[PTSD update] Alex in Wonderland [romance, fantasy]

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ArachneJericho
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[PTSD update] Alex in Wonderland [romance, fantasy]

#1 Post by ArachneJericho »

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In Alex in Wonderland, your estranged mother, Alice Loughton, has died and left you the house she grew up in. When you attend her funeral, you discover that she apparently had quite a few friends or acquaintances that you've never met or known about, but some of them seem to know who you are. Her tombstone reads "Down the rabbit hole." You have no idea what's going on, but events will soon pull you into a world your mother knew and you thought were only children’s tales. You might find true love, deep friendship, or an unpleasant end in Wonderland at the hands of a new power that wants to disrupt our world—and you are the key.

Alex (renameable) is a non-binary main character who can be referred to with male, female, or neutral pronouns (player's choice).

Who is the new power in Wonderland?

The Emperor and the Empress, who are from the Tarot's major arcana (specifically, Rider-Waite, because public domain is awesome). Wonderland has an affinity for rhymes, nonsense, and games. After cards and chess I decided to play around with the Tarot.

Stats-raising or Adventure?

Both, if I'm understanding the definitions correctly. You raise stats through choice selections rather than through a set series of interactions. Your four stats correspond to the four suits and elements of the tarot:

Pedantry - Pentacles/Coins - Earth: Your ability to think groundedly, i.e. in Reality's terms.
Whimsy - Cups - Water: Your ability to think in Wonderland terms.
Force - Swords - Air: Your physical will.
Passion - Wands - Fire: Your passion.

Depending on the levels of your stats, you have indicators in your inventory that will tell you which element you're currently strongest in, as well as stat levels removing or adding certain choices in later parts of the story.

Main Characters

The sprites will be developed by Disciple.

Protagonist

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Romanceable/Friendable Characters

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Current status
  • Outlining the script.
    • 5,348 words (for an outline.)
    • Dream 100%
    • Prologue 100%.
    • Chapter 1 100%.
    • Chapter 2 20%.
  • Prototype backgrounds, to be replaced by backgrounds from Disciple.
  • Currently seeing about having Purplemind compose music. :)
  • Placeholder sprites from Blue Forest, to be replaced by sprites from Disciple.
  • CGs will be from Disciple.
Questions for You!

1. What do you think of the premise?
2. What do you think of Alex's gender identity?
3. General advice and feedback?
Last edited by ArachneJericho on Wed Jul 30, 2014 10:05 pm, edited 28 times in total.

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [otome, fantasy, drama]

#2 Post by Ran08 »

Hahaha, like the premise! :)

It seems very interesting. And I think I'm gonna play Alex as a guy ho ho. It just seems cool to have a male counterpart for Alice. Hahaha. :) Also, I like the music you used. Hihi. Kinda reminds me of the simplicity of Pokemon games, lol.

One suggestion though. For the longer descriptions... maybe you could break up the text in one textbox? It seems quite crowded. Having lots of lines in different textboxes doesn't hurt anyway. :)

Good luck!

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [otome, fantasy, drama]

#3 Post by ArachneJericho »

Ran08 wrote:Hahaha, like the premise! :)
Thank you!
It seems very interesting. And I think I'm gonna play Alex as a guy ho ho. It just seems cool to have a male counterpart for Alice. Hahaha. :) Also, I like the music you used. Hihi. Kinda reminds me of the simplicity of Pokemon games, lol.
^_^ All thanks to AM Classical! Bless their public domain recordings.
One suggestion though. For the longer descriptions... maybe you could break up the text in one textbox? It seems quite crowded. Having lots of lines in different textboxes doesn't hurt anyway. :)
I just discovered the slow text setting, which helps. But breaking up the lines would help too, to avoid Block Of Text syndrome. Thanks for the suggestion!

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [otome, fantasy, drama]

#4 Post by ArachneJericho »

Updated with the three main ending characters, and a logo!

