Hello! Wanted to provide a quick update on the status of the two major projects I’m currently working on. First, Leviathan, since there are a number of big changes but (as of yet) not much to show for it. Such is software development.
Game Dev: Leviathan
Following a much-needed break/hiatus during the latter part of 2023, we’ve now resumed development in earnest. The first major change to the project is that we’re pivoting from 2D to 3D, albeit keeping the gameplay mostly fixed to a plane. This has required some grunt work to get back to where we were previously – there were a few bizarre things that didn’t have 3D equivalents coming from 2D Unity – but will ultimately make things easier for the art side of the development team – which is currently just one person with limited time, so I decided it would be a worthwhile decision, despite the initial setback in development time. I was considering showing a screenshot here, but to be honest the project’s in an awkward acne-ridden transitional phase at the moment and would much prefer if no one looks at it, so I will respect its wishes.
Following the whole kerfuffle with Unity, I seriously considered switching to Unreal Engine and have even been taking a class on it during my off-time, but eventually concluded that with the knowledge I’ve built up so far, it’s more likely I’ll actually be able to release something if I stick with Unity. Plus (and I can’t believe I’m saying this), I think I like Unity more than Unreal when it comes to the general development experience. The engine architecture of Unity at the very least, which was created after Unreal, makes more sense to me than the quasi-inheritance-based nonsense in UE. Unity has its fair share of problems, but I’m sticking with the devil I know for the time being.
My hope is to do a more show-and-tell post with visuals similar to the previous Dev Log in the next couple months, though that also depends on how much my career/life ends up changing in the near future. Time will tell!
Music Composition: Requiem
So… I’ve written a lot of sheet music lately. As in a huge, dare I say it “bigly” amount. No, really. First, I wrote a series of choral arrangements/medleys of the music from The Nightmare Before Christmas, one of my all-time favorite animated movies, and most recently I finished a complete first draft of my first major multi-movement work for a cappella choir, a Requiem. I technically started this project back in 2017 when I wrote a piece for Radiance (then Vox16), a professional choir I was involved in at the time. Thankfully, we had the opportunity to record the piece for an album, so you can hear the genesis of the work here:
While I wouldn’t consider the work finished just yet, during the latter parts of December and the first couple weeks of January, I completed the initial versions of all the movements (all seven of them!) that I expect to be in the final draft. I’ve made some minor adjustments since then, but I’m largely just giving it some space and will probably continue to do so until I have a chance to do a read-through of it with an actual choir. Here’s the first page of the Kyrie, the first movement:
Finding the right size for the staves has been challenging! I don’t even want to think about what adding a piano reduction would do to the spacing and, as of right now, the text is too small. However, these are all minor problems. The biggest problem – writing seven movements’ worth of engaging choral music – is essentially solved. Huzzah! Here’s an audio preview of that same movement (using piano because trying to get choir sample libraries to sound decent for a large project is another project unto itself):
Overall, I’m quite pleased with the state the piece is in and I’m eager to hear it performed. I’m currently in touch with several groups that might perform it in part or perhaps in whole next season. That’s a ways away, though, so it’s back to other things for now!
Jeremy Kings 