Production Journal

Hey, my name is Daniel Foth. This is my journal which logs and reflects on the work done for my MSc project called “Life lessons from Irish Folklore via video games”. As part of it, I’m producing a 2D cozy narrative game called “Exercise Your Demons” with some dark themes based on the ‘good people’ from Irish fairy tales and folklore.

Game Menus

Programming
Design
I added 3 menus to the game. They are very rough around the edges but they serve their purpose.
Mar 19, 2025

Changing the game fonts

Programming
Design
Assets
Fonts are hard but they are important to branding. Choosing the right one is always tough. Programming with fonts can also be difficult. I spent some time trying to find the…
Mar 16, 2025

Narrative is ready for the beta

Narrative
Programming
Research
The narrative script scoped for the beta release is now fully integrated into my game. I’m satisfied with how this came out. The narrative engine made this easy and quick.…
Mar 14, 2025

Alpha Delivery

Demo
Project Management
This is the first project delivery. I took some time to create a demo, update my timeline and resolve some minor issues to make the game more appealing.
Mar 10, 2025

Narrative Engine

Programming
Narrative
A lot of work has gone into the system that runs the narrative in my game. It’s complicated and was the biggest challenge but with perseverance, I’m finally in a position…
Mar 8, 2025

Visual & Audio Improvements

Programming
Design
The narrative engine has proven very complicated with no visual feedback. It felt like I was not making any progress so I took some time here and there to add some flare to…
Mar 1, 2025

Script: First Draft

Narrative
Assets
Design
The latest narrative script is available here.
Feb 26, 2025

Character Select & Movement

Programming
This week I managed to add 2 features to the game: the character selection and player movement on the overworld.
Feb 16, 2025

Character & Map Design

Assets
Design
Characters
Environment
This week was mostly spent designing the 2D assets. I have made a decision to use physical media scans as the assets in the game. This provided a cool effect for the…
Feb 9, 2025

Paper Prototype

Concept
Design
The Paper Prototype defines the interactions for the game and has been reviewed for use in the Design Document. No changes to the original prototype were made as it’s a well…
Feb 7, 2025

Refining Concept Reasearch Question

Concept
Research
The research question started as “How can Irish Fairies and Folklore be used to create a complex character driven narrative emphasizing self-improvement?” at the start of…
Feb 5, 2025

Initial Concept

Concept
Design
User Testing
Project Management
This blog entry discusses the initial concept for a game called “Exercise your Demons”.
Jan 29, 2025
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