Sly Crossing [2014] [Mystery] [on hold indefinitely]

[konett]

NaNoRenO 2014 | Mystery | Reality Game Show Simulation Game

• • On hold indefinitely due to data loss. Read more about it on page 2.
    
    
    Step into the shoes of Dana, a young man/woman who gets the opportunity to compete in the popular game show, Sly Crossing. Dana and the other contestants will try gather as much Credits as they can, but one of the contestants is trying to sabotage everything. Can you figure out who's crossing you and win all the prize money? Or will you be tricked by the other contestants into leaving the game early?

• • Sly Crossing is supposed to be a medium long game, where I combine the things I've learned so far using Ren'Py. It will use the simulation/stat raising system to help you figure out who did what, when and why. It is based on a tv show that I've watched avidly for the passed 6 years, and I was inspired by this year's season.
    It's a pretty intense game, but I'm planning on using older assets that never made it into games and a lot of cookbook recipes to complete it.

• • The game is split into three phases; Mission Phase, Free Play Phase and Test Phase.
    There will be 3-5 of these cycles.
  • • Mission Phase
      • The Mission Phase is where you and the other contestants try to earn Credits for the Bank. You get two choices during a mission. Which other contestants you team up with and what type of action you take, a goal-oriented one or a sabotaging one.
    • Free Play Phase
      • The Free Play Phase is where the stat building and social interaction takes place. Here you can find nifty items and figure out clues about the Crosser and the other contestants, which will come in handy because of the:
    • Test Phase
      • The Test Phase will give you a number of questions regarding the Crosser, and if you have the lowest score out of the contestants the game will end for you.

• • 

• • • Click to enlarge
    

• • Week 1
    • Art Assets; UI
    • Writing; Beginning, Actions and Cycle 1
    Week 2
    • Program everything so far
    • Writing; Cycle 2 and 3
    Week 3
    • Art Assets; Backgrounds
    • Writing; Cycle 4 and 5
    Week 4
    • Art Assets; Finish Sprites, CGs??
    • Writing; Ending, Character Specifics

• • Writing
    • Intro, Actions and Cycle 1 -- 60%
    • Cycle 2 and 3
    • Cycle 4 and 5
    • Ending and Extra
    Art Assets
    • Sprites -- 50%
    • UI -- 65%
    • BGs -- 25%
    Programming
    • Sim -- 10%
    • UI -- 35%
    • Script
    Rough amount of hours spent in March: 25

• • Doing most of the things myself, but I will look up free music and use cookbook recipes.
    I am open to writing assistance. If you want to help you'd do one or more characters.
    Not much is needed 200-500 words per scene and no more than 10 scenes max.
    Please PM me if interested.
    
    The logo and background were done earlier. The BG was a test in using SketchUp for what I wanted, and I really liked it, so I'm using it. Sprites were drawn for another project that never went anywhere, so recycling those.
    So this game isn't completely from scratch, but a bunch of leftover things thrown together, art-wise.

• • What do you think about using the simulation aspect in a Reality Show format?
  • Who do you think the Crosser is?
  • Do you have any critique on the above?

[kaleidofish]

This makes me think of The Resistance in visual novel form with some additions to make it even more fun. The Resistance is awesome. You should check it out if you've never seen/played it! I like the Reality Show format for this. As for who I think the Crosser is...I will wait until more info comes out, ha.

Glad you have a solid plan for getting this done. I'll definitely play when this comes out.

[konett]

The Resistance is a fun game! I've never played it myself because I don't have people to play with , but I am an avid watcher of Geek and Sundry's TableTop. I definitely see the similarities between it and Sly Crossing.

The only thing that I'm worried about is the programming side of the simulation part. I still need to make a draft before I start that, but I'm just going to give it my all, haha. Also start asking a ton of questions this time, instead of spending countless hours on trying to figure it out myself.

[Lyriale]

DAT GUI IS GORGEOUS *drools*

Anyway, the game play seems somewhat similar to Dangan Ronpa (awesome game btw) and I think the game show concept is interesting. All in all, this game looks super awesome. Keep up the good work!

[.usa]

This looks awesome *¬*

I've never heard of that show, but seems interesting. Maybe is similar to Dangan Ronpa, but that just can be good (is one of my fave games <3). Also the art is really good (an important thing for me, if it's a visual novel, then the visual things are important, I don't know if you understand what I mean xD).

