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[oldblood]

[Fenrir]

Really nice artwork! Can't wait to see the trailer!

[oldblood]

Really nice artwork! Can't wait to see the trailer!

Thanks! We're running a tad behind schedule on the trailer, but I'm still trying to stay positive we can meet my self-imposed deadlines...

In the interim, I've teased images of this before so I don't feel it's too "spoilery" since I've already clarified previously that the Angel (Michael) will transform as you... progress.

This isn't his final form.

The Messenger

[oldblood]

DEVLOG 63.

I referenced the new save system in the previous update but it's been tweaked a bit now. It's a relatively simple system but works pretty intuitively without the player ever really needing to "do anything" to save the game...

Originally, the plan was that you had to play until you unlocked the next act (usually taking around 15-25 minutes to unlock an act) and then you could quit and load the game by selecting any acts you'd unlocked. I've kept that feature but there really wasn't any point to not let the player save the game at any point. The "game" is very linear and story-driven so letting the player be able to pick up exactly where they left off just makes sense.

You simply play the game until you're ready to stop. If you decide to exit to the menu or exit to the desktop, the game will automatically prompt a confirmation and automatically save your game at the exact point that you're at:

The Save Prompt

On their next launch of the game, in addition to the options to start a "New Game" or "Select Act", they will also have a prompt to "Continue". This will pick them up at the exact point they were in previously:

The Option to Continue

In other news, I'm still attempting to slap together the  Greenlight page as well as things like a press page in case I attempt to contact anyone regarding the trailer/greenlight. Very little qualifies as "newsworthy" anymore, debatedly even the launch of a new game barely registers as news... BUT-- we still send out releases where we can to promote what we're creating...

Hit more snags with the video editor who has had personal issues arise. This has added some undesired strain on my self-imposed schedules and could potentially hold up the launch of the Greenlight (which could potentially snowball into impacting other things) so my pessimistic side is full-bore at the moment.

In addition to juggling the PR side, I'm also spending this week QA testing Acts 4 & 5 before I dive into Act 6 (which is the final act of the game). At some point near the end of August I'd like to do a 2nd Beta test with internal testers in which they get to playtest the entire game. The Alpha & Beta testers on Masochisia have all been hugely influential so getting another round of quality assurance in on the full game would be great... But more details on that will likely emerge at some point in August.

[Greipur]

Good call. Being able to save anywhere is just such an ubiquitous concept for PC games that I think most would expect it.

[nnyei]

I'm glad to see that you put in a little prompt along with the save function so that no one can accidentally lose all their progress anymore the moment they click on the menu or quit button. As I've mentioned, that caught me by surprise at one point so I'm happy that there's no chance of that happening again.

That's really unfortunate with your video editor. Hopefully everything will work itself out.

Weird question probably, but are you interested in having this game translated into another language? Because if you are, I'd offer to translate it into German. You probably have a lot of other things weighing on your mind at the moment, but I just thought I'd throw that out there in case you're interested.

[oldblood]

Thanks Greipur & nnyei. As you both said, needed feature. It was on the "to do" list for 6 months but finally knocked that one off...

Weird question probably, but are you interested in having this game translated into another language? Because if you are, I'd offer to translate it into German. You probably have a lot of other things weighing on your mind at the moment, but I just thought I'd throw that out there in case you're interested.

Appreciate the generous offer nnyei. I know you've keen a keen eye for grammar so I don't doubt your German translations would be flawless but I never really set up the dialogue trees with localization in mind so translation may take a bit of work on my end in terms of revisiting it all. I think a text-heavy game like this really does need localization into at least a few key languages like German, Russian, Spanish etc. But the undertaking (and likely costs) associated with that is a bit daunting at the moment...

If the game ever has any sort of positive response to it, may be worth revisiting after release but for now-- just focusing on the game. But one day I may take you up on your offer...

DEVLOG 64.

Well, work on the trailer continues... despite some serious bullshit along the way...

The video editor I hired up and disappeared about a week into the work after taking a sizable downpayment on the work and getting about 25% of the way through the rough video work. Now, in their defense:

     ● They may have died. (Which is acceptable.)
     ● I can be difficult to work with, I may have driven them off (Slightly less acceptable.)
     ● I got conned (Shitty con. Why work at all? Just take the money and run...)

