Tell a Demon [Dark Fantasy][Vampires][commercial] Released!

[ketskari]

@LadyOfGatsby - Thanks! :) Glad to hear you like the art.

[ketskari]

Okay! Update. Demo is pretty much done apart from editing and polish. Would anyone like to try it and give me early feedback? If so, please comment here, PM me, or contact me through my website and I'll send you the download link. There are new screenshots on the first page.

Also wrote a bit why I chose to focus on Julius as a character here.

Finally, regarding voice-acting, might use voice effects but it's unlikely that I'll use partial or full voice acting this time.

[ketskari]

Started working on the trailer. Still figuring out this video uploading/making thing, so apologies. I'll figure it out eventually.

Update 11/18/2015: There was originally a preview video here. I'll be working on a new trailer with the updated art and music soon.

[Hazel-Bun]

Absolutely stunning!! You've made so much progress and I'm super excited

[philip]

I greatly enjoyed Asher, and have played through it many times, so was very pleased to see this demo. The art is wonderful! - and the story is excellent. However, I must confess that I was a bit confused by some of the "flashbacks", I didn't understand what was going on at first. Perhaps you could add something to make the transitions a little more obvious. Oh well, maybe it is just me, and it is apparent to everyone else. Anyway, I enjoyed this demo and will look forward eagerly to the completed story.

philip

[Smudgeed]

First of all, I totally adore the art and just the general style of the game. I love the way it's turning out. I love the animation and all the subtle touches you've put into it. The story looks great too.

I am completely looking forward to this! You better bet I'll be following the progress from now on. Good luck

[ketskari]

@Hazel-Bun -- Thank you!

@philip -- Hm. Sometimes I want things to be unsettling or for the answer to a question raised in the story to be addressed much later on, but I don't want that to detract from the experience. Unfortunately, I need to know what part is confusing before I can say for sure. Either way, thank you for your feedback and glad to hear that you enjoyed Asher and the demo!

@Smudgeed -- Thank you! That is really great to hear. :)

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So, for those not on the mailing list, the demo is finished. I might run through and see if there's anything I want to fix before making it more widely available. (And, of course, I don't mind if people who already have the link want to share it).

Also, If anyone would like to have direct Tell a Demon updates (newsletter gets updates first*,) here's the link to the list sign-up.

*And other stuff, like extras, when I can get around to it.

[ketskari]

And here is the link to the demo. (Direct link on first page).

There are several branches toward the end, determined by early choices. My estimate is that it takes about a half hour to play through, depending on reading speed and the branch.

[Green Glasses Girl]

So after I finished flailing at my screen for about 10 minutes, I can leave some feedback.

THIS WAS FANTASTIC!

It is an excellent addition to the Asher series, and I adore the storyline with Julius and where it is heading.

My favorite part is the aspect of him trying to fight the urges of his demon side while trying to keep his sanity in check. The writing for that part I felt was the strongest bit. You really saw that he was a wreck and just trying to keep it together. Mad difficult I imagine. Also I chose "protect her" because I'm a sucker, hahaha.

I'm super curious to whatever Markaius has planned! It might be a side-plot at first glance, but I have a feeling it will tie into the main story.

Your art is perfect and I am preventing myself from writing in all caps by saying I love your artwork and gushing about it and ahhhh. You just might be my favorite artist here on the forums. I definitely admired the cold cut to title screen transition and the animation in the opening. Very impressive.

Can't wait for the full version, like you don't even know!

[ketskari]

@Green Glasses Girl: Oh my gosh! Thank you for the feedback and the compliments!

That is really great to hear, actually, since I wasn't sure how inner conflict like that would go over in a VN. And Julius's thoughts will start to change later on based on the accumulation of choices.

Wow, and thank you again! It's always wonderful seeing your comments!

---

The final BGs are drying on the easel, now back to working on the text!

[ketskari]

Hello! So I’m wrapping up Act I (and the new and improved demo) now. Won’t try to predict when exactly it will be ready to go, but I think I can safely say soon. My To-Do list has dwindled as follows:

• Finish up one last bit of background art
• Code sprites and art into the final scene
• Do a final pass on the script for awkward wordage and spelling errors
• Add a few wishlist features
• Add art to the main menu
• Check for anything else that should be on this list but that I have forgotten
• Test!

The new demo is up! I will announce it more properly and send off an email to the mailing list tomorrow.

Check the first page for the latest screenshots. There's been a big overhaul on the art. :)

Changes since last demo:

• Added user-friendliness, like OpenDyslexic support and a better GUI design
• Added ability to toggle QTEs and turn off/on timed choices.
  QTEs were somewhat redundant, so replaced them with the ability to change difficulty of timed choices
• Added a special feature (more on that later)
• Cleaned up the old art and added new (a lot of it)
• Made improvements on the story: less exposition, more character

[ketskari]

And final BG for the demo is finished and coded in. Here's Tell in her teens, sporting a nervous bob, which was one hairstyle young women adopted if they were unsure about bobbing their hair back in the day.

[ketskari]

Whew... okay, new demo is up.

[Ulalaria]

Just played the new demo and it is gorgeous!!!

I didn't catch the first demo, but I'll answer the other questions:

2) Ooh, tough choice. I'm going to go with Tell, I think. "Seemingly normal person thrust into strange/supernatural circumstances" is always a fun trope, and

the whole dream sequence conversation with "Vengeance" really hooked me. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that plays out. I sense that I'm going to have to make some painful decisions down the road in terms of her interaction with Julius.

3) There's a lot going on in this story, but I think I was able to keep up with it. Nothing I feel really unclear on. The "Mind" feature is going to be useful in the longer game for keeping track of what's happening with each character.

[ketskari]

@Ualaria - Thank you so much!

2) Ooh, tough choice. I'm going to go with Tell, I think. "Seemingly normal person thrust into strange/supernatural circumstances" is always a fun trope, and

the whole dream sequence conversation with "Vengeance" really hooked me. I'm really looking forward to seeing how that plays out. I sense that I'm going to have to make some painful decisions down the road in terms of her interaction with Julius.

This bit makes me grin. xD For one, I love that trope, and for two, that's exactly how I wanted that scene to work.

3) Thanks! I decided to incorporate the mind for that very reason. :)

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Update:

I am working on the story text for Act II. There was quite a bit of Tell a Demon in an earlier draft stage that I did in Twine, so I converted it over (with the help of this lovely Twine to Ren'Py converter here), and now I've been revising and fixing up the text. I'm currently working on Tell's scenes, which are (unsurprisingly) a bit longer than her Act I scenes. It's going well.

So no visual updates for a bit, while I work on the story.

Happy holidays!