Carnival has changed a lot in development since its inception. Following a little messing around with a quick pixel art image, the original idea was for it to become a 'micro horror', using lo-res graphics and a short, straightforward narrative based on an old novella I wrote around ten years ago, to be released for a couple of quid on Steam, and if successful it would maybe lead to further micro horrors.
The original Carnival experiment
Somewhere along the way, it morphed into something a lot bigger. I realised that basing a game on a story would be far too linear for a point-&-click, so I added in new characters, locations, and story elements.
New character Dante De Sina
This poor man is having a bad day
It was coming together nicely, but I still thought of it as a relatively small scale project ahead of releasing The Tragic Loss of M. Slazak. Then I was contacted by Bernardo Uzeda, a fantastic composer who wanted to work with me on my games. I was skeptical at first, because why would a professional want to work with a bloke from Birmingham with one game to his name? We had a conversation and he convinced me that he genuinely liked Abscission and wanted to be involved with my dev work. I still think he's crazy, but he's still working with me and creating some amazing music, pieces that elevate the game and add tension, dread and drama to the visuals.
With such fantastic support and music, I knew I needed to up my game (hohoho) with regards to my work, so I started experimenting with doing some new portraits for close up conversations. One criticism of Abscission from some was that the portraits were ugly - this was in part on purpose (as I wanted the game to feel grimy and odd) but also due to the fact that I was learning pixel art from scratch since I started in 2020 and still had a long way to go. I kept working away and studying what others did, and finally worked out that restricting my palette would add something to the art, rather than take away from it (pixel artists have been saying this for ages but I didn't listen).
The first new close up - Siegfried Weber
I posted the picture in a pixel art facebook group, asking for some advice with lighting, and following help with this I was able to finish it.
Weber is finished!
I kept working on new portraits, and new locations, and just when I thought the game was getting too big, I started to find my job list decreasing again. Now, I'm on the final stretch, and getting close to an alpha playtest (hopefully before Christmas). Life may still get in the way - I have a demanding full time job outside of game development and a family to look after - but the early morning and late night work opportunities are still there, and I'm finally chipping away at the finale.
Taking part in the Steam Next Fest also helped a lot, as my wishlists doubled and the support helped to give me new drive to get it over the line (solo game development is a lonely and weird business). I also met with a great British game developer (Tom Hardwidge of Tall Story Games) who gave me some great advice and helped me to again find what had drawn me into making games - it had to be fun! I was getting too bogged down into comparing my work with others, and he helped me get some perspective. I'm not in competition with anyone, I'm joining a community of like-minded, lovely people (I'm not sure about other genres but point-&-click developers seem to all be wonderful, friendly individuals), and I needed to enjoy the ride.
Me on the left, Tom on the right
I'm hopeful of an early 2025 release date, and will post it as soon as I know. I will also try to update my blog far more often, if only to remind myself to keep going!
I hope you all had a happy Halloween!
Jake (Beyond Booleans)
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