Beginning Hour: Starting Out
17 April 2020
I've always loved computer games. Every now and then I think about the perfect game; the game which I would buy in a heartbeat, play for hours, and doesn't exist (yet). I like the idea of making a game from the ground up, but I also the thought of learning the skills to do so is extremely daunting. I'm not the kind of person who finds it easy to stick at something for a long time, so I needed a creative outlet that would give me the opportunity to make a working game before I got bored or overwhelmed.
Twine seemed like a great way to make something playable with very little starting knowledge. I had already learned a little java, so making Twine stories presented a way of continuing to learn code, while also making games. The first question was of course, what to make first?
They say when learning, you start by imitating; so I thought I would turn something that already existed into a Twine story. At first, I was inspired by the Usborne book "Write Your Own Adventure Programs For Your Microcomputer" by Jenny Tyler and Les Howarth from 1983. It contains instructions to make a text adventure game in BASIC about exploring a spooky house by collecting items and treasure. It seemed like a great starting point for a basic adventure game, but something about the setting or structure wasn't clicking with me.
Around the same time, I had just finished the Scary Game Squad let's play series of Resident Evil 7. RE7 had a teaser demo called "Beginning Hour" which was its own self-contained puzzle game where the player has to escape from a creepy house, and I realised I could turn this into my Twine story. The teaser demo has simple interactions that would be easy enough to implement in Twine; but also features a detailed 3D environment which I would need to translate into a text-only format. On top of that, there's the added complexity of trying to include multiple endings that are meant to be discovered through successive playthroughs. Finally I had a challenge that was sparking my creativity. Complex enough to keep my interest, but simple enough to finish without hitting a brick wall.
I've read a lot of advice about game development that has said: "your first game should be a minimum viable product". Make something simple that you can get working as soon as possible. Focus on one thing that feels fun, don't waste your time on adding additional features or making it look polished.
Does Beginning Hour represent a 'minimum viable product'? No. I could of made something way simpler for my first game, like the spooky house in the Write Your Own Adventure Programs book. But this project represents something I'm comfortable with and I'm excited to work on; and for now that's keeping me going.