Studio Ganzheit

I have completed the second to last section. I have wrapped it up as a first draft for now. I was able to proceed by quickly building and breaking almost all the background placements using the tools I have accumulated over time. Since I have roughly set up the basic gameplay, I will move on to the next stage for now and refine it during polishing.

When I started the current project, I set Brutalism and Mid-Century Modernism as the direction. Brutalism aside, I have been constantly agonizing over how to use Mid-Century Modernism, mainly approaching it through carpet patterns. However, now that I have reached the end, I feel like I have somewhat found the direction, so I am a bit worried about how far back I should take this to do additional work. Of course, I have no intention of extending the development period to apply this; I plan to do it during the polishing period after the alpha test.

To record a slightly deeper story and write a little about the design of the stage called the ‘threshold’: it is a stage designed based on nine letters left behind by a key NPC in the game. This NPC spent about 2 months in real time, which translates to about 160,000 years in the virtual world called the ‘threshold’, building a security system called ‘Lotus one’ alone. (‘Threshold’ is a caching virtual space that runs about 1,000,000 times faster than reality.) I grouped the letters by threes and tried designing it so that their meaning could be seen in the level (probably), and I have now finished the stage for the second group. Actually, there is no strict need to do so, but since I am the type who cannot proceed without a story, theme, or meaning, I ended up starting it that way. Now, only the final stage themed around the final group of letters remains. I do not know how much I will end up completely overhauling during polishing, but looking at how I have fixed the game through feedback so far, I do not think there have been cases where the grand concept or design completely changed.

In the final stages of the threshold, there are no newly acquired abilities. Therefore, the progression mainly consists of solving spatial puzzles with mechanical demands, finding paths within the space, and using different applications of the existing suit programs, rather than the experience of connecting spaces with new abilities. This bothers me a bit, but I will try to modify this as well later while receiving feedback. Since it is the final part, I do not know how much feedback will come, but I will try as much as I can. I keep seeing the end approaching, so it is very exhausting, but I am happy indeed.