wind and waves

I keep starting sentences as if I have something important to say. How do you make video games while also having a life? butter knife, what a life, anyway frank ocean - pink matter

Since I wrote last, the game has opened up. Thankfully, 'cause I had written myself into a corner, which I have a tendency to do when I work alone. 

I was working solely linear, like a book, but then Llaura helped me turn everything upside down in the best way possible. What is a game: is it a bound story, or does the player need agency? 

Years ago I also looked into narrative, yet more mainstream, gamey games. Kentucky Route Zero, Night in the Woods, Oxenfree, etc. I could see it work for my game - A woman travels with her newborn to a little village in the outskirts of the woods. 

But I ditched the idea, because I thought you had to be a working on a big scale production in order to make such a thing (which basically means: a walking animation....). At that point no one really seemed to be interested in the game, so I thought I had to keep it at a bare minimum production wise. 

I guess, in some way, a linear bookish story is so much more work, because everything has to be created anew. Walking round a city is actually very simple in comparison; fewer assets, maybe more dialogue and most importantly: player agency and more wavy, open storyline. 

Here's some of my sketches for the city map, that will not be a city or a map, but something more ... fluid.  

 

It was too... mappy.
Then it quickly became like this, even more open:

And already now, it's turning into something new and even more open, no lines, no restraints. The different areas will contain different story bits. Either a piece of dialogue, a feeling, a memory, an actual cutscene with game elements, etc. 

Describing this abstract theme of motherhood and existence, I think this is by far the best way to go around the subject; there's no linearity in the feelings and experiences anyway. 

Here's some early character sketches for the walking sim:

 (notice the messy mum hair bun, which i want to give place in the video game world)

The long and slow process enables so many possibilites. It gives the story space. Both me and the story need the space.