Alter Ego: Covenant[Mystery/Action] Demo!!

[final513]

UPDATE! I have found both character and background artists, and even a beta-tester! My character artist wanted to show off some work he's been doing, and it looks amazing!

Right now, we're focusing on re-releasing the demo with all the new art I'm getting. I don't have an ETA on that, but in the coming weeks, I'll let you all know.

Stay tuned for future Alter Ego updates!

Character Artist: Dakota Rochon

Background Artist: Sina Azad, Stephanie Platz

Beta Tester: Fonacall

Links on the bottom

Someone is chasing you. They find and kill you. You awake from this nightmare and go through your routine high school life. During school, you get a headache, where someone offers you power. You agree to this. You later wake up to find your school in ruins. A mysterious man finds you. "This was the work of an alter ego" he says. This is Dante's story.

Story

This is a story of an 18 year old boy, named Dante, who finds out he has what is called an alter ego. He is initially saved by a man, named Seth, who is aware of his predicament. He drives him to a place called The Orphanage, a haven for others who also bear alter ego's. Inside, he realizes he is not alone in what he went through. He meets the leader of The Orphanage, Amon, who tells him he must get along with his alter ego, to stop him from ever causing anymore destruction. Will Dante be able to let go of the past and move on? What are the adverse effects of having an alter ego? This, and more, will be explored.

Screenshots

About the Project

Hey, and welcome to Alter Ego, my first VN! I've been working on this project as a whole for about 7 years on and off. It's a very personal story to me, which is why I never gave up on it. I always wanted to get it out there, but never knew the best media for it. After finding Renpy, I can successfully complete it. The story has been finished, but I might be changing small things here and there as I progress. I'm the only one currently working on it, but I am hoping others will want to join after seeing the work I've done. As a downside to not being able to draw, there is no art so far. I do know what characters, backgrounds and scenes I would want. I also am making this game a homage to great JRPG's, as the bgm is composed of many tracks you may (and may not) have heard before. If you're a fan of those, you'll be in for a treat. I also use sound effects to enhance the scenes and immersion. There is also very little change in the GUI, as that's not something I worked on before. If someone would want to come along and help, that would be great. Right now, I'm fine with it how it looks.

Back on the subject of art, I'm here to show that I do have drive and passion for the project. I have been working on it almost once a day, and will not be dropping it. I'm not the best programmer, but I have enough experience to make it and it's been easy so far. With that said, I am looking for artists to help me. If I don't get any artists, I will still continue the project as I have been. Just wanna get that out there. So if anyone wants to help (be an artist or not), please pm me or email me at final513@gmail.com. I'll be happy to talk about anything.

On another note, this is so far a free project. If I get enough members, I may consider making it paid. That is not something I am focusing on now, though.

About the Demo

So after two months of work, I have a demo to show off! It's about 1 1/2 hours long, with multiple different ways of playing it through character dialogue and secrets. I highly encourage playing through it at least one more time. I hope you enjoy it! Please feel free to leave any feedback you want. Specifically, I do have a couple of questions I want answered from you guys.

Questions for You

1. Did you notice that the color of the font represents their hair color? If not, how can I let the player know about this better?

2. How did you feel about the characters and personalities? Any favorites or unlikable characters?

3. How did you feel about the subject matter (alter ego's, personal battle, moving on, etc.)?

4. Did you replay the demo? If so, did you feel the different dialogue meant something to you?

5. How did you like the exploration? Was there enough incentive to want to explore? On that note, did you feel I did enough to describe the areas?

6. How did you like the plot twist at the end?

7. How do you feel about the future of Alter Ego, in terms of story and characters?

Full Game

This demo almost fully represents the game, in terms of gameplay. You'll be staying inside The Orphanage (for the most part), talking with other members about their backstory, exploring around and finding secrets that uncover the history (and mystery) of The Orphanage. There will be times you leave, but they are (as of right now) scripted events. There are multiple endings to go through, depending on decisions and who you talk to through the game.

So that's pretty much it. I hope you enjoy it!

