Developer diary entry #8

In last entry i set out to finish the grand refactoring (which i did, thankfully) and prepare few plot-related things to write about in following entry.

Hmm, as i was drafting this entry, i got carried away explaining the context, and it was turning into the full chronology of the project. I would prefer keeping these posts relatively short, and i do not feel like posting autobiographies when no one asks. Devlogs are fine, but memory chronicles... feels plain stupid.

First, about gameplay

What i am creating is in essence an adventure game. Not RPG, there will be no roles to play out, no skills, no levelling. I am, though, planning quests. Maybe even branching storylines.
As of the time i am writing this entry, the prologue sequence is the only quest available to play. Last time i mentioned that i do not like it much - first try is always a bust, but a valuable one. I mean, i built a not too shabby framework for interactive world with quests.

You see, i am certain that over there in Godot addon library there are ready questing systems, just plug them in and start creating. I did not use them because that is where i drew a certain arbitrary line - i chose not to code my own engine, but everything on top of that engine i would rather create myself, so the save system, flag system, questing system, all systems are custom-made.
Obviously, these things take a long time to build. I did not spend all that time brainstorming that little sequence with finding the key and accessing the roof. Every next step required me to implement a new system as generally as could be possible, so that i could use it as a foundation for the future.

I still do not consider the foundation fully ready for me to finally start attaching the plot to it, but i think it is ready enough for me to start planning.
So, in grand scheme, the game in going to be played in the same style as the prologue - i will code in certain quests across many locations, puzzles and what not.
What i am yet to add are online (not actually, like in-world online, you get it) interaction via tablet, which is sort of expansion on already present mechanics. I do not want to create a game where you only interact with people in-person, i want to faithfully depict online communication, very few games do that.
Also so make things time-dependent, i did not implement time mechanics for nothing.
And, of course, add an option to enter dream world. That really is trivial task in comparison (excluding time needed to create dream world locations).

Second, about planning

I use Obsidian, a note-taking app. There are many reasons to dislike it, but so far Obsidian does a good job at being a note-taking app. Organising a vault is still on you, the user, of course, but it is more convenient than any collection of scattered .txt files or google docs. And it allows you to format everything in Markdown, i especially like its combined preview and editing mode.

I organise all my notes in 4 stages:
- 0 random noise: what it says on the box, fleeting notes awaiting filtration
- 1 unincorporated: all the things i plan to add into the game, big lists of ideas are here
- 2 incorporated: things that have definite place in the game 
- 3 finalised: things that are already in the game

This might remind you of Zettelkasten, and i indeed tried to take notes using that method, i did not work for me in its full supposed glory. Obsidian with its hyperlinks would be perfect for Zettelkasten, and perhaps it is, but i never really found any use for hyperlinks, at least so far. Maybe i am doing something wrong, maybe i am just not taking my notes with a wiki mindset.

But one Obsidian feature that i do find extremely useful is canvas. Simple flowcharts which you can drag around willy-nilly, useful on any stage. You can definitely use canvases to plan quests.

Obsidian's useless "graph view" can actually be used to build a world map, sort of. Create notes, one for each location, and link them according to how they are supposed to be linked in the game, and you get this cool graph:

Additionally, i have quite a lot of external spreadsheets. For example, i will format conspiracy database in an actual spreadsheet first before adding those entries into the game. Also, spreadsheets are perfect for representing things like relationships - paste your entire cast as rows and columns, and you got a beautiful relation matrix.
These things Obsidian cannot offer in any adequate capacity, so for spreadsheets i am using Google Sheets. if one is too squeamish about Google web apps, there is always a LibreOffice option.

As you may know from previous entries, i spent a lot of time implementing time system into the game. Vast majority of adventure games would not bother. In fact, many stories in general ignore time, because planning time is very difficult. IRL, planning time is a full time job.
And indeed, Fantasy Calendar is quite a perfect tool for that task. I would write down notes about approximate flow of events, and later assign them to a specific date and time in the Fantasy Calendar, so that is another external app i am using. My only complaint is that it is so bloody janky.

Currently i am in the process of refactoring these notes. This is no code refactoring, should be far simpler work.
I am going to create a private git repo for game-related notes. This way i will get archiving of literally everything for free, a way to collaborate with anyone willing to help, and... i have no idea if issue tracker will be of any help in this context, that remains to see.