Game Update
Still pressing forward with building stages. I’m starting to get a lot more efficient when I work. We finished 3 landscapes with their invisible zones to change the landscape the squads move through and fight on. We also have to place towns and create names for all the enemy towns that aren’t controlled by the stage boss.
Recently the idea of creating a stage enemy that is the focus of the players attention has come to mind. I should be able to do this with the text box system that we have already. The issue is that it can be hard to get a feel for the enemy or create a narrative if the player only speaks with them at their final base. We can have the surrounding towns talk about them though.
Some of the ideas I’ve had are a leader that wants the best for their area but their family drags them into poor decisions. Another idea is creating a very cooperative enemy that turns on the player at the end of the stage. Maybe that enemy could be an ally and a second main enemy would be for the stage with the ally being a double agent.
Personal Update
I’ve had quite a whirlwind in the past week or so. It’s been so much to deal with and I have to talk around most of it which is hard. Needless to say I’ve felt the deep hurt and sting of betrayal through lies with someone I trusted. It turned out their problems ran pretty deep so I did what I could for them but now they have pushed me away, which might be for the best within my family anyway.
Living through it taught me a lot about myself, and I really hope it doesn’t hurt my belief in people. I’ve experienced plenty of other people in the area that don’t have much trust in humanity at all. They are afraid to lose everything which makes them look for the bad in people. I find that whatever I seek is what I will find. It’s a bad habit to feed, to always be looking for the worst in situations. When I released the game I would often say, “I’m afraid, anything could go wrong” and a friend told me the perfect thing in response which was, “anything could go right.” It’s important to protect ourselves of course, and to set proper boundaries, but it’s also important to be looking for the good in life wherever we can find it.
I had said before that often things can happen quickly. Wednesday was one of those days for me this past week. I was going through my typical day when I met someone that started to change things around for me. Things have progressed and I’m hopeful again. I was worried my heart wouldn’t be open again, but she had a way of opening me up to make me feel comfortable. The word I would use to describe the last relationship was “unprecedented”, but I would say the word for this one is “consistency”. It’s in our nature as humans to always be comparing, and I would say that so far this seems to be the healthiest person mentally, spiritually, and emotionally that I have encountered. It’s nice not to have to worry although I seem to want to save people often. Trying to be cautious and hold to my standards and boundaries going forward. I’m cautious but hopeful.