Yup, I said it.

I wrote a script, we're making a game to fit that script, the goal was to make a roughly 30 minute game, and now there's just too much stuff for it all to fit that time frame. OOPS!

So, that left us with a couple options: We could cut the script down and just have less things happen (NOOOO! NOOO, MY BABY! THAT'S MY BABY!) or we could pick a spot in the middle, make that the end of a "Part 1," polish that up best we can for Robot Day, then drop a Part 2 a little later (YOU'VE CUT MY BABY IN HALF YOU SOLOMON-LOOKIN' JERK but at least it's two full halves...)

So we went with the 2nd option. I'm not sure if we're gonna release them separately or announce an update that merges the parts into one, but regardless, we're discussing ways to make Part 2 cooler, incorporate feedback (if it's good) add some of the features we didn't have time for in Part 1, so we can at least justify to ourselves why we're making it two parts instead of one. This might (might) be how we learn the best way to release more multi-chapter games in relatively short succession. Please speculate wildly amongst yourselves about what I could possibly mean by that.

The art side is kind of in that nuts and bolts phase where the stuff isn't super interesting: UI stuff, tweaking tilesets, that sort of thing. I'm still out there adding portraits every now and then, though, as needed.

Oh yeah, and a Title Screen. And a title! We're following the naming convention of [thing the game is about] [state of mind], adding "Waha's" to the beginning, and with consideration for our target release date, we settled on "Waha's Robot Daze." ...Get it? Do you get it?

Well, that's the update about the planning and art side of things, but I've strung y'all along for long enough without talking about the game itself and showing at least a little bit of it.

As hardcore Waha fans all know, one of our heroine's defining characteristics is picking stuff up and putting stuff down. That's all I ever hear people talking about: "when will Waha pick up things next? What kind of picking up can we expect? Talk to us about lifting and setting down of objects-" enough already! We've heard your endless demands, and can confirm that lifting and setting down stuff is key to the game. But how will it work?

The game is split into a few different parts: the primary gameplay will be hybrid platformer and falling block puzzles that take place in standard 7x11 tile rooms. You might be tempted to assume we took inspiration from an old game for old systems that hasn't had a remake or even a real unambiguous spiritual successor since the mid 90s. Which game? Can't say. Even if I knew what you're talking about, which I certainly don't, I wouldn't name it out of fear of a particular company sending pinkertons to my home to throw me in a windowless van and drive me to a black site where I'm never seen again.

...It looks cool though, yeah? The level art, I mean.

Where we're departing from familiar territory is taking those base mechanics and adding more free-form segments that connect standard levels together. This kind of thing will start out simple, and hopefully add challenges that use the base mechanics in novel ways.

And, of course, we have characters and dialogue and a plot that other games of this type typically don't. We're at a point now where I think the last teaser I'll write will be using game-ready content, after which point, I won't need to tease it anymore, because it'll be out! That's the plan, anyway - I refuse to jinx it.

Much love, talk to ya reeeeeal soon~