Myna’s Journal

artist turned beginner game dev making a birding simulator

[oakydev]

Myna: a birding game!

Hey everyone!

I’m currently working on Myna’s Journal, a quiet birding game about self-discovery and reconnecting with the natural world.

This is my first ever game, and I’m still a beginner programmer, so things are still in the early stages. I'll be posting updates and progress pictures and videos on this blog. If you have thoughts, ideas, or just wanna chat about birds or game dev I'm always here!

[oakydev]

happy to report that I’ve gotten more time to work on some new settings and art, and… there is now some music for the game! Thanks to @tainmenter and Nate Sassoon ^_^

[tainmenter]

Visit Original Link

I can't stress enough how meaningful this song is to me. When I was especially young, I'd spend so many days just trying to pass the time. I didn't have many responsibilities, nor did I have many friends, so most days I'd just pass the time by listening to music, reading, or daydreaming until someone came home, and even then, everyone seldom had time for me. For the most part, it was as the song said: Those long days passing by from the door Like late summer, they slowly fade away Finding ways through the favorite tune Playing all day with my eyes closed

There's a peaceful melancholy to it—learning how to take care of yourself, finding escapes from the crushing loneliness, taking your mind off things one way or another. When you have all the time in the world, when you have nothing to care about, you always have to be looking for ways to pass the time, and because of that, so many days end up passing you. By the time you finally find something worth dedicating your time to, you end up lamenting those wasted days, wondering where the time went and why you didn't spend it better. It's tragic, but... in a way, I think it's beautiful because it's those moments where you learn to appreciate the time you have. Moreover, as is evident in the context of Nanako's story in Persona 4, that loneliness coupled with trauma can lead to depressive mentalities—things like, "I have to be strong, so I won't be a burden to the people I care about," "I don't need to ask for help because I should be able to take care of myself," etc. Those selfless feelings slowly diminish one's self-worth, and they try to supplement their own pain by attending to others' through kindness. Ironically, Nanako's own natural kindness ends up going hand in hand with Namatame's savior complex, both fueled by grief and creating the aptly-named "Heaven" we see in Persona 4. It's a comforting, yet melancholy place, fueled by repressed pain and kindness alike. For Nanako, it's a manifestation of her innocently trying to be strong amidst the loneliness of her home life and the loss of her mother, and for Namatame, it's a manifestation of his savior complex as he tries to protect anyone else from experiencing the same fate as his lover, whose death he's still processing. Despite the dungeon being themed around Heaven, there's a distinct lack of the loved ones Nanako and Namatame lost, suggesting that they, just as the pain their deaths caused, are repressed where they can't be found. The song reflects this narrative further, though it's more centric on Nanako than Namatame. Processing loss can be unbearable, and asking for help even more difficult, hence why people tend to resort to their own coping mechanisms, acting like everything's alright. Despite the precariousness of the situation in-game, the song is soothing, almost upbeat, repressing the pain. Even the lyrics suggest that same escapism in an effort to take one's mind off the pain—for instance:

I can't get my mind out of those memories Now time to tell them, "Don't take my dream" Still, music keeps on turning me from the words that hurt my soul Removing doubts from my mind We all fall victim to it from time to time. We find ways to run away, to pass the time, to do whatever we have to so we won't burden the ones around us with our pain. "They're busy, they don't want to hear it, they don't care, so I just have to take care of myself." We create our own personal heaven in an effort comfort ourselves, but it never lasts. While I wish that Nanako and Namatame could've had more time for the conclusion to their respective difficulties after this segment of the game, I think it was an initial motivator for me to tell a similar, more extensive coverage of that struggle in the game I've been making. I wanted to write about what comes after, when the coping mechanisms start to fail and you have to face whatever is ailing you. Hopefully, with enough time, I can bring that side of the story to life and show it to the world.

[agatedragongames]

Blue Tit

Keep reading, for bird in progress stuff!

[lullabyte-exe]

⠀ hey everyone! ૮₍ ´ ꒳ `₎ა we just finished a full game redesign — updated the environment, characters, and UI. now everything feels so cohesive and cozy. we keep running around the world just vibing with the visuals, so yeah, totally worth the time. next up, we wanna work on a mockup for the in-game menu and add some little animations to the environment objects.

but the most magical part? our dev added moving cloud shadows and soft sunlight glow. the atmosphere is now 100% pure yunodream!!

you can add the game to your wishlist on STEAM!

[oakydev]

look at this beautiful art! can’t wait to play!!

[oakydev]

the progress has been a bit slow on the coding side, but I’m finally getting UI going and the saving. I was designing and making the art more often than not, I realized I needed to make some actual gameplay xD

I’m not set on the colors and definitely will add more buttons and options for what I have planned. (I’d love any feedback on the readability of the text so far!)

even got some more bird sprites done ^_^

[erytau]

Updated my bunny game with some visual and UI improvements. Bunny Forest is a chill little game about exploration and collecting carrots.

The game is free, available for Windows, Linux, Mac and Android: https://erytau.itch.io/bunny-forest Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.erytau.bunnyforest

[oakydev]

check them out!!!

[oakydev]

it’s been a while since I posted here but I promise I haven’t forgotten about this game! I’ve been working on the outdoor tiling, I think it’s coming along well ^_^

[oakydev]

a sneak peak at the first birds in the game!! (Finally)

[oakydev]

got some more of the next scene done today

[oakydev]

another update, its slowly getting there c:

[oakydev]

finished it up and testing it in game!

[oakydev]

got some more of the next scene done today

[oakydev]

another update, its slowly getting there c:

[oakydev]

got some more of the next scene done today

[oakydev]

a wip of the next scene I’m working on ^_^

[tainmenter]

"Begin debug sequence..."

Visit Original Link

I've always had a bit of a soft spot for Kirby's music—to tell the truth, one of my favorite songs of all time actually comes from a Kirby game—so I decided to make a cover of one of the first songs to spark my love for music. Back in the day, Vagrant Counting Song of Retrospection was by far my favorite of the Star Dream themes (and I snuck in its shared motif with Sky Tower while making this cover), but the first phase theme ended up growing on me a lot more since then. It has an almost heroic feeling to it, like you're soaring through the skies and victory is assured yet not easily obtained. I tried to replicate and emphasize this feeling as much as I could when arranging this cover. All things considered, this has probably been my favorite song to cover, bar none. I'm in love with the rapid key changes, sudden changes in instrumentation, and all the little leitmotifs they manage to sneak in. I hope someday to make a song for my game that'll spark someone else's love for music like this one did for me, but that's a long time (and a lot more practice) away. For the time being, that's a dream only the Mother Computer could make reality ;)

[oakydev]

loveee this

[oakygn]

hi bird friends! I’ve been working on a bird game! I’ve been trying to come up with a good character name…