Introducing LittleShadows!

Well, I know what you're gonna say. Five years in "production" (note the quotes) and still have to introduce the game, eh?

Making a game during your spare time is not an easy path, and I have been through, like most of game devs I guess, times of doubts, fear and desesperation. I changed my mind a thousand time about the story and the gameplay induced by that story. I wasn't clear in my mind, which is why I wasn't making progress in making the game. But the large majority of my doubts were coming from the feeling that I didn't get the right idea, the concepts I was coming with were not creative enough. So: no progress at all on the game side.

However my skillset was progressing starting litteraly from zero except on the coding part. During the day  I'm a developer for scientific application, a job I enjoy in a good company, but I don't have the thrill of designing my product. My logical brain is extremely active but my "artistic" brain is not sastisfied enough with it, so here I am.

There is more to it, of course. I have been dreaming making game since my parent bought me the Famicon, back in the late 90' (shame on them ;-)), but always thought that would be impossible. Back in the nineties, sure it was, but now that's completely feasible.


Let's go back to LittleShadows. It's a small atmospheric game, taking place into a dark world, where you have litteraly to control light to "kill" darkness. And there is a twist to it, that can't be revealed (spoiler alert!! :-) ).

I hope you guys enjoy the latest snapshot I'm posting because this is the way it will look. The story is straight and done in my head, and now on I'll be focusing on implementing the right gameplay for it. The story and the gameplay are deeply intertwined and it has to be subbtle.

But that's the topic of an other post !

LittleShadows, 2019 and release.

With the exception of a very crappy AngryBirds' clone, Little shadows is my first video game project. I've started joyfully back in the first months of 2014 but the game is still not released.

Why?

Because I wasn't sure about the game mechanics. My graphics were so so, specially the "color" palette, and I didn't known want I really wanted to build.

 In five years I've improved my skills a lot: in game design, drawing and developing game features using Godot, my beloved editor. I've start three dozen of projets, such as Ashes and Souls, Monster Island or the LightHouse Man. So of them are, to me, great and have some potential, but I still haven't finished my first game, LittleShadows.

This is the first thing I want to resolve in 2019 by finishing, shipping and (maybe?) selling LittleShadows.

I have scoped smaller levels, but more of them, each of them highlighting a specific feature. I have improved the visual consistency by sticking to a simpler color palette. I'm developping monster bosses and secret area that the player will have to find and unlock. I am, again, having a lot of fun developing this little plateformer in a limbo-like style.

I will try to finish it fast. Not because I think it doesn't have value but because I think I spent too much time being finicky. I'm going straight to the point.

I know what to build and how and that is a LOT of FUN !

Stay tuned.
 I mostly post on twitter https://twitter.com/thomas_laverne