Death World

another experimental gauntlet of turn-based battles. predating Ocean OI (and for a time, using its name), Death World explores longer combat rhythms across extended series of battles, attempting to emulate lufia and the fortress of doom's brisk battles, mindful targeting, and sense of intuition under the constraints of rpgmaker 2000's default battle system.

i worked on Death World on and off from november 2019 until about june 2020. although though i originally envisioned it as a combat-oriented experience with a minimal framing narrative, as i began to form that narrative, i became increasingly invested in it, and the main challenge became trying to translate my feelings into story content. i don't have much experience with storytelling, so this proved really difficult for me. at the same time, i grew less confident about the value of my combat design and dissatisfied with the design toolkit i had made for myself, and so my attention eventually drifted to other projects. i hope to return to Death World and finish it before long, but first i want to develop more comfort with narrative design.

i present the first two of Death World's three planned chapters in the attached demo for the sake of visibilizing invisible efforts, to share what i'm proud of (and what i'm not), and to hopefully of relieve some of the pressure of sunk costs. perspectives welcomed