Let's Talk About the Future

Devlog 2 - The Future

Hello again, Itch! 

In my last devlog, I discussed the inspiration, initial iterations, and plan behind The Last Acorn, as well as a few updates to the platforming mechanics that I've added since completing the first prototype. It was really fun for me to reminisce about the many diverse and creative ideas our team had before we ever put down a line of C# in VS Code.  I remember feeling so ecstatic at every possibility that our team came up with. Every idea seemed so possible and revolutionary.

Since I've taken over the project at the beginning of July, it's been a struggle to get clarity on what direction our game would take. Would it be an exploration game? A puzzle platformer? Would there be a big boss fight at the end? How would we flesh out the narrative? The possibilities, again, seemed endless.  So many thoughts, ideas, and plans were swirling around in my head for the first 3 weeks of development. It felt like each new idea was more complex and deep (or at least trying to be deep) than the last. However, this time, it wasn't fun. This time I was weighed down by risk. We had such a beautiful, simple game that was fun for new and veteran gamers alike, and I was petrified at the idea of completely fucking it up.

For three weeks, I went in circles about possible futures, with every lap compounding the discouragement and frustration. I could feel myself getting more and more worked up as the days ticked by. So... I did what any would do. I took a break and got insanely high (I live in Cali, so it's chill). I turned on some nature documentaries and just stopped thinking. It was a great night. As my head hit the pillow and my eyes began to close. I felt rested, relaxed, and ready to pick up my laptop in the morning and continue the never-ending negative cycle of brainstorming. 

BOOM! In seemingly an instant... it came to me. Everything became so clear. So lets get into what I came up with...

Seasons

The forest needs to change. Seeing the same forest over the course of the entire game gets incredibly boring visually. I've looked at the same background, tree trunks, branches, caves, and tree tops everyday for the last 6 months and let me tell you... it gets boring as hell. The current structure of our game is based on discrete, individual levels. We tried playing around with one giant continuous level but you really lose the sense of accomplishment when you can finally put a level behind you. I'm sure this is why the developers of Celeste broke up the mountain into different sections and Nintendo created the flag pole. 

Packaging these individual levels into discrete, individual sections will, hopefully, compound this effect. Using different seasons allows us to tackle two problems at once: breaking up the visiual monotony and creating a mental "checkpoint" for the player. Our current plan is to have 5 levels per season with the player starting in Spring. Each season will introduce new mechanics, challenges, and obstacles that will dial up the difficulty. 

I wish I could show you concepts or art work for the seasons but I'm currently in the process of talking with an artist right now (which might be the topic of a future devlog). But what happens when the player finishes a season?

Story

Narative has been in the backseat of The Last Acorn since the beginning of the project. I mean... you can really tell if you play the prototype. The game starts with a cut scene and ends with some random background that doesn't even match the design of the forest with no inklings of a narative resolution. However, I think that the player needs to be reminded why they're collecting acorns in the first place. I want them to feel invested in every acorn that they collect. That collecting an acorn means something more than just a counter going up in the top left corner of their screen.

So... what if we took that original cutscene and made it a physical location. Well here's how it's going:

As you can see... I'm no artist. But the idea is there. The main use of this location is a place for the player to take a breather, interact with their baby squirrels, and see their progress.

By far, the most important part of this house for me as a designer is the baby squirrels. I want the player to fall in love with these squirrels and establish a deep emotional connection with them. Now, designing for emotion is not my strong suit or something I've ever done really. Here is my current plan 

Space

The baby squirrels are going to have their own room behind a door that the player has to open before continuing the game. The room will have a bed, some squirrel toys(what ever the hell that means), and other objects that convey that these are alive. I think this will be the biggest way to show that you are a parent and these are your children. 

"But why a door?" I hear you ask (probably not but just go with it). I think adding an element of surprise to seeing the babies will make the reveal just a little bit stronger. A lot of parents talk about how finally coming home from an exhasting day of work to see their children, safe and happy, is the best part of their day and I want to try to replicate that feeling. 

Interation

I'm going to make it so that the player has to physically press a button in order to feed the baby squirrel. I think this action and feedback will be one of the best ways to form a connection to the baby squirrels. By literally feeding the squirrel, the acorns that you collect become that much more important. That leads me to my next method.

That's all that I have for you guys this week. I think these are definitly too long. Next week will be shorter. Thanks for reading!