Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

A place for game announcements, and for people to discuss games being made.
Forum rules
Please read the sticky before creating a new topic. Linking to Kickstarter/Crowdfunded games requires a demo. Updates to Patreon-backed games may be posted once every 2 months. Adult content should not be posted in this forum.
Message
Author
User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#1 Post by Syrale »

Image

Image
Approximately 100 years in the future, Saeva, a socially anxious teenager, finds himself trapped in a building with 13 other young adults. They are all accused of being criminals and are told the only way to escape is by proving their worth and potential for improvement.
Saeva is fairly confident he's innocent, but can the same be said about everyone else?

Image
ImageImage
Saeva Irus is the protagonist of the game. He has no idea what he did to deserve being locked up with 13 criminals. He's rather quiet,
but still manages to display his beautiful mixture of irritability, awkwardness, and kindness from time to time.
Effera Arcall is the first character Saeva meets. She is easygoing, witty, and immediately finds a new favorite hobby in poking fun at Saeva's
awkward nature.

ImageImage
Ashor Lutius presents himself as sly and flamboyant, but sometimes it's hard to tell what he's really thinking.
Foris Niam has a soft spot for girls and is incredibly passionate and caring. She isn't afraid to stand up for herself and has a great
interest in fashion.

ImageImage
Sed Ingen is easygoing and flakey. He cares deeply about his twin sister and often seeks out her approval before doing or saying something.
Reira Ingen likes to argue and can come across as insensitive and mean, but she usually turns that behavior down a notch when
her brother asks her to.

ImageImage
Absen Mensio is a geeky architecture student with a strange fascination for maps. He isn't afraid of sharing his opinion, even when literally
nobody asked.
Canori Dilera puts a lot of importance on getting along with people. But despite her friendly nature, she sometimes laughs in the
most unfitting of times.

ImageImage
Loye Presue is grumpy and easily offended. For some reason he tends to ask people for fights very frequently, despite having no experience in martial arts
whatsoever. The pattern on his hoodie reads "NERD" in binary code.
Maesol Nimori is emotionally distant but very smart. Even though she has a hard time socializing, she has a great interest in psychology and enjoys
analyzing the people she doesn't understand.

ImageImage
Diven Fyes is Saeva's childhood friend and somehow wound up in here with him. He is usually kind and polite, but sometimes
he can't help but drop a sarcastic remark.
Tiss Audens is shy but tends to get jealous when she isn't the center of attention. She still tries to be helpful and supportive whenever she can.

ImageImage
Kydan Entule has a gentle nature and is protective about pretty much anyone. He prefers to keep in the background and only steps in when absolutely necessary.
Ima Furcille has nothing but positive energy! She is easily excited and very silly! But don't make fun of her height! That's not funny!

ImageImage
Vanagloria and Tristitia are the hosts of this peculiar "competition". Vanagloria has a bubbly yet sadistic nature, while Tristitia is
more understanding and kind.


Image
- There will be over 15 different endings, ranging from good to absolute catastrophe
- Said endings depend on the player's choices, and which combination of characters is still alive
- This is not a dating simulation, but Saeva can befriend other characters and learn more about them depending on his actions
- Short puzzle sequences should help the player loosen up a bit
- Estimated word count: 200,000

Image

Image Image Image

Image
Story: 60%
Writing: 10%
Pixel Art: COMPLETE!
Sprites: COMPLETE!
GUI: COMPLETE!
Backgrounds: 20%
Music: 0% (looking for an artist)

Image
1. Does the story interest you?
2. What is your first impression of the cast? Would you already be able to pick a favorite based on their appearances and brief descriptions?
3. Are 15+ endings too many, or would you be interested in unlocking them all, provided they are different enough?
(4. If you played the demo: Did you like it? How was the pacing? Did you encounter any bugs or spelling mistakes?)
5. Any questions or comments?

A demo for the game can be downloaded here:
Image


ImageThank you!Image
Last edited by Syrale on Thu Feb 21, 2019 6:09 pm, edited 13 times in total.

