Greetings everyone! Development on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is still going strong. However, prior to digging into the latest progress I would like to remind you that the demo is currently available on both Steam and itch.io. Additionally, to whet your appetite, clips are now debuting every Thursday. The first four clips can be found on Woodsy Studio’s YouTube channel. Be on the lookout for a new clip this week!
A lot has happened since the last development update. Jezu Grandil’s path joins Reuben Jeridar’s as fully complete. Nikolaos Perin’s path is fully scripted as well. That just leaves Valerie’s path as far as writing goes and creator Jenny Gibbons is excited that Malcolm Pierce (co-writer of Crimson Spires) will be contributing to the script!
While big milestones have been crossed in the development of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened, it has been a lot of work to get there. Completing Jezu’s path involved not just a lot of blocking, but blocking action-heavy scenes. He is the General of the Royal Guard, after all. Many of these scenes have full voice acting, not just from Jezu, but fan-favorite Xavier Wolven as well. New music has also been composed for these action scenes.
As for Nikolaos’ path, the post-scripting work is well underway. The script has been converted into data tables and imported into the game. From there, a full scene list has been created and integrated with those data tables. This is the behind the scenes coding action that let’s the game know what to do based on the choices you make.
Speaking of choices, there have been tweaks to the game that allow you to customize your character when you play new character paths. You can change Serafina’s hair color and specify your current relationships with Arken and Belatrix. Serafina has a lot of fun hair color options!
From there it’s blocking, blocking, blocking to make Nikolaos’ scenes come to life. Nikolaos may not be as ready for action as Jezu, but he is quick to be sneaky. And I’m not going to spoil how he deals with these new fire effects… Anyway, as all of the script for Nikolaos’ path has been sent to the voice actors, the voiced lines are being edited into the blocked scenes as they arrive. Jenny is also looking for a new voice actress to give life to the leader of House Perin.
Arken’s voice actor, David Dixon, was recently interviewed by Woodsy Studio. The interview can be found with both text and audio options at the following links. Part 1 discusses David’s various roles at Woodsy Studios over the years, while Part 2 digs into other voice acting work in both video games and various animated series.
It’s all these parts coming together that bring Woodsy Studio’s latest game to you. Until next time, be on the lookout for new clips from Serafina’s Saga: Awakened every Thursday!
Greetings everyone! Welcome to the next development update for Serafina’s Saga: Awakened. However, prior to digging into the latest progress I would like to remind you that the demo is currently available on both Steam and itch.io The demo is a meaty morsel that offers about an hour of playtime taking your all the way through both the Prologue and Chapter One.
While the demo concludes at the end of Chapter One, the game is complete through the next few chapters leading to the point where your choice of paths will diverge into four choices. The status of each of those four paths is as follows: Reuben “Jeridar’s” path is complete. Jezu Grandil’s path is scripted and being converted into a playable story. Nikolaos Perin’s path is in the scripting stage while Valerie Sparkov’s path is in the planning stages.
While Reuben gets to kick back, relax, and focus his charms on anyone who calls him a bastard, Jezu has been going through some things since the last update. His path includes a Wolven on the prowl: Xavier, an assassin not unfamiliar to Castle Krondolee. This descendant of the god Belazar (more about the gods, or at least some of what I can reveal, to come in a future update!), is being brought to life in part by some excellent voice acting by Chris Heim which is currently being edited for Jezu’s path. Jezu is voiced by Jarvis Bailey, who has also sent a lot of great voiced dialogue for the scenes ahead.
As always, there are many parts to bringing a scene to life for you. In addition to editing the voice acting, a new room has been set up for this sequence to take place. While character portraits could simply appear on the screen, Serafina’s Saga: Awakened brings Darzia and Castle Krondolee to life as you guide Serafina through many different settings. Not only was a new room created for this particular Xavier scene this week, but the Perin hallway was set up for an upcoming scene. I wonder what Nikolaos’ family is up to on Jezu’s path?
Finally, last time I mentioned that if you are lucky we may just include a portion of a new Jezu and Serafina romance CG in this update. While we don’t want to show you the whole thing right now, it’s so much better to experience it as it happens in the story, here is a portion of what you will be able to discover as you play through Jezu’s path:
Until next time, I recommend trying out Reuben’s sleeveless look while it is still warm enough outside!
