Postmortem: The Shop Next Door

During the first month of developing The Shop Next Door, the project has taken shape and set its course towards success, drawing inspiration from the acclaimed series Gilmore Girls ☕☕☕

With the creation of the prototype, we now have a playable product that includes most of the desired features. We’ve also successfully defined the game concept, met established deadlines, and addressed or found workarounds for the development issues encountered along the way.

In addition to the basic features like the game flow through screens, a functional customer NPC, and the structuring of multiple mechanics within the personal life aspects, Kioreco has successfully expanded its social media presence. A portfolio website was created to showcase the skills of the Kioreco team and the games we’ve developed 🙌💕🙌

Challenges and Communication

At times, there were communication challenges among team members, particularly around the game’s visual style. Certain team members experienced issues with executing tasks ahead of schedule, while others faced delays on tasks that were prerequisites. These issues were mitigated through frequent discussions and pausing affected tasks, although they did impact the game’s development progress ⌛⏰⏳

Team Reflections

Below are individual reflections from each team member on their experiences during the development:

Pablo G. 🍂⚓

The first steps involved converting the game’s idea into tangible processes and documents to facilitate understanding across the team. Additionally, we established an identity for the company and the game to create a recognizable and appealing aesthetic.

Regarding personal life mechanics, we structured its functionality around five core pillars and the various daily activities available. Initially, this aspect faced challenges due to overly broad and vague planning, but after discussions, we achieved a clear structure and functionality.

The UI design aimed to be diegetic, innovative, and fun. We chose retro phone designs, integrating personal life mechanics within this phone interface. This choice has been well-received, so we plan to continue with this aesthetic approach. So far, we’ve implemented several phone applications, including a supply store and calendar, as well as an initial in-game UI. All these will undergo continuous updates to refine appearance and functionality.

Paula 🍐🌪

Learning the web portion, especially with a new NetCode version in Unity, caused several setbacks. Navigation Agent issues in Unity also posed challenges.

Despite these obstacles, we’ve expanded our knowledge, resolved many issues, and found alternatives to achieve the intended functionality. Key improvements will focus on NPC queue behavior, item shelf interactions, and cash register usage.

Laura 🐸🥭

Challenges included aligning the game’s style and character designs. Some design issues could have been avoided by communicating sketches earlier and selecting a consistent artistic style as a team. This process will improve in future milestones.

That said, we’ve completed character concepts and external design work on social media, company branding, and team presentations with time to spare for any necessary adjustments.

Pablo P. 🍎🐾

We encountered many challenges in defining and creating a functional and compatible database. Initially, we tried a well-structured database, but it only worked on a local host, which limited functionality. Later, we attempted to use Firebase, but it proved incompatible with certain Unity features.

Regarding multiplayer, using Unity’s NetCode and Relay tools presented delays in network task management. However, we’ve found a compatible database and server solution, which we’re beginning to implement.

Néstor 🧩

In modeling tasks, we optimized models by removing unseen faces, although some objects were later modified to be viewable from multiple angles. We developed custom materials and textures, meeting our intended goals, though occasionally with differing opinions on style.

Many materials involved experimentation to achieve desired finishes, contributing to our growing skillset in creating the look we want for the game.

Raúl🐩👾

For character concept art and modeling, one difficulty was a lack of detailed communication, resulting in multiple design changes for characters and assets. To address this, we’ll hold more thorough discussions before beginning any new asset design.

Although designs were modified several times, these changes were minor. We’ve maintained the overall aesthetic chosen at the start, which has facilitated concept art and character modeling development.

We appreciate your interest and support as we continue working on The Shop Next Door. Stay tuned for future updates!