Ortomnia Development Blog
Entry #8: Getting back Momentum
09.09.2024
Iam officially back from the Hospital - and i slowly get back into more active Development, even though not as fast as i hoped for, but thats's part of coming out of an Hospital i guess.
Not getting as much done as i planned (as usual), and sadly i missed the Indie Outpost in my Area this Week, which had some really really interesting Talks (one about Kickstarter and one about a Card Game, like, exactly what iam doing right now, grr!) but i also had some Successes.
I got to work on that Intro Cinematic i already told you about and dived into Procreate Dreams, which is like a suuuper powerful Software for Animating, or doing those animated Illustrations you maybe know from League of Legends Splash Arts - thanks to that smaller Animations can be done really easily, not doing everything by Frame by Frame Animation.
After Finishing the Cinematic i asked Sonorode (https://www.sonorode.com/) with whom i was in touch with for Sounddesign when i applied for Funding if he would still be interested - and he is! So looking forward to collaborate!
Next to it iam still on those Assets i don't stop talking about! But this time it's because i actually made a Mistake.
Godot actually misses some Options i used in Unity for that, so i was taken by Surprise when i figured out, putting everything into a SpriteAtlas was a big Mistake, since that would mean i'd need to work with Tiles in my Game - but that's exactly what i DIDN'T want to do, so i had to cut out every single Asset back from this Atlas and import it seperately in Godot.
But now it's done!
And i can finally use my Object-oriented Assets, which gives me soo much Power and Control over those Assets, for example Rotation, Scaling, Using Shaders onto them or coloring them!
I already got going and started to actually build the first Level, like for real real, the real Level thingy, the Thing you will be playing! And it actually looks quite decent, so who knows what i'll get done this Week!
And remember to join the Mailing List for some really cool Screenshots!
-Deli
Entry #7: Slow and Steady wins the Race
01.09.2024
So i was gone for a few Weeks, sadly, but everything is back to normal now!
Just a quick heads up, i was in the Hospital for 3 Weeks, which was planned but i had some unpredictable complications, which is why i could'nt work as much in the Hospital as i wanted and had to focus mostly on healing.
But well, here is a Blogpost, so that's over! Also yeah, quick tip, just focus on healing if you are in the Hospital, whatever you are trying to force yourself to do comes out really poorly.
After the Worst was over i got back into keep working on the Assets for the first Level - and i gladly can say that most are done for now, just some Special unique Assets are missing right now - and with the Release of Godot 4.3 at the same Time, i will probably focus on actually designing the Levels with all the ready Assets!
Whoever follows my Mailing List already got a little Sneak peak, by the way!
Since i got a little bit tired of doing Background Assets all the Time, i started to work on the Intro Cutscene, because i can't help myself and it's something fun to do. I decided to not hard-animate it Frame by Frame. Mostly because this is nearly impossible for me alone to do, but i made a little Storyboard on what Shots should be used, it'll be a little bit more static, but iam positive i can still get the Vibe iam going for across!
Next to the Game, iam also working on the Card Game, which was basically lots and lots of Learning and Studying other TCG's, i figured i want to settle on about 200 Cards and split them between the different Cardtypes i need and the Raritys, i mostly focused on Lorcana for this, since my Card Game will also not really use something like Lands in Magic the Gathering.
So i brainstormed over 200 Cards! Which was kinda fun - now i need to actually make those brainstormed Cards into Prototypecards so i can finally playtest the Game - to see if the Ideas even work!
The BIG THING today tho is my Fashionbrand! IT IS LIVE NOW!
You can find them on the Website - aswell as on etsy and in my BigCartel Shop! The Photoshooting was lot's of fun and it really worked out well! I think some of those Shots turned out really really well - there are a few small Pieces i need to redo, which is why they are not in Stores yet, but that's not a big Problem for now, since it's only 2 Pieces.
So if you are curious how the Photoshooting turned out and what Pieces are only, feel free to check those out!
https://www.mysticshelter.com/fashion-collection
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MysticShelterMerch?ref=dashboard-header
https://justdeli.bigcartel.com/
And that's it for now! I think i can still be somewhat proud of what i have accomplished next to beeing hospitalized - iam eager to find out what i can do, now that iam back!
-Deli
Entry #6: Upping the Game
05.08.2024
The First Blogpost being late, hooray!
