hi there,

i'm jude! thanks for checking this out.

woof, it's been a busy couple of months. i've been steadily working on ponch while working part-time for a mobile game startup to make ends meet and all that. also, my apartment building is the center of a "historic litigation" in brooklyn, so i've been calling courts and lawyers left and right trying to figure out who i'm supposed to pay my rent to lol :S

right now, i'm still trying to work on a publisher build to prepare to pitch in the new year. previously i was stressed about mindspaces. now, for the sake of time and scope, i decided that i would aim to capture the "bread and butter" of the game: the core mechanics, the style, the soundscape, and the level design. now, the publisher build won't include a mindspace section, but will rather show the new and improved designs for our dialogue, desktop, and investigative systems. and tbh, i think i've made a lot of exciting design progress!

in the last build we posted, i felt a lot of our mechanics weren't streamlined for players and there was no way to examine the environment (which arguably, is the most compelling part of the game).

so here's some updates on upcoming features in the next build:

Plot:

we got a brand-new plot direction for the opening of the game! (same characters, same core, different opening context). this is especially exciting because now we have a finalized basis to design new levels and puzzles.

Buzz:

When the player is tasked with finding out information and has no leads, they will have to explore CITYB streets and find the right folks with the right information. As they explore, “buzz” barks will pop up on the screen, hinting at who the player may want to talk to without requiring them to talk to every NPC.

Hacking and World Manipulation:

When the player opens their desktop, certain objects in the overworld will turn into icons. The player can double click these icons to read, download, or manipulate information :-)

RAM and ROM Inventories (previously the Character map)

nothing to show for this (yet) but we're going to split the character map into two inventories: RAM and ROM
RAM is a list-like archival inventory that is only relevant to the current mission. it will be cleared at the end. can contain ANYTHING that can be presented from quotes to downloadable information
ROM is a permanent, more organized archival inventory that will also serve to track the core plot points of the game (this will look a bit more like the character map)

Folders and presenting information:

going to rework the presentation mechanic so that it opens up the desktop overlap, and the player will be able to drag folders into some sort of box to present them. In time, i might consider having hints like numbers to show how many pieces of information are needed, or requirements for the type of information needed (for example: digital files vs. quotes)

Bonus: Home screen prototype!

really hoping to get all of this sorted with the new script direction we have for the opening of the game. after we graduated in may, we got some great feedback from our professors at the NYU Game Center, written by Eric Zimmerman. i might share some quotes from it in the next devlog i write, because that critique has been my guiding light throughout this process.

so yeah, that's it for now!

if you have any questions/comments about game dev, the game, or you just want to talk, feel free to send me a message on my personal twitter! thank you for checking our game out and reading this. it really means the world!

-jude