Subterranean weekly notes - May 9, 2026

Here comes a post of the thoughts that came to my mind this week. I decided to post them here instead of on some random social network.

THEY DON'T WANT US TO DO THINGS ON OUR OWN

You can't do everything on your own. You need to hire this or that other person to check your work or polish it. This is what we are told all the time. Or you have to do it in a way that is conventional.

I constantly see people on social sites telling you that you can't write your own story on your own. You can't make a game as a solo developer. They say it's because it's too complex. I don't agree.

Actually, I think this society we are in makes things appear more complex than they are.

Are we unable to accomplish anything on our own? Or do they want us to think that way?

We can do it. We just have to learn from our mistakes, and at the same time admit that we are not perfect. Wanting perfection in everything we see has disastrous consequences.

As creators, we may never end, or never start our projects. As consumers, we will only see antiseptic, cold, repeated formulas and no genuine works.

I know I am not going to make it perfect. I aspire to make it better. And I am not going to delegate to someone else to do my creation. You can be sure it won't be perfect, it won't be conventional. But I can tell you it will be mine.

"Lady in red". Model is Tamzyn, you know.

GAMES AND STORIES THAT NEVER END

I said this from the beginning. Caverns and Dryads is like life itself. You won't reach a point where it says "they were happy forever after".

We will follow the protagonists through all their life. We won't stop when they declare their love to each other. We won't stop when they get a house, or reach any other milestones in their lives.

My will is to show heroism and love in every phase and beyond. Nothing will stop being heroic, and nothing will stop being romantic. If I can't make it this way, it wouldn't be true.

So I am adding features to Caverns and Dryads to achieve this. You will always have something to do. The Necria missions are for this. I will also add procedural boss monster missions, procedural chapters in some parts that require you to do something or discover something, and other features.

Wait no more. Go to Steam and visit the Purple King in Subterranea.

HOUSES ARE FUN

One of the features I want to add is houses. You will buy a basic house, made of a living room, a bedroom, and a cooking place. Then you will be able to buy other parts of the house with gold. I may make some packs as DLCs.

I still have to think of the functionality and the aesthetics of all this. It would be fun to add a good level of customization. And also be able to build your weapons, your spells and your potions, and maybe more.

I'm also thinking about the possibility of adding some narrative chapters linked to some parts of the house.

WHY 2D

I may post in the future about the reasons why I chose 2D instead of 3D for my game.

It was basically because 3D needs much more time to develop. Also, because I think that when you make a game in 3D, realism and detail in the models become the first and most important aspect of your game.

In 2D, you can play with imagination, atmosphere, the liminal, archetypes... Your computer game becomes a game. The game becomes an adventure. The adventure becomes a living experience. The experience becomes important.

I'll post about this, definitely, in the next weeks.

INTERNET BEFORE WE SOLD OUR SOUL TO CORPORATIONS

This week I discovered some special sites. It seems there is something called the IndieWeb. There's also a site called SpaceHey that looks like a new MySpace. And Neocities, which is a kind of GeoCities. The Palace chat is still alive.

So although they are a minority, it seems that the old internet before social sites exists. It's even a growing phenomenon. I am sure it will grow more and more.

It's curious but many gamers are not found in most social sites. We are busy in the virtual worlds that games provide. Socials are too busy and noisy to host an experience like gaming.

I have noticed that in most socials, devs like me are present, but not players. There are few players. So this makes me think they are a collective that spends their internet time in the games themselves, Steam, and maybe in those retro-internet refuges. And if they don't, they should.

I find the IndieWeb very appealing. It has the personal and creative feeling that the original internet had. I don't know if I may be welcome there. I may try, although many have a strong dislike for generative art, and I use it although I create my stuff as you know.

"The Mountain". May post some pics of Tamzyn next week.

PATREON - A CIRCLE FOR PLAYERS?

I am thinking of spicing my Patreon tier with some features. I changed the price to $1 monthly. I don't think of it as a main income source at all, and I would love that players join to support the game, so I did like others and set that low symbolic price.

What if I add some stuff to that tier? Players may become patrons and be able to beta test versions of the game that I am working on before they become public. Of course not expecting mandatory feedback, because they are patrons, but as a privilege.

We could also talk about the game and the story in a less noisy space. Or the members may become beta readers of the book when I release it. I may do chat sessions to listen to feedback in a closed circle. Again, all as a perk of being a patron.

I would love all this.

You can tell me what you think about all this in comments. I listen. I know many won't comment. They are trying to make us never comment on a website. At some point we have to rebel against this. But anyway, thanks for reading my blog and playing my game. I really appreciate you.