Progress Report - February 9th, 2024

True Human Tribulation: Errand Run » Devlog

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Overview Video

Introduction

In case you haven't noticed, the games now in it's beta stages, and I released it on early access, days before I began work on the update video. If you want to check it out, you probably know where to go. Not gonna lie, making these kinds of scripted takes a lot of time, so I probably won't do them as often.

There are still things I want to talk about. It ain't much, but I did somethings to prepare the game for public release. So let's get right into it.

Making this a series.

I'm thinking about making this game the start point of a series. Now, it won't be anything big. Even I know that the series would never get close to the likes of the Megami Tensei or Final Fantasy franchise. It'll just be something that I will slowly build upon from time to time. Either by myself, or even by collaborating with other people.

It probably won't last a long time, but if I get the chance, I would like to pass the reins to someone I trust in the event that I retire or pass away. That way, the series would outlive me. There's always the possibility that it fail, and the series would die with me with this game being the only entry. On the internet, I'm pretty much a nobody, but life is short and I'm already 18. No harm in giving it a try.

Another thing I could also do is have the series be a full on collaborative project similar to the backrooms and SCP wikidot, where anyone could add an entry to the series as long as it fit's withs the Series' main idea and theme. I don't know how I would convince other people to get in on it, but a man can dream.

Like everyone else, I had multiple dreams throughout my life. Like owning a popular Minecraft server, being a leader of an online faction or clan, running a successful roleplay with others, and of course, being a game developer. While only one of those dreams came true, there is something I realized while typing this. I think I just realized why I'm making the series the way it is.

It was 2016. I was probably 10-11 years old at the time, and FNAF was still popular. As cringe as it may sound, I used to participate in FNAF roleplay. Was I too young to be doing that? Most likely, but it was a very fun experience nonetheless, and I obtained a lot of good memories from it. I tried to get into roleplaying a couple times over the years to attempt to get the same experience, but it never worked.

What's notable is that through all that, I only ever roleplayed as a human OC that has nothing special about them. I'm guessing that I've liked the idea of a regular person interacting and facing supernatural stuff like possessed animatronics. I don't know. I'm not good at self evaluation.

Main Idea and Theme.

Enough of that all that yapping. The main idea of what this series will be about that it is A Urban Fantasy anthology series where each entry is about an average human rising up to fight the supernatural. The setting of each entry will be in the modern setting with fantasy, sci-fi, or supernatural elements added on top on it. Basically the textbook definition of Urban Fantasy.

The human protagonists would have no innate magical or supernatural capabilities of any kind, nor would they have the potential to gain any. They won't even be anyone special. Usually they would have to make use of tools to extend their capabilities, recruit allies, be strategic, and make the best use of their prep time and resources to achieve their goal.

As for the main theme of the series, it is something that's been on my mind for a while and it's based of past media that I consumed. I only got a solid idea of what it would be when I was thinking of the game's name. I hope it make sense.

The main theme is that no matter how weak you are, your actions will always have some effect on the world and the people around you. It can even influence the future actions of others. Even after you're long gone, the effects of your actions will persist. You can overcome anything as long as you're clever with the resources you have, and the actions you take.

It's kind of why Batman is my favorite superhero. I know people complain about his prep time or him being unrealistic. I just like the idea that you don't need to be blessed with special powers to fight the supernatural or make a real difference.

I believe that as long as you're alive, you have the ability to ACT on your free will. It could very powerful if you're smart. The ability to ACT is available to everyone, and it could be a great equalizer against supernatural threats as it adds uncertainty to the equation. The human protagonists are those who realized this.

While it may not be perfect, that's the main theme of the series, and I certainly know that people would make fun of it to hell and back. I can see the memes now: "Average True Human Tribulation fan immediately dying to a boundless level character. (Apparently, the ability to ACT on their free will doesn't make that much of a difference.)".

Title Screen and Graphics.

I would want the title of the game to reflect the series' theme in some way. I thought of multiple ideas on what it could be before eventually settling on True Human Tribulation: Errand Run. The first part is the title of the series, while the suffix refers to the game itself.

Once I thought of a name, I went and changed the title screen. Personally I like the look of it. Especially with the flashing "PRESS ENTER" text and music.

The title graphic is made using Aseprite, while the background is made using gimp because it has the 3D transform tool. Overall, besides it's small problems like the suffix of the title graphic not be pronounced enough, I like how they turned out. Especially when the background graphic can be used as a desktop wallpaper.

As for the thumbnails for the Game Jolt and Itch io pages, I made them using paint.net. Which is something I had a lot a experience using. Thanks to how I did them, I'm confident that the game will stand out visually against the other games out there.

Game Jolt Thumbnail

Itch.io Thumbnail

How my game stands out compared to the other games.

Other changes.

Added a settings menu, which saves between play sessions.
Wrote two music tracks for the game. One for the title screen, and one for the streets area. You could check out the Overview Video to hear what they sound like.
Serialized the games files to stop most people from snooping around, and spoil secrets and future game mechanics.

What's Next?

I'm probably just gonna take a short break and wait for feedback on the game while fixing some bugs. After that, I will go to drawing board to think about what I should add to the game going forward. If you have any suggestions, please let me know and I'll consider it,

I'm still branching out. I made some good progress in learning C++, and I'm considering learning Lua and how I could embed it into my programs and making modding APIs. On top of that, learning Lua would expand my capabilities in modding games that use Lua as it's scripting language like Garry's Mod.

While I'm at it I may participate in game jams and collaborating with people. Now that I set up my pay pal account, I'm ready to throw myself there. If you're ever in need of a programmer, hit me up!