Hey again,
Another month, another update video! This time around, we have a few new faces to introduce you to as celebrating the completion of script 1.0, creating videos for TikTok and even answer some of your questions. What follows is an edited transcript of the video posted above. There are also captions available on the video if you prefer to use those instead. We'll be back again with another update next month. Until then, have a good one <3
All the best,
Team Dreamfeel
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Glossary of Contents
1) Introductions
2) Monthly Progress
3) Script 1.0
4) Pride Month
5) TikTok
6) Poll & Questions
7) Wrap-Up
Introductions
Llaura:
Hey everyone! Welcome to the second Dreamfeel update, for June? We have a larger cast of characters and people with us here today. I am joined by Eve-Golden Woods. Eve: Hi!
Llaura:
There is myself, Llaura and over here on the right, we’ve got Adriel. Karen.
Karen:
Hey!
Llaura:
and Alex.
Alex:
Hi, how’s it going?
Llaura:
So, we’ll get to a proper intro to these new faces so y’all can know who everybody is. So yeah, the first point on my bullet point is reception to the first video. It seemed people liked it!
Alex:
Mhm
Llaura:
We are definitely a bit late with this one, for reasons you’ll find out. Mostly that we were a bit late finishing the build this month. That’s the reason, you found out.
Everyone:
*Laughs*
Llaura:
But yeah, things have gone really well and yeah, I think it’s probably good to start off with introductions then.
Karen and Adriel
Llaura:
So, our new game has a bunch of new faces on the team., particularly these two people!, and we have some old faces returning. Bri Chew is back with us, who worked on If Found… So, we’ll have to have to get Bri and Liadh in on the next call but it’s really nice to have Bri back and they’ve been helping out with some animations for characters and Unity bits and pieces. But a lot of the new look of the art comes from our new 3D artists, who I will let introduce themselves! We’ll go alphabetically, with Adriel then.
Adriel:
Hi, I’m Adriel. I’m a 3D artist, I’ve been working freelance for a few years maybe and I also do translation on the side.
Llaura:
Yeah, like you’re living… You are French. I mean, you’re not even just living in France!
Adriel:
*laughs*
Llaura:
I mean, specific to which language you did translation for.
Adriel:
English to French, yes.
Llaura:
Cool! And Karen?
Karen:
Hi. Ok, so, I’m a 2D and 3D artist that usually does character art. Been making games for ten years now! So, yeah *Laughs*
Llaura:
What are some games that you both have worked on then?
Karen:
Recently worked on I Am Dead, that was released by Hollow Ponds. Also, The Wolf’s Bite, which is an indie game.
Llaura:
Which is coming out, right?
Karen:
That was released a while ago. Right now, I’m working on Seasonspree.
Llaura:
Right, yeah. Of course!
Karen:
Which is another small, cute game.
Llaura:
Adriel, any projects you want to shout out or anything?
Adriel:
I think one of my favorite recent games was Bird Alone, which I did the translation for.
Llaura:
Oh yeah and Eli, who we worked with on If Found, lots of great trans folks! Eli worked on the music for that game as well, which is cool.
Monthly progress
Llaura:
So, Adriel and Karen have been working with us since February, March? And the game kind of underwent an aesthetic shift at that point to quite a different direction, which we mentioned last month. Over March, April, May, we were just nailing down that art style. Then this month, we were putting that art directly into the game for the first time for playable sections, which was really, really fun.
So, the big milestone we reached this week, what was in our build, was what we had last month except with nice art. Not even everything we had last month because nice art takes a while but most of what we had last month plus nice art and some improved mechanics and everything. Yeah, how have ye found working on the project? How does it compare to other games?
Adriel:
Wanna start, Karen? *laughs*
Karen:
Yeah sure. Well, it's pretty chilled, right? It's very experimental and fun so I've been getting the chance to do a bunch of different things and learn different bits which is really nice. It's always nice to have a smaller team because you get to do a bunch of, you get your own bit on each single aspect of the game because it's very collaborative in that regard so yeah, been having a great time!
Llaura:
Cool!
