So it's been about a month and a half since my final thesis exhibition opened up to the public, and about a month since the show closed. It's probably about time I updated the blog.
To check out the current build of the project specifically, or to see my cohorts' works, visit https://www.drift-off.com (You can navigate through the website by clicking on our head icons). You can also download the game directly at https://huckori.itch.io/pale-north
Those last few weeks there were truly, truly brutal. On top of my illustration class, a job, and a new internship, I realized just how much work I had left myself to do at the end, and started pulling 10-12 hour work days, just trying to scramble some things together to have at the gallery. All of the dialogue, most of the level design, and a lot of extra bits of coding to help keep performance up. And even after finishing the intial "final" build, I went through about 12 revisions, after play-testing a whole bunch of times inside the gallery space. It was brutal.
Of course, because I built so much of the game so quickly, a lot of it isn't properly designed, and doesn't account for a lot of item implementation (much less the actual stealth mechanic that was supposed to bring the game elements together). I'm not sure I want to leave it in that state.
My advising professor suggested that I keep working on the game (so long as I'm interested) and release a final build of the game for the holiday season, and I gotta say I'm really interested in the idea. Though, I do think it'll be a little longer until I'm comfortable working on the project again as I am incredibly burnt out. Maybe as we move into August, I'll pick it up again, but not at any breakneck pacing. Much of the world will have to be scrapped (mostly the area past the long hallway), and reworked to better align with gameplay and general narrative. Movement, unfortunately still needs some tweaking as well, most notably in the jumping and falling.
At this point, I'm focused on recovering creatively while I work through a transitional point in my life, post-college graduation. Will update the blog when updates come! :)