SUMMARY:

• BOSSA BEATS - We created a custom track but it's maybe it bit too strong?
• GRASSY FOOTSTEPS- Improved bird chirps and grass step sounds added.
• QUALITY VERSUS QUANTITY - We're spread thin and in need of focusing on one thing at a time to make significant progress.
• CAN YOU DIG IT VS. STAR KINGDOM - Which project should be our main focus? Let us know in the comments!
• OUR CORE PHILOSOPHY- The tenets and pillars by which we build this project!
• BUGS AND OTHER THINGS - Early feedback has revealed there are some much needed fixes to address.

BOSSA BEATS

This week we made a soundtrack. It wasn't intentional per se but while looking for Bossa Nova type music there was a dead end to the royalty free assets one might find online. It's disappointing not being able to find more jazz type songs for indie projects, a majority of music avaiable within quality and budget have hidden clasues with expensive fees and red tape.

On a deeper level, why pay a high fee per user if the asset, whether it be a font or sound, is not exclusive? Sure, it makes sense to charge for quality work but if other people can pay for it, why make the asset so pricey? While it's frustrating not to find the right music, font, or other art for one's project at an affordable price, there's plenty out there if you're willing to work with it.

But limits are our friend. It's often necessity that becomes the mother of invention. Oftentimes the obstacles we face, whether it's an inflated market or scarcity, lead to the search for a workaround which results in best, most brilliant, solutions found.

GRASSY FOOTSTEPS

Adding footsteps to the grassy areas for the first time was an interesting challenge, especially in making sure it didn't sound too robotic. We found pitch variation and volume randomization to be the best way to make it seem more natural. It was fun to implement but there are some timing issues to work out and we haven't updated it for faster walking yet.

We're also working on a few other sounds to add to the game. Button clicks were appended but variety is important when it comes to UI work and in the coming weeks we'll be improving on it as we go, bit by bit.

The music we mixed was a bit too strong. One friend commented he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be dancing or treasure hunting. He shared a clip of Animal Crossing while another friend pointed out a similar thing to The Sims, music tracks for these games are often benign, meaning they're subdued and subtle enough to not distract from the gameplay and we should really think about that.

Also experimented with video but we might scale back. There's so many things to do, so little time, we'll need to learn how to do more with less. Audio will have to become an ongoing effort throughout the project, not something that can be accomplished in a week and the same goes with how we share on social media.

The soundtrack may end up getting used for the Treasure Shop, which we have concept art for to share next week! We might also consider having music play after a long period of silence in the background, as well as with a softer tone, to make it work with the game. It'll be an ongoing effort but for the moment we'll get to it when we can while making bug fixes our bigger priority in the coming weeks.

QUALITY VERSUS QUANTITY

Check our Task Tracker Pro list for details.

Which leads to our next major point, we've got bugs to fix! And we also have other things to address. It's important to start focusing on one main thing each week so we can create consistent builds on a regular basis.

CAN YOU DIG IT VS. STAR KINGDOM: WHERE IS THIS HEADED?

This was supposed to be our last week of development for Can You Dig It. We were going to take a break from it and focus on Star Kingdom. But the reaction to this project has been so positive and overwhelming, we've decided to continue down this journey and see where it goes.

While there's a grand vision for this game, in truth, a week-to-week and iterative feedback approach is going to be key. Let's give this a year, see where it goes, and find out what happens. It would be great if by then we can publish on Nintendo Switch as well as other platforms, but we'll see.

OUR CORE PHILOSPHY

• USE THE ENTIRE BUFFALO - Make new things from existing parts as much as possible before adding new ones.
• FUN COMES FIRST - Between style and realism, we prioritize based on what's more fun when the moment of choice arises.
• FUN BASED ON REALITY - Shigeru Miyamoto taught this principle in early gaming, take from real life what you love and put it in a game.
• ONE BIG THING EACH WEEK- Update builds on a regular basis with a focus on one major feature where all else is secondary.
• ITERATIVE FEEDBACK- As we move along, take user feedback and update accordingly, pivot based on user experience early on.
• KEEP IT NATURAL - Take color, UI, sound, and all else as much from what we can stylize out of nature as much as possible. See our style guide from Week 7 and Week 8 for details.

...AND ONE MORE THING

Our priorties are ever shifting. In April or sometime around May we'll be making CalorieRPG our main project from then until the foreseeable future. That makes Can You Dig It a secondary priority and Star Kingdom a tertiary.

It's sad not to make this game a full time job. But in general what's important is sticking with our vision and principles laid out from the past 11 weeks, using the entire buffalo, keeping it natural, and making it fun. We have our design guide to keep us on track.

Part of our "less is more" approach may be to find some time to update our itch page. Some of the screenshots are not up to date with our latest design, we'll need to fix that also. It's on our long to do list, stay tuned.

Star Kingdom GT Demo (link): Check out our other game, a space stratgey in the works!

I'm reminded we should make an animated gif of this. We'll do that next week. So much to do, so little time!

MORE TO COME, STAY TUNED

So much more to say, but it's time to sign off. When you get a chance, check out our links to this project and all others. As always, to be continued...

Week 12 Demo (movie link): Check out our YouTube channel and subscribe for updates.

Task Tracker Pro Checklist (link): Check out our progress on Task Tacker Pro | Progress 49% Count(82/166) :

Monarchgames.net (link): Our website (for more on what we're up to!)

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