Devlog #1 - Prototype

In this devlog, I'm going to talk about the prototype for the game, how I made it, and what I learned.

The core loop of Starterre is moving around the world and interacting with objects and NPCs, so I wanted to do something that represents all of those things. I decided that the very first part of the game was a perfect choice, since it introduces the player to the core loop by allowing them to explore, talk to an NPC, and complete a "quest" for the NPC by picking up an object. This segment of the game acts as both a tutorial and as a representation of the core loop.

I decided to use Powerpoint for this prototype because it's much less of a commitment than using the game engine directly, and since my game's only mechanics are moving and interacting, Powerpoint works just fine to showcase the idea while being very simple to work with. Although I obviously couldn't implement any direct movement tied to the WASD keys, I created a stand-in for the sake of the prototype in the form of clickable arrows that take the player to different locations.

I made sketches of the backgrounds, sprites, and portraits that represent the general idea of what I want the final product to look like. Obviously none of it is properly rendered or colored, but it's acting as a guide that both visually represents my ideas and will help  me later on when I create the final assets.

The feedback on my concept document helped me when I was sketching the layout of each screen. I got feedback that there should be points of interest or visual guides for the player on each screen to inspire exploration, and I took that to heart when drawing. For example, in the very first screen of the game (seen below), rather than just being a plain beach, I added trees to acts as barriers and a trail of stones going off-screen in order to guide the player to the next area.

In addition to exploration, dialogue with NPCs is an important part of the core loop. The player is meant to talk to the old woman in the cabin before progressing to town, and as I was working on this I realized an issue in my original plan. I had originally assumed that the player would talk to the old woman naturally because of exploration and curiosity, but I realized that there is no guarantee that would happen. The player could easily skip the old woman's cabin altogether if they wanted to. So, I made it so that the gate to town is blocked until the player talks to the old woman and completes her quest, forcing the interaction. Loopy only learns how to open the gate after picking up the old woman's glasses and receiving clothes and a name.

This whole interaction also made me realize that I needed to add an entirely new area I hadn't planned on (the clearing behind the old woman's house) purely so that the player could pick up an object at the right time. Working on this prototype definitely taught me that I need to sometimes think in terms of function rather than just aesthetic. It also taught me exactly how to develop my core loop by forcing me to come up the type of interaction and "quest" that will happen in the rest of the game. I want the quests and progression to feel somewhat natural, like how the old woman only asks Loopy to get her glasses because she needs them to find a sweater for Loopy to wear. It isn't just her asking for them to get something just for the sake of it.

All in all, this prototype was a great learning experience and helped a lot with visualizing how the game is going to go.