Long/Short: My budget for the trailer got massacred and I was left with no trailer, out a large sum of money and dealing with Paypal business service disputes and claims.

But this is not the end of my (trailer) story...

A friend of mine who directs some small indie flicks (but has never done game trailers) offered to jump in and save my ass by doing the trailer. We've spent the past day working straight through on video capturing and testing out things...

So something that resembles a trailer is coming together and who knows? Maybe, by this weekend it will be completed? But I can make no promises about it's quality. Either way, it will be nice to be past working on it.

***

The greenlight page is fairly straight-forward and will likely go up shortly after the trailer is completed. I've run two other games through Greenlight in the past so I don't have any big concerns with Masochisia.

Yes. It's a niche-game that likely will only appeal to a niche-audience but with how full Greenlight is with weak titles, it seems most games that appear to have at least "tried" get through in 1-6 weeks...

I'm taking a simple approach with the Masochisia greenlight page that won't really talk about the game, its story... or even its features:

Convoluted and confusing? Indeed.

For those paying attention-- yes, that was pulled verbatim from my diary's devlog's very first post. The game pulls a lot from this devlog (or is it vice-versa?). More details on this once it's live and up for public-consumption...

[jamesprimate]

looking fantastic as usual! let me know when the greenlight page goes up, ill loudly tweet about it 

[nnyei]

Appreciate the generous offer nnyei. I know you've keen a keen eye for grammar so I don't doubt your German translations would be flawless but I never really set up the dialogue trees with localization in mind so translation may take a bit of work on my end in terms of revisiting it all. I think a text-heavy game like this really does need localization into at least a few key languages like German, Russian, Spanish etc. But the undertaking (and likely costs) associated with that is a bit daunting at the moment...

If the game ever has any sort of positive response to it, may be worth revisiting after release but for now-- just focusing on the game. But one day I may take you up on your offer...

Yeah, you go ahead and concentrate on the game itself for now; anything extra can always come later once the important stuff is taken care of. And there's really no point to it if it only ends up compromising the quality of the game simply because you have to juggle too many things at once.
I'll stick around anyway, but if you ever change your mind, you know how to contact me.

Man, what a nightmarish situation with your MIA editor there. But hopefully the trailer development can progress without any more setbacks now...

I think it's a good call to put your diary devlog excerpts on the greenlight page. It immediately sets the mood and it's a lot more interesting than a plain description of the game.

[Fenrir]

Wow sad to hear what happened with the video editor. Is it someone you found here?

[Zorg]

I never liked the slogan "Based on a true story.". What does it tell the consumer?

"This is inherently good, because it's true!"?
"Any flaws in this story have to be forgiven, because it's true!"?
"Pure fiction would not be this good, because fantasy is not true!"?
"I just wrote these words, but actually it's pure fiction."?

[oldblood]

looking fantastic as usual! let me know when the greenlight page goes up, ill loudly tweet about it 

Haha, thanks. I will definitely take you up on that when the time comes...

Man, what a nightmarish situation with your MIA editor there. But hopefully the trailer development can progress without any more setbacks now...

Yeah, it's been a stressful few weeks trying to work through the trailer issues and keep everything else moving. The new trailer is coming along quickly. He is a good friend I've known for awhile so there is no concerns with going MIA and despite not having experience with game trailers, he has a great eye so it will hopefully come together very quickly. Already making a lot of headway and I do expect it could be done by the weekend.

Wow sad to hear what happened with the video editor. Is it someone you found here?

No, not from here. I took a lot of bids in from a site called videopixie. This editor did a lot of tests to showcase his abilities and was very responsive throughout the bidding process. Seemed very talented and the whole MIA thing seemed completely out of the blue. Blind-sided me. I'm giving the benefit of a doubt here that something serious must have arisen, but I have really no idea...

