I am typing words.
A huge reason I'm doing this game is because up until now, I've done comedy games, and my name has become tied to the "intentional garbage" RPGM genre that I created with Smitpok and DOOR: THE GAME. and I really need to prove my abilities as a legitimate game creator.
That being said, do not expect comedy from this game. there are some funny situations, because they happen in life. there's no avoiding them. but they're not the focus, and I don't really write them. anything funny that happens will do so naturally.
The primary focus of the game is the lives of the characters, not a big conflict or crisis. They don't save the world, the Angels already did that half a century ago. They just want to live, and the world really doesnt seem to want to allow that. I have just recently finished writing the entire story, and things ended up flowing in directions I really didnt expect them to. there are battles now. there werent originally, but the characters manage to get themselves in one hell of a terrible situation where combat was pretty much required, and that event follows them through the course of the game, and well into the next one (yes, there will be two games set in this world). Battles won't happen for quite a while though, and they never become a gameplay focus. although the second game will have a lot of battles, and they will be big. the first game exists only to serve as a setup for the second.
What is the gameplay, then?
Survival and escape. thats all the characters want. they want to live, and they don't want to live anywhere that they'll have to try and fit themselves into someone else's idea of what life should be. Lucid can live in the Angel controlled areas as a prisoner, or he can likely be killed in an errant zone. He doesnt have a lot of options, and to make things worse, he brought along a human girl that aside from some camping trips, has no experience living outside of established society. Not that Lucid does either, but he at least has his strength and armor to help him out. and then he manages to get another human following him. shelter and food are a concern, along with safety. the woods, forests, mountains and fields they travel are not empty. there are Angel controlled cities and towns everywhere. There's wild animals. Lucid has no planned "goal" location to get to. They're running from everything and towards nothing. They have no direction, and so the player won't have much either. There is a set path the game follows, but that's pretty much it. Sometimes they will have to run to survive, sometimes they will have to fight for their lives. You get messed up in battle, those wounds will end up costing you in the long run. armor takes days to regenerate from heavy damage, and requires more food consumption and less movement. if the humans get injured, you're going to have to heal them despite Lucid having only basic medical knowledge. if/when Lucid is badly injured, you're going to have to use the humans to take care of him and themselves (the game trains you how to do this really early on after Lucid's escape). unless you play very well, expect almost every day to be a struggle. although, if everyone is kept healthy, and there's no scripted events scheduled for the next few days, the game will skip ahead to keep things from getting boring.
During battle, Lucid will be limited to whatever he has on-hand to use as a weapon. Just be careful about what he uses, because it very well could break. for example, do not hit enemies with a tent, or you will lose your shelter. and a tent isn't likely to do much damage. Now, if you found a big metal rod while traveling, that would make a fine weapon. Guns were banned in the Angel controlled areas, so don't count on finding any. Same with swords. Not that Lucid would have any idea how to use them anyways. If you don't use a weapon, Lucid will fight with his hands, relying on brute strength to try and take out the enemy. You'll end up taking more damage getting so close, but depending on what you're fighting, the battle could be over a lot faster and you won't risk damaging your weapons. What you are fighting will also limit your options in battle. Lucid will not attack humans with deadly force, and attempting to do it anyways will just result in you wasting a turn.
Lucid will not have the ability to heal himself during battle, and will have to rely on his armor's regenerative abilities to keep him going.
If a human is with Lucid when he gets into a battle, they will fight alongside him. Humans also cannot heal themselves in battle, and have to rely on their hands or improvised weaponry.
As the game focuses on survival, weather and shelter will be your primary concern. Food is fairly easy to obtain either by hunting or breaking into the Angel's supply warehouses, or even their farms. Lucid and Megan leave their town the second week of May, equipped with most of Megan's summer clothes, a large tent, blankets, and some non-perishable food. This will not last them forever. You'll have to make sure Megan is dressed for the weather, and that Lucid isnt going to overheat. Both can get sick. both can die.
