Nova's Diary #15

Heya friends! 💜

How has been April for you? I hope it's been good

We got a lot to show you this month, and I'll be doing this devlog in a slightly different way, (y'know, to spice things up a little bit). So any particular feedback about the format is hugely appreciated!

DESIGN & STUFF

Let's begin!

Now, I could tell you all about the things we designers did this month, like updating the level design or writing EVEN MORE dialogue lines and blah blah blah...

But why do that when sooo much of April's effort were put into developing our main man GIUSTINO!

So buckle your hoverboards, cause we have a lot to say!

So, a little recap for those who missed his story so far: Giustino started as a placeholder NPC back in 2019, where we used him while testing the first iteration of our camera rotation. After being ridiculed into oblivion due to his funny appearance for a period, he gained so much popularity among us (ඞ) that we HAD to include him in the demo, and so we did: he appears as a NPC during Rosetta's secondary quest in Day 2, as a shy gondoliere with a broken arm, waiting for his bread delivery.

Little did Nova (and so the player) know that was a 1000 IQ move by Rosetta to set up Nova and Giustino, because hey love stories are great.

Nonetheless, after the demo release we discussed on whether we should expand the secondary characters' narratives by intertwining them, something that culminated with the creation of a new quest for Rosetta in Day 2, "Food Delivery". But that didn't have enough space for our boi Giustino, a character so well liked that we even started to meme on our socials.

And then, eureka! We decided to do a complete makeover of the character, from appearance to demeanor to even his quest!

Curious to know more about this new Giustino? Let's check it out then!

First of all, our idea is to have Giustino be present every Day in the game, either chilling around or being completely out of bounds for the player, in order to make him feel like a part of the picture. We're still working on that front, also because we are using this as an excuse to try a couple of new things regarding NPC placement, just like in this gif here.

I'll probably have more to show you next month, but I left some more info in the [ 2D ART & STUFF ] section if you are really curious!

first iteration using old dialogue lines. EXTREMELY WORK IN PROGRESS

Now, for the serious devlog. What has been said at the start is true, there has been some update to the level design, with one honorable mention. Last month we've shown you our new holo signs, something that we thought could help traversing Venice while also seeming tech and traditional at the same time. Here's the new versions!

Apart from that, we have something else brewing in the pot. Too soon to talk about it tho, so I will ask you to have patience.

2D ART & STUFF

Great, time for me to hijack this devlog again to talk about our legend Giustino!

Relax, I'm only joking... Sort of. Remember when I told you Giustino had a new quest? Well, in a nutshell you'll be helping him finding a job!

And what a