A devlog is definitely overdue, so here's the latest news!

Here's what I worked on since the last devlog!

• Composing music tracks

• Creating 3D character models for use in CGs

• Drawing CGs

• Creating new UI elements

• Testing the game

• Implementing expressions

• Revising the mystery

It's almost been two months since my last devlog — mostly because I've still not finished what I set as my next "main goal" for File 04: completing all the music.

I had the first playthroughs for File 04 in early December, and though they were very helpful, some pretty big revisions are needed. Having to go back and redo earlier work is always a huge mental block for me — it's very hard to be motivated about it. The task of composing new music combined with having to do these revisions was too much on my plate at once— I had some decision paralysis and got overwhelmed.

So instead, I worked on other things— like CGs. I'm still not done with the music or the revisions, but this month I finally was able to start working on them. The key to overcoming the mental block was to allow myself to take a bit more time on it than I thought I needed. I often underestimate the amount of time things take for me to do, because sometimes I work very quickly. However, I should not expect things to go fast while I'm doing difficult tasks, and I shouldn't put myself in a position where I have two major goals at once—it just leads to confusion. In the future, I will try to make sure those revisions happen much earlier in the process, so that this kind of thing can be avoided.

As I said in my New Year's post, I'm tentatively planning for a March release for File 04, and I'm still on track for that thankfully!

Until next time!

— LockedOn.