Another big concern are the errant zones. the larger ones tend to be civilized, a near mirror image of what life was actually like in the late 1940's. the smaller ones? it's anyone's guess. the most common way areas are abandoned by the Angels is by a violent uprising where people actually kill the Angels. So every errant zone you might pass by is going to be a big risk for Lucid, and depending on the citizens, a risk for any humans with Lucid as well.
Handling the backstory in-game
When the game starts, Lucid and Megan have already been friends for close to 10 years. Rather than let their previous experiences be untold and let the player just try to understand their history from what happens when the game really begins, I decided to give them the option of seeing the major events of their lives using Megan's journal. When the game begins, Megan is on her way home with her parents from a 2 month vacation spending time with relatives in another state. She's writing her thoughts in her journal, and after she's done doing so, the player is given the option of flipping through past entries. They'll have somewhere between 15 to 20 options (presented using subject lines). When one of these options is selected, rather than just reading the entry, the player will be able to relive the event as Megan in either cinemas or gameplay segments (depending on the event's length). It is in these flashback segments that the player can explore the environment a bit, become acquainted with Lucid, and hopefully start to connect with the characters a bit. The player will be required to play through a few of these segments, but not all. I want some sense of history to be there when Megan arrives home and goes to meet up with Lucid, but I don't want to risk boring them and getting them mad at the game and giving up pre-maturely.
Some of the first-year segments (subject lines in quotes) you are required to view in the journal are:
- "My own personal Knight" - First direct contact: Lucid breaking into the house to interrupt a fight.
- "Your mouth. It won't stop doing that thing. Please make it stop doing that." - Lucid doesnt handle being assaulted by endless questions very well.
- "It's not camping if you can see your mailbox" - First camping trip, in the yard.
Megan's journal will continue to be important through the entire game. After important events occur, Megan will update her journal accordingly. These new entries will be text-only, but a good way to stay focused on whats going on in the game and not losing track of what you're doing or where you're going. They also offer insight into what Megan is thinking about and how she feels about some of the choices her and Lucid are making (learn from past mistakes, dammit). You can only view the journal when Megan is your active character, and Megan may not update the journal if she is sick or injured.
Q&A
I've been getting some questions about the game over and over via PM and AIM, so I'm going to list them here. If there are any questions, go ahead and ask them in this topic rather than pestering me on AIM, please.
Q: Is there any romance between Lucid and Megan?
A: They're very close friends, and do love each other, as friends. This is not a love story. They aren't of the same species, Lucid has no mating instinct, and may not even have compatible "parts". If there was a romance, I would imagine Lucid's size would severely complicate things. Lucid and Megan's interactions do lead some to believe that they have romantic feelings for each other, but such accusations are most often ignored by both of them. It has managed to become a bit of a running gag between the two. and no, the relationship or lack of relationship is not something the player can influence. the character's development is set in stone. it has to be, for the second game that takes place in this world (doesnt mean characters will return, they may just be mentioned. the second game's story is currently just a list of ideas)
Q: What kind of content will this game contain?
A: Using the ESRB's own content descriptors: Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Suggestive Themes, Language, Partial Nudity (not what you're thinking).
It'd be an M rated game, for sure.
Q: You said you'd release a demo. where is it?
A: I re-worked the entire beginning of the game. The old demo, while finished, no longer had any content from the final game in it, so I'm not releasing it. When I do release a demo, it will only be the beginning journal part of the game mentioned above, with the three listed subjects along with two others viewable/playable. It'll be more of a teaser than a demo, really.
Q: How long is the game?
A: Don't know how many hours it'll be at this point. it's grown to be a lot bigger than I ever expected it to be. the game starts in May, and lasts most of the year.
Q: What about the sequel you mentioned?
A: That will start development the second I wrap up the first game, with absolutely no downtime between them. depending on the reception of the first game, I'm considering releasing a special stand-alone chapter that would bridge the events of the two games using the same journal format as the beginning of the first game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where the hell is the game?
