An Indie Video Game Project by LiquidSunshine!

Welcome to City, the first game by the new indie dev LiquidSunshine (that's me!)

City is an exploration game set in the conscious ruins of an abandoned city. Crumbling statues gossip, streets remember your footsteps, and a single faded coin remembers your journey. Three statues - sisters who cry, laugh, and linger somewhere in between - stand watch in the central plaza ringed by five buildings. Each hold fragments of the city's history: the Half-Finished Museum, the Library of Misplaced Things, the Post-Post Office, the Clocktower, and the Theatre of Final Performances. As you wander the city and listen to its stories, you may begin to piece together the tragedy that led to the city's fall...

Want to follow along as I create City? Check out the dev logs below!

City Dev Logs

Work on this project officially began on 8/10/2025.

August 10th, 2025

• Officially started the project!
• Made the placeholder "enter" page and this page
• Drew the first concept art of the COIN

August 11th, 2025

• Research...
• Some concept art and placeholder art
• Built the Central Plaza
• Implemented dialogue system
• Implemented inventory system

August 27th, 2025

• Transported the game files from where I was testing them on Neocities to my hardrive
• Researched how localStorage works in brower sandbox, itch.io, and Steam

TO-DO

Phase 1 - Foundation

When making a game, basic coding always comes first!

1. Design the Central Plaza HTML/CSS layout using placeholder art
2. Image maps or div hotspots for the five buildings and the fountain
3. Implement basic page transitions
4. Create inventory system (including COIN item)
5. Set up localStorage for saving game state
6. Code NPC dialogue boxes using temp text
7. Code the Buildings (for each building, there are at least three scenes: In Front of the Building, Inside the Building, and Exploring Further (which is likely to be a set of many scenes). Exploring Further scenes will not be implemented at this stage.)

Phase 2 - Gameplay

Now we that we have something relatively playable, it's time to make it feel like an actual game!

1. Write dialogue and events (including inventory item conditions)
2. Conditions for sequence of events, including final event (all with placeholder images/text)
3. Swap placeholder text and add more Exploring Further events where necessary
4. Link certain events to inventory changes (including final event)
5. Style UI, custom cursors, inventory menu styling, and other details
6. Easter eggs and secrets!

Phase 3 - Art and Audio

Art is always the last step in game development, for me. This is what gives the game it's unique feel!

1. Central Plaza final art
2. Adjust image mapping for Central Plaza
3. Final art for each buildings' In Front of the Building and Inside the Building (including adjusting image mapping)
4. Create and implement sound effects
5. Create and implement ambient plaza music, tracks for each building, and unique songs for certain events

Phase 4 - Release Prep

Now that the game is "done," it's time for playtesting and bug fixes!

1. Developer playtest
2. Blind playtesters
3. Fix anything the playtesters found that needs repair (bugs, confusing story elements, etc.)
4. Explort HTML/JS for itch.io and prep for Steam
5. Pick a release date
6. Make and release a trailer
7. Marketing leading up to release
8. Release!!!

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