Adriel:
Yeah, same! I think for me, it's the longest project I've been working on since I've been freelance and also it's the one in which I'm the most integrated in the team and it really makes a difference because we're really working together with the other artists and it's really cool.
Llaura:
Yeah, I really like that we have this pipeline now that largely starts with Liadh doing the illustrations and then Adriel is taking that and making the first models and creating out the areas, Bri integrating it into Unity and then Karen who I guess, we haven't specified this. Adriel's largely doing the environment right now and Karen, you're doing characters but then you're also doing the kind of finishing touches on the environment and colors so I mean you have a lot of hats right now but you seem to like having lots of hats anyway I think.
Everyone:
*laughs*
Llaura:
Yeah, it's going well. I'm really happy with how it's coming together and yeah, we've got some nice environments and we've been trying out...it's definitely a unique art style. We can't...again, we don't want to give too many specifics away but it's definitely a unique art style. So, part of this is also the shaders and everything. This morning we had a big conversation with Tim like "How do we optimize this? “Why can't we just release this only for beefy 2060 graphics cards?” and then they're like why? It's simple looking graphics. Why does it need a graphics card? Well, there's all these tricks and things.
So, the art has been one big thing we've done this month. Also in the scene, we've been working on mechanics. So, for example, one that we probably can talk about is...we've had a system of dialogue boxes in the game since we started in October or so and we got rid of that this month because they were just looking a bit ugly and a bit didn't really fit and it was just kind of gamey...replace them with speech bubbles which yeah, it looks really nice. I mean, Eve, what do you think?
Eve:
Yeah, I'm really happy with the speech bubbles and the version we have now is placeholder but even so, it already looks really good and it feels much more kind of interesting because it pulls you into the world rather than placing a layer between you and the world, which is always the frustrating thing. I think there's ways of doing that where it's aesthetically interesting. People will always shout out Persona 5, which has this incredibly distinctive style for its dialog boxes but I really do love the way speech bubbles become part of the space in a kind of interesting way.
Llaura:
Yeah, I think we were trying to rip off Persona 5 for a bit but ultimately, we found the speech bubbles in the world felt more integrated and there's some kind of design-y things where they pull you through the world as well as you try to reach the next speech bubble
And the thing about the speech bubbles as well is that any kind of screenshot looks really nice. It doesn't look artificial, it looks like a nice piece of art and when the speech bubble is in-world and in place on the screen, there's a nice combination there and then there's two other mechanics that kind of got fleshed out. We made them a bit like juicier, with a flash and a shake and it's definitely getting there! We finished that on Monday and then the last few days, we have been going over the story which I'll get to in a second but also we have some great thoughts about mechanics which I think is kind of the last piece of the puzzle for us.
What's going to happen in the finale, possibly if it all works out and yeah, I think I feel really happy with where the mechanics are going now. There's a unique mechanic. It's not as obvious from the get-go as If Found... probably but there are some unique mechanics and that's still our ethos of putting the narrative and the flow first rather than shooting things. There's no shooting, well maybe they're shooting things who knows. Let's find out!
Script 1.0
Llaura:
And then the other big thing we finished this month and credit goes to Eve, I think, is version 1.0 of the script!
Eve:
Yeah, which has immediately been scrapped in favor of planning version 2.0.
Llaura:
That was great though. We had a lot of conversations, a lot of detail but then you went and actually wrote the scenes.
Eve:
It's interesting that I was thinking having script 1.0 and having the playable build that we have now would be it. But both of those things were kind of really the catalyst for "oh, this is the last mechanic we need!" and "this is how we're going to change the script for version 2.0 because now we know the mechanics better"
Llaura:
Yeah.
Eve:
So it's really nice how that stuff integrates where you build something and then you're like "oh now that I can see how this plays, I know how the narrative should help to make that deeper and richer" and vice versa.
Llaura:
Yeah and until you have a draft, you can't tell what the script is missing or what parts work or not. So hopefully, we can start sharing that slightly more widely, not publicly obviously but we can start sharing that with people so we get feedback on it which would be really great.
