The Deep Time Institute Is Hiring

The following is an official communication from the Deep Time Institute.

To whom it may concern,

The Deep Time Institute is pleased to announce that, after a bit of a bumpy start, we are once again open for business. Just like we were always meant to be.

Our research into the ancient Anthropocene civilisation continues apace. The dig sites are productive. The museum is — well, the museum has significant potential. We have recently secured the services of an intern with excellent thumbs, and we anticipate considerable progress in the coming months.

We will be documenting this journey. For science. For those that come after and before.

— Dr. T. Rexford, Director, Deep Time Institute

New month! New game! ~~New me!~~ Ok no it's obviously the same me, because that's why it's a new game. Sigh. One day.

That was Dr. Rexford, who you'll be hearing more from. For who knows how long, but we'll see.

Alright so, this one is called Deep Time, and I'm quite excited about it actually. Funny that. Excited about starting a new game whilst everything is fresh and fun. Of course.

Anyway, it's a casual idle/clicker about dinosaur archaeologists digging up relics from the modern era and displaying them in a museum, whilst having absolutely no idea what any of it is. Imagine a scented candle carefully catalogued as "a wax cylinder used to summon the memory of a fruit that no longer exists." That kind of thing. Your boss is a T. rex with a PhD and a problem with doorknobs. The ancient civilisation is of course, us. The fossils are ours. It's a twist but not really a very deep one. But hopefully it lets me do some fun things.

That's the premise. I'll leave the rest for you to discover.

I've got a few games under my belt at this point (if you can call it that?) and the pattern so far has been: start game, get excited, implement cool stuff, get distracted, start new game. So this time I'm writing things down. For me, mostly. But also for you, if you're here, which — hello! Welcome. Grab a chair. See you in the announcement post for the next game! Haha, I'm kidding. Or am I?

So. Devlog 1. The only devlog I actually get to usually, so let's make this good. What have I actually done? Apologies in advance for the AI-looking list, I just really like this dumb style. It's not just cool — it's unique. Sorry. That was a joke.

Decided on the concept. Dinosaurs from the future digging up modern human artefacts and getting everything wrong. Which is supposed to be funny, but let's see how that goes. There's also a time loop, a moderately suspicious dinosaur professor, and a story about capitalism quietly ruining everything — because I don't think it would be my game without capitalism-hating dinosaurs in it.
Implemented the core game loop. You can dig (scratch) up artefacts. You can take them to the prep room and assemble them. You can then put them on display to attract museum visitors and generate scientific renown, which you can then use to buy upgrades to dig up more artefacts. Tada! The end.
Got the scratch mechanic feeling good. This was the thing I was most worried about and honestly it's the bit I'm most pleased with so far. That's not true, I really like the entire core loop but my favourite part are the museum visitors. So cute! Anyway, about the digging... Scratching away at a dig site to reveal artefacts is very satisfying. I will absolutely be showing this off soon because it's the kind of thing that's easier to show than describe. Maybe this will mean an actual devlog 2. Stay tuned!
Started on artefacts. Writing the future-dinosaur descriptions for everyday modern objects is really hard but also really fun. I don't know if they're funny. I mean, I think they're funny and that's all that really matters, but I don't know if they're like, actually funny.
Thought a lot about the museum. The player gets to drag artefact pieces around and arrange the exhibits themselves, which means you can display things correctly OR chaotically. I am designing this game specifically so that people arrange things chaotically. This is the intended experience. It's going to be very funny. Probably. Everyone I have shown my pogo-stick T. rex to so far haven't been impressed.

Alright so that's where we're at! Early days, but the core of it feels fun, which at this stage is the main thing. I don't know whether it'll be enough to do all the boring stuff, but maybe?

More soon — including, hopefully, something actually visual to look at.

See you (me) next time! Maybe!

The Deep Time Institute thanks you for your interest. Applications for the internship position remain open. Requirements: enthusiasm, availability, and demonstrably functional digits.

Further details to follow.

— Dr. T. Rexford