A: Hi! I'm working on it. I really am. I'm rather obsessive about the graphic and animation quality of the game. I could release the first game right this second, but it's presentation isn't up to my standards yet. The story, dialogue, map design, all that's finalized. None of it will change. the sprites and animations are where most of my time has been spent working on this. Most sprites from the first two years I worked on this game were discarded completely as my style changed. Others were discarded because I decided to redo an animation or pose for various reasons. It's safe to say 60-70% of the assets I've ever created for the game have been tossed out. It's not wasted work, as I learned from all of it, and the final game will be better for it.
Some days I wish I could be more minimalistic about this, as most sprite based RPGs are. Just have someone stand there, and if there's some action to be done, just move the walking sprite around and pretend it's actually doing stuff. No, instead, I have to have Lucid stretch his legs when he's been sitting too long and they get cramped, have everyone emote through body language when talking, have postures change due to mood...
So why not just stop, and be more minimalist?
Because this entire project is character driven. Characters who emote and act alive are more relatable. There's long periods of just dialogue all through the game. Should they just stand around and let the text scroll? No. That's boring. They should move. They should walk around while talking, interact with each other and the enviroment. It completely changes how the long dialogue scenes play out, and how the player responds to them. No matter what's happening in the story, something visually interesting is always happening.
Here's a small script segment from a journal entry in the beginning of the game as an example of what goes into one scene. I write these out, and then create the sprites that are required for it. I never try to just work with what I have.
(scene takes place after Lucid "rescues" a 14 year old Megan from a fight with her parents, that came very close to turning violent)
Okay. That's like five minutes there, at most. Try to count how many sprites that used. It used no existing assets. Lucid carries Megan many times in the game, but this happened at night so she's in her pajamas, and because she's emotionally exhausted, she's limp in his arms. It required a brand new walk cycle sprite sheet. Then it required multi-frame animations for all the various movements they have while he's holding her, including him unlocking his living space's door. Wall panel had to be animated, which was rather easy (and is the only thing that is ever re-used from this entire sequence). then there's the animations for him setting her on the bed, her looking around while on the bed, him coming back with the washcloth, him picking her up again and putting her in his lap, her looking around while in his lap, him washing her face, and him discarding the cloth. There's animation and eveny syncing issues with changing one sprite with two characters on it into two sprites when the characters seperate, and then back into one again.
And the scene keeps going after that point, with more custom sprite work required.
Basically, this 5 minute segment took me around 3-4 weeks to do. Why make it so visually complicated? Because it's an important character moment, and I think the payoff is worth it. I picture this scene without any of the custom animations, and it's suddenly an emotionless, boring scene that I'd pay little attention to if I was playing the game.
Now you know my hell, and why this game is taking years to make.
A huge reason I'm doing this game is because up until now, I've done comedy games, and my name has become tied to the "intentional garbage" RPGM genre that I created with Smitpok and DOOR: THE GAME. and I really need to prove my abilities as a legitimate game creator.
That being said, do not expect comedy from this game. there are some funny situations, because they happen in life. there's no avoiding them. but they're not the focus, and I don't really write them. anything funny that happens will do so naturally.
The primary focus of the game is the lives of the characters, not a big conflict or crisis. They don't save the world, the Angels already did that half a century ago. They just want to live, and the world really doesnt seem to want to allow that. I have just recently finished writing the entire story, and things ended up flowing in directions I really didnt expect them to. there are battles now. there werent originally, but the characters manage to get themselves in one hell of a terrible situation where combat was pretty much required, and that event follows them through the course of the game, and well into the next one (yes, there will be two games set in this world). Battles won't happen for quite a while though, and they never become a gameplay focus. although the second game will have a lot of battles, and they will be big. the first game exists only to serve as a setup for the second.
What is the gameplay, then?
