In Which I Canceled a Game Without a Name
Poor guy didn’t even get a chance.
Image credit: Public Domain
Infinite Level game discussed: N/A
A few months ago I talked about a new project I was working on and how far along it already was. That was in January 2024's Forseeable Futures blog post, where I talked about a bosses only RPG. In fact, allow me to quote myself to quickly bring you up to speed:
“This next game is a turn based RPG styled game, but with one key difference from others like it...you only fight bosses. I've stripped out overworld exploration, random encounters with small monsters, explorable towns, and even a traditional leveling system to focus exxclusively on boss battles. You're either fighting a boss, or upgrading equipment and gathering items in preparation for the next boss.”
So that was the game, and for a little while that's exactly what I was working on. But there's actually a bit more to that quote...
“Now, why would I do that? After all, a big part of RPGs are their worlds, so taking out that component may seem like a bad idea on the surface.”
Turns out, it was indeed a bad idea.
Let's set the stage up a bit more. When I initially wrote that, I had only recently dived back into the project. The months before that point was primarily spent on The Future Project content updates and patches, and improving my own skills. As I alluded to in that January blog, there were a lot of systems made, but not much in the ways of content. So, that's what I worked on next. I needed to know how the game roughly played, because right now it was just isolated battles stripped of all context. Time passes and I set up the first few battles, a sort of prologue chapter of the game if you will. It was time to playtest the whole prologue with all the systems in place, and see what I and others thought. But it turns out, there really wasn't much meat on these bones. Sure, it could be enjoyable enough in small doses, but as a package it wasn't coming together. A fun enough demo, but not something one could really sink their teeth into for multiple hours.
Image unrelated. Don’t worry, The Future Project still exists!
Ordinarily, a game developer would then ask how to fix this and make it more fun, but here's the issue I was running into. I pigeonholed this game as a bosses only RPG so hard that changing it into anything else was like remaking the game. After looking at the game myself and having conversations with others about it, I came to the conclusion that it was either going to need to be a more traditional RPG or spin off into a roguelike. To be frank, I'm not particularly enthusiastic about roguelikes and also didn't want to almost completely remake the game by going this route. And making a more traditional RPG was neither the original intent nor something that felt feasible as a solo dev (not to mention its own borderline remake that such a pivot would call for). So eventually I came to the conclusion that the game was to be shelved indefinitely. Maybe if a spark of inspiration comes along, then I can return to it, but as of this writing that hasn't arrived and there's certainly no point in standing around waiting for it come.
There's definitely a couple lessons to be learned here. Getting playtests sooner is perhaps the first big takeaway. Had I done that I likely would've come to this conclusion earlier and put that time towards something else. The other lesson, and perhaps the biggest, is that while it can be nice having a concrete idea of what you want to make early on, having such a firm design can be a bit of a double edged sword. If you're not flexible enough you can find yourself in my position and have a game that's not working out the way you expected and fixing it becomes a much bigger task than it needs to be. Starting with a general idea and allowing yourself the freedom to nudge yourself one way or another can be helpful even if it occasionally feels directionless. I used to believe that you should have a solid idea of what kind of game you want to make early on, and while I still think that to an extent, this experience did remind me that flexibility is a good thing. This video by Jonas Tyroller really put it all into perspective for me. And honestly, I should have known better. It took a handful of revisions and reevaluations to get the maps of The Future Project right, as well as the movement correct, and the exact abilities of the player character, all in the name of making the best possible version of the game that I could. It's not like I haven't shifted the design around before, but the difference between this unnamed RPG and The Future Project was that The Future Project, while staying within the general confines of first person metroidvania within digital worlds, could change and morph itself as needed, whereas a bosses only turn based RPG doesn't leave a whole lot of wiggle room for change without the need to make entirely new mechanics.
So, that's that game then. Feels a bit weird saying I canceled a game with no announced name and barely anything shown off about it, but at the same time I did mention it previously and this is about as major an update as any to that game. What have I been doing instead? Well, I've largely finished developing the skills I wanted to learn and researching the tech that required researching, and as I write this I am now about to properly begin an entirely new project. I've been spending this month designing the game, getting familiar with the tools I expect to use, and putting a rough plan together for the game's content and story. Applying the lessons from my latest failure, I am trying not to lock myself into a game too hard and allowing things to change. Without saying too much about what I'm doing right now, there's a couple levels and encounters that I have planned, but could just as easily throw out in favor of something else if it doesn't work. I'm also approaching the game's design in a way where I can easily add to or modify it as I go instead of developing a bunch of systems and mechanics and cementing myself into a gameplay style that may or may not work out. This time I'm putting together a game with the mechanics that I'm confident I'll definitely need, and then expand from there if it's desired. In other words, I have a base set of mechanics that can then pivot a few different directions without losing too much time if I find things don't come together the way I thought it would.
As I don't want to repeat what happened last time and talk about a game only to cancel it three months later, I'm opting to not say anything about what the project is right now. However, I will share that the idea of the game is one I've wanted to make since I was a teenager. The details have changed a lot over the years, but the core has been fairly constant. I love all my games, and they all hold a special place in my heart, but I'd be lying if I said this game wasn't extra special to me. There's a story in this game I've wanted to tell for a long time, and there are themes and concepts that have intrigued me for ages that I couldn't naturally fit into my other works. It's a very personal project, and I'm taking special care that it comes out as perfect as it can. This might sound contradictory, but part of achieving this will be utilizing some off the shelf assets to help realize my vision. I've never been above using other assets and tools to make my games, but I've also hand crafted the majority of assets seen in my games and only use others when it fits and actually enhances the game. That's still the case, but this game lends itself well to additional content that I don't need to make myself. We're talking things like home decor and generic things like realistic glass materials. These things will help me get a head start on the game's development and hopefully assist in making up for the lost time. Rest assured, my own identity will still come through by the time it's all said and done. My ego demands it be so. I'm confident my personal touch will be quite visible when you see it.
This is just a stock image, it’s not a hint.
It's hard to say how long it will take for anything in this project to become presentable. I still want to do the monthly dev blogs, but at the same time it will be a bit pointless if I don't have anything to talk about. We will see what happens when we get to next month. I can continue to talk about The Future Project, but I'd also like to start shifting into this next game as soon as possible. It's often said in the world of indie game development that you should get your game out there as soon as it makes sense to. But in my case, I don't even have half baked screenshot to show you! I suppose this means I should return to my work. In the meantime, feel free to check out my other games and dream of what could have been with the canceled game without a name.
Until next time!
-Lance T.