Progress report (20231225) (Patreon)

It's the end of the year, and every time I think about it, I wonder how it's going to be the end of the year so soon.

I originally wanted to finish Castle of temptation this year, but my mental and physical problems were more serious than I thought.

I took a break from the beginning of June until December, and it took me half a year to get back to a state where I felt I could continue to create.

In fact, I wasn't in the best shape even before the lab was finished, but I didn't think much of it at the time and continued working on the Chapel.

As a result, it took me a year and a half to complete this stage.

If I had realized this earlier, I would have moved out when the lab was finished.

I realized that I had been too optimistic until I was actually exposed to the reality of the situation.

I wrote a lot about what I complained about when I moved out in June, so I won't repeat it here.

The other thing is the production schedule of the game, I forget if I mentioned it, just pretend I didn't mention it.

I think when a game's production schedule is stretched over a year and a half or even two years, it becomes very difficult to continue creating.

Especially for independent or small team production organizations like us, this time can be considered a watershed.

Once this time is exceeded, the feeling of powerlessness that comes from a long period of production without any return becomes very obvious, and the efficiency of the whole production will drop dramatically.

This is the conclusion I have drawn from my own experience and from observing other teams.

Of course, there are creators with extraordinary perseverance, but I don't think I can afford to spend too much time on the same game.

So I think it's time for Castle to end.

There is the impact of not being able to get it on steam, but I now feel that even if Castle were to be sold on steam, I would probably end up making Castle here in the chapel.

On one hand, I can't stand long term production, on the other hand, I want to try to do other types of games.

Another big problem is that I feel that the content of the game I've made has deviated from what players want.

Looking back at Castle's four stages, I think I did the best job with the Doll House, in terms of content and atmosphere.

As for the Laboratory and the Chapel, I tried to make them more informative at first, but I missed out on what they should have been.

Now that I've gone back and looked at those two stages, it's obvious that they shouldn't have been like that.

But it's impossible for me to redesign them.

Anyway, I'm going to carry this experience with me into my future work, and hopefully I'll be able to remember these mistakes and make a better game.

But before I do that, I need to finish the end of Castle.

After Castle is over, I'll post my plans for the rest of the game.

And...

Happy Christmas and Happy New Year!

Unused case ③

I actually posted this character design in an earlier draft.

But I think I'll change her costume design again if I want to use her.

New cover artwork for Castle of temptation

This is a commissioned artwork, and it's not finished yet, so I'm looking forward to it.

It looks like he's put a really scary character on it, but I like it.

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年底了，每次這時候就會想怎麼這麼快又年底了。

本來想在今年完成Castle of temptation，只是身心狀況不佳的問題比我想像的嚴重。

從今年6月初搬出去開始休息到了12月，花了半年的時間才勉強拉回到我覺得可以繼續創作的狀態。

其實在實驗室快完成之前的狀態就不太好了，但我當時並沒有多想就接續禮拜堂的製作。

結果就是這個關卡花了長達一年半的時間才完成。

如果早點意識到這個問題，應該在實驗室完成那時候就該搬出去了。

在實際接觸到現實的情況才知道，自己的想法還是太樂觀了。

至於抱怨了什麼事情在6月搬出去那時候就打了許多，就不在這裡重複了。

而另一件是就是遊戲製作時程的問題，我忘記自己有沒有提過，就當我沒提過好了。

我覺得當一款遊戲的製作時程被拉超過一年半甚至兩年的時候，要繼續創作下去就會變得相當難熬。

尤其對我們這種獨立製作或者是小團隊的製作團體來說，這個時間可以說是一個分水嶺。

一但超過這個時間，那種長期製作卻沒有任何回報的無力感會變得非常明顯，整個製作效率也會大幅下降。

這是我自己的經驗以及觀察其他團隊的狀況得出來的結論。

當然也有毅力非凡的創作者，但我覺得我並沒有辦法花太長的時間在同一款遊戲的製作上。

所以我覺得Castle是該結束了。

當然無法上架到steam上的影響也是有的，但現在感覺就算Castle能上steam，我很可能也會在禮拜堂這裡結束Castle的製作。

一方面是長期製作真的受不了，一方面是想嘗試製作其他類型的遊戲。

還有一個大問題是我覺得我製作出來的遊戲內容已經偏離玩家所想要的了。

現在回顧Castle的四個關卡，就以關卡內容以及整個氣氛來說，我覺得自己做最好的是人偶館。

至於實驗室跟禮拜堂，當初為了想做多一點的內容，反而少了該有的東西。

現在回去看那兩個關卡，才明顯感覺到不應該是這樣的。

但現在要重新設計也不可能了。

總之我會將這些製作經驗帶到之後的作品，希望自己能記取這些錯誤並做出更好的遊戲。

不過在這之前，我得好好做完Castle的結局才行。

等Castle結束後，我會發布之後遊戲創作的計畫。

最後

祝各位聖誕節、新年快樂喔！

未用案③

這個角色其實我有在早期的草稿上發布過。

不過我覺得真的要使用的話，應該還會再改一下她的服裝設計。

Castle of temptation的新封面線稿

這張圖是委託繪師畫的，目前這張圖還沒完成，我很期待他的完稿。

不過他好像把一個很恐怖的角色畫上去了，雖然我還滿喜歡的。