This Week is HUGE, so let’s take a quick Look on it:
Gamedevelopment:
On Terms of Gamedevelopment iam still very busy with Environment Art, but i finally found the Flow-State of it and created some Assets for the first Level iam happy with, i try to use this Momentum by actually doing more than i wanted at first, instead of coming back later to the Assets of the first level, because Done is Done!
Also, since i will be in Hospital for a few Weeks, i acquired and set up an actual functional Laptop to develop Ortomnia, since right now iam bound to my Tower PC, so i can’t really do much inside of the Engine if iam somewhere else, which happens quite often nowadays, since iam on Conventions (like Comiccon Stuttgart).
I also released the first monthly Newsletter, which was exciting! I think it turned out really well and i will keep improving upon them, so sign up to never miss something!
Ortomnia Trading Card Game:
We actually brainstormed and conceptualized the Trading Card Game and some Ideas which will make it unique – and even allow us to do a little bit of Storytelling of our Ortomnia-Universe.
For Example we want to implement a Quest-System, which each Player can do to gain Benefits!
Looking Promising, but still needs a lot of Work.
I didn’t anticipate the TCG to get so big, but here we are. Instead of finishing Stuff up till November, Plan is to start a Kickstarter Campagin for the TCG – which will also help getting Funds for Development on the Metroidvania Game aswell!
Fashionbrand:
This Week will be the Shooting for the Store-Pictures of the new Drop, there are quite some interesting and stylish Color Variations with it, can’t wait to finally get it done!
So i had to do a little Shooting-List, what Shots will be taken with which Model and what i need for the Store Pages.
Lots of setting things up, sadly not much to show yet, but the Results will be super awesome!
Artstuff:
I will be at an Artist Alley of a Pride-Event, so that’s exciting! I will be at Pfaffenhofener Pride this Saturday, so lot’s of Preparations have to be done, since iam actually completely overhauling my Con-Setup, so here also – lots of Preparations to do!
-Deli
Entry #5: Technical Difficulties
28.07.2024
So this Week will be a bit of a shorter Update, since i had a super busy Week! (I got a new dayjoby, which will help me focus more on Development, since its less hours than before!
Next to finding and getting a new Job i was mostly busy with some technical difficulties i faced within Godot and my Project.
Iam trying to aquire a Laptop for Development, but it turned out my Project uses waaaaaaayyyyy to much VRAM to function properly on any machine which is not a tower!
The problem was quickly found: my textures are way too big, since i drew them in 4k and my animations do have quite a lot of frames - so the Spritesheets are super huge and use lots of VRAM!
The solution wasnt that easy, sadly, since most of the Solution seem to be not recommended for 2D Projects.
I found out „2D Projects“ mean mostly small texture and pixel art games, and not 4k drawn Animations, so i used those „not recommended“ solutions anyway, by importing the files with VRAM compressed in High Quality.
Quite an easy solution, and an obvious one - but figuring out what i should exactly use took quite an amount of time im not proud of, since the technical aspects of gamedev are not my strong suits.
Since i was already in it tho, i decided to exterminate lots of small Bugs and Error Messages i was ignoring for a long Time!
I also started sketching the level scenes on top of the blocked out Levels, so atleast something else was going on!
Next week will be more busy development wise, hopefully!
Thanks for Reading!
-Deli
Entry #4: Planning and Education
21.07.2024
The Week started!
And this time, i decided to taking it a little bit slower, after the last few Weeks were a rollercoaster of emotions, this Week i focused myself around Planning the next few Weeks, since i will have a lot of Time of from my current Day job and will be able to actually do more Work on the Game and my other Projects.
Ortomnia – Broken Trinity:
For the Game itself i dipped my toes into the Patchnotes for Godot, since the Patch 4.3. is coming up and iam impatiently awaiting it, since it will come with a lot of new or overhauled Features i currently need to start certain Tasks!
I actually finished blocking out the Levels for the starting World and put some thought into how i want to present the first few Minutes to the Player, what Animations, what Cutscenes, what Assets will be needed etc.
So after blocking out all of the Levels, i will take some time to sketch ontop of the blockout how i imagine the Environment to give me a little bit of Guidance once i start working out the final Assets.
Ortomnia – Broken Trinity TCG:
Yes, the Idea of the Trading Card Game i mentioned earlier will come into a Reality!
Because of this, i actually worked out some Card Designs and Templates i can then use to apply to the finished Cards! Obiously i studied a lot on how to actually work out the Mechanics of a TCG and whats important – and while i currently have some Ideas, they will need to be finetuned, so that’ll take a little bit of brainstorming and stuff like that, but im super hyped about the Process!