User avatar
Zelan
Lemma-Class Veteran
Posts: 2436
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 7:23 pm
Completed: The Dark
Projects: Cosplay Couple
Tumblr: evns
itch: Zelan
Discord: ltnkitsuragi#7082
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological]

#2 Post by Zelan »

1. Does the story interest you? Hell yeah it does!
2. What is your first impression of the cast? Would you already be able to pick a favorite based on their appearances and brief descriptions?: There's definitely something to like about all of them, but if I had to pick a favorite, it would probably be Absen. Passionate nerds are too cute.
3. Are 15+ endings too many, or would you be interested in unlocking them all, provided they are different enough?: I would definitely be interested in seeing all of them, and it does make sense given the fact that the game might end with different combos of living characters.
(4. If you played the demo: How did you like it? What was good/bad?): Unfortunately, I don't have the time, but I hope that I will get to play it soon!
5. Any questions or comments?: I'm curious about the puzzle sequences. How hard are you planning on making them? Will they be optional, or will the player have to complete them to move forward or to get better endings?

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological]

#3 Post by Syrale »

Zelan wrote:5. Any questions or comments?: I'm curious about the puzzle sequences. How hard are you planning on making them? Will they be optional, or will the player have to complete them to move forward or to get better endings?
First of all thank you for your other feedback and kind remarks!
The puzzle sequences won't really be challenging. They will be mandatory due to their purpose in the story and also serve to give the player more lighthearted information about the world the game plays in. Endings won't be affected by the puzzles.

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#4 Post by Syrale »

It's time for a small update!

I'm currently revamping the logo and some character designs. You can see the new outfits of Ima and Foris below!
Screenshot_98.png
Screenshot_100.png
The next task will be to transform the sketches into sprites. Do you like the redesigns?

User avatar
Zelan
Lemma-Class Veteran
Posts: 2436
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 7:23 pm
Completed: The Dark
Projects: Cosplay Couple
Tumblr: evns
itch: Zelan
Discord: ltnkitsuragi#7082
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#5 Post by Zelan »

I'm loving that red and black palette for Foris' clothes! Ima's pastels are nice too. :D

User avatar
TheUsernameIsTaken
Newbie
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Mar 12, 2017 3:59 am
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#6 Post by TheUsernameIsTaken »

This reminds me of danganronpa and zero escape series. In the way that I can totally see the sprites having a range of expressions and zero escape in terms of unraveling perhaps a deeper story the more pieces you unlock to get the bigger picture.

Seems like a big project, especially since its on your last year of highschool which I am sure will be hectic but perhaps you will find time after it, good luck!

Oh and as for characters that are possible favorites or pique my interest, Vanagloria is totally monokuma and calling it now, xxxxxx is the Junko I mean she even has that serial killer motive from zero escape 3 (Have to be vague here or else Ill cause restrictions)

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#7 Post by Syrale »

Zelan wrote:I'm loving that red and black palette for Foris' clothes! Ima's pastels are nice too. :D
I'm glad you like them!
TheUsernameIsTaken wrote:This reminds me of danganronpa and zero escape series. In the way that I can totally see the sprites having a range of expressions and zero escape in terms of unraveling perhaps a deeper story the more pieces you unlock to get the bigger picture.
I'm taking that as a big compliment because I'm a big fan of both of those series! And I can already tell you that you're right about the "bigger picture" thing.
TheUsernameIsTaken wrote:Seems like a big project, especially since its on your last year of highschool which I am sure will be hectic but perhaps you will find time after it, good luck!
Thank you! I plan to really start working on it (aka on a daily basis) after I graduate, and maybe even get people to join the team.
TheUsernameIsTaken wrote:Oh and as for characters that are possible favorites or pique my interest, Vanagloria is totally monokuma and calling it now, xxxxxx is the Junko I mean she even has that serial killer motive from zero escape 3 (Have to be vague here or else Ill cause restrictions)
Vanagloria's sadistic nature definitely was inspired by Monokuma, but I haven't played Zero Escape 3 so unfortunately I can't confirm your suspicions there.

Thank you for your both of your replies!

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#8 Post by Syrale »

Updated the GUI!

Image

The next task will be to remake all character sprites!

