How to evaluate the hand-painted independent game “Insomnia”?

Hi~, I’m Keke, the producer of “Insomnia – Theater in the Brain” from “Perfect Day” studio.

“Insomnia” has been released for a week, and the achievement cards and some optimizations have been updated one after another. Finally, I can calm down and chat.

In fact, I don’t know how to evaluate my games. I’m not good at expressing myself in words, so I will put more expression in my paintings, clay, and wood carvings… and this time they are condensed in the “game” “In this carrier, it became my “Insomnia”.

My sleep quality has not been very good, often insomnia. Just like in the game, lying on the bed is always untimely, entangled in the past for a while, and afraid of the future for a while, but if you say something wrong that day, or have any activities the next day, you will not be able to clear your mind that night. It’s like a theater has taken root. When the curtain is drawn, the small space is filled with regret and anxiety. And the thought of turning these ideas into a game also came from an insomnia.

【Backstage preparation】

Like “A Perfect Day”, “Insomnia” originally came from a Gamejam, but the difference is that I changed from a story listener to a storyteller.

The beginning of “Perfect Day” was when Deng Buran found me, was moved by the story he told, and hit it off to complete the Gamejam demo. I was the main artist, and later joined Lao Ge as the main program, starting the journey of “A Perfect Day”.

During the second Gamejam, I got a few suffocating expectations from them because I casually said “Why don’t I make a small game myself this time?” Just like what I said in the game, I want to try something new, and I want to be recognized. I don’t want others to disappoint me, and I don’t want to lose myself… I fell into this endless contradiction and entanglement that night, and then, I lost sleep again…

It wasn’t until the birds started chirping and the sunlight crept in through the cracks in the curtains that I realized that this painful “insomnia” was actually a part of me, and it already existed, so I might as well make it out. Following this idea, I found Lao Ge as a program and completed the demo with him (this demo was included in “Perfect Day” as a flash card reward).

Since then, I have created a memo in my mobile phone, recording the pictures in my mind every time I suffer from insomnia, remembering some key words and fragments. And most of them are presented in the subsequent games. In the second half of this year, I continued to cooperate with Lao Ge and started the journey of “Insomnia”.

[The curtain opens]

To be honest, as a producer for the first time, everything I faced was a challenge. Anxiety, self-doubt, and more sleepless nights rife along the way.

However, the desire to express has always pushed me to go forward, to do things that have never been done before. Try to conceive the level of each scene, try to write the dialogue between the characters, try to complete the story of the game, try to animate in unity, try to find the right reference music, try to arrange the whole progress… when the real After doing it and realizing them one by one, I realized that there is actually no boundary between them, and some of them are just the same goal of “doing it well”.

Of course, in addition to this, the support within the team is also indispensable. Lao Ge, who is always dragged by me to work overtime until midnight (I didn’t suffer from insomnia at first, but started to suffer from insomnia after doing “Insomnia…”), and Lao Deng, who supported me all the way. Xingxinggou, they not only helped me a lot, the most important thing is that they gave me a lot of strength when I doubted myself.

It is also the process of more than half a year, which has given me a better understanding of the medium of games. It allows me to express not only my own expression, but also helps build a real bridge between me and players. It allows me to deliver the brushes to everyone with my own hands.

It’s been a tough year, and the act 2 performance has been the source of most of my insomnia this year, and if my game resonates, I hope this show ends up delivering a dose of healing and strength.

And other things I want to say and express are also in the game.

[The show continues]

Until now, I still look at the comments on steam in a trance, some are like a mirror, empathizing with each other to see myself; some are like a cup of hot drink with continuous heat; some are like a pair of big hands, holding my Be careful…

This feeling is very strange. I wanted to do “Insomnia” because of insomnia, and I also completed “Insomnia” with insomnia, but on the night of the release day, I saw the tenderness left by everyone in the comments, and I fell asleep peacefully with tears .

Of course, the sky will still light up, and we will continue to work hard for the next work, because we gradually know where we are going.

Thank you very much again, players, thank you for taking the time to experience this little work of mine, thank you for all your support and all your love.

I wish you all a good night’s sleep

Source: Zhihu www.zhihu.com

Author: Kook.KE

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