TECHNICAL OVERVIEW/NOTES
Hell Diary is a windows game that recreates the experience of playing a game on early Japanese PCs from NEC, specifically the NEC PC-88 and PC-98 series. It has a strict limitation of a 3-bit display (8 colours) and display resolution of 640x200 (or, for the liberties of this game, 640x400—more than the PC-88, but still within PC-98 spec). The music is all done for the 6-channel YM2203 FM chip from Yamaha, and the files used in the game will run on real NEC hardware. As a result of the strict adherence to technical limitations for the sake of authenticity, Hell Diary is also a very tiny game weighing in at around 7 MB as of right now (even with 20 music tracks and 2 ambience tracks).STORY AND CHARACTERS
The game is set in a completely fictional world, in a country called Galwihanawe in 1979. Civil unrest, strife, and resentment at Galwihanawe's increasingly totalitarian government and institutional discrimination against the indigenous majority population is coming to a head as the Royal Military is used against the people its supposed to protect. Martial law and an open hatred of Gyonsomi culture, including the destruction of longstanding clerical orders and religious tradition, proves to be the last straw before full-blown revolt. Everyone with a bone to pick with the Royal Family has come out to do damage in their own way, including a massive criminal enterprise, a revolutionary army led by the charismatic communist leader Mae Churun, and the powerful and insular religious orders that the government sought to destroy.=============================
The playable characters are:
Kekoha Tanmun
Born 17 June, 1950. Kekoha is a young professor at Lanmun University, one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Despite being all but a card-carrying Gyonsomi nationalist with her xenophobia worn on her sleeve, she's dating a blonde-haired foreigner named Lucas Mikierr. This isn't the only thing she second-guesses throughout the game—but what that is will depend on you!
Eun Utai
Born 10 February, 1954. She's a programmer working at the DelmunSoft offices in Nampodon, a suburb of the capital city. Comes from an impoverished background, very religious with strong ties to the clergy. Her sister is in the Royal Legion, which has become more of a secret police force. Eun is generally not much for words but has a warmth to her presence despite her intimidating stature. Her hometown of Lamsun is one of the early sites of full-blown violent hostility against the government, thanks to an increase in triad aggression there.
Anastasiya "Nastya" Falken
Born 21 March, 1965. A red-haired foreign high school student with a huge interest in computers and electronics on a class trip for immersion study. She's a wizard with electronics and tools and can't wait to get her hands on something more advanced than a dumb terminal. The player has the most influence over her personality, though she's not entirely a blank slate. She's cheerful, bubbly, and optimistic.
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Key terms:Gyonsomi - "Indigenous" dark haired, red or pink-eyed Galwi. All Galwi saints are Gyonsomi. They make up the majority of the Galwi population and lately have fallen victim to institutionally sanctioned destruction of their culture.
Runsomi - "Wildlander" brown-haired, blue or brown-eyed Galwi. Due to their similarities in appearance to the ethnic Lymdillic people across the ocean, they were never really considered Galwi. In the mid-1800s, a Runsomi army defeated Saint Pimiko's army in the capital city and a Runsomi clan took over and installed a Queen. They moved the capital to Jikjon.
Mun-wi - A mildly insulting reference for Gyonsomi, since many of their surnames end in "Mun" (Yalmun, Tanmun, Nakamun, Nanamun, etc.). It means "Mun-people", "Mun-folk", or "Muns", like calling Russians "Ivans".
Delmun Corporation - A large Chaebol (conglomerate corporation) gaining power in the wake of a booming new consumer electronics market—personal computers. The game begins shortly before the PC-2219 and their new operating system C-CPM ("Consumer Command and Control Program for Microcomputers", a DOS-like OS) is available to consumers.
-don/-jon - Designated municipal government, with -don being a subset of -jon (e.g., Nampodon is a ward in the city of Jikjon)
GAMEPLAY
The game takes you through the perspective of 3 different young women with events happening roughly concurrently between February 1979 and August 1979. Each character will brush up against one of the four factions, and stuff that the player does will affect the overall story that plays out. The actual game style is top-down, tile-based navigation (like an RPG) in one of three very large towns.Even through a combination of investigation and informed-decision making, shaping the story's only half the fun! There's also loads of supplemental information, worldbuilding, and side stories the player can pursue if they wish to find out more about Galwihanawe's culture and neighbors.
SCREENSHOTS AND MEDIA
(Note: the actual window size for the game is 640x400, but the engine letterboxes to 640x480 in fullscreen)
The OST can be found under Music Disk II and Music Disk I on Bandcamp.
Qs
1. Do you see yourself getting immersed in some thick worldbuilding, provided it's done in manageable chunks?2. Would you play this game if it were available on steam? Even though I'm so close to a demo, I'm still not even sure if I want it to be a commercial product.
3. Have you played my previous games?
4. Do you really care if the romantic content is scant?
5. Do you have any further questions about me or the game? Let me know!