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [otome, fantasy, drama]

#5 Post by Ran08 »

Haha, yeah, I think that's kinda what I meant. :D It looked like a block of text to me, which is never good. :) The slow setting might do something, but I personally think it's still better and a lot more simpler to just break it up. :) It would probably look a lot nicer that way. :)

The white rabbit and the cheshire cat are cool. :)) Haha. Why do I get the feeling that they're two opposite personalities, despite the similar face? ;) Lady Paprika is beautiful. Hoho. But... does this mean we won't get to see Alex's face? :(

As for the logo... it's... okay? It honestly doesn't look like a logo to me, but... I guess it's... okay? Maybe...? :) Or maybe it could... like... um... be less rectangular or something...? Just a suggestion... :)

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [otome, fantasy, drama]

#6 Post by ArachneJericho »

Ran08 wrote:Haha, yeah, I think that's kinda what I meant. :D It looked like a block of text to me, which is never good. :) The slow setting might do something, but I personally think it's still better and a lot more simpler to just break it up. :) It would probably look a lot nicer that way. :)
Yeah, you're right. I went back and broke it up into separate boxes. The effect reads MUCH better. Thanks!
The white rabbit and the cheshire cat are cool. :)) Haha. Why do I get the feeling that they're two opposite personalities, despite the similar face? ;) Lady Paprika is beautiful. Hoho. But... does this mean we won't get to see Alex's face? :(
Well, first I need real art. ;) I'm no artist. ^_^; I do want us to see what Alex looks like, because I feel that once I work up endings it'll be nice to make them splash screens of nice art, you know? But I haven't found anything in the art packs I have that satisfies me for Alex. :-/
As for the logo... it's... okay? It honestly doesn't look like a logo to me, but... I guess it's... okay? Maybe...? :) Or maybe it could... like... um... be less rectangular or something...? Just a suggestion... :)
Temporary "logo", it's just something I cropped out from my menu screen for the game. But yeah, when things are more solid there will be a real logo, an app icon that isn't a fancy "A", and characters not from art packs. ^_^

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance?, adventure, drama]

#7 Post by ArachneJericho »

In original post, updated the main character list to add the White Knight. Updated the video and the logo.

Today I got some bad news and have been pretty sad, so I just read more of Through the Looking Glass... and tweaked a bunch of things about the interface.

Here's the sum of the tweaks. Let me know if you'd like the code.

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Larger screen (1020x600) and added the beginnings of a Gallery of unlockables, a music room, and a jump to the credits.

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Better text box with two-window mode as the default (i.e. name separated away from the dialogue text), click to continue animation, actual buttons for Back/Save/Load/Prefs (which I also added to the menu choice screens). Side image to the right, using image transforms to create from the full body sprite.

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Alex now appears as a side image sprite. He/She/They won't appear as a full-body sprite.

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Save/Load screen substantially different now; there are more pages, and each page now only has two very large thumbnails of each screen, to help people remember where they saved. Each screen now carries the name of the chapter it's part of.

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Background gallery, featuring lockable/unlockable stuff. I can definitely tweak this into a trophy/achievement shelf, and keep another as an endings achievement gallery.

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The music box. Nothing fancy. The main menu finally has music now.

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance?, adventure, drama]

#8 Post by Ran08 »

THAT'S the White Knight? Omg please tell me this is romance and not romance? with a question mark. Hahahahahaha. The White Knight is so <3 <3 <3! If he is an obtainable I am so playing as a girl instead. :)))

Oh and, heyy, the new logo looks cool~

Keep up the good work! Hahaha. :)) It looks a lot nicer now.

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance?, adventure, drama]

#9 Post by ArachneJericho »

He is romanceable, but he's not going to be an easy romance! :D

He is basically the next generation of the original White Knight, who looked after the original Alice and helped her survive and become a queen in the original chess game in Through the Looking Glass. :)

Thanks for the kind words! I work on this thing every day. It's very nice to do so, takes my mind off a lot of things.

