Thorn & Creek

View Original

major update - project pivot

As a stay at home mom and homeschooler, life can be quite busy, but I always try to make time for my passion - video game development. It's been a while since I last posted about our progress, but a lot has happened since then.

Last time I updated, our small game company was working on making our project a side scroller in Unity and Game Maker 2. However, we quickly realized that it was too much for our two-person team to handle. With homeschooling, my husband working full-time, and fixing up our house to sell it, we decided to pivot the project and make it a Kinetic Visual Novel, or a Linear Interactive Visual Novel.

In January of 2022, we made the decision to switch the game's format. It wasn't an easy decision, but the limitations were clear, and we had to do what was best for our team. Meanwhile, I was taking an anime character and background course, trying to improve my skills and contribute more to the project.

From March to August 2022, we were busy fixing up our house in New Mexico, getting it ready to sell. It was a lot of hard work, but we managed to do it all while continuing to homeschool and work on our game. In September, we sold the house and moved to Oklahoma, where we bought a new home and settled in by December.

During this time, I also learned how to use Ren'Py, a visual novel engine, and programmed the demo for our game, Laconic Orison: Age of Draconia (LO:AD). It wasn't easy, but I was determined to make progress on the project despite all the challenges.

Now, I'm working on the artwork for the game. Here's a sneak peek at some sample lineart of the main character with his expressions. It's exciting to see our game come to life, and I'm proud of all the hard work that our small team has put into it.

Being a stay-at-home mom and homeschooler can be challenging, but it's also rewarding to be able to pursue my passion for video game development. I'm looking forward to sharing more updates on our progress with LO:AD soon!