Friday Devblog #14


I have been doing these for a few months now, so I start wondering what you as our followers expect from these blogs. Development progress updates? Creator updates? Insights on the process of game development in general? All of the above? Something else entirely that I could not imagine or comprehend myself? Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn... Khem, sorry got a little carried away there.

But that little chthonic incident just now made me think about one of the most important topics in the game development, and any project really. As the time goes by and the thrill of the new project passes and these intrusive thoughts and doubts start creeping into your mind like some Lovecraftian horrors, how does one continue?

That's a really interesting question that I keep tackling for many years now. Some of you might know that though "Under Your Spell" is our first game, it is not our first creative project. And doubt, fatigue and audience pressure are a constant presence in a creative world. And it seems to be affecting creators of all sizes. I have seen big creators losing their way and caving under the constant pressure from fans, and ending up either abandoning their project due to burnout, or trying to endlessly please the fans to the point where their projects bore barely any resemblance to the form that they started in. And I saw a lot of small and promising creators crumbling under the weight of their own expectations.

So, what is our solution to this problem? The only solution that I managed to come up with, is to make the project for yourself. Not for anyone else. You can never please everyone, and there will always be people who will try to oppose you. And they will almost always be the loudest bunch. You can try and change what you do to please the ever-changing scene, but you can never be sure that what you do, you will be liked by them. But as long as you are making what you yourself would like, you can always be 100% that there is at least one person that will definitely enjoy what you do. And where there is one - there are others. And it is at least two in our case with Shady Two and me!

I don't know if this advice would help any of you in your endeavors. If not, tell me what else might you like to read in these blogs. But it is what makes us keep going in all of our projects. Past and present.

Speaking of the present projects. Just wanted to give a heads-up to anyone reading, that there will be no new build next Monday. Not due to the lack of progress, but because I will need to leave town for some time, and will not be really able to make and publish the build. The same goes for the devblog, which I am not sure I will be able to do next week.

The work continues, though, so the next build will just be a bit bigger than usual, because even though I did fail miserably with my original "Two events per week" plan, I do try and keep up. One more random encounter was completed, and the fourth Ciara's event is almost complete. We are getting awfully close to that big update that I have been promising you for some time now.

Shady Two is working hard on the art too, both to fill the blank spots in our current build, and to populate the ones that will come in the Big update.

We can barely wait to share it with you, but we are still considering whether we should first have a closed alpha test for it. If we decide for it, we will notify you all later in November.

Till next, or some other upcoming week!

Get Under Your Spell

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