Links

Windows: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzUFw ... 29INXUzRWc

Mac: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzUFw ... mlaQmtlY00

Linux: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzUFw ... 2xncU94VEU

[Ran08]

First of all... I just want to say that I really like the premise of this game! I think it's quite interesting!

Oh, but I personally think would be best if you posted a screenshot of the game in your opening post, that way, people would know that it's really a VN and that you're not trying to fool them or anything. Kidding aside, most people would like to see what they're getting into before actually getting into it, so... screenshots are definitely a must when it comes to VNs.

As for your questions, let me answer the everything in spoiler tags:

1. Did you notice that the color of the font represents their hair color? If not, how can I let the player know about this better?
Hair color? Were there any sprites in the game? I couldn't actually see any sprites, only some occasional backgrounds. Is there something wrong with my laptop?

2. How did you feel about the characters and personalities? Any favorites or unlikable characters?
I think you've fleshed them out pretty nicely. I especially like Rose and Jack! (Are the names a reference to the Titanic film?) Haha, anyway, the part about Rose's healing kiss was interesting. It makes me feel... I don't know, happy(?), to know that there's someone like Jack who loves Rose so much that he doesn't mind it even though she can't kiss him like she kisses many others. Come to think of it, it's actually quite sad. Huhu. Oh, I like Dante's character, too.

3. How did you feel about the subject matter (alter ego's, personal battle, moving on, etc.)?
I think the concept of an alter ego is very interesting. At first, I did think that perhaps Dante was simply schizophrenic, like Jack said. But then, after I talked to Amon (nice theme song, by the way!), I got to understand them a little bit better, which made them a lot more interesting in my eyes.

Do you know the series, Ms. Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children? Oh, I just love that series! The first book is also about a special orphanage where children with Peculiar abilities live. Like in Alter Ego, they also don't age, but it's just because they "travel" in time every single day. However, the outcome is sort of the same in this game, with some falling back behind modern times, like Jecht. Haha, the similarities actually made me like this visual novel even more~

4. Did you replay the demo? If so, did you feel the different dialogue meant something to you?
No, I didn't even get to finish it. Huhu. I've already saved the game and exited. I'll get to the reason in a bit...

5. How did you like the exploration? Was there enough incentive to want to explore? On that note, did you feel I did enough to describe the areas?
As of now, the exploration is my least favorite part of the game! I've probably visited almost every single place, yet I can't advance with the story. The lack of art makes me feel trapped. Plus, the textbox is way too small. I played the game on full screen for a while, and while I like the large resolution, it constantly hurt my eyes having to move down the screen so much. The text itself also hurt my eyes. And there were way too many choices! (Hahaha, okay, I'm sorry for complaining so much, but I didn't really like this part of the game.)

I think, though, that if there was art, I would have enjoyed exploring. Your writing is really good, and I loved the way you described the areas! I think I would have loved to see the places, too. Oh, if only there was art! <3

And as for the gargantuan amount of choices, I think that could be fixed by implementing image maps for the game? Like, instead of selecting "Look at laptop", players could instead click on the actual laptop in the background, perhaps. Something of the sort.

6. How did you like the plot twist at the end?
Like I said, I didn't get to finish this, since I got lost in the exploration part and couldn't find my way out. Huhuhu.

7. How do you feel about the future of Alter Ego, in terms of story and characters?
I'm hoping to see a more polished version! Perhaps better graphics, better font & font size, and a revamped GUI? The story is intriguing, the writing is good, and atmosphere of the game is really great.

So, that's it! I'm looking forward to the full version of this game! I honestly think it's got a lot of potential. Good luck on the development!

[final513]

Firstly, thanks for playing my demo! Sorry to say, there is no art in the game. I'm no artist, but I am looking for one. If I don't, then unfortunately it'll have to stay this way. I'll update the post with screenshots, thanks.

Thanks for answering some of the questions! If you could finish the game (maybe even replay it once) and come back and answer the other questions, that'd be great!

Thanks for everything!

[Ran08]

You're welcome!

Oh, I was just confused since you mentioned something about hair color and font color, so... I thought there were supposed to be sprites. Ack, I sure do hope you can get an artist, though! Have you tried posting on the recruitments forums? Alter Ego, to me, sounds like it could be a really great game, especially with art. I wish you the best of luck in finding an artist!