Greetings everyone! In the last few updates we’ve been talking about preparations for the SLICE expo and Woodsy Studio was proud to present there this past Saturday.
Before we get into that adventure though, work has also been continuing on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened!
Creating a game such as Serafina’s Saga: Awakened means dicing the various aspects into scrumptious bits and then figuring out the perfect combination to make a tasty stew, or moreso an exciting, intriguing adventure when you load up the game on your computer or elsewhere next year.
Jezu’s path is currently simmering on the stove as the spices are blended and sprinkled in to enhance just the right moments. I hope you like it spicy because the past couple of weeks have seen not just the drawing of a new Jezu CG, but also work on a new Jezu and Serafina romance CG! If your lucky we may just include a portion of that in the next Dev Update.
Nikolaos’ path has ingredients in various mixing bowls at the moment. This is where the planning and outlining of the path takes place. As parts of the recipe come together more and more pages of Nikolaos’ path are written each week. This will also provide direction for the visual and audio aspects so as to feed your senses in every way.
In other development, a long interview scene involving Kaifu has been blocked out. You might be asking, who is Kaifu? We haven’t revealed much about them just yet, but they are an angsty librarian descended from both the god of sorrow and the god of joy, eternally torn between the two. They are also voiced by a previous writer of Woodsy Studio, Malcolm Pierce!
Additionally, the process to submit Serafina’s Saga: Awakened to various publishers for consideration has begun.
Last but not least, Woodsy Studio had a great time at SLICE expo! We’d like to thank everyone who stopped by the Woodsy Studio booth to talk about the Studio’s games, check out the video montage of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened gameplay, and who took home new artwork for their walls. For those who could not make it to SLICE, this is the latest print debuted by Woodsy Studio:
The picture doesn’t do the iridescent foil of the print justice, but I know I cannot wait to get it into a frame! If you missed out on this print you can still see some of these characters in action by checking out the Serafina’s Saga: Awakened demo on Steam or itch.io Think of it as an appetizer for your full Serafina’s Saga: Awakened meal next year!
Greetings everyone! It has been a busy couple of weeks at Woodsy Studio as work continues on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened and preparations are made for SLICE expo.
Progress continues on writing pages of Nikolaos Perin’s story path. He is enthusiastic to have his story told, but is he someone who can truly live up to his promises?
Jezu Grandil’s story path is also coming together. With the writing of the path complete and voice acting received, scene blocking is the latest step in the process. The current focus is on interactions between Jezu and his older sister Belatrix Grandil. Belatrix is Commander of the Royal Guard at Castle Krondolee. Someone of Belatrix’ stature deserves an awesome pose and that is what we have to present this week, with assistance from Gene Kelly of Volcano Bean, a friend of Woodsy Studio:
Now that this new Belatrix art has been created, new expressions are being made to fit the pose. This latest Belatrix art is also being imported into Creature to be animated. The style of animated art seen in Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is new to Woodsy Studio’s games. If you haven’t already, I highly encourage you to check out the demo on Steam or itch.io so you can experience for yourself how cool the animated characters look!
The Jezu and Belatrix interactions are not the only scene currently being blocked out on Jezu’s path. Another voiced scene featuring Jezu has also been blocked out featuring an action-packed training sequence! I wonder who wins the most when Jezu and Serafina spar together? Speaking of action, code has been tweaked to fix attack animations for characters further from the camera. There are so many layers that go into creating the desired look and feel you’ll experience when playing through this story. Additionally, sound is just as important and a new song has been composed.
As mentioned above, time has also been spent getting ready for SLICE and I’m excited to show you the brand new postcards you can pick up at the Woodsy Studio’s booth:
The postcards feature a selection of favorite characters from Woodsy Studio’s biggest releases. I know I cannot wait to hold one in my hands! SLICE is just a week and a half away. As a reminder, SLICE will be held on Saturday October 14th from 10 am to 5 pm at The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108. We are excited to talk to you in person then!
This week, as with many weeks, saw progress on many aspects of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened. There are a lot of moving pieces in bringing a game to you. All aspects influence each other and thus it is never simply a matter of, for instance, completing all the writing and then moving on to the music. Creative inspiration comes from all directions.
