Thursday, September 25, 2008

Developer Diaries, episode 26

<Aura-> argh, I wish I could experience playing KS

I said that a few days ago, meaning maybe two different things. We have a few artists who adamantly refuse to read the script because they want to experience the full game unspoiled. Obviously I won't be able to do that, ever. It's not that bad that I won't get to experience the first time of reading this game, but being able to do that would help making KS better.

It's because I work with the script and only the script, but KS is other things too even though that's easy to forget at a time like this. The text is now at a turning point, we should now weed out all the problems, all the faults in the script. It's so easy to get caught up in details. Reading thousands of words, re-reading them, re-re-reading them, analyzing, analyzing, analyzing. Structures, thematic elements, plot arcs, subplots, character developement, pacing, dialogue rhythm, flowcharts, exposition, expression, narrative style, branching, fluff, filler, transitions, deconstruction, discussions, despair. Demons everywhere, outright paranoia in the back of our heads.

Then I start up the latest development build of KS to play it in engine, for the first time in a while. Instead of the bleak script editor, I get the game UI, the vibrant colours of the art, sprites with their expressions mirroring the dialogue, background music, effects and all that jazz. The game really comes to life. My script problems fade away a little, and I think that I'm having kinda fun, experiencing something we did.


Today's sketch is by ambi07