BROKEN_CITIES, April 2021
Added 2021-04-28 02:18:11 +0000 UTCDecommissioned City #65
you have a job to do
it's been a long time, little birds. both for a BROKEN_CITIES and for... just. anything really. you've all been so patient at a very difficult time in my life and I'll never be able to thank you enough.
this project is something I've been trying to chip away at for several months, in the midst of serious issues with depression, anxiety and chronic fatigue (plus a certain global pandemic that's brought everyone's lives to a halt). it hasn't been until the past week and change that i've finally started to get things together enough to do some good, consistent work. i really need to be working on another full release, due to some unfortunate financial circumstances (aren't they all) but I wanted to get this finished first, because i miss being able to bring these things to you.
well, I say 'finished.' This came out better than I was anticipating, but it's still a BROKEN_CITIES, as there's a laundry list of features I'd hoped to implement with a bit more time:
♥ More decor objects - billboards, neon signs, AC units, storefronts, etcetera
♥ More plants, ivies, moss, vines, etc, to drive home the feeling of nature overtaking the city
♥ Individual ambient music tracks for each turbine to give the city a sense of life and variety
♥ Another kind of collectable; probably playing cards with notes written on them. When I first moved to Savannah I was finding playing cards littered all over the street for weeks, no joke I found like seven of the things
♥ More monuments, particularly in the small hidden spaces of the city
♥ More letters
♥ Wind effect on the leaves of the trees
♥ Boundary testing. It may be possible to escape the city, and that just won't do at all
♥ Optimization, playtesting, etc
still, as I said, I'm happier than I expected to be with this project. it's empty and it's quiet, but there are some secrets tucked away to be found. i hope you enjoy it
thank you again, as ever, for all the patience, kindness, and generosity. you are truly the best community of patrons a struggling artist could ever wish for, and I'm grateful for you every single day, even during the long silences. you mean the world to me
take care, little birds
♥
Comments
This is the first game of yours I've experienced thus far, and I'm like, really impressed. I just finished about five minutes ago, and came back to read this whole post, and eagerly look at the next game on the list. I loved this. I already know that this is a game I will be thinking about for a long time to come. Nearly every corner turned gave me full-body chills, and with each turbine, the lack of response from the city made me even more unsettled in the best way possible. Normally a lot of mainstream horror titles are flooded with jumpscares or AI creatures, so my expectation full well knowing the formula was that after turning off the second or third turbine, a creature would spawn in and start hunting me through the alleys. Nothing showed up, no one interrupted the job aside from my own hesitance, and there wasn't anyone following me, at least not as far as I could tell. It was magical, and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of it. The additions that you posed above would be great ones I'm sure, but know that this game functions well by itself, and provides a feeling I've never experienced in horror before; almost melancholic. "We still live here" is a line I will not forget soon. Your ability to let the world breathe is something truly special, and I can't wait to play the next game. Thanks.
Ryan Fleck
2022-01-18 15:24:59 +0000 UTCthere's so much here. thank you for everything, kindred spirit
Kitty Horrorshow
2021-07-19 20:35:20 +0000 UTCAs a pretty prolific artist, I get it. It's kinda painful reading someone else who moves mountains apologize for them sometimes being heavy. Last year with the epidemic leaving me isolated and in not the best of headspaces, I worked all the time on music and managed to crank out eight albums, yet come February I was still feeling miserable that I didn't have any creative energy for another foreseeable one. It didn't matter that I put out a career's worth of music in a single year, it felt wrong to take a break and worry about other things. There's just something in the wiring where the accumulation can't be appreciated, it doesn't satisfy in the face of the immediate, and all I can say to you are the same truths I can never seem to accept from others towards myself. Art is respiratory, you have to take time and breathe in between the exhales, and sometimes... you just need to hold your breath, because you've fallen through, under a frozen lake in the dark, and there's no air to breathe until you can find a hole or even a weak enough spot to break through that ice and swim to the surface. Your finished products eclipse their process. Please take all the time you need. Look, I'm pretty new to the community, but have fallen pretty hard for your work. I won't try and speak on behalf of others but looking through the comments the theme does seem to be that we're all here to support that work far more than be compensated every month. I choked up playing Roads and didn't feel right owning it for free. Perhaps one happy medium might be, especially when you need to focus on public releases, simply taking some time to go back and put out newer versions of things you were personally unsatisfied with? Like, things you ran out of time on before. It seems like you have a couple works you've expressed wanting to add other areas to or create more notes and lore for like this, but just didn't get to because it was taking too long or you couldn't see how to make it fit at the time. Getting those little expansions while other things need priority, would certainly be enjoyed, especially if they might now feel clearer and easier to implement, allowing you to make the output gaps a little shorter without working yourself to death. That said, I'm suggesting it for your own feelings of obligation, to ease the gaps with something simpler than a house or city. Personally, I am grateful for what I have, and am perfectly happy waiting for any more. ☺️
Cory Capron
2021-07-18 01:02:49 +0000 UTC
