Past, Present and Future Developments

Stepping into the Oblivion is my entry for the Tiny Tome jam, specifically developed during the month of December (between Christmas and New Year). But there is more behind it, and more that I'm looking forward to.

The Past

This is not the right post to write a lengthy story about the origins of this game (I'm saving that one for later), but one thing is certain - this RPG had a lot of developments, just during the sketch phase. When the time came, in July, to pick a project to develop as part of the RPGenesis Game Jam, this one was in a good enough stage. In the weeks before, I even started writing a devlog about it in my blog (I failed to finish it because of time constrainments, but at some point I'll go back to it). A lot changed since those earlier weeks. The result of the jam was my Trilhos no Oblívio, in core the same game as this, but different because the 2 game jams asked for very different things. The major one is the language, since I always try to do my RPGenesis' in portuguese. The secondary one is the size - the first jam required 5000+ words, while the second required 2- pages (quite the difference). So, what had to change?

The Present

The major part that had to go away was context, and flavorful writing. Originally, and to make sure I would reach the words goal, there were lengthy chapters around the core idea for the game, explaining some of the game design decisions and even some game examples. I love game examples, but fitting them in 2 pages is a nightmare. Aspects and Roles had a lot of flavor around them - that too had to go away. A random table to give ideas for fictional travels, and that used dominoes tiles, was also removed. Obviously a 2-page game did not need a Table of Contents or a Glossary any more, and the credits section also decreased by a lot.
What remained? All the core ideas. The Aspects, Roles, Dominoes Setup, Character Generation, 2 different Game Modes, .... - all those were rewritten to fit in the available space. There was a hidden benefit of doing this, since it forced me to think on how to explain everything more concisely. The text became clearer, better structured, and with much better layout. It was also my first project using Affinity Publisher, and thanks to it I found new ways to cut unnecessary blank spaces; that even allowed me to add a brief Game Structure overview, and some optional rules. Overall, great lessons that I'll use when creating the Rules Handout for the original project.

The Future

From what I've written, it's easy to understand that this isn't the end of Stepping into the Oblivion. Right now I'm already working on very small changes based on feedback received. That update will be done as soon as possible, since no alterations can be made during the voting week for the Tiny Tome jam - some typos, better readability and a wording improvement in core parts of the game are the main changes. Right now it's PWYW, because I want it to be accessible to everyone that participated in this game jam. By the end of January, I'll put a price on this RPG. Even though I'm still unsure how I'll do it, I decided that everyone who decided to pay something while it was PWYW will have access to the paid version, and maybe the expanded edition. What is this expanded edition? 
I'll go back to the drawing board, and the portuguese game, to release the major version in English too. But with more stuff: I'm trying a lot of stuff where I use the numbers on the dominoes - oracles, random tables, random map/dungeon generators using the finished dominoes board, even some alternate rules. I want to expand the game examples, to have at least one for each core mechanic, and each Game Mode.  There's also the possibility of adding another Game Mode, and a Solo Mode. A lot of possibilities.  Depending on if this game makes it into the final Tiny Tome or not, the scheduling of this project will change. Also, it's always good to remember that every comment or review, every nice word, provide emotional encouragement like no other.
I also dream with developing 2 or 3 side games based on this one, that would use different randomizers besides dominoes, and/or use the final product of this game (the dominoes board layout) as a starting point. I even already have some ideas! They all would be bundled together in a small zine, and receive specifically requested art. What a dream it would be!

Don't let your memories and dreams fall prey to the Oblivion.
Dimitri, Dr. Givaca