I just realized that there is a forum for devlogs of unfinished things, too, so I will mirror my private devlogs here! The game page is still not visible to the public while I work on the game, but everything is already set up (and some friends are happily playtesting everything to report bugs). :)

It has begun - Day 1 to 3!

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Notes: This is my first full game am developing during my sick leave for two weeks (currently in week two). English also is not my main language, so please bear with me while I fix typos and bugs - feel free to note them in the comments, though! Any feedback is highly appreciated - really. Just keep a nice tone and use simple terms, haha. Also, I am a (graduated) art student for theatre and costumes, my coding knowledge is still beginner level. This is one of three games I want to do to finally get a hang on things.

Reported bugs:

• Window sometimes does not open in the right size.

Currently Implemented:

• Small differences in the choices you can select
• 3 test sections

Working on:

• Ending
• Sound effects
• Image animations
• UI animations
• Background music
• German and Italian language (Buttons to switch between languages)

This concludes the first entry I made, there is two more. (I hope it is okay to post several posts at once… Afterwards I will continue working and probably post only once I made some real progress)

PAT Devlogs #02 and #03: Lots of writing, lots of fixing

So, during the first few days I created some flowchart with arrows and texts, where should what text appear, what questions should pop up, what animations would be nice to be shown where? I was pretty certain about the images I wanted to show, but the arrangements and player choices do have a big impact on where to do what and when. It all has to find a good climax in the end, like a good old theatre play or movie scene or whatever media you prefer.

So I’ve spent some time there, brooding over it, asking friends for advice and finally putting everything into my game, step by step, learning how to put in bools, call functions and images and how to have branching paths.

Finally, I made the page on Itch.io and added an animated header! I was not really sure about it first, but now I really love the outcome. It is still set to private/draft, because I really do not want to publish it until it is done.

Bugs reported:

• If you click on “Start” before all buttons come up, the other two appear and don’t go away as the game starts
• NO > NO > YES / Q3 ends nowhere
• Options do not correctly function and are not attached to the header border

Bugs fixed:

• No offset to mouse when hovering over sprites and buttons anymore
• Text not blurry or too small anymore, pixel fix

Today (day 6) I mainly fixed the issue of the resizing - by putting in a Debug button. Not the best option, but I lack the knowledge to call the “reset” I put on the button correctly at the start of the application. I think it gets blocked by the resize call itself, so I would need a delay in the code - but how?

I will try to fix it during the day, but I also finally want the story to have an end. Currently there are three actual paths you can take during playing, but the outcome will probably stay the same.

Obligatory image attachment:

Fixed / Added:

• Added functionality to the mute button
• Options should work now
• Start button bug is fixed, all buttons disappear, no matter when you hit start
• Path Q3 fixed
• Added some more text lines
• Debug button to resize window

Bugs reported:

• Still resizing when restarting several times

PAT Devlog #04: Inspiration and filling the gaps

It is the current day! This marks day 7 in my small challenge. (And the end of old Devlog spam, haha)

It is time to speak about inspiration!

As some people that were able to download my unfinished build noticed, I added in the credits some of the inspiration for this game. The first thing listed is “CH/SS”, a Youtube-Channel mainly known for people with an interest in ARGs (like this nerd right here). Especially their video “Supplementary Media No. 423” (Link) is it what caused me to create this game weeks ago in my head. And it shows:

This is one of the frames of an animation that will be played in the section I am currently writing on. It is one of the most difficult ones to do since I am not that versed yet in how to work with animations and sound effects in combination. It is quite tricky!

Another inspiration is the game “The Watson-Scott Test” which I never fully finished, because I have a heavy dislike for jumpscares myself, but I just loved the idea and simplicity of it. The effect it has is amazing. I am well aware my game is not even close to this, but I try my best.

The last inspiration I can actually name is another ARG, “The Mandela Catalogue”. Lately people pointed out to me that I was probably inspired by the game “Maple Country” that was itself inspired by the ARG. Actually, I never heard of it before starting this, but after seeing it, I love it and it looks stunning. Props to the developer!

But this shall conclude my small infodump. Now the obligatory things!

