I’m continuing my work on the chambers. The specific area shown in the video is a trash dump located at the lowest level of “Reality,” featuring a lone tree standing amidst the waste. It might be a tree that has extended its roots into hell just so its branches can reach for heaven. Regardless of the metaphor, you’ll be able to find a very useful suit program right next to it.
The world is composed of chambers and corridors, with each chamber designed like a theme park attraction—each having its own distinct theme. Whether it’s a necessary suit program, a new technique, a pivotal story beat, or essential lore, every chamber serves a specific purpose. My goal is to ensure that once a chamber is cleared, a shortcut opens up, connecting the player to an unexpected location.
After wrapping up the work on the “Threshold,” I began working on the Reality chambers earlier this month. In about 15 days, I’ve completed 5 out of the 11 planned chambers. Even with a rough sketch in mind, I often find myself staring blankly or wracking my brain when I hit a wall during the actual level design. However, seeing these chambers finally take shape and connect to one another—even in their early stages—gives me a great sense of accomplishment.
The remaining 6 chambers in Reality will primarily serve as spaces to acquire and practice new suit programs. After that, I’ll return to the Threshold for the final climax chambers. I haven’t started the design for those yet, so I’m not sure of the exact scale, but they will definitely be the most challenging ones. While I estimate about a month and a half more for chamber design at my current pace (5 chambers per 15 days), adding bosses and enemies will likely consume a significant amount of time. Bosses, in particular, always seem to take longer than expected. I can’t wait to finish this stage and start testing.
On a side note, I’ve noticed a surprising amount of interest from the Russian-speaking community. To show my gratitude, I felt I should at least learn how to read the Cyrillic alphabet, so I’ve started learning Russian on Duolingo. I once managed eight different social media channels but eventually scaled back to just Twitter as the others weren’t very effective. However, once the current build is more stable, I’m planning to start a dedicated social media presence for my Russian followers.