Inspiration and Postmortem

What I Wanted to Accomplish

My biggest vibe inspiration for this walking sim was Steven Universe. I think about the portrayals of space in that TV show, and I find myself quite drawn to the aesthetic time and time again. Additionally, Steven Universe always serves as a musical point of reference for me, both in the instrumental and lyrical pieces. 

Another inspiration for the music was David Bowie's Space Oddity! This inspired the slower paced music, and the underlying loop that ties all of the songs together in the sim. 

With these inspirations in mind, I decided to make this walking sim both and slightly melancholy in tone, but with the intention to evoke some sense of wonder of the vastness of space that I always feel when engaging with space-related media. 

Where I Succeeded

I think the musical composition for the base environmental music I have is quite successful. I wrote four pieces of music that I themed for each section of the map. There is an 'underwater' section, a 'ground' section, a 'top of the hill' segment, and an 'edge of the world' segment for when the player peers into the vastness of space.

These segments blend fairly seamlessly with one another, thanks to one instrumental loop that is common at the base of each piece. 

I also feel the visual style works quite well for this. It's surreal, and whimsical, while also evoking some questions for the player about why certain elements are where they are. There is a hint to a larger story in the space.

What I Can Improve

While I do like the random elements, and the small overlaying song segments that are triggered by a few objects in the game, I feel I could have done much more with this. I would like to be able to add in more tiny overlaying tunes for different objects in the scene to compel further investigation into the environment. 

I also think I could have improved the layout of the environment. Some areas are far more sparse than others, and I would like to be able to add a little more variation to the visual elements in the scene. 

One other thing I wished I had added was a 'footstep sound' - something sloshing when the player is in the water and something crunchy sounding when the player was out of the water. Right now the player character feels as if they are just floating through the world, rather than being a tangible presence in the space.