Learning From Mistakes

I've hit a wall with Kitten Hospital. But I learned from it!

So it turns out the game wants to be two different games: a hospital administration sim, but also a very specific investigative diagnostic game. These two desires do not hang together very smoothly in its current form.

I also spent a lot of time polishing and implementing its current form. I'm trying out developing in mediums other that Twine. This means I've learned a heck of a lot about how to implement the game in exactly this way, to discover this way doesn't quite work.

What I should have done is quick and dirty implement the core gameplay loop in Twine as a prototype! I was dazzled by new possibilities, like the potential of having a game based on visuals, and focused too much on that. 

An important lesson! And now I'm unsure how to proceed with KH, so I'm going to work on other things while that percolates.

I'm picking at "That Terrible Brightness" again. I ALSO made the implement-pretty-visuals-before-checking-core-gameplay mistake with that one, but less dramatically, and the gameplay is simpler and a more familiar manage-your-resources-to-solve-puzzles sort of deal. That's my usual fare, so I think it may work out.

I've been playing with promotional ideas. I always intended to do more advertising once Sea++ was out, since now the financial return for attracting new players is significantly higher with three games for them to enjoy. I can't do conventional game advertising since the games are already out and they've always been a bit weird for that anyway. I tried promoting on TikTok for a while, which was fun, but making videos was exhausting.

I'm thinking of writing fan fiction for media that's similar in feel to Open Sorcery. I've always enjoyed writing fan fiction, people who read it are up for reading text on the computer, and it feels natural at the end of a good story to say: "Did you like this? Go to my website any maybe enjoy more of my writing!" Also I recently played Transistor and got super inspired so I'm already in the habit of composition.

Freelancing continues to keep me afloat while I work on all this. I'm very, very lucky. 

Kitten Hospital

Hey guys. I haven't written about game design in a while, so here's some pictures of the game I'm working on.

Kitten Hospital now has nine days of gameplay implemented, including station upgrades, chonky cats, epidemics, and more.

I'm not entirely sure what I want to do with it. I find promoting myself exhausting, and it's a more conventional game than I've made before, so I'm going to see if any studios with similar styles of games would like to buy it or be my publisher.

(I'm still working on That Terrible Brightness, but it's a sometimes treat. I get overwhelmed when I do more than one game at a time.) 

SEA++ OUT NOW

There is an ocean beneath our world.

You can sail it on currents of emotion. Worlds hang in it like bubbles: ephemeral as thought or indelible as memory.

You wake up at the bottom of this ocean.

Your shattered memories dot the sand around you.

Reclaim and compile your magic or drown in a sea of dreams.

PLAY NOW

SEA++ EARLY ACCESS

Open Sorcery: Sea++ is going to enter Early Access on Steam on:

Jan 05, 2021 @ 12:00pm EST

I anticipate the game will be playable, but quite buggy.

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Barring disaster, Open Sorcery: Sea++ will release formally on Steam on:

Jan 25, 2021 @ 12:00pm EST

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I'd love a lot of testers to make sure the game is solid for the formal release. To express my gratitude: anyone who plays the game and gives me feedback between the 5th and the 25th will get their name in the credits as a tester.

People who go above and beyond will get a special OS-themed title.

Game Done Also Vote

 I officially have a full game that you can play through from start to finish.

It is FULL OF BUGS.

But it is playable.

Also: Vote.

Also also: Defund the Police

Open Sorcery Events

EDIT: So for obvious reasons, Steam is rescheduling its festival for next week.

In accordance with that, I'm rescheduling the AMA and Live Stream.

Sorry for the short notice--I've been pretty busy with current events. I'll be posting new events shortly.

Also: Black Lives Matter.

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Open Sorcery AMA
Tue, June 16, 2020 3:00 PM EST
Open Sorcery Discord Server

Ask me questions about Magic and Technology!

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Open Sorcery Live-Stream
Sat, June 20, 2020 6:00 PM EST
Northhouse Twitch Channel

Northhouse will be playing the new demo of Sea++. They are a regular Streamer and came up with the name "Open Sorcery."

Abigail (the developer) will be also be on the Stream to provide commentary and banter.

Steam Game Festival Demo

In a month I'm releasing a demo of Sea++!

It's part of the Steam Game Festival.

I may also be running other tiny events!

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Also much progress:

I finished two more areas--one mysterious and elaborate one, and one teeny tiny one.