Saccharine Soil

So I don't forget, here's a quick reminder up top that the v0.14 development poll is running until this Friday. Some of my Patrons seem to be a little unsure of themselves, because I've seen the votes go from one winning by one vote, to them being tied, to one winning 7 to 3, and only three new people voted over the course of all those changes. If you want to see for yourself (and maybe cast a vote of your own), you can do that by supporting me on Patreon.

With that done, I think it's time I come clean about something. See, as much as I like working on Maids & Masters, there's still a lot that I want to try to do within the confines of RPG Maker, and some of those ideas just don't fit within Maids & Masters. These ideas tend to just build up, usually as loose "idea" documents that I keep for myself. Sometimes I even go back through those docs and fiddle with the ideas a little more. That's how things like Love/Loss and Redemption Harem happen; eventually an idea crystalizes and I turn it into something. But recently, all these disparate ideas haven't been doing much. Just bouncing around in my skull, making me wish I had the time and resources to be able to do something with them. Then a roommate put an idea in my head, and a new idea crystalized.

Saccharine Soil is a survival horror action RPG that draws heavy inspiration from Sweet Home, the game that inspired Resident Evil. Combat will be in real time, unlike the RPGs I've been making, and the RPG elements will also be very light, really only coming into play for things like weapon and character upgrades.

There's still a lot I'm unsure of with this thing, though. As much as I love the idea, and all of the mechanics I wanted to build for it function, and it is technically playable, this thing is incredibly mechanically complex. If you were around for my post about Love Life!, you might remember that I had to step away from turning that into a full demo because there were artistic representations that I just couldn't get to a point I was happy with. While I still want to make that into a game, I don't think it's something I'll be able to realize without an artist. Saccharine Soil is quickly running into a similar issue, but from a mechanical aspect. Lucky for me, I actually studied programming in the past, so it's less of a stopping block.

 

The demo I currently have is technically playable, but things like item storage, limited inventory, even reloading a gun either doesn't work or is so far from what you'd be used to in a similar game that I can't help but question if I shouldn't look for a new way to realize these mechanics. While I could give up on having a limited inventory (which would then also remove the need for an item storage mechanic), that feels like it removes an integral part of the genre, and would result in an inherently inferior experience. In that same vein, part of me is content requiring you to use the ammo items to reload your gun instead of having a dedicated reload button, but it's so counter-intuitive to literally every other game with a shooting mechanic (indie games and otherwise) that I know it'll result in complaints and little else. At this point, even the title above feels off - too cartoony and scattered - but I'd already spent close to 7 hours on different versions of it and wanted to present this as a project I've been working on while these development polls run.

Now, this might sound a little defeatist, or like I'm complaining about not being able to get something I used to be excited about to work, but that's not entirely the case. I'm absolutely complaining about not being able to get these mechanics to function the way I want them to, but it's only frustrating because I'm so excited about the project. I desperately want to get this working well enough that it's something I want to present. Even just taking the time to do things in new ways is giving me ideas of how to try new things in MnM or other future projects. Even if this does end up being something that's ruled by jank, I'll be doing everything in my power to get Saccharine Soil ready enough to share with my Patrons this Friday, alongside the public announcement of the results of the v0.14 development poll.

And if it doesn't happen by then, maybe I'll just share what I have as-is with VIPs as an alpha gameplay preview anyway. Or maybe keep working on it alongside MnM until I'm happy with it. Saccharine Soil is something I'd really like to hire an artist or two to create the final version of, but getting it working as a game is a challenge I've been enjoying. Maybe a little too much.