Survival and escape. thats all the characters want. they want to live, and they don't want to live anywhere that they'll have to try and fit themselves into someone else's idea of what life should be. Lucid can live in the Angel controlled areas as a prisoner, or he can likely be killed in an errant zone. He doesnt have a lot of options, and to make things worse, he brought along a human girl that aside from some camping trips, has no experience living outside of established society. Not that Lucid does either, but he at least has his strength and armor to help him out. and then he manages to get another human following him. shelter and food are a concern, along with safety. the woods, forests, mountains and fields they travel are not empty. there are Angel controlled cities and towns everywhere. There's wild animals. Lucid has no planned "goal" location to get to. They're running from everything and towards nothing. They have no direction, and so the player won't have much either. There is a set path the game follows, but that's pretty much it. Sometimes they will have to run to survive, sometimes they will have to fight for their lives. You get messed up in battle, those wounds will end up costing you in the long run. armor takes days to regenerate from heavy damage, and requires more food consumption and less movement. if the humans get injured, you're going to have to heal them despite Lucid having only basic medical knowledge. if/when Lucid is badly injured, you're going to have to use the humans to take care of him and themselves (the game trains you how to do this really early on after Lucid's escape). unless you play very well, expect almost every day to be a struggle. although, if everyone is kept healthy, and there's no scripted events scheduled for the next few days, the game will skip ahead to keep things from getting boring.
During battle, Lucid will be limited to whatever he has on-hand to use as a weapon. Just be careful about what he uses, because it very well could break. for example, do not hit enemies with a tent, or you will lose your shelter. and a tent isn't likely to do much damage. Now, if you found a big metal rod while traveling, that would make a fine weapon. Guns were banned in the Angel controlled areas, so don't count on finding any. Same with swords. Not that Lucid would have any idea how to use them anyways. If you don't use a weapon, Lucid will fight with his hands, relying on brute strength to try and take out the enemy. You'll end up taking more damage getting so close, but depending on what you're fighting, the battle could be over a lot faster and you won't risk damaging your weapons. What you are fighting will also limit your options in battle. Lucid will not attack humans with deadly force, and attempting to do it anyways will just result in you wasting a turn.
Lucid will not have the ability to heal himself during battle, and will have to rely on his armor's regenerative abilities to keep him going.
If a human is with Lucid when he gets into a battle, they will fight alongside him. Humans also cannot heal themselves in battle, and have to rely on their hands or improvised weaponry.
As the game focuses on survival, weather and shelter will be your primary concern. Food is fairly easy to obtain either by hunting or breaking into the Angel's supply warehouses, or even their farms. Lucid and Megan leave their town the second week of May, equipped with most of Megan's summer clothes, a large tent, blankets, and some non-perishable food. This will not last them forever. You'll have to make sure Megan is dressed for the weather, and that Lucid isnt going to overheat. Both can get sick. both can die.
Another big concern are the errant zones. the larger ones tend to be civilized, a near mirror image of what life was actually like in the late 1940's. the smaller ones? it's anyone's guess. the most common way areas are abandoned by the Angels is by a violent uprising where people actually kill the Angels. So every errant zone you might pass by is going to be a big risk for Lucid, and depending on the citizens, a risk for any humans with Lucid as well.
Handling the backstory in-game
When the game starts, Lucid and Megan have already been friends for close to 10 years. Rather than let their previous experiences be untold and let the player just try to understand their history from what happens when the game really begins, I decided to give them the option of seeing the major events of their lives using Megan's journal. When the game begins, Megan is on her way home with her parents from a 2 month vacation spending time with relatives in another state. She's writing her thoughts in her journal, and after she's done doing so, the player is given the option of flipping through past entries. They'll have somewhere between 15 to 20 options (presented using subject lines). When one of these options is selected, rather than just reading the entry, the player will be able to relive the event as Megan in either cinemas or gameplay segments (depending on the event's length). It is in these flashback segments that the player can explore the environment a bit, become acquainted with Lucid, and hopefully start to connect with the characters a bit. The player will be required to play through a few of these segments, but not all. I want some sense of history to be there when Megan arrives home and goes to meet up with Lucid, but I don't want to risk boring them and getting them mad at the game and giving up pre-maturely.
