A Brain of a Game | Dev Log 6

[header image: A screenshot from my Obsidian Vault of notes.]

With all that has been coming around in my life lately I haven't been working on the game much. Really this year at all, and that is because it was never part of my plan for this year.

I had solidly planned out a content strategy for myself, and between ChatGPT (more than just for Phasevos) and Phasevos itself. They both threw a curve ball at me changing my course.

I spent the entire first month of this year working on the game, and then from there just here and there. However it through off my content production, and I was thinking months later "man why am I so behind on this stuff"? For example my video game channel has been lagging behind, and I think it was because of what I chose to focus on early on in the year.

That is okay, it was completely worth it.

However it is important to note that I think the game's success is dependent on the success of that gaming channel.

What did I do all last month?

I am actually writing my monthly "Now Page" right after this, I do that on the first, and the Dev Logs on 2nd. However they are usually pretty similar, but this is focused on the game.

Two big things happened last month:

I lost the artist that was helping me create the designs for the creatures. I think what happened was that there was a language barrier. When I would ask for tweaks or give an opinion on a design I was pretty light-hearted in my intent. I mean it is a game, and it isn't coming out for a while.

No reason to be demanding is what I mean. However perhaps the artist thought I was asking for too much or something. They had made proto designs for an idea for my fourth starter, that is one of the few creatures that did not have AI generated beta designs. However it took a while to grow on me, and I mention to them that I'd probably want to buy the full design later. Now I can't I guess!

This is a set back, and I really have no idea why they are no longer interested. I always paid well.

The second thing was a Second Brain!

On a more positive note I have been building out my second brain, which for those who don't know is basically a life operating system or productivity management system.

Now I had one before actually, in Notion.so, but I recently (as in the whole month last month) moved to Obsidian.md. The reason being is for the synergy between notes. As a note taking app from the get go, each page has it's own ability to link to the other pages. In notion that all had to be manual, and it was actually really difficult to get working right.

I mean that in the particular usage of the app itself, and in Phasevos specifically. For example I had a database of locations, there are about 40 in the game (which is a lot for a first game). Each location has buildings, people, and quests. All three of which have their own databases as well.

I had to link to each database on the locations database, and while that wasn't too hard it was clunky. Couldn't really see it all at once either.

Well the reason why I am making so many databases, and working on it the way I am is because of the COMPLEXITY of a game like this. There are so many rabbit holes many solo developers could fall into. However I am a data guy, I love working my hands dirty trying to keep up with all of this. Since I know how to manage a lot of data, that is one of the main reasons why I figured I could handle it.

Point is. In Obsidian you can link pages together much more smoothly/quickly, and so I can get a whole overview. Instead of a tiny little box from the database where all of the linked pages are bunched together. Now I can make sections on the location page, and link each page (still is manually) in a nice row. Particularly in order of when you interact with them as well too.

While not progress, it is still progress

I made it a goal of mine to make these dev logs every month, even if I didn't do a whole lot. However I think this post itself would be helpful to a lot of indie devs out there. Not everyone thinks about data/information management the way I do, and I think that is something a lot of people could learn from. Honestly I am really happy to teach others, and if you tell me you saw this post I'll do it for free (I usually get paid for coaching).

While I am excited for this new system for all aspects of my life, this honestly has a lot of potential for Phasevos. There is even a dialogue plugin too, so I can write all of the games conversations in this as well. Timelines for keeping track of story, plot, lore, and more.