Creating 'Chasing Sunrise'

This game is published! You can check it out here.

This is the third of three interactive fiction stories; they’re standalones and available on my itch.io page.

What is the game about?

This horror-comedy is "Get out" meets "Squid Game", with elements of selfishness vs sacrifice. I’m also inspired by the frailty of human connections in our rapidly changing world; eg. some of us engage more with chatbots than with other people.

You as the player, can choose between truth-finding or the status-quo. There's a price to pay either way :)

What is my game dev process?

I've refined this process thrice over the three stories:

1. Hammer out idea on paper:

   • The page count helps me gauge how fleshed-out an idea is
   • Ideally the idea is fleshed out enough and I'm still passionate enough to make it

2. Type out idea in Google docs

   • Type out a blurb, character + settings, and the actual story (plot + words)
   • Ensure all the branches/endings are sensible. If there is no branching than this can be a regular story/comics
   • Check the story for length: ideally the story is not too long, but long enough to be worthwhile

3. Add the story to Twine

   • I use the Harlowe story format as it has the most minimal UI
   • I reuse CSS from previous projects for styling
   • At this point I get my husband to play-test it, to improve the story

I print out the script and doodle on it with a pen to prototype different camera angles.

4. Draw and add illustrations

   • The good news is I draw fast, since drawing is my oldest hobby
   • The bad news is I need to psych myself up to draw, since I only draw occasionally now. I also plan the shots in the picture above
   • After adding the images I get my hubby to play-test the story again. He may suggest adding more images/changing images, and which sounds to add

5. Add sounds

   • I make a list of sounds and search for them on Pixabay
   • I save the attribution for the sounds used and add them to the credits page
   • After adding sounds I get my husband to play-test again before publishing the game on itch.io. I usually submit the game to a few game jams to get more feedback

A note on my drawing process

A page of my illustrations for the game; I wrote and illustrated this game myself

• I draw on looseleaf paper to trace previous pages. The pages might be printed on one side, since I’m into reuse-reduce-recycle
• I draw by hand using a pencil and Sharpie; the pencil is erased digitally, and the Sharpie pen really smells
• I use black and white because it’s graphic and simple. I’m a minimalist at heart and took art lessons in China, where we tried to emulate the black and white watercolors. I use Sharpies for a faster-paced world, but the minimalist principle still applies

Fun fact

The most time-intensive part is NOT drawing or ideation, but the word-smithing eg. editing the story to have the minimal word count while maximizing impact. The longer the story the longer the editing.

You can check out 'Chasing Sunrise' here.