I am not actually behind any of these creative decisions myself. You may have seen my name pop up as the author of last week’s blog post. I’m lucky to be privy to some of the behind the scenes work at Woodsy Studio and I’m just excited to be here relaying the latest on Serafina’s Saga: Awakened’s development to you. Seeing all the thought and heart come together amazes me. It’s much more than simply putting a game out there. When I play Woodsy Studio’s games I feel enveloped in the stories. I feel the need for these stories to be out there for everyone and I hope you experience them too. While I await Serafina Saga: Awakened‘s release with you, I highly encourage you to check out (or revisit!) Woodsy Studio’s most recent release,Crimson Spires, on Steam and itch.io, not to mention PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.
Back to the topic at hand, I’d like to tell you more about what specifically has happened in the development of Serafina’s Saga: Awakened this week. Writing-wise, more pages have been scripted for Nikolaos Perin’s path. I have not read these yet, but knowing Nikolaos I’m guessing there is a flair for the dramatic. There is probably also some mischievous things in play considering he’s a follower of Lokke…
The “Perin” in Nikolaos Perin indicates he could be a significant member of House Perin, despite his current role as a Royal Scout in King Kallias’ army. The Duma House Leader of Perin will play a role in the story and I’m excited to bring you her portrait as the first of two new pieces of art this week:
Work also continues on Jezu Grandil’s path. As mentioned last week, scripting is complete. Turning the script into game scenes involves a process Jenny calls blocking, and some of Jezu’s scenes were blocked in this week. I’ll talk more about blocking in a future post, but suffice to say it probably isn’t what our favorite faithful general thinks of as “blocking.” It’s a combination of coding and decision-making that results in something akin to “blocking” for a stage performance.
Also as mentioned last week, scripts have gone out for additional scene dialogue. The voice talent is hard at work recording and returning their lines. Some of this additional dialogue is back already and new voice acting for Kallias has been edited into the game. I haven’t heard these lines myself, but knowing Kallias I can only imagine they are pure gold.
Music can be just as important as voice acting in generating the right feel for a story at any given point. Part of that can come from the key used with a significant difference to the feel of a piece of music just from adapting it from a major key to a minor key. This week saw the creation of a minor version of the Krondolee theme for dynamic music changes via FMOD.
Now I’m excited to share another new piece of art with you. This is the character art for the Duma House Leader of Pajari!
Finally, as we look to SLICE coming up on October 14th, progress has been made on the shiny art prints that we hope to have available that day. I’m very excited about these and hope to share more with you soon. Oh, and if you haven’t you can still check out the Serafina’s Saga: Awakened demo on Steam and itch.io!
Greetings everyone! Development continues for Serafina’s Saga: Awakened. If you are interested in romancing the General of the Royal Guard you will be eager to know that scripting of Jezu Grandil’s path was recently completed. This means it is time for more voice acting. Scripts for additional scene dialogue have been sent to the voice talent for Jezu, Kallias Jeridar, Xavier Wolven, Belatrix Grandil, and Arken. While awaiting the dialogue to come in, scripting has begun on the path of a character you’ve met in the demo, the playful–and perhaps deceiving–Nikolaos Perin.
In the Jezu romance path, you must help Jezu face the life choice he has made to serve King Kallias as a faithful General, never questioning orders. Should an oath be unconditional? What does it mean to be honorable? Help Jezu confront these difficult questions when you partner with him, and all while civil war erupts in Castle Krondolee.
Meanwhile, as mentioned in last week’s blog post, the Serafina’s Saga: Awakened Demo is available not only on Steam, but also itch.io. Itch focuses on independent digital creators and independent video games. In other words, developers such as Woodsy Studio! itch.io gives more control to game developers over how their content is sold, and more revenue from those sales generally goes back to the developers. Most Woodsy Studio games are available on itch.io.
