Arbiter - Monthly Recap - October 2024

Greetings Eldans!

The Tournament for the Throne is upon us! Apologies for getting a bit political, but I just wanted to show some appreciation for Metaphor's well-timed release. In one of the more divided moments of our history, we've got a game out here staring that division in the eyes and daring it to change. It may be a lot to ask, but I hope someday we can all be so bold. 😤

To Yap or Not to Yap

This month was alright. At this point I've wholly accepted that I'm in something of a hibernation phase right now, so apologies for the lack of visual progress for the time being. In working through some personal life changes while also bringing more people onto the project, I think taking the time to get things right will be worth it long-term—both for Arbiter and my own mental health. It has got me thinking about the recaps in general though and the overall purpose they serve.

Writing these during the slower months has started to bring a bit of anxiety with them, as I've been feeling quite critical of myself for not showing "real" progress alongside everything else. I very much expect to get back to the nitty gritty in the new year, but for now things have undeniably slowed down as I finish the script and get our art lead onboard. You guys have been nothing but supportive throughout this process and I really appreciate that, but I do feel like these smaller updates are ultimately a waste of time for most people (and unnecessary stress for myself).

With that, I've been thinking I might finish the monthly updates for this year and start spacing them out a bit in 2025. These are starting to turn into more personal journals than development updates, and I'm not entirely comfortable being that transparent about my life on a monthly basis. I'd rather just wait until I've made meaningful progress that I can show instead of weathering the storm with text updates just to prove I'm still alive. We both deserve better!

We'll see what happens though. I'm not entirely sure how fast development will ramp up in the coming months, but if it ends up going faster than I thought, I may still stick with the monthly format. Whatever those changes may be, I'll be sure to let you guys know ahead of time.

Finding Direction

Something I have been feeling pretty good about lately is art direction! I'd say the game's aesthetic at this point is almost crystal clear, so that's been a nice reassurance in spite of everything else.

In my spare time I've been doing a lot of studying on that front, particularly with Metaphor and the Gravity Rush series. We'll be going for something similarly stylish, though we're planning to lean heavily into the game's light and dark aesthetic as well. With that will eventually come the final pass on enemies and characters (which I'm REALLY excited about), but that'll likely be after we make some headway on levels first.

All that said, my passion for Arby has never been higher. I'm just about done the script and I really do feel like I'm making something with a meaningful purpose now. Because of that though, I find myself wanting to give the project (and game development as a whole, I suppose) a lot more respect than I had been before. I am done jumping into things like environment art without a proper plan and concept to go with it. It wastes way too much time and my pride as a solo developer simply isn't worth it. For now I'm just going to accept where I'm at, take my time, delegate, and do this shit properly.

Thanks again for your support, folks. We've got this!

Cheers,
Jordy