There is this thing that (thanks Prateek) has been said about deadlines,
“I love deadlines. I love the whooshing noise they make as they go by.” - Douglas Adams
I have grown to find that I like those sounds myself as well. But still, an update is in order…
So the ant-game that I was previously working on has been shelved. It was large and ambitious, and it would have taken maybe three-four years to do it justice, so around July 2024, I placed that on the metaphorical shelf, and decided to move on to the next one.
I decided, that I wanted to make a quick game that should be completed in a year or so, and like all gamedevs I’m a year and a half into prototyping that next quick project. That’s just how things be sometimes.
This is not really an official announcement, just something to keep you updated. I have spent this time working on a new project.
Sacred Groves
Sacred Grove is a forest-builder. So its like a city-builder, but forests.
You are in charge of designing a forest. The different plants all have preferences for what they would like to be adjacent to, but remember, plants can only grow under the influence of nature spirits that reside in shrines. The spirits look after the plants around them (but only when they are happy). You have these saplets, who are magical forest creatures that run around and perform the different jobs in the growing forest. You can unlock different blessings that affect the way the plants grow and create resources, and the more powerful blessings can completely reshape the way you may want to plan out the forest.
So the game is about balancing the health of the plants in the forest, the
happiness of the shrines, and the welfare of your saplets.
Though ofcourse, that’s just how it currently stands. If I have learnt anything over the last year and a half of prototyping, it’s that I don’t fully know what I am making, I just know that I am following the gradient of this game, and hoping it takes me to a place where I have something compelling to play.
I don’t know when you can playtest it, or when it will be out. I just know that I will keep working hard at making the kinds of things that I think are worth making.
The biggest thing that I have learnt over the year and a half is that I know nothing. I thought I knew how to make games, but really I just knew one small scrap in this infinite library. I still struggle with the humility required to do this task justice, but that too is something that I am working on.
I am excited for what is to come, and I embrace the struggle that will come along with it.