Woodsy Studio occasionally steps outside the digital realm and next month we will be exhibiting at SLICE! Formerly the St. Louis Small Press Expo, SLICE stimulates the independent literary, small press, and indie publishing communities. We are excited to be showcasing Woodsy Studio’s latest visual novel, Serafina’s Saga: Awakened. You will have the chance to meet the creator, see choice sections of the demo, and take home some shiny art for your walls. Please join us for SLICE 2023 on October 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Sheldon, 3648 Washington Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108. While you are there you can also check out some of the other best independent literary talents from St. Louis and around the country. We look forward to seeing you soon!
Greetings everyone! It has been some time since I posted an update. But I’m happy to say that development for Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is still progressing strongly.
If you have been following me over the past few years, you know that I’ve hit a few creative hiccups. Finishing Crimson Spires and publishing with East Asia Soft was a gratifying achievement that I remain quite happy about. But as often happens after riding a big high, a rough downward slope followed after.
Malcolm Pierce left his role as partner of Woodsy Studio, leaving me (Jenny) as the sole writer and developer. Although this is how I originally began Woodsy Studio, returning to solo development after years of partnership has been a difficult journey. I was also in the midst of some heart-wrenching life changes that took a toll on my creativity.
Altogether, I had a year or more of very low creative output. I started and stopped projects that never got finished. But eventually, I decided to go back to my origins: the first visual novel I ever made. And since then, I have been completely remaking Serafina’s Saga. I’m writing all new scripts, drawing new art, building 3D environments, remixing old music, and composing fresh tunes. And I’m having a blast doing it. I’m also now working with an awesome voice cast to bring the characters to life, as well as some other creative colleagues (including Malcolm Pierce) who are helping me with some elements of the game.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the trailer for a sneak peak at how it’s all coming together:
Thanks to all of you new and old followers who have played my previous games and encourage me to keep creating. I appreciate your patience as I work on this new journey for you, and I hope you will love it when it’s complete!
I cannot provide a solid release date as of yet, but my aim is to release in early 2024. So stay tuned!
Thank you so much to everyone who auditioned! It was a very hard decision because there were so many great auditions! The roles have been cast as follows:
Serafina’s Saga: Awakened is a complete remake of the original Serafina’s Saga, released first in 2013 then remastered in 2014. The new version is an otome-style visual novel made in UE4. The script will be mostly rewritten, the art entirely redrawn, and the music remixed. Intrigue, romance, and drama combine in a rich fantasy world with animated character sprites and lush 3D environments.
Young Serafina has spent her entire life alone in the jungle with only her guardian, a mysterious man named Arken, as company. When Arken is captured by a group of soldiers and carried away, Serafina must venture outside the forest to save him. On her journey to the heart of the kingdom, Serafina discovers a whole new world beyond the shadows of the jungle.
As Serafina, you will mingle with noble warriors and salacious nobles to infiltrate the royalty of Castle Krondolee and save Arken. But in the process, you will become entangled in a wide web of relationships, schemes, and beliefs that may set you on a different path than the one you began. Learn the dark truth of Arken’s past and thus Serafina’s. Decide whom to trust, fight, or love. Your choice will change the fate of the entire kingdom.
Serafina as she appears in Serafina’s Saga: Awakened
Expected Work and Payment
Payment will be $0.10 per scripted word, with a minimum of $0.25 per line (for instance, a very short line or sound instead of a word).
*Side Note This project is early in development. Please be aware that batches of scene dialogue might be requested in gradual stages, such as once every few months over the course of a year or longer as the game nears completion.
Rating/Maturity
This game will contain mild adult language, violence, and sexual themes. Romance lines might get a little racy. I expect it to get rated somewhere in the Teen category (but I can’t officially say yet for sure).
Audition Process
Please record the included audition lines for the roles that interest you and send them in either .wav or .mp3 format to jenny (at) woodsy-studio (dot) com. Please include your name and the character name in the files, such as “YourName_CharacterName.mp3”. Multiple takes and styles are highly encouraged so I have a good sense of your range. The last day to audition will be Sunday, April 3, 2022.
WHAT I LOOK FOR WHEN CASTING: When I cast voice actors, what I care about most is acting ability and emotional expression. This is more important to me than vocal range, accent, or other secondary details. Although I generally don’t judge your audition on a resume or past roles, I *am* impressed when voice actors to have theater experience, so feel free to mention that if you have it.
