Devlog
What changed, and what comes next.
Dated notes from the build and a plain roadmap. Direction, not promises: there is no release date yet, and the first public step will be a demo of Act 1.
Latest
Progress notes.
Art Direction Bible, Vol. II
One document for look, light, camera, sound and dialogue. It sets low-poly as the main look, keeps pixel view optional and hands the dialogue interface, logo and typeface to İhsan.
Checks and save safety
A save file with impossible values is now rejected instead of loaded, and an independent test run came back 301 out of 301 on Windows. The bar rush now ends after ten served orders, which we still want to play-test.
Act 1 is the first night
The jam slice grows into one whole opening night. The opening scene is still being chosen, and we stop updating the browser build: from here on we build for Windows.
Atmosphere director and doorway sound
Walk up to a door and you now hear the room inside it: bass through a wall, voices, a vinyl hiss, or a silence on purpose. The camera settles closer while you decide.
Storyboard tool and cinematic camera
We write a shot, film it inside the engine and compare it against the sketch, so cutscenes use the same world you play in.
First art pass lands
Fog at the edges, less haze in the forest, a gentle tilt-shift, shorter rain and the mine-lamp sequence: three flickers, an ember, then dark.
Readability pass
Bar stations are labelled and an amber arrow points to the next thing to do. New players should never wonder where the bar is.
Deep Jam II entry submitted
A playable slice from the street to the salt mine, a browser build, a Windows build and a 2:58 pitch.
Roadmap
Where it's going.
Nachtclub is built in acts. Act 1 is the first night, and it becomes the public demo. After that we work in short arcs: build a piece, play it, change it.
Done
In the build today
3D world and camera
Street, club, owner's room, cellar, salt mine, forest. Rotate, zoom, clean or pixel view.
The bar loop
Four stations, patience meters, tips, spills and a crowd that follows the set's energy.
The salt-mine encounter
Non-violent: look, listen, hum, step back. Calm it and the lamps relight.
Atmosphere and saves
Doorway sound, camera settling, autosave and Continue.
Art Direction Bible, Vol. II
One document for look, light, camera, sound and dialogue, published 13 October.
A live sound mixer
Every sound in a scene, its bus and its range, adjustable while the game runs.
Now
Being worked on
Act 1: the first night
One whole act, from the opening scene to the end, closed with a trailer.
Shot-by-shot cinematics
Storyboards written, then filmed inside the engine.
Sound and identity
İhsan designs the dialogue interface, logo and typeface, and replaces our placeholder sounds with original ones.
Next
After Act 1
Daytime
Quiet, open-air hours in the town: people, favours and information that change the next night.
The town, for real
Old town, hanging line and fields get a landmark, a sound, an inhabitant and one consequence each.
Characters
Jule, Doris, Mara and the crew, designed to read from the game camera before faces matter.
Public demo and store page
Once Act 1 is solid. Dates are announced here first.
Exploring
Open questions, not promises
When a night goes wrong
Everyday failures should cost income or a relationship. In danger, a short cut and a return to somewhere safe is the first thing we will try. What death means is still open.
Later acts
Act 1 stays non-violent. What comes after is not decided.
Your traces in the world
A name you chose returning on a sign, in a ledger, in someone's mouth.
More platforms
Windows first. The browser build stays as the jam entry. Consoles are a hope, not a plan.