PROJECT STARS DEVLOG #1

==== The Start of a New Journey... ====

Hello everyone! If your new here... I'm Bradley! I'm currently a Game Design Student at University. Why is that relevant? Well, recently I've decided to take a leap of faith and start developing my own Game Project by myself! I'm no stranger to making games, I made plenty in the past before I started Uni. The problem is these game were only small flash games and after that I attempted to make more games but I kept failing and eventually lost interest in most projects I started working on. 

I just couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. After completing my first year on my Game Design course, I finally realised what my problem was... I was going tooooo fast! I kept jumping into projects head first without going through a proper Ideation process and just running straight into the engine and making stuff which was just beyond any kind of reasonable scope. 

Since learning this I've been taking a better stance towards development of my newest project codenamed "Stars". So what is "Stars"? Well thats something I have been trying to work out. 

==== The Ideation Process ====

So about a month ago I started brainstorming ideas for a new Indie Game. I knew from the start that I wanted to create something new and refreshing. Something which is just a fun and chill game to play. I also wanted this game to be what I call "YouTuber Friendly". This is just when your game is entertaining to watch and YouTubers and Streamers really want to play it on their streams/videos. Most Indie Games get exposure this way so I knew this was the correct routes to take when coming up with my game. 

After weeks of trying to figure what my game would be I finally came up with a solid idea and foundation! So a couple months prior I made a small prototype in Unity which was a 3D game but the player was a 2D sprite. I really liked this style but never did anything with the prototype. I revisited the prototype and realised that this is the style I want my new game too be in, it just clicked in my head. 

So, I grabbed my notebook and just started writing... and writing... and writing some more. Finally after months of trying to figure out what was next, I now know that my game was going to be a Story Driven Exploration Game. 

Once I worked this part out it was super easy for me to keep writing more ideas and other awesome things that would get into this game! IN terms of scope it is a game I can see myself finishing. I've not gone over the top with the scope. I'm aiming for a shorter game but I want the quality to the best it can be. I don't want to make a 20 hour game which is just filler content. 

Where did the codename Stars come from? Well this is a strange story I guess... Theres no real meaning behind the codename, in my notebook I just wrote down lots of potential codenames and Stars was the one I liked the most. Plus next to all my ideas I put an asterisk next to the ones I really liked. Because I liked A LOT of ideas, I just thought it would be an appropriate codename.  

==== Where Is The Project Now? ==== 

So right now, the Ideation process is now turning more into Pre-Production. Less new ideas now and more expanding on what I have and deciding on what I want to be in my final game. The GDD is in development now so the ball is well and truly moving. While the game is still in very early development, the vision of I have for this game in my head and I'm really excited to start making this game! 

Throughout development I will keep you all up to date via these Devlogs. I will document my whole process from start to finish and I hope you will join me on this fun journey to make my first BIG Indie Developed Game.

Thank you for reading :) 

Bradley O'Neill