AyeeJ's Site

Welcome back!
The rest of this week wasn’t super heavy on the game design doc — mostly because my day job was packed with client meetings, which didn’t leave me much mental space. Plus, I stream on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday I had a (not my own) birthday dinner and now it’s Friday! Here’s what I’ve managed to do since the last post.

CC rework and abilities update

First, I removed charm from the list of crowd control effects. It only showed up once in the entire game, and trying to add it more felt forced thematically (unless I threw in a succubus/incubus enemy, which didn’t really fit).

I also swapped snare for stagger — snare felt too spellcaster-y, and Unchosen isn’t really a magic-heavy game; it’s more about weapons and combat, with magic-like effects coming from abilities and relics.

I added parry, which pairs with block: you can block incoming attacks or parry them for an advantage.

I also went through and fleshed out the abilities, which are run-specific. Unlike relics and soul traits, abilities stay at their current level even if you change your run mid-way. So, for example:

• Mercy run: healing and CC cleanse
• Balance run: CC breaks, armor, stagger and speed boosts
• Domination run: raw damage, life steal, and stuns

They all have proper names now too, which I’m honestly pretty happy with.

Controls and combat feel

I mapped the controls to an Xbox controller (since that’s what I have and can easily test with).

• Left trigger = main attack
• Right trigger = secondary weapon action, which changes by weapon:
  • Block (sword/scythe/heavy mace)
  • Backstab (dagger)
  • Weak melee swing (crossbow, for close enemies)
  • Parry (whip)

I won’t list every button, but that’s the core. It’s exciting to start thinking about how the game will feel to actually play.

NPC tweaks

I did some quick visual mockups for NPCs and rewrote a few personalities so they feel distinct (and so I don’t get bored making them).

One I’m really excited about is the second NPC you meet — she travels with a big black horse (a little shout out to my own horse, Lenny). Technically, Lenny’s a dark buckskin, but in winter he almost looks black, so close enough!

Personal life bits

I’m planning to see Lenny this weekend. I was supposed to help my dad move, but with how far away he lives, plus the cost of fuel (and payday not until the 15th), I just can’t swing it right now. Honestly, it’ll be my first free weekend in months, so I’m looking forward to a bit of downtime, streaming, and horse time.

The dogs are happy and doing well. Last weekend my family came over; we had tacos at night and pancakes the next morning. My niece kept asking for ice cream for breakfast, which she didn’t get, but she did feed pancakes to her little brother, so everyone was happy anyway.

Website updates

I also updated my website — it still isn’t flashy (I’m not a web designer), but it looks a bit nicer and is still very frog-themed, of course. I’ve added a page with an overview of Unchosen, so there’s finally somewhere people can read what the game is actually about.

Streaming and random games

Streaming has been going well. (If you haven’t yet checked it out, head over to https://www.twitch.tv/ayeej to find me)

This week I tried a weird horse girl anime racing game that’s mostly fanservice. I skipped all the story bits and just focused on the racing and training. Probably won’t play it again on stream though — it’s too grindy. That’s just not my style: never got into Dark Souls, MMOs, Path of Exile, or Albion Online either. I just don’t enjoy that kind of grind.

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So yeah, that’s what’s been going on: a bit less game doc writing, but lots of refining, testing ideas, and balancing work life with creative life. Thanks for reading, and see you in the next one!