I've worked with lots of contractors all over the globe in the last few years and have never had an issue like this before so I hope people don't take this in a way that I'm warning against working with people you've never met (or that you find online). Think this is a pretty rare situation. The guy was talented, did great test videos, signed all the contracts, started on work, sent a few test videos, disappeared off the face of the earth. I don't think he sent out to take money and run (even if that was the end result).

I never liked the slogan "Based on a true story.". What does it tell the consumer?

"This is inherently good, because it's true!"?
"Any flaws in this story have to be forgiven, because it's true!"?
"Pure fiction would not be this good, because fantasy is not true!"?
"I just wrote these words, but actually it's pure fiction."?

I understand your perspective. However, the reality behind this story is important to me. I don't want to spoon-feed it to people but I'd like to allude that if you're interested- you can dig deeper. It's not forced down anyone's throat by using the slogan but it does open up that door... (at least to me). You, of course, may have a totally different reaction to the slogan.

Worth noting though, I don't feel the statement at all implies it's "inherently good" or that "all flaws have to be forgiven". That's frankly speaking-- a huge leap in assumptions and I'm just not seeing those connotations. If it good, bad or flawed is really up to each respective consumer to decide. By that same logic, I shouldn't ever list any features to the game because then it could be misconstrued that the features make the game "inherently good". Coincidentally, I didn't include a feature list but the point remains... Your reaction to the slogan is your reaction. But that's applying a lot of undertones to it that I'm connecting with when I see those same words.

[Zorg]

I did not want to sound too harsh, but it seems i watched too many bad movies based on true stories. In consequence, that slogan has a negative connotation for me, personally. I just wanted to say that, in my opinion, you should treat this fact as a side-note instead of a main feature.

Your game will be greenlit in a short time span for sure.

[oldblood]

DEVLOG 65.

So...

...After all the hassle and pain. I have a trailer for Masochisia.

I'm gonna refrain from my usual rambles and just let you watch, comment and react. I feel like I broke a lot "best rules" for game trailers with this one but my hope is that it will be memorable and strike a nerve...

...But maybe I swung for the fences and just struck out?

Greenlight going up next early week.

THE TRAILER

[oahda]

I think it's great. So is the music. Was it made for this specifically or how did you do this?

The only complaints I might have is that I don't really like the font used and that the quote at the end disappeared too fast for me to read it.

Really like how you timed the visuals to the lyrics.

[Zorg]

Well done! The song is nice, too.

If i had to point out something negative it would be the quotation marks (i'd prefer “QUOTE”) and the brackets (too high). That's it.

[Mark Mayers]

This looks fantastic

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

The trailer feels a lot like a good music video (PV).

the feeling i got is maybe you're showing too much?

[oahda]

Don't all trailers these days?

[oldblood]

Thanks everyone, glad to hear the first few reactions have been positive. Also appreciate the feedback on fonts and quotes, all duly-noted.

Looks like I'll post the Greenlight tomorrow. Not much else to do to the page so it will be live soon...

I think it's great. So is the music. Was it made for this specifically or how did you do this?

Glad you liked it! The song wasn't made specifically for this no, I actually have been a fan of the artist for years. I originally heard this song on an episode of "House, MD" the tv show years ago and became a fan. The track fits the themes of the game perfectly so had to reach out and see if I could license it. Will probably make a devlog at some point to talk about music licensing...

Well done! The song is nice, too. If i had to point out something negative it would be the quotation marks (i'd prefer “QUOTE”) and the brackets (too high). That's it.

Thanks! Yeah the brackets in particular probably should have been adjusted... May need some tweaks before the final trailer but I expect this one will be on the Greenlight just so I can get back to focusing on the game.

This looks fantastic

Thanks, appreciate the kind words!

The trailer feels a lot like a good music video (PV).

the feeling i got is maybe you're showing too much?

Thanks man. Yeah using a lyrical song was a bit difficult but think it came together. I actually had that concern as well though, about showing too much. But-- there's a lot more to it all then what you see in the trailer and in the end I wanted something that would (hopefully) really stick with people after viewing so decided to include a few more intense scenes.

The trailer doesnt really show much at all of gameplay, dialogue or really how it ends although you do see a lot of various things. My main goal here was really just all about setting the mood and intriguing the viewer.