We have now begun "phase 2" of developing based on a planning/brainstorming session, and the kind and fantastic response of many people who played the game.

In order to flesh out the plot and overall game direction, we've identified the following topics as our focus for the next game:

Major Game Themes

Major Stories to Tell

Main Character Motivations

Telling the Story through Exploration

What I've started doing:

I've begun now drawing extremely crude diagrams to illustrate new scenes, themes and visual designs for the next areas of the game. I've included the initial block and shape diagram that I typically draw a scene from. I have often had extreme difficulty letting go of concept art (even when they are totally unworkable) so I generally try to draw the concept in less than a minute, so that I don't feel particularly attached to what I've made, and try to keep the palette to roughly 3 to 5 colours. Essentially I'm saying "yes, it's meant to look like rubbish!".

I tend to include Mariska in the frame so I can get a rough estimate of the size of the character in the scene, and use a little frame to show the size of the viewport in game, so I can understand the scene, and know how the camera moves. The scene I'm attempting is going to be more ambitious than anything we've tried, as I want to include a strong street perspective and vertical camera movement.