Aloners [Post-Apocalyptic] [GxB] DEMO NOW AVAILABLE

[sonnet009]

One day, the last man on Earth came home to find a girl sleeping on his bed.

Release Date: TBA
Rating: Mature / Teen
(explicit content can be switched off at start of game)

Download Demo (WINDOWS / ALL PLATFORMS)

Story:

The Dust Bowl: ground zero for the event that wiped civilization from the face of the earth. Plagued by toxic gas clouds and once-human monsters, only one man survives to call this wasteland his home.

Trash takes his name from his lifeblood, scavenging and restoring what he can from the rubble in order to live another day. He lives alone in his self-made shack, surrounded by the machinery he loves and hidden from the world that wants him dead...

Until the day he finds you, a young woman somehow untouched by the harsh reality of the Dust Bowl.

As he teaches you how to take care of yourself in this new and brutal world, you might just end up teaching him something in return.

Screenshots:

Info:

Aloners will be a free, highly interactive visual novel with a female protagonist and one supporting male character. The emphasis will be on exploration of the post-apocalyptic setting and on building a relationship with a character who remembers what you’ve said and done in the past, and reacts accordingly.

There will be no stat-raising, and protagonist auto-dialogue will be kept to an absolute minimum. The aim is to immerse the player in the world and let them roleplay the main character their way.

Follow development more closely on my tumblr.

Feel free to share opinions, ask questions, make suggestions... Otherwise, please stay tuned! :)

-

Credits:
Character art by PeriwinkleImp
Background art from Morgue File
Music by Kevin MacLeod

Progress:
Art:

• Sprites: COMPLETE
  Backgrounds: COMPLETE
  GUI: IN PROGRESS

Writing:

• Story: COMPLETE
  Script: IN PROGRESS

Technical:

• Coding: IN PROGRESS
  Testing: X

[gekiganwing]

First, thanks for joining this forum.

I am familiar with some post-apocalypse stories, though I can't claim to be an expert. If you don't already know this category of fiction well, then you'll benefit by reading up on it. This way, you can make sure your premise has not been featured in a well-known work of fiction. I say this because I've heard quite a bit about a B-movie called 1990: The Bronx Warriors that's about a civilization in ruins, and that has a main character known as Trash.

You mentioned immersion and roleplaying the main character. But I'm not entirely sure what you meant by "protagonist auto-dialogue." Will the main character only talk through the player's choices? How much of her personality and background will the player shape through decisions?

Looking at your Tumblr, it seems that you've read some translated GxB visual novels for mobile devices. This is a good way to get thinking about what you want to create, to do in a different manner, and to avoid. Also, I wasn't entirely sure what to compare your art to... I was reminded of Jeff Smith's less cartoonish art (such as the ongoing comic Rasl), but I might be way off.

[DreamDragonHatchling]

Nice art, like that style, but for my taste the spirit is little too big. In my preference, i like it if there is little more room up there.

I like it if there will be lot of menus

And i too agree about reading and researching to make your world more interesting and real.

[sonnet009]

gekiganwing:

Thanks for the welcome. I'm happy to be here.

I'm familiar with post-apocalyptic stories as someone who enjoys them, but to be honest, I had never even heard of 1990: The Bronx Warriors, and I didn't know that there was a character called Trash who had a prominent role. But looking the movie up, I see that the only thing that it and this VN have in common is the name "Trash". Everything else, from the setting to the characters is completely different. Phew! Had a moment of panic there.

By "keeping protagonist auto-dialogue to a minimum" I mean that the main character will only act without player input in order to move the narrative along, or in a situation that doesn't realistically have many options anyway. Other than that, it will be down to player choice to form her personality, actions, and reactions. Her background, however, will be less flexible, and tied to the plot.

As far as the artwork goes, the character art is by PeriwinkleImp (whose link is in the original post). The backgrounds are free-use photographs filtered to look less photo-y. Apart from the sprites, all resources used in this VN are free and widely available.

I am an otome game consumer, and I feel like this VN is very much driven by my reaction to those stories - what I enjoyed, what I didn't, and what I would like from an interactive novel experience.

Hopefully it's an experience that other people are interested in too.

DreamDragonHatchling:

That's an interesting point about the sprite size. I'll have to experiment with it a little and see what looks right.

