dev log

09/16/2023

gif of a treasure chest opening and closing.

welcome to dev log #2!

it's been a few weeks, so I had to refresh my memory on HTML for this. I only started learning HTML to make this site, so I just know a little bit. speaking of, I know this site doesn't look too good on mobile--it's one of my goals to make this site look clean and work nicely on mobile! I need to learn more first though.

onto the actual game: I've been working a lot on improving my art. I feel like I've made a lot of progress! like this sprite I made recently:

a sprite of a large, menacing (but cute) bear wearing a necktie.
battles are not a core part of the gameplay, but there are a few enemies you can fight. this is one of them!

when I started friend collector, I wasn't very good at drawing, so I leaned into that crude, asymmetrical art style. it worked, because friend collector is a very silly, just-for-fun kind of game. but I'm at a point now where I'm ready to really work on improving the artwork in this game.

for reference, here is a spritesheet + portrait I did of a hamburger character early in development (2021):

a spritesheet of a hamburger. the colors are very bland and dull. a portrait of said hamburger.

and here is a revamp of the same character's spritesheet and portrait that I did a few weeks ago:

a spritesheet of a hamburger that looks cleaner + more saturated in color. a portrait of said hamburger.

I can still see some things to improve on, but it looks MUCH better, right?

one of the more intimidating things when I decided to improve my art was shading. it's tricky for me to figure out where I should add shading and where I should add highlighting, but after watching several hours of tutorials, looking at other people's pixel art, and using the default RPG maker assets as reference, I feel much more confident!

aside from that, I'm getting very close to finishing the "skeleton" (i.e. main storyline) of the game. once I finish that, I'll go over and flesh out all the characters, maps, and details. I just need to finish setting down the basis for the final scene now.

a screenshot from the game of a bus driving down a path surrounded by trees.
this is a screenshot from said final scene. it looks pretty silly right now, but it'll look much better in the final result, trust me! the trees, grass, and path you see here are also all remnants from early development.

the storyline of the game is relatively short; the reason it's taken me this long to finish adding it in is because I have a tendency to get distracted by adding characters or other details to the game.

the bulk of the game length will be spent making friends (or enemies?) rather than focusing too much on the main story, so adding and fleshing out everything I plan on doing will take some more time. but I feel like recently, I've been setting a good pace/schedule for myself.

that's all I have to share for now!