Good evening!
Today I'll be discussing the progress made in game development over the last two months, as well as what progress is left to be made before the game is complete
With less than a year left of estimated game development time, it's finally an appropriate time to start planning what the end of this project will look like.
Exciting, huh?
Mel's route is moving quicker than expected.
It seemed to take a little bit to get off the ground, but I'm already nearing the end of the route's fourth day. The only major hurdle left is the final cutscene, so once that's drawn, written, and implemented, the route can be considered fully complete.
That was awfully dry, wasn't it? Sorry. The truth is that Mel's route is the most exciting route so far! Well, for me at least.
The plan for the game was to haVe it be diVided into two main portions: the three routes that you start with, and the three routes that come after. These portions are divided not just by literal game completion, but also by the nature of what can be expected from the plot and structure of their constituent routes.
The first three routes are relatively standard; five days apiece, with the final day being effectively just a glorified cutscene. Some of the routes played with this a little (like Lola's route beginning with a fake-out shoot day, and Sonja & Rosie's route involving two dateable characters at once), but the core is never shaken too much.
The latter three routes, however, are designed to fundamentally challenge this. Whether it be subverting audience expectations by literally altering the formula at its core, or by deconstructing the means by which the story is told.
For Mel's route, the goal was always to create the natural conclusion of all of Vee's social contacts gained throughout the game. The route features the appearance of every character introduced so far, in order to make a story that can challenge the way that Vee herself has experienced the plot to this point.
Hopefully players will feel the benefit of all this. I suppose that's what testing is for...
Anyway, Mel's route is almost done. Look forward to what twists await inside!
Steam's next fest gets closer every day, and so the first impression that the game makes is creeping higher and higher in my priorities.
There's much to consider in this regard. For a start, the demo needs to be up to scratch gameplay-wise. Additionally, I need to make sure that it has as much polish and shine as the rest of the game. I also need to make sure that my presence on Steam is appropriately professional and inviting.
So, what have I been up to?
Well, let's start with the elephant in the room. I don't know if you see it, but it's been sticking out to me like a sore thumb for the past few years: the fucking font!
Depicted: the old fonts used by DTF; noteably VCR OSD Mono.
Depicted: the new, custom made fonts for DTF: Crimson City and Timekeeper
DTF, as a pixel-art game, is in a tough position when it comes to fonts. In general, I can't just grab any old font, shove it into the game, and presume that it'll all work out right. No, I have to find fonts that work at exactly the right resolution, at exactly the right scale. What a fucking pain.
Well, I mean, I could do that. Or I could just sprite one myself. So I did.
Two, actually!
The large "Crimson City" font is used now for all in-game dialogue, and many UI elements. The smaller "Timekeeper" font is used for small UI elements, like the quick menu.
This is massive for the game. I swear!
Suddenly I have much finer control over things like text spacing, kerning, and arguably most important of all, character sets.
Finally. The title screen can use an actual copyright symbol.
I also mentioned improving the game's presence on Steam.
For this I've finally created bespoke key art to represent the game.
Looking pretty good, huh? I sure fucking hope so!
Well, in addition to all that, I also extended the Steam demo to encompass the entirety of Lola's route.
That's less interesting, though.
R5 and r6, the game's final routes, are obviously planned out at this point. Some art assets, like the title cards, have even been created for them.
There's a lot to consider before beginning a route. Who's it about? What's the thematic focus? How does this connect to the game's overarching themes and messages? What could the main character bring to the world? What sort of cuisine am I exploring?
See? a lot to consider.
Many of these questions have been answered in both cases. I am absolutely certain of how DATING OF THE FUTURE will end.
In terms of broad ideas, r5 and r6 are planned to round out the final trilogy of routes with different balances of story, mechanics, and themes.
R4, Mel's route, is planned to be the longest of the three. Its story is a slow-burning tale of dramatic events.
R5, however, is planned to be the shortest of the three. Potentially even the shortest route overall. It's relatively light on world-changing plot events, but is a very focused and emotional character piece.
The game's final route, r6, is first and foremost a conclusion to the overarching narrative of the entire game. It's shorter than r4, longer than r5, and has a similarly balanced ratio of slow, character moments and big, bombastic plot events.
My meaning of all this is that r5 and r6 are not just vague ideas in the future, but things that I actively plan for and get closer each passing day.
As it stands, DATING OF THE FUTURE is around 80% complete.
God, I hope the Steam next fest goes well.
Three cheers for October!
With autumnal regards,
Marina