Backstab -the assassin project-

[pavellumpendulum]

Backstab -the assassin project- is a game about planning an assassination while someone plans yours.

✒ Genre: Stat-raising, parody/comedy, romance, friendship
✒ Estimated Release: Demo - ~ April 2017 / Full release - ~ June 2017
✒ Platform: Windows/Mac/Linux
✒ Completely free!
✒ Rating: Teen, mostly. Swearing, crude humor, violence... You won't see anything explicit visually, but the descriptions will probably get a bit gorey.

Synopsis:
This is your final exam. That, you know. Here you are, entering a high school, a seemingly prestigious academy with one goal: to train future spies and assassins. You are not here to learn. You are here to find your target, eliminate them, then go a week without being proven to be the murderer. That, is how you graduate. But life is not always so simple. While you are hunting, another student is hunting you. Take too long to make your move and perhaps you might not make it to graduation.

The goal of this project was to take a really heavy theme... And completely fluff it up for the majority of the game. Yes, this game is about murder. The slifey elements are here to lull you into a false sense of security as you get to know everyone, then catch you when you don't expect it.

Projected features:
- renameable MC and the ability to choose pronouns
- 5 dateable people (2 girls, 1 nonbinary person, 2 boys), ability to skip dating entirely if preferred
- over 9 different endings!
- stat building gameplay to determine effectiveness of assassination/possible ways of getting caught

Characters:
Weiss - default name
The main character. Personality is determined by dialogue choices.

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Others:

these are just quick sketches oops

Canterbury
Canterbury just can't seem to shut up. He's the vain type and though some would say he has reason to, he's pretty obnoxious about it. He doesn't care much for anything if it doesn't relate to him and loves to run his mouth even when people clearly don't need to hear what he has to say. Seems to have an aversion to keeping his clothes on.

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Extra concept art:

Concept art of Roux and Celeste. (not their actual outfits, just me and my guilty pleasure of drawing bare legs)

more sketches

final concepts heh

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The Team:
me. it's literally just me right now LOL

Progress: (updated March 22nd, 2017)
Concept: 40%
- currently outlining main routes.
Writing: 1%
- initial scenes being written.
Coding: 1%
- basic UI being coded.
Art: 10%
- base sprites for everyone except Canterbury are done. Currently working on Roux's expressions.
Music: 0%
- I can't compose music :^(

Questions
1. Would you like to see statbuilding gameplay or simple minigames?
2. Who are you most interested in as a character?
3. How do you feel about this concept? Would you be interested in playing this game?
4. If this game gets voiced, I would want it to only be partially voiced to keep the file small. Would you prefer important dialogue to be voiced or just the initial scene and certain endings?

[Zelan]

1. I do like gameplay elements, so I'd love to see stat-raising. Minigames I'm not as.fond of but they would still be cool.

2. Roux is my favorite love interest, and Poudrette is my favorite supporting character. c:

[pavellumpendulum]

1. I do like gameplay elements, so I'd love to see stat-raising. Minigames I'm not as.fond of but they would still be cool.

2. Roux is my favorite love interest, and Poudrette is my favorite supporting character. c:

Thanks for the feedback! I just worry statbuilding gets repetitive sometimes, thus why I was thinking about making minigames. So far everyone I've talked to seems to prefer Canterbury over her so I'm glad she's getting some love as well, pfft.

[Zelan]

Thanks for the feedback! I just worry statbuilding gets repetitive sometimes, thus why I was thinking about making mini games.

It really is a matter of preference on this one. There's no harm in asking what people would prefer and trying to gauge interest, but in the end you can't please everyone and you're gonna have to pick one (or both, but that's more work). Whatever you think will work the best. c:

So far everyone I've talked to seems to prefer Canterbury over her so I'm glad she's getting some love as well, pfft.

How could they NOT be won over by "You absolute donut??" (Actually, I do tend to like the narcissistic-type characters less, at least in the beginning.)

I really, really hope that Blaine's in-game sprite will have finger guns.

[pavellumpendulum]

How could they NOT be won over by "You absolute donut??" (Actually, I do tend to like the narcissistic-type characters less, at least in the beginning.)

Writing Poudrette's dialogue is definitely fun because of that, pfft.

I really, really hope that Blaine's in-game sprite will have finger guns.

I... was also hoping that. That's definitely something I want to do LOL

Also, updates:
- updated progress section
- added character previews for Roux, Celeste, Fern & Poudrette
- added more questions for feedback

I dunno if anyone can answer me on this question (because of course, I have another), but when do I transfer this into the WIP section? It's kind of moving out of the idea phase at this point but I wasn't sure when I was supposed to make the switch ////

[Zelan]

I dunno if anyone can answer me on this question (because of course, I have another), but when do I transfer this into the WIP section? It's kind of moving out of the idea phase at this point but I wasn't sure when I was supposed to make the switch ////

You could do it now if you wanted to. c: There's no hard rule as to exactly when you can move into the WIP section, but generally you'll want to have a decently fleshed-out idea (which you do) and be at least semi-actively working on it (which you are).

Some people prefer to have more to show when they move into the WIP section, so they might wait until they have all of their sprites, a good chunk of the script, a logo, etc., but that really comes down to personal preference and there's no actual rule as to how much needs to be done on your first post.

I love the sprites! Poudrette's is my favorite, I adore her skirt. ^_^