J.P. Griswold [Mystery, Sci-Fi] [Playable Demo]

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sheetcakeghost · #1 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 3:00 am

.:. The Concept .:.

J.P. Griswold is a free, linear, mystery series vn about a small town reporter who comes across a mysterious fallen asteroid and then finds himself suddenly able to speak to inanimate objects. The idea of the game is that you solve mysteries by finding and then interrogating the clues scattered around you. Of course, the police aren't going to just believe you when you tell them you know Ms. Scarlet did it in the Dining Room just because the candlestick told you so. Hell, J.P. barely wants to believe the candlestick is telling him anything. Even if the candlestick is 100% right.

.:. The Characters .:.

In the first chapter we're introduced to those closest to J.P. and then the rest of the small sleepy town in which he lives.

J.P.'s mother is a sweet woman who loves her son and currently lives with him in her retired years. The woman is a brick wall of emotional support for J.P. and really anyone else that needs a kind word and a plate of warm cookies.

J.P. is a bit of a big fish in a small pond when it comes to intelligence, and he's only really matched by Dr. Wilder, a relatively new man in town who moved in mostly because his sister runs a flower shop there. J.P. looks up to the doctor and regards him as the father he never really got to have.

Maggie has been with J.P. since he was a little kid, she grew up with him, was his most trusted confidant, and was also a damn fine bicycle.

J.P. is usually never seen without his favorite tweed jacket. It makes him feel cooler and smarter son long as he wears it, and the jacket also seems to understand everything that is going on in J.P.'s head, even when J.P. doesn't.

Mr. Hettinger owned the paper before J.P., and left the man his paper business and lucky pen when he passed. That pen got Hettinger out of many a scrape back in the day, and is continuing that job with J.P. even now. The pen also tells a mean WW2 story.

Clarity Wilder is a catalyst. It's not clear most of the time if she really believes that J.P. can talk to objects, or if he's just pulling a really impressive magic trick, but either way she pushes him to use his skills for the side of good. The pretty PI often swoops in and takes J.P. whenever she gets a case that's just slightly too hairy for her to solve all on her own.

The cast continues on from there, but those are the really important folks. I do have the first draft of the game written out, coded with a semblance of what I'm wanting to do, with the music and sound effects added in, and placer art in tact. I also have the second chapter of the game worked out in concept, but can't really detail how I'll execute the mystery until I really figure out how I'm going to make the game function as a whole.

.:.Legal.:.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

.:. The Rambling .:.

I don't really have a proper artist or coder for the series, which has put a huge damper on just what I can do with the concept. I can't really make interesting hidden object games if I'm limited to royalty free photos for backgrounds, after all. I'm also not at all competent enough to make any sort of mini-games. And before you say "it's really just a matter of practicing the code" I have been "practicing" for two years and am still unable to really process the code properly in my mind. I can copy and paste it like a monkey, but if I have to try and manipulate it to make it do what I want, I might as well blindfold myself and randomly hit keys on the keyboard. By the laws of random chance alone I'd at least have a better shot of plunking out something that functions.

Nuxill · #2 Post by **Nuxill** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 7:51 pm

Ooh, this concept sounds like something I would really enjoy!

There is a code for hidden object games here if you haven't seen it which might help a bit.

I know you said that the artwork is filler for the most part but I really like the silhouette look of the characters.

If you need help with any art I'd be willing to lend a hand. I don't have any examples of background art on me at the moment but I could whip something up to show you if you'd like.

sheetcakeghost · #3 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Thu Feb 16, 2012 10:20 pm

That would be fantastic! Items and backgrounds are going to be a big deal in the games though, and you'll likely be doing more work than you usually would for a VN. Do you think you'd be up for the task?

And yeah, I do know how to do the image.map thing to a degree. The lovely Aleema was very helpful in setting me up with a template that's very copy-pasta friendly. I'm wanting to do some minigames for the dream sequences, but I'll likely end up settling with something simpler.

The only problem I have with the sils for character sprites thing is that it's entirely reliant on the narration to convey emotions and expressions. While it's not beyond my abilities to pull that off, it takes some of the subtlety out of VNs that I enjoy. Plus if I ever wanted the player to be able to interrogate, say, a pencil in their pocket, they wouldn't be able to see it unless I decided to do a white on black sort of thing, and that would just look odd contrasting with the rest of the art.

Nellie · #4 Post by **Nellie** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:34 am

I'm hoping the hidden object aspect won't be too complicated! XD I usually take ages to complete them, and continuously failed at completely any with time limits! D=

Anyway, while I know background would be your main focus, I'll be happy to do your character arts/sprite if you need any

Nuxill · #5 Post by **Nuxill** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 1:36 am

I'd be happy to work on the backgrounds, as long as you're a bit patient with me (school work has to come first...)

I think you could pull of the interrogation scenes with small objects as long as you're smart with the silhouettes. It is a lovely aesthetic but if you're unhappy with it I could try whipping something up as well. I tend to work with a less anime style than most of the people on this forum though, which I guess based on what kinds of silhouettes is what you're going for?

Unless you want Nellie or someone else to do the character art. I don't care either way.

sheetcakeghost · #6 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 2:25 am

Well the biggest thing with the art is that this is going to be a series, which means more than one, which also means changes in characters and locations. Possibly off and on for a fairly long term. Because of that I have to know we'll play nice together, and that both of us can hold a certain level of care and passion for the project for at least two games. d:

Oh don't worry, Nuxill. I have infinite patience with artists. I actually prefer a non-anime style, and it would suit these games much better as far as tone. Plus having the same artist for backgrounds and character sprites would really help with overall flow. Oh, and I checked your devart. The style you used with Have a nut (Deadly Premonition is all amounts of win. Well most of it is anyway. Thomas went out like a bitch.) and most of the stuff in the Chzo Mythos folder is fairly close to what I mean by tone.