I actually collected all the Items i need to print Trading Cards myself at Home and learnt the Process of how i can produce near professional Cards, which feel good.
The Idea is currently to work this out a little bit more, make some cool cards and then maybe start a Kickstarter-Campaign for the TCG, because of this iam currently talking with a lot of people who have some Experience either with Kickstarter or with Board/Cardgames.
The Ortomnia – Broken Trinity Fashion Brand:
Some of you may know that iam developing a small Indie Fashion Brand (some of which you can still find in my shop or my etsy shop!), because of this i decided to order a big junk of clothing (which will ALL be VEGAN and FAIRTRADE!!!) to get serious with this! Some Designs had to go, new ones were created.
I invited a lot of People for a semi-professional Shooting to get some good quality Product-Images of the Clothes, this will happen in a few Weeks, so stay tuned on this end!
All of my other Artstuff:
Since i started visiting Conventions this year, they kinda dried up on me, so i decided to look for some upcoming Events i could join, sadly i will be in a Hospital in the next Month, but after it i will attend COMIC CON STUTTGART on 31.11. and 01.12. with a Table at their Artist Alley, maybe we can see each other there!
I’ll keep looking for more Cons, but some of them are waaaay to expensive (over 1k Euros for a Table??) or are waaaay to far away for me. But i’ll keep you updated!
Thanks for Reading!
- Deli
Entry #3: Setbacks and New Horizons
14.07.2024
The Week didn’t start strong at all!
Sadly, the Comitee which decides who get’s Funding for their Games didn’t choose me, but i want to congratulate all the amazing People and amazing Games which got funded on Tuesday by FFF Bayern!
I put in a lot of Work and created some really neat looking Documents, which i got some positive Feedback for from the Comitee, so that’s nice.
Another nice thing was that the Person who should do the Audio Design and the Soundtrack (who i informed i sadly can’t commission him anymore) told me he really likes Ortomnia and we should stay in touch. So we will! After all, missing out on Funding is just a Setback on getting Funding elsewhere.
Another great thing about not getting the funding is, that i can be waaaaaay more open, show more, be way more flexible and do all sorts of cool stuff! So prepare for more footage of Ortomnia in it’s current state!
The Rest of the Week were mostly occupied by blocking out Levels – after i did the Research last Week on what my Workflow for those will be, i got going!
The Process of blocking out the levels actually is quite creative and some really cool Leveldesign Ideas came to mind, but it takes way more time than i anticipated, since i have to carefully test out every little bit i blocked out to see if you can reach the Platforms correctly, if the Pace feels good, are some corridors too long or too short, are the levels too cramped? You get the idea! So that was quite timeconsuming and actually used up most of my week.
Next to it i started to overhaul the Concept’s for the User Interface, mainly the many Inventory Screens (Map, Spells, Journal, etc), since the last ones were done in a Rush because of a Deadline (another bad thing about getting funding) and i’m way more happier with those Concepts, actually taking more Inspiration from ATLUS and the Persona Series – the Menus dont have to look boring! So maybe that’s something where i can deviate a little bit more from Hollowknight.
Artstuff happened too!
So since i didn’t get funding iam looking for other opportunities to generate some Income and focused a little bit on my Artbusiness.
I finally made an etsy shop, wohooo! Also i made new Designs for my Fashion Brand iam developing! Also i want to make cool Photos of those, since the current ones are really..well..homemade, you could say! So i ordered a Bunch of Outfits and asked a few People to model for me – we will see how this will turn out, stay tuned for it!
If you want to get your hands on the Rest of the last Batch (they actually sold quite well!) check out my etsy shop, hehe.. or my other shops..
I really enjoy the Universe of Ortomnia, since i put quite some bit of Effort into World and Characterbuilding, and recently it came upon me, that maybe, just maybe, the Characters would be really cool for a Trading Card Game?! So yeah, i looked into how to develop Trading Card Games for the Ortomnia Universe. With Booster Packs! So there will be even more cool Merch you can support me and the Development of the real thing – The Game – with!
See you next Week!
- Deli
Entry #2: Playtesting and Analyzing
07.07.2024
The Week started strong!
I visited a local Indie-Event, the Indie Outpost in Nuremberg, heard some awesome Talks (Big Shoutout to Leonie Wolf for making such a big difference in the Industry with her Work in Game:In and the FemdevMeetups) but most importantly for myself, i got to show of an early Proof of Concept and a few People playtested Ortomnia – Broken Trinity.