As for demonstrating your ability to act, try to fully embody the character your voicing and let their personality shine through every line. Major bonus points if you can somehow help me see the character in a new way I never even thought of before. Err on the side of feeding an audition line too much emotion rather than too little; I always know I can ask you to tone it down, but I don’t always know whether you can kick it up a notch (and do it well).
SIDE NOTE ABOUT ACCENTS: Due to this game’s setting of a diverse fantasy world, the accent of some characters can be whatever sounds best. Those characters will have the note “Accent: Optional.” You could do normal American, British, Australian… or whatever strikes your fancy as feeling good for that character. That said, please don’t be too sloppy or or extreme with using accents to the point it distracts; the focus should still be on the emotion of the character.
Some characters have had previous voice actors from the original animation. If so, it might be helpful for you to listen to the previous voice actors as a starting point. But don’t feel obligated to copy them exactly. I’m open to new interpretations of the characters if they’re good ones!
CHARACTERS!
Nikolaos Perin
Nikolaos Perin
(Male, Love Interest) Nikolaos is a playful spirit trapped in the harsh role of a Royal Scout in King Kallias’s army. He descends from the noble House Perin, so he’s obligated to some involvement in the royal complications of Castle Krondolee. But if he could, he’d actually spend his life as a theater actor, performing dramatic roles on stage! He’s compassionate and light-hearted by nature, but he has a slight dark side: in a conflict, he’ll take the easy way out to avoid more trouble, whether it’s running away or deceiving the people around him.
OVERALL PERSONALITY: Playful, enthusiastic, but annoyed when people make his life more difficult AGE: 20s ACCENT: British or American (you can hear the original voice actor for Nikolaos here: https://youtu.be/ZMVwmMJrCbQ?t=706 but don’t feel like you have to copy it, just use it for inspiration)
***********Audition Lines************ Line 1: (playful, flirty) “Seems to me like you need to relax. Let’s get out of here. How about I give you a private tour of the castle?” Line 2: (flustered, angry)“Hey! Any more of that and I will break this thing, got it?” Line 3: (nervous, dodging) “Oh, that’s just servants’ gossip. I bet the story got passed around and exaggerated. You know how it is! *nervous laugh*”
Jezu Grandil
Jezu Grandil
(Male, Love Interest) Jezu Grandil is the General of the Royal Guard and he takes this role very seriously. His father died on duty when Jezu was very young. Jezu now wants to continue his family’s military tradition, but he wants to win and survive. This can lead to Jezu being cold, ruthless, and unforgiving on the outside. But underneath his harsh demeanor, he has a fragile heart that never wants to see his loved ones suffer.
OVERALL PERSONALITY: Dignified, Proud, Often cold, but occasionally that cracks and he shows his soft/caring side AGE: Late 20s ACCENT: Optional
***********Audition Lines************
Line 1: (cold, haughty) “Becoming a member of the Royal Guard is no simple matter. But you’re free to try, as freely as you might fail.” Line 2: (angry, threatening) “You are not ready for this, fool. Make a single misstep and I’ll smear you through the dirt.” Line 3: (guilty, upset) “I made a mistake. I never should have put you in that position. I deserve… to be punished.”
Kallias Jeridar
Kallias Jeridar
(Male/Gender-Fluid) Made King of Darzia at a young age, Kallias always intended to do what was best for the kingdom. But his idea of “what’s best” is flooding the kingdom with gold at the expense of everything else: including food, shelter, and all the things one would usually spend gold to obtain. Kallias descends from Mallion, the god of greed, and his personal greed for gold is insatiable. So he remains blind to his country’s starvation while he tirelessly works to acquire more gold.
Beyond his greed and kingly pride, Kallias still possesses a child-like personality that never quite grew up. He’s quick to throw a tantrum or chase after a promising prize. He can be playful, friendly, and humorous–when he’s not busy starving the country.
OVERALL PERSONALITY: Spoiled, Playful, Greedy AGE: 20s ACCENT: British (you can hear the original voice actor for Kallias here: https://youtu.be/ZMVwmMJrCbQ?t=884 but don’t feel like you have to copy it, just use it for inspiration)
***********Audition Lines************
Line 1: (flustered) “No, no, no! I’ve counted each one of them several times now. And every time, I come up with a different number!” Line 2: (joyful, excited) “Well well well! Isn’t this a surprise! Show me what you can do! How about one of those Wolven dance… thingies.” Line 3: (flippant sadness, disdain) “Too bad for the Elborns, divine magic was not enough to save their lives.”
