Developer Diary 105

 

Over the last month I worked with the SFX asset sheet, that I had previously created a couple of months earlier and finished 70 SFX. Working on Sound files and creating ambient atmospheres (Caves, Forests, Palaces) is probably my favorite work among all the other stuff I do. I have no words for how relaxing it is to listen to different sounds of recorded thunderstorms and rain sound files and use them to piece together a coherent atmosphere for the game world.

I also fought a lot with myself about how to implement music during daytime when Jonah is traveling through different outdoor segments of the maze. I recorded several pieces of music on my pianos and wrote a couple of guitar underscores, but they would constantly battle with all ambient SFX and when I started working on the boon SFX it became obvious, that the gameworld needs silence more than anything else. I don't want to plaster music and sound everywhere and so I decided to give boons and gems individual notes played by orchestral chimes and crotales. They are all part of the same C#minor scale and every time when Jonah picks up an elemental a different note corresponding to its type is played. It sounds a little bit like wind-chimes .... very peaceful .... I like it much better this way. I will still use music inside the dharmapala cathedrals, but will refrain from doing so in any outdoor locations. This way all the sounds I worked on (frogs at night, insects by day, rivers, waterfalls, trees a.s.o.) can be heard and won't be buried underneath layers of score.

I keep listening a lot to Bon Iver these days. I used to listen to their songs a lot when I was studying in the Netherlands and I think I really should stop doing that, because even though this music is so heartbreakingly beautiful it sometimes makes me a bit depressed. But at least I'm making great progress on all fronts of my life at the moment. It's tough, but it's always tough when you're trying to do something big. Next month I will finish all boon SFX and UI SFX. I also hope to finish some dharmapala SFX and if I keep my pace up I will be able to finish the entire sound by Christmas including implementation. It will still be necessary to add more SFX later, since I hope to add more dharmapalas and enemies soon. But by that time I will at least have a playable coherent demo with sound, start menu, UI and music.

Developer Diary 104: Palace Suites - 60 Minutes Of Music - Two Months Of Work

Tonight I finished the last palace suite for Lakini's Woods. These are scores that will be heard when Jonah steps into the Dharmapala's cathedrals for the very first time, when he encounters the Dharmapala's themselves or as underscores while exploring each corresponding area.

During the next two months I will be working on acoustic underscores and SFX for the maze itself. I had my pianos tuned to 432 Hertz and I'm curious of whether I can get a decent effect out of this. I will be working with acoustic guitar as well. Let's see how it turns out.

Developer Diary 103 - Water Palace Theme

More are to come ...

Developer Diary 102 - Working On Palace Scoring Suites

At the moment I am working on a couple of scoring suites, that will make up the background music of Lakini's Woods. I have made decent progress over the last couple of weeks and I will release a bunch of them at the end of this month.


 

Developer Diary 101 - Fear & Perseverance

Over the last two months I have created two asset lists for music and SFX and pulled a ton of SFX audio from soundrangers. I categorized them and set up Pro Tools sessions for music and SFX.

I originally planned to finish all SFX by the end of May, but as always life got in between. I'm genuinely afraid I'm working too slow, getting too little progress done. But I can't neglect my girlfriend, my family or my job. There is little in my life I have ever wanted more than to create this world and yet I feel constantly torn between my responsibilities and my passions.

There is a part of me that won't allow me to quit, whatever happens. It would feel like the ultimate betrayal, as if I would cut out a part of myself. I catch myself sitting at the piano, playing Lakini's theme over and over again. Improvising while closing my eyes .... I lose myself completely ... and for a second I am back there, inside the woods, trying to find the light I so desperately need.

Surviving as a musician means, that you constantly have to be on guard. Your next paycheque is never secure and your network, your professional performance and discipline determines whether you will survive. It takes constant maintenance and effort to grow and learn.

Ever since my dog died I noticed that I have grown weiry of my everyday life. She used to bring so much energy and light into my life. Now that she's gone I'm sometimes struggling during times when I'm alone. I grow tired and cynical and I don't want to be this way. I'm used to pulling myself back up when I'm knocked down, so this is nothing new to me. But it's hard at times to maintain a steady routine or constant effort in order to persevere.

I have this vision of myself lying in the sun. I am close to a river and I can hear the sound of flowing water in my ears. The wind in the trees, the sun on my face .... I just drift off and clear my mind for the first time in years. I believe in that moment and I want it to happen. I will do what I can to make it happen. Whatever it takes ....

Developer Diary 100 - Final UI Layout

After 2 months of work. This is the final layout of Lakini's Woods UI.

Developer Diary 99 - UI Development Progress

These last couple of weeks I have been working on various UI Interfaces. Here are the most recent versions:

I will in all likelihood settle on the last one: gothic windows with glass mosaic paintings of dharmapalas. There's still a lot of work ahead. I need to replace each individual color segment with individual screenshots tinted with colors corresponding to each element.