Normalin Run Post Mortem

As promised, here is a post discussing what went wrong with Normalin Run. I'll try to make it as entertaining as possible, and I hope many of you learn from my mistakes and to avoid the same pitfalls.

But first we need to go back for some context...

Chapter 1 - New Approach

A little while after the release of my first game on the site (Normalin In Distress) I felt a sense of shame. I looked back at the graphics, and realized how terrible they all were. Especially the character models.

Despite doing my best to create them from scratch, they weren't appealing enough to make a captivating game. Therefore I decided to lower the poly count and make them look more anime. Basically trying to emulate the art style of "Megaman Legends" on the PS1/N64.

After many failed projects later I improved my modelling skills (slightly) and was able to make something more palettable.

Chapter 2 - Predecessor

Normalin Run wasn't like that from its inception. My initial idea was much different. 

It was the summer of 2019, and I finished my uni semester. I was free of courses and projects, so I had a lot of free time to work on game development. I thought of reviving the failed "Normalin In Distress" experiment with a new coat of paint.

In this game Normalin was the involuntary star of a DiD themed game show. She was forced to collect cards while traversing platforming puzzles and avoiding capture by grunts. It had a central level hub that was basically a movie set. This allowed Normalin to walk into different themed "worlds" without the use of magic portals or advanced technology. I use the codename "Normalin DiDStar" to refer to it.

I wanted to make the game look like a PS1 title, and so I went all in.  Low poly models, texture warping, vertex wobbling etc. Making levels was really tough. First I had to create the base level shape, then cut it into zones (for optimization reasons) and then use subdivisions to minimize the awful texture warping.

I'll provide a link for those who are curious to play it. But a fair warning for those who will play it. It is an unifinished game without any audio and is a disorienting mess with bad controls. Play at your own peril. Game Link

Chapter 3 - Redesign

Everything was progressing at a slow and steady pace. But that all changed when something devastating happened in my life. Without disclosing too many details, a person I was dating for years broke up with me.

Instead of doing the normal thing and talking to someone about it, I decided to keep it all inside. I focused on game development more than ever before in order to keep myself busy and not think about it too much. In a way it was what motivated me to make Normalin Run.

Needless to say I was not mentally stable at the time. I whole-heartedly believed that this game I was working on would be a smash hit. Ofcourse I wasn't accounting for the fact that I was making a very niche NSFW game. Regardless I kept on working non-stop on this new project.

My goal was to release a demo in a month's time (end of August), and use the feedback and some elbow grease to release the game by the end of the next month... with a fee orcourse🤑.

Due to the time constraints I changed the format from platformer to runner. Why a runner? Because it is the simplest type of game I could think of.

I kept Normalin's model the same (with one or two changes) and reused the badguy. However I had to create many of the assets from scratch. I used a technique to save time: I took images from the web and used them as textures. Since I was going for a retro PS1 look, nobody would notice the low quality texture work. At least that's what I thought at the time.

However I had to figure out a way to increase replayability. Players will get bored quickly playing the same level over and over. And this is why I came up with the idea of the in-game shop. Players would spend their hard earned game tokens to buy outfits, restraints and gags for poor lil' Normalin.

Come end of August, Lauch day. I started creating screenshots, writing the posts and descriptions of the game and polishing the first demo. I also considered uploading a game trailer on Vimeo of all places, but got banned seconds after uploading the thing 😅.

Chapter 4 - Normalin 2.0

All things considered I did pretty well with what little I had. But back then I was expecting my demo to attract a lot more attention. This created a lot of doubts about the success of Normalin Run.  I quickly concluded that the graphics were at fault. I felt that the poor graphics drove away the majority of people passing through, not even giving the game a chance. So I had to go back to the drawing board.

I bought base models to create Normalin, as well as better quality environments. I created all the animations from scratch, and even created all the outfits and rope models (I think those you can find in my previous posts). I probably spend near 100$ to upgrade everything, and it even set me back to the beginning: I had to write new scripts from scratch to accomodate for the improved animations and graphics. On top of that I tried enhancing the gameplay by making procedural generation more varied, and more freedom in Normalin's movement.

Upgrading the graphics was probably a huge mistake. But I honestly believed that I could make it. I even made posts regularly about my progress. Until...

Chapter 5 - Downwards Spiral

The person that broke up with me previously wanted us to get back together. I was hesitant at first but a lot of begging came from their end. I felt sorry for the person so I agreed. While I was happy for this turn of events, I would have to spend more of my free time and attention to this other person (and they demanded a lot of it). This, on top of having uni courses (it was a new semester) would prove deadly to the progress of the game.

I would constantly lose sight and focus of what had to be done. This combined with how low faith I had for Normalin Run's success, had me running in circles constantly changing ideas and projects. This was the very same pattern I followed last year after Normalin In Distress.

This time however I was also quite ashamed to login as Pontikue. I felt that I would let people down if I showed up empty handed. So I just worked on the current project (whatever that may be) hoping to create something and make a "comeback". That never happened.

It was only after nearly a year that I mustered the courage to enter my account again.

Chapter 6 - Lessons Learned

1. Never "upgrade" the graphics like I did. Decide from the start what graphics your game will have and stick with it.

2. Have low expectations and don't be discouraged if your game doesn't do so well. Especially for DiD/bondage games that don't have mainstream appeal.

3. If you wanna focus on personal projects, relationships with difficult / clingy people can be detrimental. Unless ofcourse said people fully support or even help you on said projects. (which wasn't the case for me)

4. Focus on 1 project no matter what! Constantly changing ideas because you hit some kind of development roadblock, or you think people won't like them, is a really bad habbit to form.

So there you have it. The story of Normalin Run. I hope I worded everything correctly, and got the right ideas across. If you have any questions I'll be happy to answer; as long as it isn't something too personal ofcourse.