Note to Self is a very short and unique game, where you interact with objects that carry a message.

This game is an exercise in visual storytelling. I hope you have fun discovering the meaning behind each scene.

Developing the Game

The development was pretty straightforward. The initial idea was to make an "empty" game inspired by "Io sono" by Salvatore Garau, also known as the "invisible sculpture that sold for 18.000 dollars". So the idea was to create an invisible game. It would be a fully functional main menu that just leads to a blank screen when you hit "play". It would serve just as a learning experience, the first crappy game as Thomas Brush would say.

I finished that empty version pretty fast (shocker, right?), and I actually learned a lot just by creating the main menu. I learned Godot's UI system and customization, which is completely different from everything I knew before. After that, I was left wishing for more. That's when the idea for Scene 1 hit me. Then the rest came naturally.

Scene 6 was the hardest one to make. It is the only one with an interactive camera, and the only one with organic objects. I have barely any experience in drawing organic things, but I think it turned out OK.

Note to Self is the manifestation of some of my lessons from therapy and life in general.

I Learned a Lot

I came into this with some transferable skills. Being a software developer, I had a leg up with learning Godot's scripting language. There's a lot more to game developing than code, though. Godot is very unique in some points, and wrapping your head around the "Godot way of doing things" will get you far.

I also used a lot of software to get this done. Krita and Paint.NET for all the graphics, Audacity for sound effects, Ardour and LinuxSampler for the soundtrack. I did all the art myself, which was a lot of work, since I'm not a professional artist.

There's also automation in place: this game uses Github Actions to automatically upload new versions to itch.io. That means I make the game, press a button and 5 minutes later the game is on itch. Automatic systems like that are very useful for quick iteration. That's where my experience in the software world came in handy. I hope to make videos on this (if I ever get the courage).

Final Scene

This project was intended as a learning experience, and learn I did. I have now a process for making games, and experience with a whole suite of free software. This means I can tackle my next game with more confidence.

This was made with a lot of passion and makes zero financial sense, so I hope you enjoy it!

Though it doesn't look like it, it is possible to win!