Dev Log: December 11, 2024
I’m having one of those weeks where I panic because the game isn’t done, won’t be done by x date, will never be done, etc. By now, I recognize this as a need to shift gears, but it takes a few days to fully get there.
One of my giveaway panic-brain behaviors is working on parts of the game that have very little to do with the task at hand, and quickly becoming overwhelmed by how neglected these parts are. Of course they’re neglected… they’re not important right now! You can playtest an entire game without them. From this vantage point, I eventually pivot again to something that IS important - maybe more important than I’ve been acknowledging - but isn’t the thing I’m desperately avoiding. In this way, I can feel like the things I’m worried about ARE getting done, with the best possible attention to quality.
These past 2 days, that brings me back to animation. While this work isn’t technically needed to run a playtest, it weighs heavy on me. My biggest fear is putting off pivotal cutscene animation until the very end of development and making something boring, rushed, not what I meant. I also want the playtesters to experience at least some of the animation, which after all is part of how the game rewards you.
I occasionally work on minor animated scenes in a sort of modular way (draw a frame here and there, whenever I have time) which produces mediocre but passable results, and until a few days ago I was sweating approaching more major scenes that way, due to lack of time. Animation needs more than half of my attention. Animation needs my obession. Anything less would be a waste. And ultimately, it doesn’t take long when I’m in it, because I stick to it until it’s right.
I guess it’s just daunting to go looking for that obsession, to imagine throwing myself fully into so many things, as opposed to patiently, pleasantly chipping away at Game Tasks #1-10000. These creative bursts do not always happen during standard work hours. It’s magical - unpredictable. And it will all disappear into something bigger one day.