Dev Log: August 23, 2025
Do I have a moment to write a devlog? Yes, I’ll take it.
Things are so very busy. I’m still traveling a lot for the summer, and miraculously (tragically) carving out work hours while gazing at beauty and savoring summer fruit. There is a low-level hum of stress and a DUE DATE hanging over my head at all times, but things have been worse. Did I mention the fruit is delicious?
I’ve brought on quite a few people to help me. This is taking a lot of the pressure off, even as it forces me to look at the scope of the work more often, right in its bright red eyes.
I am checking things off permanently. Not “until the next major build”. Done. I’m repeating myself here, but it continues to amaze me.
Daniel finished the end music for the game. It was the last thing we were really working on, and a tricky one to stitch up, but it’s done and it’s wonderful. I wish I could listen to the soundtrack for the first time all over again. It makes me happy imagining others will.
I’ve been warned the game needs to have an art-releasable build before Christmas to be ready for Switch day 1. Things are never simple. This is going to be extra difficult, but I’m going to reach for it.
I should talk about the art, which is the thing I’m actually working on most of the time. I’m doing more drawing right now than at any other point in production. Most of it involves key poses from my roughs, or working from established keys, but a lot of it is completely unique. It’s important that I don’t rush through these drawings. They demand serious consideration, from a part of my brain that could use the exercise. Besides, the work is never boring when the drawings are good.
I’m afraid I don’t have much to show on that front: I really want it all to appear fresh within the game. But suffice to say there is a ton of animation in this game, more than in the first, and thanks to the help I’ve been getting, I think we’re gonna crush it.
Final playtest is scheduled for November. Then we finish.
It often seems a little ridiculous to think of my game’s release as some big event, when games representing the life’s work of their creators are releasing every minute. But birth and death occur every minute, too. We lose something spiritually when we regard these moments as numbers. Time will stop marching and these things will have meaning, if we want them to.
One last thing: my talk from Narrascope 2025 was posted on YouTube. Here I discuss my work in comics and how it has (and can, potentially) influence game development.