an introspective approach

I am going to work on being a better musician. With this entry, I did just that! In my opinion, I think that this entry is better than blue line. If I could simplify both projects, "blue line" is a reminder that life can get hard sometimes, but, it's important to try your best; my third eye opened today is a reminder about the importance of self-love and not being so hard on yourself. I don't think that self-love is talked about a lot. We are often told, "Everything will be okay." or "Time will pass." Sure, we look forward to the calm after the storm but, how can we make sure that we are taken care of during that storm? This is what "my third eye opened today" is about.

On development:

I couldn't sleep one night and this story came to mind. I got to writing it right away as it's common to lose our best ideas right before sleep. After writing, I was a bit lost on how to move forward. I didn't know what art direction I wanted to go towards. It came to me that since this piece was a bit more introspective, maybe even abstract, I wanted the art to reflect that as well. After my first project, I wanted to level up my skill set in different areas. I wanted to challenge myself by making an original soundtrack and limit the amount of colors for the art.

☆ Why did I decide to have a limited color palette?

I decided to use only two colors (as well as only one brush for the entire project) because although the art can enhance a story, I wanted the focus to be primarily on the text. The story was and is center stage of this project. I chose the colors white and yellow, white to represent me and yellow to represent the inner self. I chose white because it can complement any color. The inner self is drawn in yellow as yellow represents happiness, optimism, confidence and hope. Said poetically, it's a ray of sunshine through darkness. The light in the dark. I think the colors reflected well according to the persons in my story.

☆ Why did I decide to make an original soundtrack?

Well, I wanted to get into music! One of my goals as a new game dev is to also get into music production. Before this project, I had no knowledge of making a soundtrack. I knew the very basics of music theory but was overwhelmed with making a soundtrack that sounded good. I forced myself to get over the hump of nervousness and to take my time making a simple soundtrack.

I looked up music theory videos on YouTube and after a bit of learning, I got to making a soundtrack! I found that MuseScore was a bit overwhelming for me so I used BeepBox instead. Not only is BeepBox simple but, I am interested in making synth music as well!

Do I like the soundtrack? As a first soundtrack, absolutely. Obviously it isn't the best and there isn't a "story" within the soundtrack but, I think that it has helped enhance the mood of my story. Making music for this project was a fun experience!

Reflection:

I think we all need a reminder of how much self-love is important. It's important that we take care of ourselves whether it is taking ourselves out on a date, taking a nap, buying ourselves a sweet treat, etc. I hope that you enjoyed this game and I hope that you take care of yourself too!

-joos

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