I’ve been working in the games industry for 13 years this past March. I’ve worked on a lot of games, done a lot of talks and tutorials, and written a couple of books. Over those 13 years, I’ve had the opportunity to contribute to things that are important to me, like giving voice to freelancers and advocating for story editing and greater representation.
The one thing I’ve never done over that period of time? The one reason I got into games in the first place?
Make my own games where I get to tell my own stories.
(I knew so little about the industry then.)
Even before the pandemic hit, that unanswered dream was nagging at me. I was dictating stories to my mother and grandmother before I could write. I’m a storyteller. It’s one of my greatest drives. I’ve had the pleasure of helping a lot people tell their stories, in and out of games. But one thing I’ve learned about myself—when I’m not writing and creating my own stuff, I’m not me, and I’m out of sorts.
One weird benefit that came out of this last year and a half? I finally had the time to design and write a demo and put together a team of amazing collaborators.
So I’m very happy to announce that Incarnō: Everything Is Written is the visual novel demo I hope to release early next year. “Demo” isn’t quite accurate, as this is more of a prologue to the rest of the story.
I’ll be sharing some posts that get into my storytelling process for this and introduce you to the team. Look for posts on everything from the music to logos to how I see character roles.
In the meantime, if you’d like to help a sista finish her demo and fund the main game, you can support me on Ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/toiya.
I’m excited to finally be able to share all of this with you!
TKF
[Originally published at <https://www.toiyakfinley.com/post/it-s-time-i-get-back-to-telling-my-stories> on May 28, 2021.]
