State of the Game #3

Hey there again everybody!

(Note: Some links, images, and referenced pages in this post are no longer available. Parts of the site have since been reorganized or taken down, so some content mentioned below may be missing.)

I pray that all of you are doing great—I know I am!

Over the past month, I’ve learned a lot of new tricks in the software I use to develop The Right Path. Much of that learning came from good old trial and error, which—while sometimes frustrating—has been a great experience. The upside is that I now understand how to fix things when they break… which they absolutely will.

Another important realization: This game is going to take much longer to make than I originally anticipated.

A few years ago, when people asked how long development would take, I estimated around five years. Well… here we are three years later, and I’m not nearly as close to the finish line as I once thought I’d be. Writing the story alone took almost three years to complete.

Realistically, it will likely be another three to four years before everything is finished. I’ll also need help—especially with areas like coding—to truly bring the world to life. World-building itself is something I enjoy and feel confident doing (you’ll see some of that below), but there are many technical details that require expertise beyond my own.

That said, this isn’t discouraging—quite the opposite. I’ve learned an incredible amount, both in storytelling and in using the tools required to build this project. With ongoing advancements in the software I rely on, creating what I envision is becoming more achievable every day. I won’t dive into all of that here, but let’s just say: WOW—there are some exciting things coming from these companies.

Now, on to this month’s updates!

The Pines Mall

I’ve been working on a small but important location where Helkena and her BFF Conny will spend a fair amount of time: the mall (a girl’s favorite place… right?…OK fine, I love the mall too.)

The Pines Mall, as it’s called in the game, is an outdoor mall that started as a basic template. On its own, it looked great as a movie set—but not as a living, breathing place. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been adding details, activity, and atmosphere to make it feel alive.

I took a lot of photos during this process—over 200 of them—but I’m sparing you from that flood. Much of the work involved getting the right shots with the characters placed just right.

What I did share were before-and-after images so you could see how much the space evolved, along with a few highlight shots showing some of the more interesting areas and behind-the-scenes work.

I originally planned to build out the entire mall area included with the template, but performance became an issue. Too many different models in one space caused my poor PC to struggle in certain areas. That’s also why I didn’t create a full video—the quality wouldn’t have been up to par.

Oh—and one more fun challenge: In the “after” photos, see if you can spot Helkena in every shot. Sometimes she appears more than once… and she’s often with Conny.

Red Tonja Comics

Red Tonja Comics is owned and operated by a very short (4’9”) and petite woman named Janet Smith. She named the store after her and Helkena’s favorite comic book hero: Red Tonja.

Inside the shop, you’ll find comics, collectible cards, video games, and even a few computers where customers can play.

ALL of the covers for the comics and games were designed by me, including the titles. If any names resemble real-world comics or games, that is purely coincidental. Most images came from free-to-use photo sites like Pixabay and Pexels, with some characters created using Reallusion’s character creator.

I also posted some of those comic covers using the same link as The Pines Mall.

>>>There was also a photo of Janet Smith being interviewed by Tyrone Ward from KGTV in Los Diego about the store’s success despite the rise of digital media. Funny side note: I later discovered KGTV is a real station… located in San Diego. Oops! (Don’t worry—this was later changed in the game.)

***Update: KGTV was renamed to KLDU

What I Need

To close, I want to be honest: I will need help. A lot of it.

What I need most:

• Prayer (LOTS of it)

• Finding the right people to help—and being able to compensate them

• Finances

• And… more prayers

  
  

Please pray for this project, which I truly believe God has called me to pursue. If you feel led to help financially, that’s wonderful—but please pray about that as well.

That’s all for this month’s State of the Game. I hope you enjoyed this look at The Pines Mall, and thank you for walking this journey with me.

Be blessed,

Sam 

🙂