Hello! This is D’Anthoni.
To be very honest, I rarely blog or post about things due to the necessary need of extreme secrecy within the composing world. This of course causes me to be a lot more quiet. However, there is a little bit more of an incentive to showcasing progress for my upcoming game, Duet of Sonance, that has had a little bit more visibility over the last month or so.
Perhaps you could describe this as a marathon with various checkpoints or a long winded journey that you get to take with me. I also don’t want to make the ‘Dev Logging’ become the focus of my game development either, as the actual development part needs to take full center.
As you or some people might already know, I’ve been in the works in developing a video game as a (currently but not forever) solo developer. It’s been a lot of work… and I mean a lot. BUT I also want to stress that this isn’t a priority over my composing career. I will always be writing music and in fact I have been in the works of writing for some things.
( above is a screenshot of me literally drawing pixels in Aseprite. Fun but a long tedious process at times. )
The reason why I wanted to start doing some small Dev Logs (short for Developer Logs) for this project is because I don’t want to go insane staring at a screen for days and hours upon end in a dark room. Joking. But kind of not really. It’s a really nice feeling to document progress and to give somewhat of subtle soft updates while also replenishing a bit of my mental state. I also wanted to tell a bit about the origin story on how I’ve gotten to this point and how this project was born.
It can feel overwhelming just as much as it does exciting. And funny enough, It’s been in the process of development for the last five years. Well sort of…
Long story short I started writing the dialogue script in 2020 during the pandemic. Of course, many of us were finding outselves, myself included. In fact, the script actually took the entirety of 4 years before I felt that it felt correct and whole.
(1097 pages…it’s a lot. Quite the read though…)
It was a very difficult year for many people that year, myself included. While the whole world was shut down and dealing with the pandemic, my grandmother passed which meant funeral planning and seeing her for the very last time amidst Covid-19 running rampant for the first time. Afterward, I realized that I never got to tell her that I was gay, which eventually resulted in me caming out around the same time. I made a public post about that which caused an even bigger scene. Fortunately I recieved a LOT of support from family and friends.
But at the same time, as some people got rid of me on social media, gave me a hard time about it, or distanced themselves. It was a pretty emotional rollercoaster, but hey, life goes on. After my grandmother’s funeral, I came to terms with the fact that I couldn’t hold in myself, as that would hinder my ability to authentically create my music or develop ideas such as this game. It was a reminder that she never was told the entirety of my own personal story.
Afterwards, I knew I couldn’t hold my ambitions inside of my heart anymore. And so, my game project was born!
Developing Duet of Sonance holds a very similar weight of importance like it does with my compositions. Music has always been a way for me to express my voice, my emotions, and deep thoughts. It’s really a stronger way of expressing things when I’m having difficulty finding words to express those feelings through.
Some things are better left speaking through a creative outlet such as music, as it has always been there for me… an outlet to say the least. That being said, developing this game has become just as much as a strong outlet to express my deep thoughts and emotions through storytelling, game design, and choice intractability. These are the methods in which I wish to use as a speaking device to portray these feelings, thoughts, and moments.
I know that creating a game takes a lot of time and effort and there’s a lot of fear regarding failure, but it’s not the first time that one may feel this way in a creative industry, or rather any field. Anything with a creative vision will always hold risk and potentially falling face flat on the ground. But this time around, I’m not worried about reception or what people think when it’s all complete. All I truly care about is getting the story told in the best way possible that hits home the most.
It’s extremely important for me with the gameplay holds an authentic and personal experience. A story where the characters can feel relatable, regardless of their background or where they come from. In the end, I wish to allow for people to grow closer and to create dynamic conversations about real life situations or topics that might be difficult to express.
I know some people have been keeping up to date with some of my small updates, via the various pages on (Instagram, Bsky, etc) with early works being presented in a way that seems very rough or unfinished. I’m actually ok with that for the time being. Currently, the graphics have been described as ‘cute’ or ‘adorable’ (which isn’t a bad thing at all!). But there’s something charming about creating stories with rich narrative developments that I find very dear in games that can offer a unique way of storytelling and experiences that can be different per person. An adventure that YOU can control.
A lowkey shameless shoutout to the instagram page
Lastly, I just wanted to reiterate that this isn’t a post expressing that I’m going into full time game development. My music composing will always come first and foremost.
Anyways, sorry for the long winded first ‘dev log’ (not so much a dev log) post. I actually feel grateful enough if you’ve read this whole thing. I am forever grateful for my family, friends, and for the people that believe in my journey. I really want the best and to support as many people as I virtually can through this endeavor.
Once I feel comfortable enough with my progress and a trailer is officially created, I want to bring some folks on within the development process! But until then, I will be working tirelessly getting as much as I can done. It may take 2 years…. or maybe 10 years.
Who knows…
Regardless, I promise to see this journey to the end of it’s completion.
Thank you so much for your support over the years and please look forward to what’s to come.
Yours truly,
D