Hello everyone!

Goldheart reached 50 downloads yesterday. 

I think this is a good milestone to talk about the development process.

The game first started as a prototype with gameplay similar to games like Enter the Gungeon.

I then designed Skully near the end of July 2021 and wanted to use him for a small game to take a break from my bigger project. He already had the spirit so adjusting that prototype was a no-brainer.

The first version of the game was about 5-10 minutes long. After almost completing it I just felt dissatisfied with almost every aspect of it.

So I returned to the drawing board. Turning to my interest in surreal RPG-Maker classics such as Yume Nikki, OFF and similar games, I set out to create a surreal world that would be explored in non-linear fashion in order to defeat it's emperor.

This second attempt fell to writing issues, ambition and indecision about the worlds layout.

The third attempt employed a linear approach. Skully travelled across a number of islands to get to the emperor. This attempt was shortlived due to the still apparent writing issues regarding the metaphysical nature of the world and the emperor.

After a lengthy break from the game I decided to finally scrap the metaphysical aspects of the story and the villain, replacing him with Lavka and a more grounded plot about simply chasing a thief.

I took the ideas I had collected, made cuts where I felt them appropriate and simply made the game. Many parts of it I made up as I went along since planning never worked out for me too well.

I'm quite happy with the final result. It's not perfect, but it's mine. I learned a lot about my own productivity issues and how to get past them. My current project is already benefitting greatly from that too.

Thanks for reading, I hope this was interesting in some form!

If you'd like to know more, feel free to join my Discord server. I'm always happy to chat.