All of them had a great time playing and trying out the mechanics already, i got some really useful feedback, just by watching them Play and got in some awesome Talks about other Metroidvanias and what seperates Ortomnia from them. (Someone came to me asking if iam the Person with the Hollowknight-Clone Game and that was a huge Confidence Boost!)
The Animations also got alot of praise, which really gave me a Motivation Boost since they take a long time to produce!
Of course there had to be some Bugs i didn’t find myself, even one Gamebreaking Bug which had me to restart the Game over and over again for the People to keep playing, so the next few Days were dedicated to reproducing and fixing them. I found out if you really wanna playtest your game, just mash your Controller as hard und uncontrollable as you possibly can!
Also i started with the ~ Social Media Strategy ~ and i think only in this one Week i already learned a lot, i recorded over 10 Minutes of Footage which i needed to cut down to get back to the Short Videos of 1 Minute, so i need to talk faster or just be more concise!
The Second Half of the Week was dedicated to analyzing various Tilesets, which i downloaded or bought (for like five bucks) to see how they worked, how they would be implemented.
After a lot of Research and trying out to implement my own Tilesets i found out i don’t actually want to use Tilesets that much for my Game, since i can’t really produce the look iam trying to achieve.
I found out Hollowknight didn’t use Tilesets either! They used one small, pure black Tileset to block out the Collisions of the Level, everything else is painted on top with Objects via an Atlas!
So i went with a 64x64Pixels Black Tileset aswell, and thats a size which gives me a ton of Freedom in painting the Levels and to produce some really interesting Shapes!
And that was a week worth of Work!
Next Week is going to be crazy, tho! On Tuesday the Decision will be made if Ortomnia – Broken Trinity will get Funding for Developing a Prototype, so stay tuned!
Thanks for Reading!
- Deli (she/her)
Entry #1: Time to get real
30.06.2024
So, this is it. This is the first official Development Blog Post about Ortomnia - Broken Trinity.
This first Blogpost will mark the Beginning of what i call my "Social Media Strategy", because apparently i need one.
I used to struggle with what to post, on which social media site, where i need to have a presence in order to get some eyes on Ortomnia, so i jumped back and forth, every once in a while i was over ambitious and posted a bunch of stuff, just so stop entirely after one or two weeks.
But thats about to change now!
I actually put some thought into how i should handle this and made myself a plan - which hopefully will decrease the amount of stress this marketing stuff puts on me, because im just not the right Person for doing that stuff, but im the only person who will do this stuff for my Game, so i guess, i will find a way!
I figured out at what i know and what i can do, also i assessed the whole twitter, x, bluesky, whatever Situation, sadly i figured out, X is still a thing most people are on to, i tried to get a foot in the door on bluesky, threads, cara and even tumblr, but thats just not working out as it seems, so i decided to not support these sites anymore.
Now i talked quite a bit about how hard everything is, but now i will show you my Solution:
I will post a Development Blog Post every Week on Sunday. On my Website, on Twitter and on LinkedIn.
I will post a Short Video twice a Week, tuesdays and thursdays. On Youtube Short, Tiktok and Instagram Reels.
I will send a Newsletter out, at the last day of each month (starting 31.07.2024) with everything which was going on this month. So please sign up if you want to get notified: https://mailchi.mp/bd7f20883749/join-the-mailing-list
"But Deli, what about doing Devlogs and stuff like that?" Yes, thats a thing and i really enjoy doing them, but i will make them whenever i feel like it and theres enough to show off, so it doesnt put too much pressure on me and i won't fall into the "person who wanted to do gamedev actually just being a youtuber talking about wanting to be a gamedev" trap (it's a thing).
Also i will continue to use my Twitter/X Account as personal Account, so if you want to hear what i ramble about in my spare time, leave a follow!
Iam also going to share little stuff in my Instagram Stories.
Another big thing: I want to stream developing/animating my Game, iam thinking about streaming Tuesdays, but i'll have to see how my schedule is going to be in a few weeks, i probably can't do it consistently, but i'll try to make it happen!
And i think thats a solid "strategy" if you can call it like that.
So, thats what i thought about this week! Next to it i was constantly doing Animations for the Main Protagonist of Ortomnia, it's probably the third time now i thought "well those animations, and after that iam done with the protagonist"
haha...well the deeper you think about the game and situations that will happen, the more animations there will be i guess. When i finish this Batch tho, it will be the last one. For sure. i hope. I really do have quite a lot of animations. Please.
Thank you for Reading!
Deli