One of my longest-running side projects is Don't Save the Princess... actually, it's been so long, maybe I'd better link the free online demo for the game. It was meant to be a short and light project, tapping into the casual phone games market. Instead it has lingered and malingered for years, to the point where in the past I've considered just scrapping it, which I do not like to do.
The decision point came when I needed to do some work in order to delegate assignments to the artist, which required replaying some of the game. Since that would take me mentally away from other work, I had been putting it off. But when I fired up the build... I ended up playing longer than necessary, because I was enjoying it. I know it's not for everyone, but my feeling while playing was that I did hit the note I wanted, making a new sort of gameplay that strikes the right casual balance.
So: DStP is not dead. But what will happen to it? Well, that's part of what this post is about.
I've done some work in the background, mostly design - honestly, this has been such a relief on stressed days when I don't feel like I have the energy for anything. There are a reasonable number of variations we can get on the physics that are already in the game, different ways to give new twists to levels without coding brand new features. So some of this will be moving forward.
I've been talking to patrons about this and I think I have an interesting path forward, a way to make DStP another good step in my career. Not just another game, but a test for future projects I'll be embarking on. You'll see more about it in time... but not yet. Right now it makes the most sense to focus on TLS 0.69.0.
However, you'll hear about DStP again when it's closer to release. Onward!
