Arbiter - Monthly Recap - November 2024

Greetings Arcanists!

Finally watched JayVick S2 and it's genuinely mesmerizing how beautiful every single frame of that show is. I did miss some of the tighter and focused storytelling of S1, but I think both the visual and thematic spectacle more than made up for it. Not to mention the pining. Oh lord the pining...

I also found myself appreciating the art direction a lot more this time around given the deep dive I've taken into 3D art, so while a bit of the magic was lost, it was super inspiring to see how it all comes together. I've been so fixated on studying game environments that I never really thought to check out the animation space as well, but there's plenty to learn on both fronts. I'll almost certainly be diving into their artbooks and breakdowns the second I can.

Stand proud, Fortiche. You cooked.

Slow and Steady

November's been a crazy month. Started with the double whammy of turning 30 alongside some...interesting political developments, but aside from that we've bounced back strong. I'm a little worried about the world we're heading into, but it's ironically been a huge motivator as I finish writing the game's script. We'll take what we can get I suppose!

I was reading a book on writing recently which talked about how common it is to slow down the closer you get to your ending. I thought that wouldn't really apply to me as I knew what I wanted to write, but it turns out I was laughably naive. While I feel great about how everything's taking shape, getting these last couple scenarios finished has taken a bit longer than I expected. I've learned to enjoy the slowness of the process though, especially considering how hectic things have been lately. That said I really should be done within the next week or two, so yippee!

My art lead and I are still very much locked in, but some scheduling issues mean we won't be able to start cooking until around January. Because of that, I'm taking the time to really flesh this shit out and go into the next phase of development with as clear a plan as I can possibly have. Outlining the story in full detail with dialogue and cutscene breakdowns really is the first step to achieving that, so I don't feel too bad about taking my time.

This year I started making some real changes towards my workflow in order to improve productivity (hence learning some new tools, bringing on an art lead, outlining production, etc.) and those changes have started bleeding into real life as well! Believe it or not I haven't really had a proper desk or office setup in pretty much the entirety of my indie career, so this month I've finally decided to change that. It's of course taken some time to put everything together (and I'm still not quite done), but suffice it to say I'm pretty excited!

In essence, I really want to put myself in the best possible position come production time so I can fully commit to doing this shit properly. It does mean we've slowed down a bit for the time being, but I like to think of it as revving up before we hit the road again.

On a semi-related note, I've also moved over to BlueSky! I'll still be posting on Twitter here and there, but for general yapping I'll likely stick to butterfly land. It's truly nothing but good vibes over there so I'd highly recommend it if you're looking for a little more positivity. I'm also gonna take the opportunity to rebrand the game a bit, so I likely won't be posting much gameplay footage or anything visual until we've started our art overhaul. If you would indulge the ramblings of a false god however, feel free to follow!

That's pretty much it for me this month. I also talked to some interesting collaborators which could bear some real fruit, but I don't want to get too excited just yet. Right now my focus is on finishing this damn script and getting the office ready for the full cook in 2025. I'll do an annual breakdown as usual next month, but after that I'll be piping down a bit as we get back into production.

Until then, thanks for your support everyone! I've gotten some really kind messages lately and it's got me feeling more motivated than ever to get this shit done. In the meantime, take care, stay safe, and remember to keep fighting for the world you want to see. We can still get there!

Cheers,
Jordy