However, I like your CGs with Gamelicious, Nellie! Plus I already know I enjoy working with you! I'm just afraid your style is a bit too heavy towards anime (which makes complete sense going by where you're from.) If you can do something outside of that I would be absolutely thrilled to have you helping me out!

Wow, I've gone from no artist to two potentials. d: I guess I'm going to have to see what you can both cook up for me to know which one I'll want to work with the most.

Oh, and Nuxill, I actually have a concept that deals entirely with silhouettes. The MC, aka you, were born blind and you went on vacation after having a device placed in your eyes that allows you to see in shadows (with degrees of gray showing you depth.) You get snowed into the vacation cabin with six other strangers, but one of them murders someone else and you're the only one who saw it. Now you have to figure out which guest it was before they kill you. Just an artistic popcorn thriller sort of VN.

By the way, Nellie, hun, my co-writer didn't show up today. I think she's lost internet access. I'm going to get what writing I've done without her tomorrow (I've been doing it off and on all day today, but it's all handwritten in a notebook and I have to type it out.) When she comes back I'll have her edit some and interject more flavor to the UK experience with the intro.

Nuxill · #7 Post by **Nuxill** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:24 am

I think the premise of this game, combined with the fact that I'm eager for more less-anime non-romance oriented visual novels in general is enough to hold my interest for a couple of games. Also it would be a great opportunity to improve my background making!

(glad to find another Deadly Premonition fan!

) That style of art is what I do most of the time, so it would be no problem making more of it. A lot of that artwork is pretty old too, and I've improved a bit. Here's an example of something that's a little newer.

I'll work on some concepts tomorrow and send them to you in a PM.

Also that other idea sounds pretty neat! I love a good murder mystery, and I love games with a more 'artistic/different/experimental' style.

sheetcakeghost · #8 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 3:54 am

I see you added a bit more cartoon to your newer style. I do like how, despite that, if I shaved their heads I can tell them apart.

You can contact me via skype. serenity.frost I've found being able to actually talk makes the process easier, faster, and more fun.

I actually considering adding a romance element to the game, giving you the option of some ladies to date, but then I'd have to keep up with all the branching options in later games. Or come up with reasons why J.P. is single in each one. In the end it felt more natural to just let any romance in the game take its course depending on the circumstances and focus on the mysteries.

I love a good murder mystery too, it's just a shame I'm not as good at writing them. d: The mystery genre as a whole, in fact, is a new one for me. In my freelance work I'm often tasked to write soft-core romance or fan-fiction, while in my free time I write adventure and comedy. We'll both be using this project to practice.

Oh, now is probably the time to mention that the game will be made under the Happy Backwards label. If you have one that you want to add to it I'm more than happy to include it. I also might be adding voice acting to it as well. I have access to lots of actors who often work for free with the moving comics I do (GiantzWaltz). The problem with free, though, is that getting the work together is a bit like cat herding.

Nuxill · #9 Post by **Nuxill** » Fri Feb 17, 2012 4:39 pm

I can scale back on the cartoonishness if it's what you need/want for the project.
And I don't mind if there's romance in the game if you do end up adding some on the sides.

I sort of have my own label/brand/whatever you'd call it that I'm working on developing but I don't have a logo for it yet. I would like to have it added in since you don't seem to mind.

I'll add you on skype and we can continue the conversation from here.

talk to you in a bit!

sheetcakeghost · #10 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Tue Mar 12, 2013 5:48 pm

Well it would seem I'm still in need of an artist and coder. While Nellie and Nuxil are wonderful ladies, I've lost contact with both of them due to having to start a new skype account (my old one got a nice fat virus and I'm too paranoid to load it up anymore.) I haven't a clue if either of them are even still interested, and I wouldn't blame them if they weren't. I am just horrible at keeping up with people.

It probably doesn't help that it's been a little over a year.

sheetcakeghost · #11 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Wed Mar 13, 2013 4:00 pm

I'll be spending my current free time learning how to code in webstory. For those of you not familiar, webstory is an engine that lets you make games playable online. So not only will you be getting this game, most likely, for free, but you also won't have to download anything.

Webstory has a lemma topic and a webpage.
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =4&t=16722

I really encourage you to check it out.

C7N · #12 Post by **C7N** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:16 am

@Serenity Frost:

That's an interesting project you're working on! Good luck with that. If you encounter anything silly with the engine, let me know.

Oh, by the way: It seems that you need some kind of image map for parts of your game mechanics to work. If you want to do that in the WebStory Engine, you'd need some kind of custom asset because there's no built-in way to use image maps yet. I might be able to write an extension for that, though.

sheetcakeghost · #13 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 2:55 am

Ha ha, well don't feel like you need to put it at the top of your to-do list. I don't think I'll be able to get the artwork I need to do the hidden object part. Until I can get more clout, I think I'll just make the items available for questioning via dialogue options instead. It won't be as spiffy, but no one ever expects the first installment of a series to be. (Plus it might turn out the game is just too big to be hosted online.)

It makes me pretty happy that you came and found my project after I just vaguely mentioned it on your thread. Though adding [WebStory] to the title probably helped.

sheetcakeghost · #14 Post by **sheetcakeghost** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 8:29 pm

Well it turns out this game has too many resources for me to make it playable online. At least, not on a budget of free.

If the executable is popular enough I could then make a web version that's hosted via donations perhaps. Though, that sort of defeats the purpose of "free", eh?

blahblah0625 · #15 Post by **blahblah0625** » Thu Mar 14, 2013 9:59 pm

Looks nice! I'll be tracking the progress time from time

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