Oops we’re late!!

By a lot more than I would like. But I had a grant that was due on 11/4 I was trying to get work done for, so sadly the blog had to be neglected for that.

Let’s all cross our collective fingers I can get some money for my thesis project (‘: I would love to be able to pay people for their labor: you can’t have a game about the club without music! So, it’ll mostly go towards that and buying supplies to make the backgrounds.

But what’s great about this is that I have a lot of work to show!

The main things I worked on this month for my thesis project:

1. We have a title: One Night Only.

Here’s the logo:

Took a lot of inspiration from Y2k aesthetics. It’s a fun one to play with, I’m learning. Here are a few sketches of different things I tried out before settling on the final:

I really loved the moon one on the top right, but I felt it was harder to read and wasn’t as functional as a title logo. I might find a place in the game for it anyway.

2. The title screen is a finished sketch along with an animation test

Chances are I’m going to change the keyframes a bit more and add some subtleties (the pipe should shift when the hand hits it), but I wanted to see how things were looking.

The idea is that when you hit ‘New’ on the title screen, a text notification goes off on the phone. A hand comes in, reaches for it, takes it off screen, and then you cut to the game starting.

I liked the idea of trying to find something a bit more immersive than a typical start screen. I know the game design for this isn’t going to exactly be ~innovative~ but I at least want the art and narrative to be strong.

3. A test animation for the dialogue system and menu function is done

There are some changes to make and I think I want to go a bit harder on the animation, but again: it’s good to have the first thing done so changes can be made. I’m not sold on the font (I’m leaning towards making my own), the cursor is too big, and I’m still figuring out the finesses on the boxes.

4. A style frame has been finished

I know I rushed this for the grant application, but there are soo many changes I want to make and need to figure out. I think the lines are too thick, so i want to slim them down a bit. I need to see what kind of lighting options I have in AGS because if I can change the colors on the characters without having to export 5 million different sprites, that would be amazing.

I want to the backgrounds to be analog! And in this case, I cut up a bunch of paper and digitally colored/edited it in Photoshop. Figuring out values and textures digitally sucked, so I might move that part over traditionally. But again: I know I rushed this. So I really want to find time to figure out a proper test for the background.

Lol this got slapped together in like, 2 hours. Haste makes fuckin’ waste, ya’ll!! Moving forward, I want the textures to be more traditional and let the analog pieces be more handmade looking. I think making most of the changes digitally kind of make the traditional aspect of it moot, but I know I rushed this for the deadline.

The backgrounds will start more 2D and probably build into more 3D as the game goes forward, or at least that’s the thought for now. I don’t like drawing backgrounds, so finding a way to make it fun for me while also incorporating analog work feels like a win-win.

5. Character designs for the main characters and the main NPCs are done and colored.

This is not all of them since I don’t want to spoil too much!! But trust me, they’re all drawn and colored!

Designing characters has been a fun mix of finding photos from gay clubs in the 80s-90s, people I’ve seen in my own club experiences, homages to characters I like in media, and of course, friends. There have been many iterations of these characters, so it’s nice to finally have one big thing off my checklist.

Now to figure out crowd scenes sobs

6. Level designs for Stages 0-4 are done.

I fell behind on this task, but most of it is done! Or at least as done as I can be before engine testing. I was hoping to also have Stages 5 & 6 designed, but alas.

I’m not showing these since they feel like big spoilers :P They’re also pretty rough and kinda illegible anyway, so it’s not particularly exciting to look at.

Overall, most of my goals for October were hit! I definitely shifted some things around from my last post (I said I wanted to get writing + engine testing done this month), but the visual aspect to things has mostly been figured out. I still need to do a bit more testing as far as the background making goes, and I need to see if the backgrounds/level design I’ve drawn even WORKS in engine, but it feels nice to have a big load off my plate.

November is going to be writing and engine testing. It’ll be a less exciting update since it’ll just be a lot of technical engine testing stuff and writing I won’t really be showing, but hopefully the engine testing is interesting to ya’ll. More than anything else, I think actually getting in there is going to determine the overall look and timeline for this game.

It would be amazing to have the whole thing done and shipped by April when thesis is due, but I’m also a realist!! Most likely, it’ll be a solid demo and I’ll finish the game in my own time post-graduation.

Some other fun things for November:

• I’m doing a fun thing with A Rude Awakening along with a lot of other talented friends, so keep yr eyes peeled on their instagram! I believe an announcement is next week 🌚

• I’m in a show! The Book Show runs from 11/22-12/13. So if you want to see the pop-up book I made IN PERSON!! Come through!! The reception is on Monday, November 24th starting at 5pm. I will be there :3

• And last, I’ll be traveling a bit. When I’m in the thick of things, it’s hard to let go and actually like…relax. So, I’m both looking forward to a forced break and also dreading it, but!! I know it’s good for me.

Some Things I’ve Been Into This Month:

• Alison Bechdel. Just like, her work period haha.

  • I’ve been consuming her books like crazy (3 this month!). I read Fun Home and Are You My Mother? years ago, but I finally read The Essential Dykes to Watch Out For and it’s been a great read. With this book and the history of comics class I’ve been taking this semester, it’s been funny to see how much shit doesn’t change. Evil people are always doing evil shit, but it’s amazing to see how if that’s the case, there’s always people resisting. There’s something comforting about reading older generations of artists and queers living and thriving despite how shitty politics are.

  • I also love Bechdel’s perspective on community. This last part in Spent has really stuck with me:

    

    What makes AI and the perpetual app-ifying of things so frustrating is how anti-social it is. Doing everything these companies can to make things convenient, easy, and as smooth as possible. Which means axing out the actual people behind things. To be a part of community is to be annoyed (and in turn, BE annoying!). Bitching about the things we love is normal. If you have real friends, real connections, then the hard parts and actual issues can be talked through.

• Silicone Valley Doesn’t Know What Makes a Good City

  • And with that last part, this episode of Tech Won’t Save Us felt extremely affirming in terms of community building + the future of “autonomous” robots.

• NYC might, for once, have a mayor it actually likes lol

My October Movie List:

Overall, a pretty short list this month!

• One Battle After Another (2025)

  • I had a fun time. Is it perfect? No. But, it’s a fun watch. Sean Penn’s performance + the chase scene at the end was chef’s kiss.

• Eden Lake (2008)

  • Idk why we watched this lol but I guess if you?? Like?? Gory movies with Bri’ish teens?

• The Fly (1986)

  • For some reason, I think I expected this to be ~artier~ but it delivered on gross!!!

• The Wicker Man (1973)

  • This movie rocks

• Lost Heroes (2014)

  • Watched this for my history of comics class. It was fine lol

• The Slumber Party Massacre (1982)

  • Fun!!! Dumb!!! Fun Gore!!!

• Altered States (1980)

  • A very visual fun and interesting movie starring the most annoying man you’ve ever met

Hopefully I won’t be so late for November’s update!!!

Thank you all for yr patience and that’s all I got!

-K