Chapter 1: the writing is done

Quick update on where NOIR: Skin Deep stands, and it's a good place to be.

The writing for Chapter 1 is finished. Every scene, every branch, every line of dialogue is on the page. When I started this game I mapped the whole story before writing a word, and that paid off exactly the way I hoped: the script came together with no gaps to patch and no storyline left hanging. That part is done, and I'm happy with it.

Now I'm moving into the render phase. This is where the chapter turns from a script into something you can actually see, every scene built, lit, and rendered, shot by shot.

Here's the good news about timing. A lot of the heavy lifting is already behind me. The locations are built. The characters are modeled and ready, the same faces I've been introducing you to these past weeks. And the animations are done too, a couple of which I've already shown you. So instead of building everything from scratch, I'm assembling and rendering on top of a foundation that's already in place. That makes this phase faster than a chapter usually runs. It's still a lot of work, this is the bulk of the visual production, but it's work with a running start.

After the renders comes the code that ties it all together, and then the finishing layer: music, the title screen, sound. The pieces that turn a chapter into a game you sit down and play.

That's the road ahead. Thanks for being here for it. More soon. 🖤