I think I wanted to emulate that sense of feeling a little lost in a scene, and white was how I thought to do it because of how those printed pages looked.
Hopefully I can find a new way to capture that sense of open emptiness without burning all of our eyes out.
Two pages of the manga Q-ko chan.
One of the major inspirations for TS's art is the manga Q•Ko-Chan, whose pages often had little-to-no background & minimal use of screentone. I was charmed by the vast empty space in each panel, lending every scene a liminal sort of atmosphere.
That emptiness was expressed by vast amounts of white.
For the longest time I had it in my head that Terminal Status was going to lean hard into bright white. That's simply the vision I had, and eyestrain be damned I was committed to it.
This week, I'm finally embracing mercy. The art direction is going to shift to include off-white. You're welcome.
Drawing of Post-Op in a cropped, bags sweater. She smiles at the camera.
When I'm not happy with how a coloring experiment looks, I just throw the finished piece through random filters... Can't tell which I like best 🤷♂️
Usually the sustained high notes of this song paired with the character voice start irritating this singer's throat after only 2 run throughs, if that. Today we spent over an hour recording without issue.
Ginger is otherworldly.
Vocal tip: through the magical powers of hot water with honey and ginger, your local alto can spend an entire recording session pretending to be a soprano without their throat exploding
Tfw being disabled gets in the way of making your game about being disabled 😔
Today would be a great day to finish up some song demos for my game about disability, if not for the thing stopping me currently: disability
I come from a novel-writing background, & until recently I was too busy learning coding to really focus on scripting as a unique medium-specific skill.
But now that I'm comfortable enough with games to focus on it, I'm having so much fun.
Writing for games is so uniquely satisfying, because it forces me to hone in on utility. Since most information has to be delivered through dialogue or action, I'm always thinking of the purpose behind every line I write.
Building hyper-effective scripts reminds me that writing is craftsmanship.
I would like to thank Nier Automata for inspiring me to think about narratives and storytelling Really Intensely for like two weeks straight.
A lot of script work has been done this week, including a major overhaul in how the story is laid out.
I think the final product is definitely going to benefit from the changes ✨
Realistic reference for Concuss.
Realistic reference for Intravenous.
Realistic reference for Lacerae Shun.
Realistic reference for Viscera.
Concuss, Viscera, Lacerae, and Intravenous have all had their references updated to reflect the newer piloting suit design.
These images have also been uploaded to the website.
Website update: the Art Direction page now has a neat gallery section, complete with filters for references, concept art, and illustrations ✨
Crescendo is kind and good and probably a secret angel, and everyone should throw love and attention at her. By the way.
I have learned the supreme joy of making games with music. Because I can stop the song with a sudden halt when my protagonist has screwed something up, to intensify the comedic beats. And it's really funny no matter how many times I do it.
Once I have an entire soundtrack I will be unstoppable.
it has been done....
What if I just... quietly put up an update to Nothing Like You with music and minor writing changes... without having figured out the complicated menu stuff that's kicking my ass?
In a perfect world I'd also put a demo up, but I don't know if I'll have enough background art... not to mention finalized mech designs, which are necessary for the CGs.
That's not even getting into music, SFXs, & some of the specialized menus I want... so yea, that's more likely a 2027 goal.
Goals for 2026:
- update "Nothing Like You" (soon!)
- make at least 1 new sidegame
- finalize all designs
- draw sprites for at least 2 (if not more) characters
- finish current draft of Terminal Status script
- jump into new (hopefully the final) script revision
All this for adaptive title screens and a meta joke (it will be worth it. Probably)
Work on the update for "Nothing Like You" has been slow going due to difficulties understanding screens (along with stumbling into several new gamedev projects along the way), but studying has been happening and hopefully results will come soon 💪
I'm letting myself do some beginner baby coding for a bit (regular scripting stuff, refreshing myself of basic python commands) in hopes that it will get me confident enough to start studying new stuff again. Here's hoping 🤞
The good news: I'm working on coding!
The bad news: my studying of styles and screens is Not going well. My brain explodes.
...is currently undecided. It might be synched to the wrist bracers on the school uniforms, be some sort of medical bracelet-esque accessory (likely tube-ish in appearance), or be built into a person like a brain chip or implant (leaning into cyberpunk).
Let's see where the design process ends!
Getting a flash in the tube is normally a small ping, a little visual blip and possibly a sound.
Messages can take the form of video (hologram), audio, or text (hologram). All of this data is stored as digital records. Meanwhile the actual device...
This motion (pinching your "tube" between your fingers and then squeezing along the line of it) is what people do to send outgoing messages, moving their fingers through the air to push their data down the tube line. A small holographic display accompanies it, confirming the action.
Illustration of someone pinching a tube of blood with their fingers and squeezing along the length of the tube, forcing the collected blood out.
To send outgoing messages, you have to "strip the tube;" when you receive them, a message will "flash in the tube."
These phrases are of course derived from medical care, specifically from blood. For example, stripping blood is done to prevent clotting from occurring within an exit tube.
A little world building:
Terminal Status's equivalent of a phone is simply a "tube," which is an electronic communication device with a tactile, holographic basis (AKA: motion activated commands, and uses holograms).
Like most tech, tubes have specific phrases and slang attached to them.
So surely this new song is me redeeming myself and writing a song for her with no rap in it, right? Except, wait, these cadences... this rhythm... No, it can't be...