By Terry
What I’ve been working on recently
Aghhh. It really, really sucks when something promising just doesn’t work out.
So, I decided to shelve the 3D game I’ve been working on recently. At first, this game seemed to have a lot of potential: I love how it looks, and I love how it feels to be in. I love the dreamlike feeling of exploring a 3D space with a lot of verticality.
But I’ve learned to trust my gut about these things by now, and this one just wasn’t coming together like it should.
I thought about sharing a playable build; but I think it’s a bit too wonky for that. So I just made a quick video instead:
Designing good levels for this was surprisingly hard. I was aiming for a particular kind of feeling here, and therefore had lots of rules about what I wanted to do (slow floaty movement; no enemies; a weird DOS energy mechanic that I was very attached to) and maybe too many constraints on what I didn’t want to do. So progress was really slow, and lots of ideas didn’t pan out.
Well, it was a fantastic learning project at least – I’ve learnt a ton of new stuff thanks to this! Maybe I’ll come back to eventually, who knows.
And is this process in the room with us right now?
When I rebooted this whole monthly devlog thing, I knew at some point I was gonna have a post like this. Fact is, most of what I work on doesn’t work out, which sucks! I’ve learnt to just accept it as “the process”, because honestly I don’t feel like I really have a say in it anyway. It’s just how it works. Pfffftttttttt
Ok, well, back to the empty project file. I’ve got a clean slate now, which is exciting, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet. See you next month!
I love the look of this ! It remind me Alpha Waves wich I loved back of the day. https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=mO-epryZ-BA
Keep the good vibes on your next game 🙂
Man, the lonely feeling music over footage of an unreleased game with that energy mechanic is a really strong vibe. You’re an inspiration, Terry, even when the game doesn’t work out.
Sad to see something not work out, especially when you have invested so much.
Perhaps…
Port VVVVVV and Super Hexagon to the Playdate, or even Super Hexagon to the Switch?
I mean, if you are bored and are looking for something to do!
I was sad that you didn’t release it anyway, but it looks like you put lots of effort into that video to try and get an idea of the feeling and tone you wanted across. Thankyou, it was nice to experience.
> weird DOS energy
Can I put this into a scented candle?
I am reminded of Drypoint.
Hey mate, i’ve got a question, when i was little i used to play a game which was a 2d side scroller with puzzle levels on a pyramid, i’m trying to find it and if i’m not mistaken you had one such game called the pyramids, if you still got anything about it could you send me something? like images or something, it’s been bugging me for a while lol, all the best
Sorry, that doesn’t ring a bell, don’t think I’ve made anything like that!
Tell me what else you remember about it, maybe I can help figure out what it is?
The look and feel reminds me of VVVVVV and now I am wondering how VVVVVV would look and feel in 3D