It's baby's first dev log!!! Oh gosh-

It's been a week since I released my first game here, and now that I've had a chance to decompress and reflect I'm still so unbelievably blown away by the reception you've given it! Honestly, I was happy enough just releasing something. That on its own was gratifying to me, for reasons I hope to reflect on a little. But seeing this resonate with so many of you all still gets me emotional, honestly. This is our lighthouse, for everyone in this community, for everyone stumbling upon this who needs a place to rest their head and take a break from the rushing flood of life. Thank you so much for playing, and sharing your thoughts!

If you would so indulge me, I want to reflect a bit on my mindset going into this jam, the thought process behind making Our Lighthouse and the story within, and what might be coming down the line!

[I had something to prove to myself]

I've loved the O2A2 format since I first stumbled upon it two years back (O2A2 2022). The creativity within the limitations has produced some wonderfully memorable, creative games, and it's been a delight to cover them on Twitch/Youtube. Heck, it's produced so many wonderful games I honestly never got to cover as many as I wanted to, hah~!

But perhaps what really had a hold of me was the barrier to entry. O2A2 felt obtainable, doable for a first-timer. I said a few times covering these jams in the past that I felt like I could do it!

But life kept getting in the way.

I feel like I've been full of ideas for things I think would be neat, things I'd like to try to do, things I want to learn. But inevitably, life ends up smacking me down, I end up deep in my own head and I shy away from it and end up right back where I started, with whatever idea I latched onto slowly becoming a faded memory. I knew I was stuck in this cycle, and I hated it, but I couldn't do anything about it. I kept getting in my own way.

This year, I caught wind of it early enough that I could actually give it a shot!

[I had a concrete idea in mind]

I'll say upfront that the story behind this game comes from a world I've been chewing on and trying to develop more since the start of 2024. The main character of which had dreams like this, stuck on a lighthouse alone while the ocean churned aggressively around her. This dream in particular was meant to be the start of her story, falling off of this railing leading her into the strange and unusual...

That feeling of being stuck, not seeing a way forward, and spinning her wheels - That drew heavily from my own mindset I've been struggling with for a long time now. And her grief, I'm glad I could convey that so well in the endings. (My parents are ok I promise!!) In writing the script here, I meant for the choice to be a reflection of sorts. Which direction you look is up to you, but if you look... There's something out there for you to hold onto, when you're feeling low and need the strength.

I found myself holding onto that feeling too as I was working on this. That this was my step forward into changing for the better, into proving I could change, that I could do this...

The core of the idea behind this project sounded simple on paper. I wanted a background, with the lighthouse in the middle. I wanted to display the script on the image nvl-style in lieu of normal dialogue boxes. And I wanted to zoom and pan around the background in the course of the game, while telling the story. The choice would lead to the camera panning in the given direction, revealing more of the background, until the end when we see it all.

I'm still in shock that I was able to do precisely this. Obviously we had NVL mode in Ren'py I could work with, but learning to use the 3D Stage was a good deal of fun

The background is lovely, isn't it? I love how it turned out. That came about from me searching specifically for background artists on vgen. And immediately when I stumbled upon Dandelier and saw their art style I knew I had to ask! They were a delight to work with, accomodating to changes/requests and feedback! If you enjoyed their art I highly reccomend you look them up on vgen! (they don't really keep other social media)

[Reflecting...]

Some small things I would consider tweaking if I were to come back to this, perhaps. I'd love to look into text positioning in NVL-mode perhaps. Rather than having the script play out in the full screen space, maybe shift the text to the left or right depending on where the image is at, per se, if that makes sense. A small thing, but I did notice that the idle text for the decision was still white, and that can invite confusion! I need more practice getting UI stuff right anyways - it took me entirely too long to figure out what font colors/sizes goes to what text augh...

I'm not sure how I feel about using a photograph for the title screen art in this case? It conveys the mood I wanted but I dunno, I feel like it clashes a bit with the color scheme of the game itself.

Overall, I'm really happy just to be able to publish a project of any sort! That goal I've laid out for myself for a while now, but kept punting on... It's finally here, and it feels really warm, really encouraging. I can do this.

Thank you for coming along for this ride with me.

[What's Next...?]

I actually do have an idea for a follow-up to Our Lighthouse; a companion/foil piece which will hopefully expand this world I've been rotating in my head for a long time this year!

It's a bigger scope than Our Lighthouse, but not nearly as big as another story idea I was considering diving into. So, a step up I can use to learn more about Ren'py and challenge myself, but another obtainable goal for me to meet. Where I can tinker with more branches, persistent variables, and other effects...

In terms of what it'll be about? It will be from the perspective of a different character than Our Lighthouse. And so far in writing the script it feels darker, but I'm hoping the journey will be worth it.

And perhaps a little tease: (Thank you to chimeriquement for introducing me to this poem!)

O jealous time, why do those moments of drunkenness
When love flows over us in joyful waves
Have to fly far away from us at the same pace
As our unhappy days?

    “The Lake”, Alphonse de Lamartine

Night has fallen. It’s time for my watch to begin.