Awesome GUI, good art, an interesting story, God, I'm looking forward to it. Good luck!

[Googaboga]

This sounds fantastic and like so much fun. I've always wanted to see a VN centered around a game show .

[konett]

@Lyriale:
Ah, I hadn't seen the similarities with Dangan Ronpa until you pointed it out. Although the structure is similar, I think it will be a very different experience.



The key difference in how they play out is that nobody wants you to think they did it in Dangan Ronpa , and every contestant is trying to convince you that they are the Crosser in Sly Crossing.

I don't know if any of that makes sense.
And thank you for your encouragement!

@.usa:
Thank you! I am an artist first and foremost, so I definitely try to make everything look good first, haha.


@Googaboga:
Haha, I love game shows. Sometimes I just marathon one and when I'm done I feel like I wasted a ton of time, but it's still a lot of fun. I think playing a game in the same theme will feel more fulfilling, since you have to be active for it, I guess??

----

I'm currently working on the minimap, so I made a little mock-up for the first pass of it:



I love Isometric stuff, so I really want to put it in here. Though I think the screen might need to be a little bit smaller.

[Puchin]

This looks so good I can't look at my own project seriously anymore! Ahaha.

Keep going, this is going to be awesome

[try10]

This looks interesting. I'll keep an eye on it's development. Good luck!

[MetaFrosty]

I think you're hitting upon one of my favorite genres here and I like the visual style you're going with.
As for who the Crosser is, it's totally Holden. Maybe. I'm better at guessing these things when I've had the characters properly introduced :V
I wanna see where this goes though, good luck!

[konett]

@Puchin:
aasdflkajsdf thank youu ; v ;

@try10
Thank you!

@MetaFrosty
Thank you! I've always wanted to do something like this, so I'm glad other people like it too!
And I guess its hard guess when you only have the barest of information about a character, haha.

-------------

A schedule I made mostly for myself, but It thought I'd share.
How the phases look like.


Was writing the locations and part of the simulation code, when I wanted bg mocks for testing.
I took screenshots of the 3D models I'd built and added some trees and effects.

Courtyard. (Thinking of changing the leaves to pink.)


Gate (need to change perspective)

[.usa]

Gosh, I'm really in love with this game with just what you've showed. The designs are gorgeous *3* (I love isometric designs).

It seems to be progressing quite fast. By the way, is the final game going to be all blue (like the screenshots) or with "normal colors" (I mean, the skin for example, is gonna be blue or the normal skin color?).

[konett]

Isometric stuff is so great. I had a design and perspective class last year where we had to make isometric designs for 8 weeks. That was a lovely time for me. Almost everyone else hated that class that term, haha.

I haven't really been doing anything the last three days. I started when midnight hit, and I've spent most hours working on it because I have't been able to leave the house much;;

The backgrounds will be mostly monochromatic blue/green, with the exception of items and personal touches, but all the characters will be fully coloured. I won't start on their colours until the last week, I think. Colouring comes easy to me, so I'd rather focus on the other things first before I start that.

[noeinan]

Super awesome looking! I love the isometric view, and restricted colors. I also was super excited when I saw Dana's gender was X. Although I know that probably means the player chooses Male or Female, I was still excited. I also think more games could simplify "picking a gender" by having an androgynous sprite and only changing the text.

• What do you think about using the simulation aspect in a Reality Show format?

I think it's really interesting!

• Who do you think the Crosser is?

Well, Thine would be too obvious, so I'd have to say either Jules or Holden. Too innocent looking.

• Do you have any critique on the above?

I was going to say that while I like the reduced colors, it might be a good idea to darken or brighten the hair and skin of individual characters to differentiate their hair and skin color... But while I was typing this you posted saying they will be in full color. That's fine too! Though, I do think it would still look good if they weren't in full color, and were restricted to shades of blue and green.

[konett]

Thank you!
The original plan is for Dana to be genderfluid, so in the beginning of the game I plan to have the option of picking pronouns. Either male, female of gender neutral. Since I'm trying to minimize any romance or gender tropes in the story because that definitely isn't the focus here, it won't have any impact on the story. When I'm thinking up a character for a concept, gender is one of the last things I think of, so with this project especially I wanted there to be a neutral or fluid character.

Keeping the sprites monochrome too would be interesting. I'm going to play with it when I start on the colouring and ask for opinions later C: