May 21, 2000
Sunday

Finished drawing the two shed scenes in Act 1.  Added several more inventory items.  Corrected a few slight problems with the edges and starting points on the screen.  Added a very appropriate MIDI to the bedroom.  Fine-tuned a couple small things throughout, added the character of showering Charlie.  Finally finished that infernal bedroom screen.  It was the first time I used flags of any kind, and there were three or so to tinker around with in that room alone.  I do believe I've earned my cognac.

June 2, 2000
Friday

Caused and corrected several bugs in the program.  Finally got around to adding the character/dialogue of the Canadian couple.  Go Vancouver!  Act 1 is coming along nicely, I only wish I had more time to work on it.  Why, with my tight schedule and time constrictions, I may be screwing up fewer things each day.  Also downloaded tons of midis for possible inclusion.  For those about to rock, I salute me.

June 3/4, 2000
Saturday and Beyond

Put in about five hours of solid work on the game today...very productive.  Finished Act 1, fine-tuned a lot of bugs, caused a major one in which Vales remains on the title screen for no reason...Looking forward to the even more complex Act 2.  Oh, also I added Moyer to the game.  He spices up all he touches.  And I finally decided to give points to the player for picking up the plunger.  I know it's an obvious thing to take, but Sierra used to give points for all inventory items, so I'm paying homage by doing the same thing.  My six selected beta-testers will be mailed the address of the game demo probably tonight.

June 4, 2000
Sunday

Released zip file of act 1 to my playtesters...then had to replace it with the CORRECT zip file.  Sadly I had the game starting at the maintenance shed, NOT at the front door, thereby destroying all continuity and allowing no access to several important bits in the game.  Fixed it however, and worked around the unfortunate drawing of Larry on the title card...I simply turned it into a walk-behind scene, so he's still drawn there for some reason, but this time behind everything else.

Entry B:  Added a pretty neat cutscene to the end of Act 1.  I love that timer function.  Wondering whether or not to add Kashmir to the cutscene or save it for the interactice part.

June 8, 2000
Thursday

Replaced Kashmir (a pretty poor midi version, I must say) with something far more appropriate.  Spent the last few days drawing and fine-tuning the rooms and flags that make up the tiny maintenance shed.  Should have this finished soon enough, and thus my second play-testing version shall be released.  Any day now...any day now...

June 13, 2000
Tuesday

Still working on that darned maintenance shed.  Added my favorite cutscene so far.  Tomorrow I should work out what happens when the character solves the main puzzle in this series of rooms.  Afterward I get to program the ducts.  Huzzah.

June 14, 2000
Wednesday

Not done working on the game yet today, but I just HAD to mention that I finished the stupid maintenance shed!  I knew I could do it.  Flags are more evil than Hitler.  Also I updated the backgrounds of a couple scenes to reflect the fact that the hotel is now multiple stories high.

June 15, 2000
Thursday

Nearly finished with the first duct screen.  Some nice conversation added.  Me near tired.  I fell off my chair, Brian.

June 18, 2000
Sunday

Finished up the ducts, added cutscene, released demo 2 to my legions of devoted stalkers.  Next stop, The Crumblin' Dice.  Also I redid a lot of Act I...added object to the bedroom to make the sprinkler scene more believable.  Extra special thanks to Captain Mostly, the playtester from heaven for all his help, devotion, and potato chowder.  Thanks for all that potato chowder!

June 21, 2000
Wednesday

Finally started work on the casino.  Did myself a huge favor in mapping out the puzzles in act 2, there really are a lot.  This game is turning out quite nicely.  Wondering if I can't manage to squeeze any Fawlty Towers references into this game after all...

June 25, 2000
Sunday

Over the past few days I've managed to finish most of the casino (sans dialogue) drew some importable scenes, and almost finished the supply closet.  Act II is on the way, but I have quite a while before all these interconnected puzzles are complete.

June 29, 2000
Wednesday

Finished up the whole Charlie gambling sequence, worked out the loner bit, important and programmed two new scenes, imported a load of new inventory items and made sure all the dozens of mistakes I discovered today got fixed correctly.  This area of the game is the first time I'm attempting interlocking puzzles, so it's taking me some time.  Although I have to admit it's easier than many might think.  I actually prefer it to the old "do something in this room, do something in the next" sort of puzzles we got from games like Leisure Suit Larry 2.  That game was a little ridiculous.  And there wasn't a single boob in the whole darn thing.  An adventure gaming travesty.  Goodnight, I'm dead now.

July 8, 2000
Saturday

Figured out several bugs in the Room 124 sequence.  Couldn't quite get the cards to flip over properly.  Worked out all the programming/dialogue for Ufarte, and got just that much closer to completing Act 2.  Also removed the hammer object from the second shed screen.  The screwdriver was doing just fine on its own, thank you.  Listened to "Love Reign O'er Me" half a dozen times, that helped a lot.

July 10, 2000
Monday

Completely programmed the employee breakroom and the telephone pole.  Corrected a severe and seemingly impossible problem with Ufarte.  Brought all of the puzzles to a glorious close, and for all intents and purposes, wrapped up Act II.  The next step is to revamp the game's webpage and get a public copy of the file up.  Will work on a help guide soon.  Actually, Act III is probably going to be a really short little bit, so perhaps I'll do that first.  Oh well.  Me tired.  Work tomorrow.

July 11, 2000
Tuesday

Narrowed my horde of playtesters down to three for the completed Act II:  Ben Croshaw, Captain Mostly, and Bubba Chump.  Updated webpage a bit with two new screen shots and a message that I will not be releasing a demo version of the game...they'll have to wait for the full one.  I figure it's better this way than having people download a big file one day, and an even bigger one a week after that.  This way everybody wins.

July 12, 2000
Wednesday

Drew/wrote/programmed a really neato cutscene.  So far my favorite scene in the game.  Commissioner Fishbian looks very at home on the telephone.  Should have Act III done very soon.  A week or so is probably the limit.

July 14, 2000
Friday

Did some funny stuff to the webpage.  Work on Battle Hymn of the Traffic Division soon.  Fixed many bugs.  Can I count the ways?  Game no longer allows you to collect grass again after saving the couple...game presents a clear text message rather than an abstract cutscene when you touch the grate in the shed...game no longer crashes when you use inventory on the casino sign...made it more clear when Rita is resting, and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.  Also programmed what is to be the second-to-last interactive scene in the game.  It actually is turning out really neat.  I'm going to playtest Act III myself, I think, so my wonderful three playtesters can enjoy the game all at once like everybody else.  Probably won't work on the game much (if at all) after work tomorrow, but I should have it done by...Tuesday?  Probably sooner.  I can't believe it took me all night to work on one bloody scene.  Bah, Garbaravage.

July 15, 2000
Saturday

Drew and imported the rooftop sequence and the second control panel.  Started briefly working on the objects necessary to the final puzzle.  Boy are they pains in my keiser, meister.

July 22, 2000
Saturday

I got so frustrated at the objects last time that I just had to put off looking at them for a whole week.  Actually I met a girl but that's beside the point.  (Heh heh)  Any-ma-hoo, I finished the whole sequence for beating the game and all that jazz.  With any luck tonight I'll do the closing sequence and bask in my soon-to-be glory.

July 23, 2000
Sunday

Final cutscene complete.  Added some credits.  Booyah to myself for finishing something.  My next project:  reconstruct the Berlin Wall to its former glorious self!