Updating the look for Enduring Dreamers™: Freya
These are development notes for June, 2022.
This month was supposed to be all about the music, but I had to change those plans to prepare a gameplay footage for the Godot Showreel 2022
I initially wasn't planning on adding or changing anything about how the game looked. I personally thought the simple ice terrain made sense and the plan was to design all levels using it. And that I would spice it up by having three different elevations with each elevation having its own level design using their own unique block. It was supposed to be a simple game after all!
I felt dishonest about the design. Was this really how I wanted the game to look like? Or did I make these choices based on laziness?
I say laziness because the plan that I made in August 2021 was to spend 2-3 months on the game and then release it… so the game was supposed to be a simple game released back in November 2021.
But as my vision for the game became much clearer, I began to feel that the simplicity didn't really portray my vision for the game anymore. I actually lost the passion to continue working on it, because I just couldn't connect with it.
Luckily I kept at it, slowly tinkering around to figure out what was wrong, I decided to make a list of everything I didn't like about the game. And the number one thing that stood out was the simplistic level design. And that's when I realized that the design was for something else, a remnant of a past version of the game. And because the game has moved away from that, then it only makes sense for the design move away towards something that matches its current form.
Here is a comparison of how I have changed the design:
I can't express how happy I am with the updated design. It feels more true to Freya's world.
I will end this devlog with some additional snapshots of the new design. The coming month will be spent updating the Website and the Steam page to reflect these new changes, so expect a new trailer to come out within a week, can't wait to show you!
