Hi friend!
Another great month of progress on FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT! I made environment art for new islands and worked on some of the hidden game mechanics.
Choices: The Burrbellows plant
Each island in FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT has a “hero” plant that the player can use for traversal and mystery-solving. I’ve known what the hero plant on the Accordion Isles would be since pretty early on. The Burrbellows plant is a sort of grappling hook, fitting in with the theme of the expanding and contracting islands.
What kind of Grappling Hook?
FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT is not a platformer. The emphasis is on puzzle solving and investigation, with some neat traversal mechanisms sprinkled in. So the grappling hook mechanic would need to focus more on the feeling of the traversal and the experience of searching for valid targets rather than a skill-check related to timing or momentum.
I do love a good physics-based grappling hook though. The “Ninja Rope” in Worms Armageddon is a delightful example of this. The level of finesse and control allows skilled players to position themselves ideally for their attacks. Players can expand and retract the rope at will, perform flips, and lower themselves into crevices to drop grenades.
This is all fun in 2D, but this amount of control would be unbelievably hard to design for in the 3D environment of FORKLIFT FLOWERPOT. Players would get stuck under ledges, the camera positioning would be a challenge, and the emphasis would be on mastering a physics interaction rather than a more puzzley one.
The first implementation of the Burrbellows did feature a more of a slingshot-style physics where you could launch past the grapple points. This led to all sorts of wild interactions that were hard to control. It was more easy to launch past all of the obstacles than it was to navigate the level the intended way. I’ve now steered the design towards is more of a “Hookshot” style grapple, like in many 3D Zelda games. There are targets, the grapple pulls towards the target. There are some neat twists on this that I won’t spoil here.
Early on in development, I made the choice to have a physics-based character controller rather than one that neatly translated the player along the ground. It feels good to drive the character around, but this decision has constantly steered the game into more of the “skill-check" platforming that I’ve been trying to avoid.
Did I make the right choice? Is there another timeline that exists where this game is not physics-based? Maybe that game is better? Maybe that game would be done already? Or maybe it’s even worse. YEAH! It’s definitely worse.
- my inner monologue
Choices: in Narrative Games
As you might see, I struggle with making choices.
Last week, I played through 2015’s Life is Strange for the first time. The game was notable for incorporating a neat mechanical implementation of choice-making in narrative games with a brief window to redo your actions. After the first few hours, a sick thought entered my mind:
“Were the choices I was making actually adding to the experience of the game? Would this be better as a TV series?”
Early on, each choice that presented itself to me left me with a feeling of uncertainty: Which was the correct one? Which choice would lead me to the more desired outcome? This uncomfortable feeling around choices sat heavy like a few drops of poison swirling around an otherwise pleasant experience. With every choice, I felt like I might want to go back and do things differently.
In retrospect, the game induces this guilt intentionally. I believe the game designers explicitly wants players to feel doubt around the path not traveled. The player character, Max, will often express a line or two of doubt after making a decision, almost if to prompt the player into being unsure of the choice they just made.
By the end of the game, I came to understand that these choices, regardless of their actual impact on the narrative, lend a heavier sense of involvement with the characters and narrative. Emotional moments are more impactful precisely because of the player ownership over the decisions that led to that moment. Sure, small choices may only result in dialogue differences, but rising to the occasion and making choices made the victories seem sweeter and the losses feel heavier.
One choice is absolutely clear - no one wants to bring harm to a dog for personal gain.
Community Spotlight
Mech Tech Kickstarter
After 5 years of development, Sam (Sam Makes Games, Hotter Water) has launched a Kickstarter for his Action/Strategy game, Mech Tech. Playtesting this game throughout development has been a true joy and I’m excited with the new influx of players that the Kickstarter will bring in.
Sea Sketches 1-7
Arpeggiatura has been making 3D animals and environments with painterly textures for years. In the last year, these animals started to react and animate with sound or even just do a short dance to a guitar tune. We’ve reached a new evolution, in which these creatures talk to each other in short animated skits.
Pausing the Patreon
I am putting the Patreon on hold for a few months, and all contributions will be paused. Honestly, I did not like the pressure of having to make additional exclusive content there given my current situation of preparing for a massive life change!
Thanks for the folks that jumped in right away, I appreciate you and will have more news there at a future date, probably July at the earliest.
Thank you so much for reading the newsletter and following the journey! Feel free to respond to this email if you’d like to get in touch, or leave a comment on the post.
<3 Michael