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[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

pax was tiring but is now ove. going home soon.

yay.

we had a lot of nice feeedbackkk and it was good

[RedPandaWasTaken]

That's cool, you going to change lots of things or just little things based on feedback or what or is it perfect.

Reminder to sleep two days straight because ded devs don't dev gaems.

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

drip drop, drip drop, rain

http://tindeck.com/listen/kwpy



just little things - intro level stuff, slight physics tweaks were all i made., and probably more friendly towrads speed running (a speed runner came by and we talked for a while and it was pretty interesting)



also,,,

even the ocean will be split into two games.

it was already two games anyways.

but these two games will be in one.

it will be like...kirby super star, or super mario allstars in terms of how to select stuff.

one save file maintains state for both of the two "games" - "even", and "the ocean", roughly.

well this is all tentative.

but we decided things would work better with everything split out like that. both are thematically related but go about thinking about things in different ways

even deals with tweaks to the base platforming mechanics. it also deals with talking to other characters around a town and looking into even's life.

"the ocean" is a dream world within even. it is sort of abstracted from her though and only roughly correlates to her, but some of the themes of the world...i think, will be similar. this focuses on just looking at the energy-management-physics-modifying mechanic and exploring that through a large world

[RedPandaWasTaken]

But are they going to be separated in which each "game" can be completed independently and after completing both you just connect all the plot points in your head or are there going to be events that require you to switch game to make something happen or do you have no idea yet (or just want to keep it a secret shhh)?

Also, I think it's a great way to improve/flesh out your physics and platforming mechanics to take speedrunning in consideration.

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

They will be separated and independently completeable. Part of it was it would be a lot more work to smoosh them together when I think we are more interested in both as separate ideas, and on a smaller note, plus it would make speedrunning kind of a pain/.

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

more birds.
http://tindeck.com/listen/wzlj
it's also for a secret thing too.

i was supposed to release anodyne ios japan today and do this nice 80% off deal, but itunes connect crappde out the minute i was supposed to do it. so.

[Whiteclaws]

You use haxe to code right ?

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

yup haxe 3.,0```

[RedPandaWasTaken]

nice birds you got there, sounds cute i'm also curious to see how all this 2-game thing works out (hint: make a third one that you get as pre-order dlc origin exclusive)

btw i don't know how i am supposed to give feedback into music because i can't music but it's still a cute little track. also fix that <br> in your signtare hnnng.

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

DLC!!!!!!


update on the song


http://tindeck.com/listen/xxaj

i think the area it willbe in is

http://the-witness.net/news/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/rocksImg-12.jpg

that

but

with a large overhanging forest or canopy of trees, so it is slightly darker...and it is very misty for whatever secret reason, and there is a lot of other animal life too

[Whiteclaws]

haxe != REAL LAGNAGE GO USE KJAVA

Looking good tho , nice progress you got there

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

I compiled some works in progress.

https://soundcloud.com/seagaia/works-in-progress-1-even-the

I'm happy with the settings this game is going to offer, since I can focus on creating:

- A real-life, present-day urban-themed soundtrack
- A nature-based, nature-influenced, more "organic" soundtrack
- A dream-like, slightly more abstract or emotion-based, possibly more motion-based soundtrack (based on dreams having lots of...motion? i guess? i mean the thing I'm talking about is like, the 2nd track in that sampler - it is far too fast and I suppose full of some sort of emotion to really ift into any natural circumstance, I think - it would require some kind of cutscene or interpersonal drama thingy which won't really fit into The Ocean, I think, maybe - well it might, but we're trying to be low on story witht hat stuff, so maybe a dream sequence in Even might work, but it might be too dramatic. it's hard to say. but i like it as it is)

holy histt

[kittakaj]

story is hard, intertwining stories is hard. one thing I like about separating the two games is that I can worry less about the exact juxtapositions of the two stories and any ripple effects that should come across from one to the other.

That's a bit of a cop out, but there are so many layers of complexity involved in making game stories that I don't want to overwhelm us.

Another thing is: Even is a very personal character. I wrote a whole book about Even, and I want to tread carefully and not have to yank the character around too much to get her to fit with Aliph's plot that is sort of just unfolding in its own right. This is all very complicated.

Oh well, I starting doing some writing, mostly free writing, thinking about Even. It's going pretty well so far.

If you're interested in Even, here's the link to the book: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1484123514/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

You can read the first two chapters under the "Look Inside" preview. I'd put the whole thing up if I was less lazy and had a website but oh well.

[Irock]

I must follow this fine looking devlog.

It seems like this game is going to have nice ambiance, and I'm a sucker for nice ambiance.

[RedPandaWasTaken]

You seem to be going in the gloomy, humid, rocky waterfall caves with forest directions, where is the obligatory lava and ice level, sean?

Also, I didn't know you were so much into writing, Jon, that looks interesting will definitely take a look at it (make a e-book so it'll be easier to purchase just in case pretty please). There was a recent Gather Your Party Anodyne review that talked a bit about the story, I liked that review. In the end seems like this whole two game thing will let both of you be more flexible with music/mechanics/story.

;*******

[mushroomized]

Jon that's really cool, I'll have to check out the book later

[kittakaj]

oh yeah if anyone wants Even Alive digital copy you can PM me and I'll email it to you or share a dropbox link or something. It's sort of a narrative experiment with lots of pictures (it was for my art major senior project). A more traditional story-driven work I've done is How You Like Your Eggs, which you can read here: http://www.carletongraphic.com/?p=2179

Sorry for all the non-game plugs! hopefully interesting to some of you. I'll get back to work now

Didn't get much done today since my internet went down. sure, I could have done stuff without internet, but it was a good excuse to clean up and do laundry and laze around a bit I guess. Time Warner Cable tried to trick me into renting their modem even though I bought a perfectly good one (made it seem like I had to do it to get someone to come fix my internet). that was annoying but oh well it's fixed. PSA: don't rent their modems, it's not worth it.

[RedPandaWasTaken]

Wow that's a really great work, looks so simple at first but...well, and now you got me even more curious about that work of yours, since you offered I'll be sending you that PM.

On a video gamey note I will be raising my expectations on Even the Ocean's writing and I trust you can deliver :3

[Sean Hogan (seagaia)]

fire ice level...hmm. i have none planned! I do not think that there will be any icy areas in The Ocean, but I am not ruling out having some area near an active volcano since there are quite a few islands all over the place. I don't think you would go in the volcano, though. dunno!

i spent a bit today detailing drawing out part of the world map so we can get around to implementing that. my vision is to have it mostly easily travelable quickly, but with some areas to require going through other areas to reach.

i wonder what people will think of the world in The Ocean. hm!

[RedPandaWasTaken]

Was just a joke suggestion but yay volcanoes.

If you plan on making it metroid/castlevania-esque and put in upgrades you may use it to enable shortcuts to make travel quicker, or you can make it like in Dark Souls, in which going in a new/later area and, say, getting a key or activating a certain switch lets you open a shortcut that was previously locked from the other side (i highly suggest taking a look at Dark Souls, its world is incredibly well crafted both in level and enviroment design the thing is translating that to 2d worlds). Or you can give up and add fast travel :V