Pride Month
Llaura:
And then because it's pride month or it was pride month, which is coo,l you have all these extra commitments. *Laughs*
But it was fun. There was a really cool Apple article and a bunch of panels like the Microsoft one, we were on Twitch which was wild, that was fun.
TikTok
Also, one big thing last month that we started was TikTok. So, how's that going Alex?
Alex:
It's going pretty well at the moment. People have seemed very receptive to it and we've had- I mean the first video did particularly well but the other ones seem to be kind of pretty solid.
Llaura:
I think it's just nice as well. I think stuff like Twitter is so disposable and you can become a Twitter personality but it's no one really cares except for getting your serotonin burst or seeing some snarky funny person on twitter? I don't think we need Dreamfeel adding to that whereas making videos, hopefully this one and the TikTok ones which are super short little videos I think is actually stuff that sticks around. It can be referenced in the future and it's a bit meatier. That's my theory.
Alex:
Yeah totally, I think-
Llaura:
It's a Llaura theory!
Alex:
It's a game theory! It's also nice to just work on smaller videos as well and to be able to take these little moments from bigger stuff or for example, the first video was a cut together version of our two trailers for If Found but yeah to be able to play around with that stuff a bit more and be a bit more experimental, a bit more kind of interesting with the editing *laughs*
Because this stuff is pretty standard in terms of everything. It's just kind of "yeah, cut out the dead air” and stuff like that or like our pauses and um's and stuff like that whereas the TikTok stuff you kind of have to think of what's gonna grab someone's attention and maintain it for about 30 or 40 seconds so yeah it's been really cool!
Poll and Questions
Llaura:
Cool! That's our update for the month, let's jump into- we had a little poll question and there's a couple other questions from people on Instagram and Twitter, I think. Eve, do you have the poll question?
Eve:
I do! So, for this month's poll question, we asked people what their favorite section of If Found was and we had three options plus leave others in the comments. Number one by a decent margin was Gig & Attic, which got almost 50% of the votes then the end of the world and the epilogue and then break-in and chipper. I'm not particularly surprised that the gig and attic were the most popular because it's very fun and high energy and then very sweet and tender and I think those are moments that stick with people.
Llaura:
Yeah, it was kind of hard. We had four options so one of them we threw away almost because no one wants to be typing a comment to vote for other and then end of the world and epilogue being the climax with finally burning the book and then you're going into space or whatever and the reunion and the drawing and everything. That was initially out in front actually when I looked last night so it was a surprise comeback from the gig and I struggled, I didn't know what I was gonna put for the third one so those are the two options I was definitely gonna pick. Eve, do you have a favorite chapter?
Eve:
I do really like Christmas
Llaura:
I thought so, yeah!
Eve:
it's so, i mean- it's one of the chapters that I really pushed to get into the game. I was like "No, there must be a Christmas scene. We're doing Christmas."
Llaura:
That's because it was actually Christmas time or it was January and we thought "The game is supposed to be out in three months. We can't add a whole other chapter!" but you were very adamant and I'm glad we did. It really worked.
Eve:
Yes, I think this is true for me and it's probably true for a lot of other people too. For some reason Christmas is always when messy family conversations happen because you're kind of in this pressure cooker. Everyone's supposed to be having a good time and celebrating and so, of course, all of the things that are wrong immediately come to the surface and I thought that was a really good fit for where Kasio was at as well.
Llaura:
Adriel, do you have a favorite chapter and Karen being two people who didn't work on the game and untainted by his development.
Adriel:
*Laughs* I think it's Christmas too for me. I've always had weird Christmases so, that hit close to home *laughs*
Karen:
Yeah, I think for me, it's the gig. That was so fun!
Llaura:
Yeah, for me, it's either the bonus post credits scene or it is probably the gig. because that's one of the first scenes that was done and it kind of just, you know, while obviously it got adapted while the story changed, it was always a fun chapter. Alex, do you have one?
Alex:
Yeah, I would actually say the moving in chapter. I really like- I think it captures that feeling of being in somebody's house that you're not- like you know them but you're not like overly familiar with them and then waking up and basically being like, it's kind of strange, you're going to the motions of having breakfast and that sort of thing.
