Hey all, it’s been a little bit since my last post on this site, hasn’t it?
I was looking back on my past posts and I decided to make a new one letting you guys know what’s been happening, just because. Without further ado, let’s go over what I have to announce and talk about.
CAVEFACE
First off, I feel as though I should update you guys on what’s happened with my latest game, CAVEFACE, since the last post. Obviously, January 2023 happened and let’s just say that, shockingly to many, I managed to release something on time for once! 🎉 The game is now out of both Game Jolt and itch.io and its respective soundtrack (a whopping 2 songs!) is now available to listen on YouTube! I decided not to release this game on Newgrounds because, as it is right now at least, I don’t think it’s good enough to not get blammed lol. I think I’ll have to release an update first before I even attempt to submit the game to Newgrounds, though that probably won’t happen for another several years or so.
As I stated in the last post, the game was actually originally made for a class at school where we used what we’ve learned and whatnot and applied it to a capstone project. The class has since ended and I managed to prepare and present a slideshow for the game. It went well, and my teacher actually considered my presentation as one of the best in the class. I didn’t give the class any links to the game though, lol.
As for what the future of the game holds, probably nothing for a long while. While there are a couple of things that I want to add to the game such as progression, a proper ending, and more music, my priorities are in other games so it’ll be a long time before I touch this game again.
Future of Gooter
If you recall, I made a tweet announcing development on Gooter had basically stopped. It wasn’t an outright full-stop cancellation, per se, but the game as it was wasn’t going to happen anymore. I released an unfinished/cancelled build of 0.16.0 on itch.io and I don’t think I’ve talked much about what’s happening with the world of Gooter since. So, I have decided to spill these beans right now:
A new Gooter game is in development.
That’s right. While Gooter as every knows it has been cancelled, I am currently working on what could be referred to as a hard reboot of the project. Now, when I say hard reboot, what do I mean? Well, when Gooter first refreshed 3 years ago, the sprites, sounds and much of the gameplay carried over to the new version. The only notable differences at the time were a new smooth camera and using tile sets instead of objects for the levels (man, what was I thinking?). I took my work from the first version and expanded upon it in the new version, but not for this new Gooter game. It’s a “hard reboot” compared to a “refresh” because none of my past work is going to carry over to this new version.
I’m rebuilding Gooter from the ground up, with new sprites, new sounds, less story, an overhauled gameplay feel, and a general direction shift, among other stuff. Basically, a whole new game. In fact, while it’s still “Gooter” at it’s core, the game will be so different that it won’t even be called Gooter, but rather be given a somewhat different name altogether. I have already decided on the name, but I won’t announce it until I start showcasing the game sometime in the future, hopefully for Summer of Gooter in June or July. After, I’m probably going to post devlogs and sneak peaks for the game on Twitter like I used to for Gooter. Not often, but enough where I hope to share a lot of the development process.
That’s all I’ll say for this game right now, but I hope you guys are excited for what’s to come!
On updating old games
Yes, a lot of my games are unfinished and lacking in content. Yes, I want to do something about that. Yes, I’ve already started working on a big update for an old game. I want the update to release this year, but considering school, the Gooter game that I mentioned, and my usual laziness, I don’t know when I’ll even get back to work on that. I DID set up a Trello board for the game, so at least I hope that can help me with development and staying on track.
What and where’s that “second game” for this year that I’ve talked about?
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have seen mentions that I wanted to release two or even three games. I even mentioned it in my CAVEFACE presentation, actually. While there’s plenty of time left this year for me to make a quick little game for the other half of this year, that’s not as much of a guarantee anymore. Perhaps the game COULD be a demo for the Gooter game, but at the same time it would be preferable if the game was an original title like CAVEFACE. I actually had an idea of what I wanted the game to be, but I have since then lost interest in it and kinda forgot about it. Oh well, maybe I’ll pick it back up someday. For now, let’s just wait and see what the game will end up being, if there’s even another game for this year that is.
Storywriting
Since the last post, I’ve also thought about writing a story. I’ve even started a draft and I have some characters and arcs in mind. The biggest problem is deciding on a medium for the story, though, so chances are we won’t see the project come to fruition anytime soon. I don’t have anything to share about the story itself, I just wanted to share. If I have something for the story to show, however, expect it on Newgrounds. ;)
Music
I mentioned in the last post that I wanted 2023 to be a great year for music releases, akin to 2020 and 2021 where I posted a lot of music. It probably won’t happen, especially with me knowing I couldn’t even release one track a month in 2022 like I intended lol, but there’s definitely plans to still make quite a bit of music this year. I’m even planning on majoring in music in my community college, so hopefully that’ll help a little bit. Not much more beyond that, just some thoughts on my music that I wanted a section for on this post.
Life in general
I’ve officially lived to see Queen Elizabeth die and Ash Ketchum leave the Pokémon anime. I am only months away from graduating high school. I have managed to create lots of actually decent works. I have personally changed so much, even since freshman year. I’ve had my first girlfriend and me and my friends have generally matured so much. It’s all a little crazy to think about, and I just want to thank anybody whose stuck with me throughout everything, good and bad, as well as everybody who has even considered checking me and my work out. Life’s gonna get crazier from here yet I’ll always be here producing better content for all of you.
That’s all for today! Before you go, a new thing I’m starting with these posts is recommending stuff like music at the end. Kinda got inspired by a different blog to do this tbh.
For today’s post, I’ll end with the very first Thing of The Day! A mix I’ve been listening to a bit recently, inspired by a particular aesthetic. Enjoy, and I’ll see you guys next post!