Hi all,

FINDERS OF IO has gone through yet another few iterations. As my first game development project, I know it can't be perfect. However, I want to highlight 3 things I've gone through since the last devlog.

Scope

The scope of FINDERS OF IO has been changed. I have made the difficult decision to abandon the Metroidvania genre for this game. That doesn't mean I won't implement large open areas (but this is also not a promise) The game will be largely linear, telling a story that is largely linear, in a largely linear map. As I have said, this is not what I would have wished to do, but to get this game to have the feel I originally had wanted, sacrifices needed to be made. Hollow Knight is my favourite game of all time, and to jump in the deep end and make a Metroidvania was far from as easy as I thought it would be. This really only increased my respect for the developers of that game.

Challenges

Since beginning the first iteration of FINDERS OF IO almost a year ago, I've had a rough idea of the story of the game that has stuck pretty well. Almost every single addition to that idea has not, however. I'll be spending the next few months finishing everything about that story, all the major points and all the minute details. From there, I'll be finishing the soundtrack. I feel the lack of music to inspire the creations is also holding me back. Then I'm starting the game again, this time with a full plan, and not just a  "make it as you go" type of game. I'm aiming for the game to be at least an hour, a big cut from the 8+ that you'd expect a Metroidvania to be, but hopefully without any filler or backtracking.

Polish

I do not want this game to feel poorly-presented. I'd rather release a bad game that has love put into it than a bad game that was cobbled together. In every working version of the game so far, those nice little bits of polish are what makes any good game complete. So, since I'm not planning on releasing a bad game, time needs to be put into these features too.

That's about it. From now, I'll begin writing.

TLDR

• The game is no longer Metroidvania
• The game is not being rushed
• The plot is being expanded