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OSAS Devlog #11: 2020 in Review

As festivities marking the end of the year approach, it's a reminder that December is more than halfway over—it's a wonder this strange year is ending at last!


We at Forsythia Productions wish you all warm, safe, and happy holidays!


We'll be taking a little break from devving ourselves, with weekly streams resuming in January, but we thought we'd share with you our year in review and resolutions for 2021 first.

May the coming year bring you happiness and joy!

1877

Birmingham City Council Collections


 

Reflections


In January of this year, we had grand plans for Of Sense and Soul's demo. Beyond that point, we were all thrown for a loop! The unique circumstances we were forced to create in not only made it hard to remain productive, but also took its toll on our wellbeing and our lives. From creating our demo to sharing it with you all and forming a community around our fledgling game, we're proud of our accomplishments in 2020. The setbacks we encountered remind us that we should celebrate what we've made, but that we're far from finished!


Through the course of the production of our demo, the postmortem for which you can read here, we learned a lot about working as a team and the many considerations that go into a visual novel. After the demo's release, we received much valuable feedback which has helped us decide what changes to make to the game going forward!


The past few months have been slower progress-wise, with our weekly streams being the main constant of productivity.



 

Resolutions


After a slow latter half of 2020, the new year offers us a chance to shift gears and improve on our work. With support from our Patreon subscribers, we will be able to afford to outsource more assets and services—we would be able to seek out editors, social media managers, and other people who will help us make Of Sense and Soul.


As first-time devs, experience is something we have yet to gain a lot of. Having such a large project as our first game was as daunting at the beginning of the year as it is now, if not more so now that we know the extent of the work that is required for the game to come together the way we envision it. Part of our strategy in tackling Of Sense and Soul is to be quite flexible and pivot wherever needed—as we've worked through our current process and pinpointed areas for improvement, ranging from more in-depth outlining of the story to streamlining the art production process, we'll be making adjustments accordingly.


Though our current slated release for the extended demo is March 2021, we'll be playing it by ear—as before, we want to deliver something we're proud of, rather than rush and get a sub-par product out to you all.



 

Life Updates


AKA

I'm sure I'm not the only one who's been a busy bee lately! After a strong start to NaNoWriMo, I didn't quite make it to the finish line, and of course the holiday season in general is always a whirlwind. I'm looking forward to a bit of a break in the coming weeks, which will, in part, allow me to take some time to reflect on the past year and plan for the coming one. It's been a big one for everyone, of course, and I had multiple major life events on top of the uncertain times. Goal setting for 2021 certainly feels a little odd when I really don't know what the next 12 months will look like on a basic level! Still, I'm keeping my eyes open and looking ahead with cautious optimism. See you all in 2021!


Ingrid

November was a whirlwind, and during it I tried to reconfigure my schedule and duties in light of my seasonal executive dysfunction. It was perhaps made worse by 2020 being the year that it is—but, well, that's just how the cookie's crumbled!


Speaking of cookies: now that it's December, I've decided to bake my life away as I juggle my responsibilities. I decided it'd be a great idea to spread some holiday cheer with sweet treats for my family friends (but I may have gone for four different types of cookies, three of which are decorated with royal icing, instead of sensibly doing just one.) And of course, I had to bake and test the recipes I'm making—I have a reputation on the line. We'll see how it goes over in a few days!


In 2021, I look forward to whipping my productivity back into shape—I'll be attempting lessons from Drawabox with some dev friends to brush up on drawing basics, going over the story for OSAS again with AKA, and I'll actually try and keep up with several daily planners! I also intend to make a more consistent effort in managing the OSAS social media accounts and Patreon, but it may be dialled down a bit from our previous presence—there's only so much I can do when I'm actually trying to make the game!


Anyhow, I'm just glad I got through this, and that we're still chugging along! Have a great end of the year, and I hope the beginning of the next one is brighter than the last!


 

That's it for this month's devlog! Happy holidays to all, and we'll see you in 2021!


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If you have change to spare and would like to support Of Sense and Soul, you can join us on Patreon or send us a one-time donation at our paypal.me

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