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance?, adventure, drama]

#10 Post by ArachneJericho »

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After deliberation and reading through the Alice books, I’ve picked four main cast members:
  • The White Rabbit, who Alice tasked to look after her child, but is in service to a new power in Wonderland: the Emperor and the Empress.
  • The Cheshire Cat, who stayed with Alice for two years until her death; a rogue element who answers to no one, and a wild canon some would seek to eliminate.
  • Lady Paprika, whose curiosity with Alex stems from her mother’s fascination with Alice, and plays dangerous Wonderland politics as a noble.
  • The White Knight, who considers himself to have a duty towards protecting his predecessor’s dear Alice’s progeny, and an honor-bound fugitive from the Looking Glass Country.
All four are romanceable, if you’re looking for romance; all four can become your most trusted of mates.

Whether you’re still alive to enjoy their company is questionable.

The Red King lay a-dreaming
Of cabbages and queens
Of melting butter-flies who sing two tones of colors banding
Of the borograves by the slumbering river
Muttering in rithy sombley turns.
Stopped the queens and butterflies and borograves
When the Red King stopped dreaming
And red rushed the river
And turned the colors
Melted wings
Frost and
naught.


Who is the new power in Wonderland?
The Emperor and the Empress are from the Tarot (specifically, Rider-Waite, because public domain is awesome). Wonderland has an affinity for rhymes, nonsense, and games. After cards and chess I decided to play around with the Tarot.
How will the story be structured?
There will be an initial phase where each of the main characters pull you aside to discuss their history with your mother. Your reactions will in turn determine how they feel about you, feelings and opinions that can be enhanced by the middle phase: exploring the maze of the Tarot.

During this second phase your skills will develop the most (though the initial phase does some seeding) as well as the feelings/opinions of the main characters that you meet during the way. (You don't have a traveling party; rather, people show up or not depending on the whims of Wonderland.) And of course, everything culiminates in the final phase.

The final phase is a showdown with the Emperor and the Empress. Defeating them will require discovering secrets about yourself and the nature of Alice's connection to Wonderland, secrets that will depend upon your skills and which companion finally decides to set aside all fear and join you in the final battle.

Epilogue: if you die, you have two possible endings. If you live, you have two possible endings times four final companions times two for romantic and aromantic versions of each companion's ending.

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Re: Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance, adventure, drama]

#11 Post by ArachneJericho »

Now in the Work in Progress forum! Yay!

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Re: [WIP] Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance, adventure]

#12 Post by Mad Harlequin »

As a fan of Lewis Carroll's work, I'm all over this interpretation of Wonderland. I definitely like that there will be nods to the original story through Alice, but that there is plenty of room for a new adventure. :)
I'm an aspiring writer and voice talent with a passion for literature and an unhealthy attachment to video games. I am also a seasoned typo-sniper. Inquiries are encouraged. Friendly chats are welcome.
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Re: Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance, adventure, drama]

#13 Post by PennJones »

Ooh, an agender option. Lovely.
Also, I like the plotline. I've seen many Alice In Wonderland based stories/games, but I've never heard of one where Alice was the protagonist's mother, and not the protagonist themself.
I'm quite looking forward to playing this game, and I wish you good luck on creating it.

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Re: [WIP] Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance, adventure]

#14 Post by ArachneJericho »

Mad Harlequin wrote:As a fan of Lewis Carroll's work, I'm all over this interpretation of Wonderland. I definitely like that there will be nods to the original story through Alice, but that there is plenty of room for a new adventure. :)
Many nods will be had! I enjoy building upon the base material and making little call backs. :)
PennJones wrote:Ooh, an agender option. Lovely.
Also, I like the plotline. I've seen many Alice In Wonderland based stories/games, but I've never heard of one where Alice was the protagonist's mother, and not the protagonist themself.
I'm quite looking forward to playing this game, and I wish you good luck on creating it.
Thank you!

