Sunday Show Out - 12/14/2025

I've been working sporadically on Just Beneath the Holler since the summer and I've made some progress. At the current rate, however, I'd finish the game at approximately the same time as the heat death of the Universe. So, this website will serve as both a catalyst for, and chronicle of, my progress. I'm on winter break: it seems like as good a time as any to redouble my efforts with fresh resolve.

As part of those efforts (and as a form of accountability), I'm posting weekly devlogs here. Here's where JBtH stands:

Coding

I'm actually on my second version of the code. In the first version, I'd coded a nice little effect that allowed endlessly-scrolling levels (important to the story), but enemies were acting wonky. I save that and started anew, this time focusing on the interaction between Zel, the enemies, and her environment.

Currently, Zel has a fishing line that acts like the classic Zelda hookshot, except that it also pulls enemies towards her. I'm coding the enemy finite state machine and have enemies patrolling and chasing. This week's task is to build the attack state. That necessitates enabling Zel to take damage and die, which I feel is indicative of how much coding wounds me when it doesn't go right the first, second, or eight-hundredth time.

Story

The narrative has been done for about a month now. I have a file that contains dialogue I think of during the day (because man, will I forget it otherwise), but I've not even thought about coding the dialog yet. I'm just not there. The narrative needs a second draft, which is on the schedule for this coming week.

I'm also researching Appalachia and its flora, fauna, and folklore. And, without giving too much away, my encyclopedic knowledge of certain paranormal subjects is really coming in handy. I really like where the story is at this point, apart from how I've handled representation: but I can, and will, improve that.

Art

Pixel art remains challenging. Currently, I have this:

The orange square is Zel, the blue squares are patrolling enemies, and the blue circles are grapple posts for Zel's fishing line. The rest should be familiar to anyone who's seen a game since, say, the Atari 2600.

It isn't that pretty, but it's functional.

Music

I downloaded FL Studio. Does that count for anything?

No?

Well, it was worth a shot.

General Thoughts

I'm in over my head. I threw myself into the ocean that was gamedev without the ability to swim and I'm treading water at this point. That's not nothing, though: I'm still learning to swim and I haven't given up. I can't quite say what possessed me to make a game, especially one that will take years to complete. Maybe I'm at that age where I want to leave my mark. Maybe I just want to learn new things. Regardless, I'm still at it and will continue to be at it.

See you next week!