Added/fixed:

• Added the end scene and sound effects plus animation to it
• Added a few more lines of text
• Learned how to layer and bool sound effects and when they get called, which is pretty cool, if you ask me
• Also worked on animations for buttons, but it was noted that they look a bit too modern to fit the aesthetics - something I shall work on more

Reported bugs:

• Playthrough with a friend on stream was bug-free! WOO! (Well, besides the same returning resize bug, but if you only play once or twice you will never notice anyway)

Additional spoiler for what was added finally:

And this concludes my fourth devlog and my … first full week working on this game! (With a few days break in-between because of sickness) Only four days to go until my own set deadline.

Day 8-10: I’m done with the main story and core elements!

I had to take two days break due to personal reasons, but today I finished everything I planned on doing. The game now has a complete story with some branching questions for possible replayability. I added animations, sound effects and some other fun things! A friend suggested several endings, but that would exceed my plans for this first small project. Maybe on a later time for an update or similar, but now I want to continue with something different first, before repetition gets me bored.

I’m about to publish the first public build of the game for everyone to test, but first I want to fix a few small bugs (some UI elements disappear after using them and similar) and polish what I think needs a bit more work. I’m a perfectionist after all! :D Even though I reached the goal I set myself, I still can’t sleep soundly with something that isn’t meeting my own standards, haha.

Though, for a first full game project I’m pretty satisfied. I’m excited to try out something completely different next - I will post a final devlog soon with the announcement for the game and everything.

Obligatory screenshot:

(as you can see, there seems to be an issue with the borders, too, so, yep, still some work to do!)

PAT Devlog #06: Hello World!

https://tanija.itch.io/pat

There it is, PAT is now finally playable and thus my project of two weeks is done.

I managed to finish the game to a state I am satisfied with, even though I still did not implement the possibility to change languages (the buttons are there, but it will not switch to German just yet, sorry).

So, feel free to test it, tell me what you think of my very first game and thank you for considering playing it in the first place!

Bugs reported:

• MuteAllSounds stays muted when trying to invoke the call
• Agony image (3-3) static
• Text “agony” does not disappear
• Images “Audio” do not appear
• Sound rumbling too silent, does not end with the ending
• When the credits end automatically and the options are open, you can’t click anything and the option wheel is gone and you can’t close it
• Mute button does not display mute status

Bugs fixed:

• Mute works now, sprite image does not want to stay “muted”, though
• Options will always close before changing scene
• Sounds are fixed
• Texts are fixed
• No Debug button anymore, window now resizes at start when calling the intro, though it sometimes moves a bit out of center

Future updates:

When I find time, I will fix the bugs you guys report and the following:

• Adding German language/localization
• Getting rid of sound files I did not actually use and fix the credits accordingly
• Window resizing issue is gone, but I need to fix the movement of the window, too. Maybe make it draggable, too?

Anyway, this concludes my last devlog for now. There will be some when I fix minor bugs or similar later, but the project is done and I am satisfied. I hope you enjoy it, too and I am excited to continue my work on my other projects. :)

See you all soon and a massive thank you to all my friends for playtesting and reporting bugs or playing the game in streams, you guys rock (I’ve added you all in the credits, heheh)! <3

PAT Devlog #07: German & Italian localization

Dear patients, it finally happened!

PAT received German and Italian localization and thus can be called finished! You can now change language during the gameplay from English to German/Italian and back and thus the buttons now all have working functionality. Only issue is that the current text field will finish in the language it was in before hitting the buttons. But as soon as you click, it changes correctly!

Bugs fixed:

• Not really a bug, but I fixed the files actually used in the project and
• corrected the list of sound effects used and the credits respectively
• Window is now draggable, thanks to the code of Quasar47 in the forums
• Fixed some typos and some text issues
• Added a .zip of the game for people having to fight their firewalls when downloading an .exe
• Localization buttons now work
• Added a Readme file to the folder with credits in it
• A player reported that I might forgot to mention that you should have headphones up - I actually had it in there and disabled the line. It’s now back in!

New bugs found:

• The window cannot be dragged anymore during a specific scene in the game - I think I know the cause, but it’s difficult to fix at this point
• I noticed the mute button not showing the correct state, but even after trying around I seem to not find the issue. Something changes the sprite at odd times. Gonna live with that bug, I guess

Otherwise I am pretty happy how the game came out - and seeing you guys actually having downloaded it nearly 50 times by now fills me with joy. (Even my university prof played it :D )

Feel free to tell my what you think about the game, too, though! I can always improve future works with your help.

P.S.: Thanks to Graph for fixing my errors in Italian, I am very grateful!