Xavier Wolven
Xavier Wolven
(Male) Descended from Belazar, god of anger and death, Xavier is a devoted Wolven assassin. His passion is to kill and he’s very damn good at it. He’s not exactly the type of person you invite to a party–unless you want someone dead.
Xavier is not always just a hired hand, of course. He has his own needs, desires, and grievances. Right now, his desire is to kill Arken Jeridar. He thinks Arken destroyed the best chance of love he ever had with a woman named Vivian Trell. That was 18 years ago… but Xavier’s not the type to let go of a grudge.
OVERALL PERSONALITY: Dangerous, discerning, Cold and callous until sparked to anger AGE: Unknown, appears to be in 40s/50s ACCENT: Optional
***********Audition Lines************
Line 1: (Cold, threatening) “Do you know who I am? I could slit your throat right now and no one would challenge me.” Line 2: (annoyed, then uncertain/interested) “I don’t want tea. I want you to leave me alone until–… is that ginseng?” Line 3: (angry, hurt, passionate) “It has to do with EVERYTHING! You miserable pondscum. You seduced her. You won her affection. You made her believe you cared about more than the key. You LIED.”
Belatrix Grandil
Belatrix Grandil
(Female, Possible Love Interest) Belatrix is the Commander of the Royal Guard and she’s good at her job. Like her younger brother Jezu, she takes her role seriously and works to maintain the noble military traditions of House Grandil. Unlike Jezu, however, she harbors some doubts about the current structure of Castle Krondolee. She is a personal friend of King Kallias, but as such, she also questions his ability to rule the country. Most of the time, she keeps her doubts silent, and leads the army ruthlessly under Kallias’s supervision. But if she sees a chance to change the world for the better, she might take it.
OVERALL PERSONALITY: Strong, proud, ruthless AGE: Late 20s/early 30s ACCENT: Optional (you can hear the original voice actor for Belatrix here: https://youtu.be/ZMVwmMJrCbQ?t=945 but don’t feel like you have to copy it, just use it for inspiration)
***********Audition Lines************
Line 1: (cold, ruthless) “The Grand Traitor is the scum of this planet. He has no honor. No loyalty. No principles. He cannot be ‘talked’ to. The truth must be wrested out of him, but carefully, like pulling the heart from an animal before it stops beating.” Line 2: (Uncertain, In Denial) “That can’t be true. The queen’s daughter did not survive. I only took up this search to prove that.” Line 3: (angry, taunting) “COWARD! You would spy on us from the shadows, then flee when you fail to hide yourself?”
Valerie Sparkov
Valerie Sparkov
(Female, Romance Interest) Valerie is a farmer living on the outskirts of Darzia–in more ways than one. She is a free spirit who has never “fit in” anywhere, so she often keeps to herself and dances to her own tune. After meeting Serafina, she’s drawn to follow her to Castle Krondolee and embark upon a new adventure with her. But Valerie has no set agenda of her own. If anything, she just likes to throw chaos upon the rigid nobility and see what happens next.
OVERALL PERSONALITY: Mischievous, Cheerful, Playful, maybe a little crazy AGE: 20s ACCENT: Optional
***********Audition Lines************
Line 1: (happy, flirty) “I’m happy I met you, jungle princess. I like a little danger in my life.” Line 2:(uncertain, whimsical) “And what will I get in return? Can you give me joy? Can you give me sustenance, for my body or soul?” Line 3: (annoyed, mischievous) “This castle is a hornet’s nest. But I’ve dealt with those before. I think it’s time you and I did some swatting.”
Instructions (Refrain)
Once again, please record the included audition lines for the role that interests you and send them in either .wav or .mp3 format to jenny (at) woodsy-studio (dot) com. Multiple takes and styles are highly encouraged so I have a good sense of your range. The last day to audition will be Sunday, April 3, 2022.
