.Also, Steam forums and reviews are exhausting and I'd rather not have to be actively keeping an eye on it for bugs and what not.
Is there a part of designing a game that is tough to get through that makes you want to rethink finishing a game?
Ha ha. Several.
I have this sort of thought at multiple points - at some point the writing is just exhausting for a game this size.It feels endless and I have moments of "Why am I doing this? I don't want to make games anymore."
But of course it's not true and I keep going.
During editing it's like this too.
And honestly…sprite expressions are just so freaking tedious. It's honestly a bit hard to describe how demoralising it is to code expressions for a game this size.
I have a friend (she knows who she is) that worked on A Faerie's Tale with me and it was her first time experiencing what it's like to code expressions.
Her eyes were opened after she had to code them for one of the routes.
I think she wishes she could close them again. 🤣🤣
How about this one specifically?
WSC has been a uniquely painful experience. LoL
So to be clear, I really like this story. I like the setting and the characters and I'm quite happy with this project ( as much as any creator is ever totally happy with their creations really). But this game structure is horrible to work with.
The overlapping route structure is at once very complicated to manage and somewhat limiting in terms of story telling and narrative exploration.
Having to write the same scene in six different ways - keeping them similar enough that the main plot line feels like a natural way to enter an exit the scenarios, while dissimilar enough they are still interesting to read and experience is so hard and tedious.
The overlap means that I lose track of pacing so easily and honestly I often couldn't really grasp the way the story was flowing because I'd have written something six times in a row so it might feel like the characters were harping on a point when in reality, the player is only going to see one of those paths at a time.
The story managed to feel slow at rushed to me at the same time while I was writing it and it wasn't until I got it coded that I really got a sense of how it would feel to players.
I think there's a lot of value in telling a story where you get to explore multiple perspectives on the same events. But it is not a style for me. I've reached several points at this project of wanting to burn it all. But at some point you realise you've just put too much work in to nuke it.
And again, it's not that I think it's bad. I love these characters and really want you all to experience their stories. It's just a frustrating game structure. LoL
It's kind of a dangerous question to ask me because if allowed to do so....I can rant about this subject. 🤣
Comments
Rika
Omg yes the coding, so much work!! Still I am so happy for your hard work because I love the expressions so much, its makes everything so deep and immersive, so thank you so much!! Pls, I love music, especially singing, I wished I could just sing and laugh with Asher or hear him playing a instrument *dream*
Steamberry Studio
Ha ha. It's always a relief to be done with expressions. Part of the drawback of having access to so many subtle variations is that there's a tendency to change expressions frequently vs projects where the dev has access to only 12-15 expressions and has no reason to change them that often. It ends up that I spend a lot of time changing their faces every 1-4 lines. LoL But without it, we wouldn't get the eyebrow dance when skipping through the story. And that would be a shame.
ayshela
You know I would read every single word of your rants. Oddly, I was thinking about you and coding sprite expressions earlier today, when bouncing in my seat anticipating chapter 5 coming out. Was thinking how much time you must have put in to expressions, and thinking you'd be ready for a celebration when you were done.
