Prototype Devlog

When looking back at the feedback I recieved from the class on my original idea, I realized a large part of the appeal for the game came from the loop aspect of the game, and have to sort of solve the puzzle of the game over multiple attempts. With my first prototype, I looked to use Twine as that would allow me to create the story and test out the system of different choices affecting later points of the game. Twine was perfect for this as it would let me easily create branching paths with different interactions in a text based format.

One thing that this prototype really helped me figure out is absolutely how important the dialogue and story for the game will be. Without a captivating story and dialogue between the characters, this will simply be a loop-based puzzle game lacking in any substance that helps other puzzle games stand out.

Twine was actually the perfect tool for this as it allowed me to solely focus on the story and dialogue and realize some issue I will need to fix with the future iterations of the game. The biggest issue is that current story feeling like a beat-to-beat narrative instead of one that will flow nicely. Although I am not too concerned as I am still in the process of ironing out the rest of the story and many interactions will changed once the game is out of it's text based prototype, the story feels like the most important step for me to tackle in the coming days. 

A small issue I see possible work needing to be done on is the importance of certain choices. In the prototype there are choices which are lacking in substance and relevance, which happens in many choice based stories. I need to fix this, as a big appeal for a game like this is to make the player feel like their choices matter and that there wont be wasted time in what they choose to do (Unless that is the point to push the narritive).