Devblog #19 – Spitballing with Tonks

Hello gamers, Johnny here.

In today's Devblog, I will cover some non-spoilery things I've been working on, as well as an idea for which I would appreciate some feedback.

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been implementing kinetic text. As mentioned by Loafy in a previous devblog, kinetic text refers to text with slight animation, such as shuddering, bouncing, and shaky text. I've been using effects such as shuddering, bouncing, and shaky text, as well as animated hearts across the game to great effect. It took a couple of tries to get it just right, but once I did, it's been a great way to portray both emotions and speaking volume.

Moving on to writing, Loafy and I sat down to discuss the event summaries I've written for Tonks' content. Our aim is to capitalise on their distinctive dynamic and craft a good back-and-forth between them... if you know what I mean. The fact that Tonks is almost as lewd and experienced as Genie also means we can get wild and crazy. Is there an expression for when two people are giving each other a wild ride?

Apart from Tonks' content, I've also been writing unique "fail" variants for Hermione's public favours. As you may know, personal and public events used to have the same repetitive writing when Hermione refuses to perform a favour. In a previous update, I added unique writing for her personal favours, and now I'm doing the same for the public variants.

Now, let's discuss the idea I mentioned earlier. When I feel the need to exercise my writing muscle, I enjoy tinkering with silly ideas for side-content to make the game world feel more alive. One such area that I'd like to expand upon are the text mediums of the game. One of these mediums I've been tinkering with is Luna's father's magazine, "The Quibbler," which players would be able to pick up weekly. With "The Quibbler" being full of bizarre theories, misinformation, and the like, the idea would be to use it as an outlet for writing that while funny may not be entirely true. To give you a taste of what to expect, here is one of the three articles I've written so far.

"Muggles in Love: A Study of the Weird and Wacky Ways They Show Affection

As a seasoned observer of the Muggle world, I have spent countless hours studying the bizarre customs of these peculiar creatures. One of the most fascinating aspects of Muggle culture is their methods of showing affection.

It doesn't take long to uncover signs of affection within the world of Muggles. For instance, there is the "pavement gathering". A long-standing tradition where women will congregate on the pavement to await potential suitors. The men, upon approaching these lovely ladies, will engage in a brief conversation before promptly disappearing into their motorised vehicle, never to be seen again. This is indeed a thrilling spectacle, to say the least.

Of course, the search for potential partners doesn't end in the streets, but is also heavily encouraged in places of employment. Muggles have this wonderful tradition called "Casual Friday", where they don their most outrageous attire in the hopes of attracting a romantic interest.

Then there is the ultimate gesture of affection, the middle finger. As an act of displaying true love and affection, Muggles will extend their middle finger toward a potential mate. It is believed that this symbolises a desire for physical contact, as the gesture is often followed by a vocal invitation to engage in sexual activity.

As I finish writing this article, casually observing the "pavement gathering" A suave gent, resplendent in his purple suit and adorned with a wooden cane, makes his way towards the gathering. His eyes lock onto mine, and with a flourish, he extends his middle finger in a gesture of affection. While I couldn't reciprocate this peculiar display, I was presented with a satisfying conclusion to this story as each of the threads of these strange customs had finally been woven together to form a rich tapestry."

Feel free to let me know what you guy's think about the "Quibbler" idea in the comments, or on our Discord server. I quite enjoyed writing these and I wouldn't mind sharing the other ones in future devblogs if you guys would like, regardless if they make it into the game.

See you all in the next devblog,

Johnny.