Engine Work

Greetings, one and all!

I've got a behind-the-scenes update on what I've been working on lately, and it's largely been engine work.

As some of you may recall, I recently announced that I'd be turning some of my attention to working on the next game, while also still doing content updates for Sanctuary in Time. I think I also revealed I was exploring the possibilities of making that next game using the Ren'Py visual novel engine.

Well, I started building a prototype, but after 2 months of frustrated efforts, I had to come to the hard decision to cease work on what I was building in the Ren'Py engine. Ren'Py is a beautifully designed toolset, and I have nothing but respect for RenPyTom (Tom Rothamel, the creator of the Ren'Py engine), but at the end of the day, it just wasn't a good fit for me.

I then realized that a change in tactics was necessary, so I decided to double down on finding ways to achieve the same goals with my existing toolset that I had been hoping to achieve through the Ren'Py engine. 

These were the goals I had in mind:

• Build apps that can toggle between fullscreen & windowed mode, with all contained elements dynamically resizing to accommodate.
• Upgrade the visual appeal of my apps, giving them a more modern, sleek appearance.
• Find ways to insert optional images to dialogue interactions that can be dynamically added & removed during those interactions.

And, I'm happy to report that I've been largely successful in achieving those goals. While the results may not be quite as sleek & advanced as something built using Ren'Py, I think they're still a big upgrade over what I've been doing in the past. And, as I like to remind myself: My goal isn't perfection, it's progress.

See the attached screenshots for a sneak peek at what dialogue interactions may look like in the future. 

Bear in mind, however, that these upgrades are being built on a completely separate development branch from Sanctuary in Time. So, while it's possible that some of these upgrades might make their way into Sanctuary in Time, the more likely outcome is that they'll be used exclusively in the next game I'm building.

Still, I'm pretty excited about what the future may hold now that my toolset is capable of achieving these results. And, this also means that I can get back to work on the next game, only now doing so with the tools I've upgraded.

Let me know what you think in the comments below. And, as always...

Above all else, have fun!

Max (Novus Operandi)

*Note: Character & background art appearing in these screenshots is used only for demonstrative purposes and is not intended to appear in a final product.