And yes, there will be a lot of menus!

[Kait]

Hello! I really like the art style, it's pretty nice and different from what is usually seen in VNs. The story seems interesting so far and I like the idea of a highly-interactive game, as long as it's done well. I'll be looking forward to more information~ Good luck!

[Apsiring Writer]

Hello,

I liked the art so far, it's really well-done. The plot seem interesting. I'm looking forward to hear more from you.

Best Regards,

Apsiring Writer.

[zankizuna]

This plot looks pretty cool, I love it.
Will there be action in this? you said "Monsters"
that got me quite excited, Since monsters mean danger, and danger brings in some battle
I guess it would be cool to see the look of the protagonist as well,
after all they're just about the only people around, right?
so um... Trash uses machines? can he make robots?
I want to see this once it's done

[Greeny]

I don't always play GxB, but when I do, it will be this.

[sonnet009]

Thanks, guys. I'm glad this is looking interesting to people.

This plot looks pretty cool, I love it.
Will there be action in this? you said "Monsters"
that got me quite excited, Since monsters mean danger, and danger brings in some battle
I guess it would be cool to see the look of the protagonist as well,
after all they're just about the only people around, right?
so um... Trash uses machines? can he make robots?
I want to see this once it's done

There will be action! It's a dangerous world out there, especially with those once-human... things roaming about out there.

The protagonist will not have a sprite or avatar, however. It's a decision I made based on two reasons:

1. This game is aimed at people who want to roleplay the protagonist, and since I don't have the means to have a character creation system built into the game, I think it would be best to leave the details up to players' imaginations.
2. A main theme of the game is isolation and loneliness, which I think is reinforced if you really only ever see one character on screen. You know, since that's what the protagonist is stuck with.
(3. Budget reasons!)

Trash uses machinery that he has managed to salvage. He's got a lot of time on his hands, so it's probably the closest thing he has to a hobby: finding old bits of scrap and trying to make them work again.

[SusanTheCat]

Looks awesome!

Susan

[Mimi_Melody]

OMG, it's rare to find a GxB game with such an interesting plot! Looking forward to it~
I'm fangirling everytime I see the pic Trash blushing *screams*~~~ Good luck on the game! XD

[okiness]

I. . .I want this. Like. . .ferociously. Like BURNING.

Dat plot. Dat art.

Dat MATURE CONCEPT ABILITY

/faints

[zankizuna]

Hahahah
That's very nice, now I understand how this is going
I hope your Vn will be done soon

[Flowers from Nowhere]

This. Looks. Awesome.

And I think the art style goes very well with your plot.

[buttdumpling]

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I AM FREAKING OUT
ok, so this looks like the coolest game ever. A post apocalyptic romance game featuring a beautiful man of color? take me now!
im fangirling about your game and it isn't even finished auuugh

ok, here's some constructive stuff:

pros:
-I like how big the sprite is in the second picture, it stands out. A lot of games use kind of small sprites, and this can cause some loss of detail.
- If you had just told me about the backgrounds being 'shopped photos, I would have been uneasy, but it actually looks nice! That filter/style (it looks like a modified filter, but i dont want to be rude to your artist) is especially hard to pull off, I'm impressed that it meshes so well with the art.
- seriously, making Trash a (black?) man of color with dreads and not asynchronous anime hair is just awesome and I want to kiss you for it.
- the emphasis on your own choice is great, i love otome but I'm not the personality type that otome heroines inevitably are. I'm not shy, I know what penises look like, I don't embarass easily or stutter. While it's ok to be like that, it can be frustrating when 'you' act in ways that conflict with the real you.
So the chance to more freely shape my relationship with Trash is really exciting!!

there are only a few things I have issue with, and they're entirely personal quibbles:

- why is Trash so clean? It's the apocalypse, but his white shirt is suspiciously clean & so is he. I'd like to see some grime under his nails, you know?
...Also, I would think that he'd have a significantly darker skin tone, if you're going for the irradiated desert wasteland apocalypse setting
- I don't want to battle monsters. Is there a way we can skip battles, or like, choose to be sneaky instead of fighting?

I am SERIOUSLY looking forward to what you're bringing forward here <3