And sure, if I could find my way through the exploration part! =) I'm really quite stuck at the moment, though. Hahahaha.

[final513]

Yea, I hope so too. I did make a post back in july, so I updated it now.

If you're having any trouble, let me know where so I can fix it for the future.

[papillon]

(Small note - there is a well-known computer game by the name of Alter Ego. If you continue this project, you might want to add something to your game's name in order to make it unique and easier to find in a websearch.)

[final513]

Is that right? Searching it gives me some life simulation game, idk if that's what you're talking about. Anyways, I'll consider adding a subtitle thanks.

[FonaCall]

Hey there! Hope this is still ongoing and whatnot.

We're really fascinated with whatever that features split personalities and shit, and this game has gotten us interested. I played the demo and sorta finished it (sorta cause I didn't get to see everything, but I did get to the end), and here are my two cents (or at least my response to your call for feedback):

1. Did you notice that the color of the font represents their hair color? If not, how can I let the player know about this better?

Nope, man. I mean, no character images yet, although I did see that thread you have calling artists to help out and I do know from there that yeah, Dante and Seth's name colors match their hair. I'm wondering about the Body 1 and Body 2 thing, though. Will they look different from the Dante and Alter characters? From the demo, it would follow that they have white and black hair, respectively.

2. How did you feel about the characters and personalities? Any favorites or unlikable characters?

I think that there's a lot more to find out about the characters and their personalities (heck, maybe even their Alter Egos), and I can see that this is a mostly character-driven story. I wanna find out more about them, but I am also hoping that their backgrounds/tragic pasts won't be so common. Favorites? I'm liking Jack, cause real men engage in horticulture. No unlikables so far. Heck, even the "enemies" are interesting. I'd like to find out more about them too.

3. How did you feel about the subject matter (alter ego's, personal battle, moving on, etc.)?

It's a subject matter that's pretty close to us, and everyone, really, unless they don't care. I like being able to participate in something that tackles that subject matter.

4. Did you replay the demo? If so, did you feel the different dialogue meant something to you?

Not yet. I'm not really sure I wanna go through that blind exploration thing again just to get slightly different dialogue. I would want to do it if I wanted to see another sort of ending, though.

I do wanna play the full game if it ever comes out, but damn, I find that file size pretty big for just a demo (lol internet service fail). Either that, or I haven't downloaded that many Ren'Py games yet.

5. How did you like the exploration? Was there enough incentive to want to explore? On that note, did you feel I did enough to describe the areas?

I'm okay with it, and glad that at least it isn't like, text parser or anything, given the lack of images. I would like it to be in the form of an image map, though. At least, it wouldn't be too confusing. I LOVE the descriptions. Dante has such a way with words, lol. I think the descriptions would work even with actual background images. They make the whole exploration thing more interesting.

6. How did you like the plot twist at the end?

I was like, "OH DAMMIT! YOU GOTTA RESCUE THAT MOFO!" and "Oh, so that's why these people are struggling to work things out with their alter egos..." I wanna see how it plays out in the full game.

7. How do you feel about the future of Alter Ego, in terms of story and characters?

I think this has potential for a longer story, like a series or something. You could have it in episodes, if you pull it off well enough. Also, with a series, there's room to develop the characters and stuff.

Other than the answers to those questions, I also have some other comments, based on my experience with the demo:
- Other than background images and character images, another art asset that you might want to have in this game is a logo for the title.
- You might also want to either make the font (and text screen) bigger, or you might want to make the game window smaller.
- Speaking of fonts... Maybe you could change it to something else? Papyrus is pretty thin and can't be read easily if it's small.
- Flags are a little iffy. I got a piece of dialogue that is implied to have happened before Dante got to talk with Seth and Amon in Amon's room, after I got to talk to the two. There was also this piece of dialogue where Dante is still looking for Rose, when I have already gone to the Clinic.
- Lol Id's theme... You can't use that (and many other tracks in your game) if it's gonna be commercial. Brings nostalgia, though.

