Devlog
Found is built from fragments: ideas, memories, experiments, mistakes, conversations, sketches, systems, and stories slowly assembled into a world.
This devlog shares the process of building that world.
Five Surprises
When I started building Found, I didn't plan for elevation. I didn't plan for water. I didn't plan for flight. In fact, most of what makes the world of Found one that I'm proud of didn't come from any plan at all, but from a lack of one.
Designing Found's Quest Log
I currently have one playtester. Like me, he has too much going on. Unlike me, he will go weeks between sessions. And at the same time, I keep adding new things to the game between each playtest: characters, side quests, and other details that suddenly strike me as absolutely necessary.
Designing for Discovery
Of the 217 levels in Found, 16 are anchored, or pre-placed, in the world. Everything else has to be found and placed by the player. At first, there are limits. The world is divided into zones, which gives the player a bit of structure as they begin discovering the world and the cultures that inhabit it.
Making of Memories
Found’s world has 217 levels, or world fragments. Each one contains a memory hidden somewhere in the level hex’s maze. These memories are fragments from Em’s mind, scattered in the same way the world itself has been scattered. They tell the story of who Em was before everything broke apart.
Minimum Lovable Character
Every character in Found is built on something I've started calling the Minimum Viable Character, or MVC for short. The concept sounds unintentional, uncared for, or even unrefined, but it isn't. The MVC isn't about doing less. It's about leaving room for the player to bring their own relationships into the game.
Em
In my last devlog, I wrote about why I’m making an RPG. I reminisced about old pixel moons and how limitations can become the most expressive parts of a story. What I didn’t talk about was the main character. I held that back, because Em deserves a whole post all to themselves.
Don't Make an RPG Your First Game
It’s been a year and a half since I started Found. I’ve picked up Godot and Blender. I’ve learned to code GDScript. I’ve created countless pages of documentation and systems for everything from enemies to inventory management. I’ve learned many lessons, more than I care to count having been the hard way.