Some of the first-year segments (subject lines in quotes) you are required to view in the journal are:
- "My own personal Knight" - First direct contact: Lucid breaking into the house to interrupt a fight.
- "Your mouth. It won't stop doing that thing. Please make it stop doing that." - Lucid doesnt handle being assaulted by endless questions very well.
- "It's not camping if you can see your mailbox" - First camping trip, in the yard.
Megan's journal will continue to be important through the entire game. After important events occur, Megan will update her journal accordingly. These new entries will be text-only, but a good way to stay focused on whats going on in the game and not losing track of what you're doing or where you're going. They also offer insight into what Megan is thinking about and how she feels about some of the choices her and Lucid are making (learn from past mistakes, dammit). You can only view the journal when Megan is your active character, and Megan may not update the journal if she is sick or injured.
Q&A
I've been getting some questions about the game over and over via PM and AIM, so I'm going to list them here. If there are any questions, go ahead and ask them in this topic rather than pestering me on AIM, please.
Q: Is there any romance between Lucid and Megan?
A: They're very close friends, and do love each other, as friends. This is not a love story. They aren't of the same species, Lucid has no mating instinct, and may not even have compatible "parts". If there was a romance, I would imagine Lucid's size would severely complicate things. Lucid and Megan's interactions do lead some to believe that they have romantic feelings for each other, but such accusations are most often ignored by both of them. It has managed to become a bit of a running gag between the two. and no, the relationship or lack of relationship is not something the player can influence. the character's development is set in stone. it has to be, for the second game that takes place in this world (doesnt mean characters will return, they may just be mentioned. the second game's story is currently just a list of ideas)
Q: What kind of content will this game contain?
A: Using the ESRB's own content descriptors: Intense Violence, Mature Humor, Suggestive Themes, Language, Partial Nudity (not what you're thinking).
It'd be an M rated game, for sure.
Q: You said you'd release a demo. where is it?
A: I re-worked the entire beginning of the game. The old demo, while finished, no longer had any content from the final game in it, so I'm not releasing it. When I do release a demo, it will only be the beginning journal part of the game mentioned above, with the three listed subjects along with two others viewable/playable. It'll be more of a teaser than a demo, really.
Q: How long is the game?
A: Don't know how many hours it'll be at this point. it's grown to be a lot bigger than I ever expected it to be. the game starts in May, and lasts most of the year.
Q: What about the sequel you mentioned?
A: That will start development the second I wrap up the first game, with absolutely no downtime between them. depending on the reception of the first game, I'm considering releasing a special stand-alone chapter that would bridge the events of the two games using the same journal format as the beginning of the first game.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: Where the hell is the game?
A: Hi! I'm working on it. I really am. I'm rather obsessive about the graphic and animation quality of the game. I could release the first game right this second, but it's presentation isn't up to my standards yet. The story, dialogue, map design, all that's finalized. None of it will change. the sprites and animations are where most of my time has been spent working on this. Most sprites from the first two years I worked on this game were discarded completely as my style changed. Others were discarded because I decided to redo an animation or pose for various reasons. It's safe to say 60-70% of the assets I've ever created for the game have been tossed out. It's not wasted work, as I learned from all of it, and the final game will be better for it.
Some days I wish I could be more minimalistic about this, as most sprite based RPGs are. Just have someone stand there, and if there's some action to be done, just move the walking sprite around and pretend it's actually doing stuff. No, instead, I have to have Lucid stretch his legs when he's been sitting too long and they get cramped, have everyone emote through body language when talking, have postures change due to mood...
So why not just stop, and be more minimalist?
Because this entire project is character driven. Characters who emote and act alive are more relatable. There's long periods of just dialogue all through the game. Should they just stand around and let the text scroll? No. That's boring. They should move. They should walk around while talking, interact with each other and the enviroment. It completely changes how the long dialogue scenes play out, and how the player responds to them. No matter what's happening in the story, something visually interesting is always happening.