It’s probably cliche at this point to say: we live in difficult times. Even so, it is true. For the past seven months (all of this year so far), I have struggled with creative inspiration. There are so many possible explanations for why I feel blocked. It’s all too easy to make a list of the prime suspects:
Existential depression from global pandemic
Year-long isolation from normal social structures
Loss of ambition due to reaching certain career goals (actually a good thing… ?)
Large emotional upheaval from experiencing huge romantic relationship changes in the last year
Loss of creative partnership
Post-vaccination restlessness to get away from my computer and related work
… I could probably keep going. But you get the point.
As this seven-month-long creative stagnation has dragged on, I have often crafted a mental list like the one above and tried to pick a single culprit. Once I do, I try to forge a plan to overcome that specific struggle, whether within my ongoing work or outside of it. But none of those plans have worked. Some of them are beyond my control. Others have no simple solution. In any case, fixing one would not fix the others.
One of the most confusing aspects of my blockage was that I normally obtain therapeutic healing through my creative process. How could I evolve from these life trials without my art? Had I changed so much that I no longer needed that creative outlet?
It was only through a long period of time, extensive talks with my former creative partner (Malcolm), and discussion with colleagues that I started to hone in on a singular problem I could fix.
The story I was writing no longer resonated with me.
Amidst life and world upheaval, this last problem hid more secretly, tripping all my attempts to wrestle the other demons. It was easier to blame my stagnation on the bigger issues in my life rather than the relationship with my creation itself. I DO process my feelings through story and creative expression. But the story I was trying to tell no longer expressed my feelings, even though I conceived it less than a year ago.
To give you a little more background, the story was called Incognis. It was a sci-fi romantic drama about a woman who found rare love and happiness within a polyamorous quad, only to throw it away for the sake of selfish ambition. The inspiration for this idea came from tumultuous emotions at a very specific time in my life.
I was nesting romantically with a quad during the pandemic
I wrestled with polar extremes of happiness and misery
I blamed myself for the misery–but would later realize it arose from toxic emotions from one of my partners
I was at the peak of self-focused ambition, having just lost my creative partner while trying to finish the studio’s biggest release yet
All of these intense emotions led to the conception of Incognis, and with good reason. During that specific period, the story of Incognis was a fitting expression of my emotional turmoil. But at the beginning of this year–around the same time I actually started working on Incognis–those personal emotions shifted. Life experiences and loved ones helped me overcome those struggles, rather than my art.
In retrospect, it becomes easy to see such patterns. But for seven months, I operated under the belief that I still needed to make Incognis. I blamed my creative blockage on that first list, rather than the nature of my creation itself. When you have been your own boss of your own studio for eight years, you learn to push yourself past periods of self-doubt and temporary blockage. But in this case, I pushed myself too far, and everything else suffered as a result.
At long last, I have decided to scrap my previous plans for Incognis. I will take some extra time to recharge and let some new ideas simmer. Most likely, I will still use a few scraps from Incognis in the form of assets and environment designs. But the story and characters will get a complete overhaul, leading to something new and truer to my current state of self.
As always, I hope you will enjoy the result, though it might take longer to create. What use is art if it doesn’t come from the truth within ourselves?
As we all know, 2020 has been rife with crises and challenges, not the least of which is COVID-19. You probably don’t need me to go into much more detail. A horrible illness has swept across the world spreading anxiety, death, and isolation. Circa March, most of us stopped going out or seeing anyone who didn’t live under our roof. The lucky among us are still healthy, but probably spending most of their time at home while socially distancing from most of their friends and family. But in the midst of all this, I must point out one personal boon that has come from my experience:
This is an amazing time to be working on Crimson Spires.
Crimson Spires is about the isolation of a small town, the collapse of human reason, and the vampiric nature of capitalism upon the lower rungs of the working class. While all of these problems are being highlighted in the real world, Malcolm and I have been exploring these themes within the narrative of Crimson Spires.
For these reasons and more, we can’t wait to share this story with the rest of the world. We hope it will be a source of catharsis, reflection, and entertainment in the midst of these dark times.
We are currently aiming for a release date of October 27, 2020, the week of Halloween! Thank you for bearing with us as we continue to work on the game; we know we have pushed the release date so many times! We will push it again if we must in order to ensure that this game is the best it can be. But we can’t wait to share this game with you all, and we will do our best to make that happen soon!