Llaura:
Do you know what-
Alex:
but yeah, I just really like that.
Llaura:
Do you know what's wild? I was talking to someone recently who...she spent lots of summers in Achill as a kid growing up and she said "yeah, there's literally a gaff, a house that people used to squat in and go there and there's one thing we didn't get to show in the game was all the broken bottles and the floor and stuff, you know, which we had planned for but I think because Colum and Jack and Shans were in there already. They would have already cleared it up. Here's our lovely friend, the running out of time timer, so the Dreamfeel logo will go on top of this.
Alright, so then there's a couple questions which are "How is the sheep doing from that one scene doing? I hope they're fine.
Eve:
Which scene has a sheep?
Llaura:
Well, I mean that the key art has a sheep in the background but then there's also the diary that has the farmer looking after her sheep and stuff. I'm sure the sheep is doing good, you know just chilling grazing come come rain or shine.
Everyone:
*Laughs*
Llaura:
I hope the person who sent this picture in, it's a dog, their profile picture is a dog. I hope the doggo is doing good too.
then Sailor Moon asks "how are y'all doing?"
Everyone:
*Laughs*
Llaura:
Good!
Eve:
Pretty good!
Llaura:
Yeah, it's nice finishing a milestone. It's always a bit of relief because we delayed finishing it by a few days because we didn't want it- there was no point crunching for a random end of month thing so we delayed it until the start of this week and I'm glad we did that but even still, it's nice to have it "oh it's sent off now". We don't have to worry about it but otherwise yeah, doing good, I got a doggo recently. We adopted a four-year-old French bulldog and she is really stupid but very lovable.
Eve:
Frankly, that's the best kind of pet. Yeah, my dad's dog is also very- He is all heart, no brain.
Llaura:
One last question from someone who wants to hear news about our next project. Well, ye got some news and then Camille also wants to know "was there anything that needed to be cut out from the game”, I guess? Anything that we wanted to do by the end, I don't know.
Eve:
I think-
Llaura:
There's lots of fun-
Eve:
Yeah sorry you go ahead, Llaura.
Llaura:
There's lots of parts that didn't make it but yeah, is there anything that we specifically cut that we wanted to get in?
Eve:
The only thing I can think of is that in the original demo there was- the zooming was a very kind of a vocal mechanic as well as the erasing
Llaura:
Yeah!
Eve:
Even though there is a lot of zooming in If Found, now it's done more automatically so you don't really see it in the same way.
Llaura:
Yeah
Eve:
and I think we have talked about wanting to take that and do a different game that really focuses on the zooming part.
Llaura:
Yeah, there was a big decision made about it a year out from a release, I'd say and kind of the complexity of the game with free control and it just didn't- it didn't flow very well and maybe there were solutions but at the point, we were just more focused on figuring out the story
and so we kind of simplified the movement mechanic and everything, which has pros and cons. Some people say "All I'm doing is clicking". So, I think there's definitely another game there where we can make zooming and free movement more of a thing. So, that's probably the biggest thing and maybe if we ever got to do like a super special edition, we might include other control mechanics which might tweak it a little bit. Actually one thing that I realized afterwards was because there are moments where we can move freely. I don't know why we didn't make the diary sections free moving especially when we tweaked them after release so maybe that's one thing that I would have liked to have changed. Yeah but otherwise you know it's the result of the time that went into it and the limitations and, we come up with solutions because "oh crap we have only this much time" or we got to do x, y and z and for the most part that all worked out really well yeah so...Oh look at the cute cat in the background aaaaaaah! Staring at the wall, does she do that often?
Karen:
She does! The other co-worker.
Wrap-Up
Llaura:
Alright, we'll wrap it up there then. Thanks for watching update number two. Thanks to Adriel and Karen for joining us and hopefully you guys can hop on in the future
And sometime soon we'll show off all the lovely art that we've been making and people's minds will explode! Bye, thanks everyone!
Everyone:
Bye!