Chapter 1 - 1 Breaking the horror cycle
We're all familiar with the typical Indie game cycle.
Create fantastic idea -> Start constructing game -> Burnout before preproduction is even started
Its a classic loop, often unavoidable all because of your own lack of planning, time available or even just because its a skill issue (quite literally). What makes it even worse is this all still occurs despite the painfully obvious hindsight from your previous project.
Having to balance a huge plethora of pre-production tasks, construct your GDD baseline and scope your individual levels, all whilst breaking down your game into manageable bites along with schedule, budget, contingencies and so much more … is hard (especially when you do it properly).
Having spent 3 Gruelling months as a team of 10 getting through this, and despite finally having the plan and scope for our first game baselined, we still cant help but feel something has been missed, but that's okay.
Despite developing a First Person Horror Game set within the deep confines of a crashed , abandoned (yes spooky 
) cargo vessel, the pre-production stage of game development is certainly the worst horror we've had to face. However, just like you need to run down that dark staircase to complete Outlast, or Amnesia, or any horror game which comes to mind, you also need pre-production for that extra likelihood your game is successful.
This is why we've left our main character here throughout- reminding (mainly ourselves) , but hopefully also you, of the reward for pushing through this horror. Maybe it'll inspire you to pickup your Gamedev journey again, and push through that pre-production stage which we all know you dread doing! Yes its scary, but we assure you, you'd will be lost without it.
If you want more inspiration, motivation, advice and small knowledge here and there, id recommend you join the rest of our community <3 Azalea Interactive Linktree
-Azalea