[final513]

Thanks for playing it!

1. Dante(now called Siegfried) and his alter will look similar.

2. Great to hear you like them. It is a character-driven story, but there is a narrative to follow. No, all backstories will differ. And yea, Jack is awesome xD

3. Exactly, I feel this story can relate to many people.

4. So do you feel the extra dilagoue is not enticing enough? I just got some artists, so later I'll re-release the demo with all the visuals. There will be multiple endings.

5. Glad to hear you like the descriptions, I put some good effort into it. Later with backgrounds, I will be implementing image maps.

6. Oh it's definitely a roller coaster story.

7. Right now I'm focusing on just this game, but there are arcs in the game.

8. Yes, I will be getting a logo in the near future.

9. Font and text-size will be adjusted as well.

10. I will consider changing the font. There's so many and I wanted to incorporate one that I felt suited the game.

11. Oh bugs? Can you maybe recall how you did it and what dialogue was said? I wanna fix as much as I can.

12. Good ear! Yes, it suits the scene perfectly. This is not a commercial game, so the music shall stay. Love JRPG music a bunch.

Thanks again, and stay tuned for more info!

[FonaCall]

Thanks for playing it!

You're welcome. And thank you for getting this interesting game in the works!

1. Dante(now called Siegfried) and his alter will look similar.

Ah, ok. I'm supposing the font colors are just placeholder.

And yea, Jack is awesome xD

IKR?! I wanna see how he looks like.

4. So do you feel the extra dilagoue is not enticing enough? I just got some artists, so later I'll re-release the demo with all the visuals. There will be multiple endings.

It would be enticing enough if it's... meme-worthy. Like, that funny or that WTF. Hahaha.

ERMAHGERD, you got artists! Hooray for you, man! Will be looking forward to that demo re-release. Question, did you get artists for both characters and backgrounds?

7. Right now I'm focusing on just this game, but there are arcs in the game.

Arcs, the in-between... I see.

Don't rush them, okay? (lol says the one who pretty much skim-read through the game and then felt that shit escalated quickly)

10. I will consider changing the font. There's so many and I wanted to incorporate one that I felt suited the game.

I guess picking one is pretty hard... Good luck! (If all else fails, make your own?)

11. Oh bugs? Can you maybe recall how you did it and what dialogue was said? I wanna fix as much as I can.

Aw, damn... I forgot the exact dialogue, but IIRC, I got the first one I mentioned from talking with Jack for the first time, and I got the second one I mentioned from talking with Alice for the first time. I think it's mostly because I didn't explore much before the related story scenes, but I guess there should be code/dialogue in place for people who just like going on ahead with the story.

Imma check the code and look for it or something. I'm pretty sure if I see it I will know. I'll get back to ya. Our laptop is a little fucked right now, and that's where our copy of Ren'Py (and Alter Ego) is.

Know what? I'll beta test demos for you. Writing and art are pretty important for a visual novel, but a VN is still a game. If it doesn't work right, it still fails.

12. Good ear! Yes, it suits the scene perfectly. This is not a commercial game, so the music shall stay. Love JRPG music a bunch.

YAY!

JRPG music? Yeah, it's awesome. I like the following soundtracks in general, myself:
- Chrono Cross
- Suikoden Tierkreis (I swear, this has one of the best soundtracks for a DS game)
- Breath of Fire 4

They might not fit the game, though, since it's mostly for fantasy. The Xeno series and BOF DQ are definitely better choices.

Haha, the only game included in the soundtracks you included that I've played before was Xenogears, hence me recognizing it.

[final513]

I did get artists for both characters and backgrounds. I just recruited them, so nothing to show yet, but I will update this thread when I get some usable work.

Thanks for volunteering for beta testing! That'll help me a bunch. If you want to beta test the current one, that would be helpful. I did do some myself, but it's kinda hard for a dev to find bugs when I know how the game is supposed to be played xD

Suikoden Tierkreis, huh? Never played that one, though I played all the others (the VN gaiden games are awesome). I'l have to look into that.

PM me when you get a chance so we can stay in touch.

[final513]

Posted an update above!

[final513]

More updates on characters!