Here's a small script segment from a journal entry in the beginning of the game as an example of what goes into one scene. I write these out, and then create the sprites that are required for it. I never try to just work with what I have.
(scene takes place after Lucid "rescues" a 14 year old Megan from a fight with her parents, that came very close to turning violent)
*Lucid carries Megan into the supply station. Megan is limp and silent, blankly staring over his shoulder at the door they walked in, waiting for her parents to charge in after her*
Lucid: You're spending the night. You're not going back there. Not happening.
*Megan cocks her head to the side, still not breaking her focus away from the door*
Megan: They'll get mad if I don't go back.
*Lucid turns, forcing her to look away from the door. He arches back a bit, to bring his face in line with hers*
Lucid: Maybe.
*Megan looks at him*
Megan: They'll make me go home.
Lucid: They'd have to find you first.
*With his free hand, Lucid places his hand on a metal disc on the counter, pressing it down and several clicks are heard as he manipulates the lock. A moment later, a segment of the wall at the back of the room slides to the left, revealing a door. Megan immediately snaps to attention, giving the door her full focus. Lucid looks at her, but she still stares at the door.*
Lucid: Nobody ever hears I did this, okay?
Megan: Is this your house?
Lucid: Nobody EVER hears I did this.
Megan: Ri-right. Nobody. Ever.
Lucid: We spent the night in the woods.
Megan: Okay.
*pause*
Lucid: I'm serious.
*Megan looks away from the door*
Megan: Okay.
*lucid slides the door panel open, revealing his relatively small living space. He walks in and closes the door behind him. the wall panel can he heard sliding back into place. He sets Megan down on his bed, and goes into the bathroom, emerging a moment later with a wet washcloth. She's whipping her head around, absorbing every detail of the room. He sits down on the bed, and places her in his lap, washing her face with the cloth. At first she keeps glancing around while he tries to do this, but eventually stops and looks up at him, letting him finish the job. He drops the cloth on the floor when done.*
Lucid: You're spending the night. You're not going back there. Not happening.
*Megan cocks her head to the side, still not breaking her focus away from the door*
Megan: They'll get mad if I don't go back.
*Lucid turns, forcing her to look away from the door. He arches back a bit, to bring his face in line with hers*
Lucid: Maybe.
*Megan looks at him*
Megan: They'll make me go home.
Lucid: They'd have to find you first.
*With his free hand, Lucid places his hand on a metal disc on the counter, pressing it down and several clicks are heard as he manipulates the lock. A moment later, a segment of the wall at the back of the room slides to the left, revealing a door. Megan immediately snaps to attention, giving the door her full focus. Lucid looks at her, but she still stares at the door.*
Lucid: Nobody ever hears I did this, okay?
Megan: Is this your house?
Lucid: Nobody EVER hears I did this.
Megan: Ri-right. Nobody. Ever.
Lucid: We spent the night in the woods.
Megan: Okay.
*pause*
Lucid: I'm serious.
*Megan looks away from the door*
Megan: Okay.
*lucid slides the door panel open, revealing his relatively small living space. He walks in and closes the door behind him. the wall panel can he heard sliding back into place. He sets Megan down on his bed, and goes into the bathroom, emerging a moment later with a wet washcloth. She's whipping her head around, absorbing every detail of the room. He sits down on the bed, and places her in his lap, washing her face with the cloth. At first she keeps glancing around while he tries to do this, but eventually stops and looks up at him, letting him finish the job. He drops the cloth on the floor when done.*
And the scene keeps going after that point, with more custom sprite work required.
Basically, this 5 minute segment took me around 3-4 weeks to do. Why make it so visually complicated? Because it's an important character moment, and I think the payoff is worth it. I picture this scene without any of the custom animations, and it's suddenly an emotionless, boring scene that I'd pay little attention to if I was playing the game.
Now you know my hell, and why this game is taking years to make.
Comment