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Re: [WIP] Alex in Wonderland [fantasy, romance, adventure]

#15 Post by ArachneJericho »

Progress on the writing so far!

1. Added the Blue Caterpillar as an advice/help character.

2. Also came up with back stories for the four main characters.

The White Rabbit:
His job as a courier for the powers of Wonderland has always been a bit stressful. Previously it was the King and Queen of Hearts; then, after their deposition by Alice, he served the Kings and Queens of the Looking Glass Country, as well as random nobility like the Pepper Duchess. One day the stress finally got to him and he appeared in Reality, in Alice's garden. She seemed to have been expecting him. He found Reality a freeing and vexing illusion of sorts, just as she had found Wonderland. They began to meet regularly to talk about things Wonderland and Reality, for Alice was unable to speak to anyone else about her times in Wonderland without being committed, and the White Rabbit needed advice on how to survive here during much-needed breaks from Wonderland. They became the best of friends, and for several years the White Rabbit was happy. For most of the last two years of Alice's life he had to stop visiting, for a new, far more demanding power had come to Wonderland; and by the time that he was able to come to her garden once more, Alice was dying. She entrusted him with the care of her child, and it fair broke his heart.
The Cheshire Cat
After helping Alice through her first travels in Wonderland, they disappeared from Wonderland for a time to contemplate their sudden affection for Alice, for, being a creature out of time, it had been very long since the Cheshire Cat could say that they loved anything. After Alice returned from the Looking Glass Country, the Cheshire Cat vowed to protect her themself. It was due to their influence that Alice did not slip away entirely into Wonderland as the years passed, and they did this faithfully without announcing themselves, although in the end they learned from Alice, on her death bed, that she always knew the stray tabby on the property was the Cheshire Cat. With her final breath, she thanked them, but told them not to look after her child. To this day the Cheshire Cat is not certain if she were speaking in Reality logic, or in Wonderland logic, as he failed to keep her grip on reality.
Lady Paprika
Abandoned by her mother, the Pepper Duchess, the Lady Paprika was raised from pighood to young womanhood by the Garden of Talking Flowers. There she learned hard-core politics and how the Wonderland courts thought, whether they be flowers or they be playing cards. After she became human, she tried to reunite with the Pepper Duchess, but the Duchess would have none of it. Lady Paprika learned later that the Duchess fell in love with Alice, and thought she had missed out on having two mothers. In the end, Lady Paprika would never reunite with the Duchess; the Empress had her beheaded for insolence, and bestowed the Duchess's lands on the nearest of kin, Lady Paprika, without giving her the title of Duchess. Much later on, after the White Rabbit delivered a missive to her, he broke down in her arms and told her about Alice's death and the coming of Alex, her child, which piqued Lady Paprika's interest.
The White Knight
The nobles of the countries of Wonderland only noticed the takeover by the Emperor and Empress when several of their number were beheaded at the last, but the chessboard pieces of the Looking Glass Country were among the first to fall as the Tarot conquered Wonderland. A certain White Pawn, while protecting the original White Knight, saw the skies darken with fire as the Chariot crashed through overhead, drawn by winged sphinxes, headed straight for the glen with the slumbering Red King. The Pawn and Knight tried to reach the glen to warn the Red King, but the White Knight was run through by the Chariot's sword, and the White Pawn was unable to stop the slaughter of the Red King. As the board collapsed around them, the White Pawn ran for the eighth row square, and promoted—and he chose to be promoted to a Knight, in honor of the original White Knight. He didn't know that this would bring the memories of the old White Knight with him, memories of a girl named Alice who braved so much to reach the final row and become Queen. Has he found a way to restore the Looking Glass Country and perhaps all of Wonderland?
3. Brainstormed several endings and the first Act. Started brainstorming the structure of the second Act. Helpful friend is helpful :)

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