AI tools used (or “None”)
GDevelop — game engine, scene, timing, animations and interactions ElevenLabs — Lenny & Sister Maria-Petra voice generation Audacity — dialogue editing, mastering and full audio composition Suno — original background music/song Canva — character artwork, dream sequences, video compositing and titles zsky.AI — cinematic character/scene animation Dropbox — moving large project/audio files between laptops AI/ChatGPT — scripting, dialogue, timeline architecture, prompts and GDevelop implementation planning.

How I built it / process notes
Honestly, trying to jam a massive 28-minute cinematic experience into a 72-hour timeline was an absolute wild ride. I started out using Canva to handle the main video layers and design the bedroom scene layout. But when I tried dropping that massive 475MB master video directly into the game engine, modern web browsers completely freaked out because of autoplay security blocks, and GDevelop’s file limits almost broke my build right at the finish line. I had to pivot hard and fast. I ended up hosting the video externally on Dropbox and using a clever URL trick to turn it into a direct raw data stream. Then, to get around the engine layout bugs, I wrote a custom piece of JavaScript right inside GDevelop. The script automatically tracks a blank placeholder sprite on my canvas, pulls that high-def video feed from the cloud, and snaps it perfectly onto the TV screen layer. It was stressful as hell to figure out under intense crunch time, but it kept the game file tiny, bypassed the browser lag, and let the whole movie play beautifully. The epilogue text may need a re-do..

How does your game use the theme?
The theme ROCK runs through the entire game. The central character is an enchanted rock containing Sister Maria-Petra, a rock-loving nun whose music and spirit gradually break into Lenny's reality. Rock also drives the game's music, movement, magic and visual transformations, turning a simple stone into the catalyst for an increasingly surreal cinematic experience.

For the theme, I really wanted to play around with the word "ROCK" and use it in a few different ways at the same time; as a physical object, a music style, and an emotional metaphor. The game starts with a depressed teen musician who keeps a literal pet rock under his bed to ward off his nightmares. But the big twist is that the rock is actually an ancient enchanted prison holding a ghost nun who is obsessed with heavy metal electric guitar solos. The whole story builds up to this crazy, face-melting stage performance where you discover her secret spirit world, sing along, and finally break her curse by telling her, "You’re my rock." I loved blending the physical stone, the loud rock star aesthetic, and the deeper meaning of finding someone who keeps you grounded when you're hitting rock bottom. It shows that sometimes your biggest creative breakthrough is just hiding right next to your dirty laundry, waiting for you to find it.