User avatar
Zelan
Lemma-Class Veteran
Posts: 2436
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 7:23 pm
Completed: The Dark
Projects: Cosplay Couple
Tumblr: evns
itch: Zelan
Discord: ltnkitsuragi#7082
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#9 Post by Zelan »

The GUI looks nice, very sleek and simple. ^_^

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#10 Post by Syrale »


User avatar
daisychainlinks
Newbie
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Jul 29, 2016 11:47 am
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#11 Post by daisychainlinks »

Just played through your demo, and colour me intrigued. I absolutely love this type of game, and I agree there's a definite Dangan Ronpa/Zero Escape vibe going on! As for your questions:

1. Does the story interest you?
Definitely! Like I said before, I love this type of game, and I really want to find out what's actually going on and the truth behind all the mysteries.

2. What is your first impression of the cast? Would you already be able to pick a favorite based on their appearances and brief descriptions?
I'm loving the character designs and variety of personalities! After playing the demo, my faves are Maesol (she's so pretty and seems really interesting too), Ashor (his personality is great and made me laugh a few times), and Kydan (I love these gentle big brother types). I also love Ima and Canori's designs, they're so cute!

3. Are 15+ endings too many, or would you be interested in unlocking them all, provided they are different enough?
Definitely! I'm a huge completionist and unlocked every one of Zero Escape 2 and 3's 20+ endings, so 15 sounds fine to me, especially if each ending adds something interesting to the story.

4. If you played the demo: How did you like it? What was good/bad?
I really enjoyed it! It honestly had me hooked. Even though there aren't any backgrounds or music yet, it was easy to visualise the settings and there was a good atmosphere too. Also, I'm loving Saeva's "smile", that made me laugh.

5. Any questions or comments?
Nothing much except this project is looking great and I would absolutely love to play the finished game one day!

traptrixnepenthes
Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Apr 02, 2017 8:44 am
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#12 Post by traptrixnepenthes »

HEY what's up i actually made an account for this forum specifically so i could give you feedback on the demo because i liked it so much! that alone should tell you how interested i am but here we go. i'm used to typing in places where i don't get to format my text too much so don't mind my probably odd ways of emphasizing!

1. Does the story interest you?

absolutely! i'm enjoying both the basic premise, and how the plot moved in the demo. you pointed out that it was fairly linear in the beginning, and it definitely Was, but it also managed to not feel particularly like...railroad-y? so i am very definitely looking forward to seeing how things turn out when its nonlinear!

2. What is your first impression of the cast? Would you already be able to pick a favorite based on their appearances and brief descriptions?

i'm liking all of the cast members so far! from playing the demo, i'd say my favorites are...probably kydan, maesol, and saeva himself. learning more about kydan's story in the demo was really nice, since i liked him even just from his basic design, and maesol i am REALLY interested in learning more about...and saeva is a really good protag. from design to personality to his mannerisms (such as...his smile) he's not the classic generic protagonist that you usually see in mystery vns like this, so i've grown quite fond of him already!

3. Are 15+ endings too many, or would you be interested in unlocking them all, provided they are different enough?

like other people in this thread, i too am a veteran of the zero escape series--while i didn't bother going back to unlock all the extra bad endings in virtue's last reward, i did go out of my way to unlock even the extra endings in zero time dilemma (and 999, for that matter). i noticed you said you're a fan of that series, so i'm sure that the many endings will work out fine, since you've seen some wonderful examples of it getting done. as long as the endings are different enough, i'm sure having 15 or more will be just fine! it'll make replaying the game that much more interesting!

4. If you played the demo: How did you like it? What was good/bad?

the demo was GOOD and i had a lot of fun playing it! the interface was simple and easy to navigate but not oversimplified, the dialogue was all really fun, and all the characters had really clearly defined voices, which is something i watch for...i feel like if you showed me a random line of dialogue not in the demo i would be able to accurately guess which character said it! it's hard to manage such large casts (apparently a grand total of 18, judging from the characters page) but you're doing a really wonderful job of it. the writing in the exploration sequence i did was also really clear and it was easy to visualize the location and tell what was going on and where! the changes in atmosphere, even without sound or visual effects, was fantastic! i write horror, myself, so having something that can actually keep me in suspense is a very welcome change from what i usually encounter.

so far i've only done one full playthrough of it but i'm already thinking about doing another one soon to make different decisions down the line to see what happens...

5. Any questions or comments?

well if it wasn't clear already i am greatly enjoying the content you're producing! you're doing a really good job, and i am really excited to see the project keep moving! something i did like is that... (spoilers, for anyone who hasn't played yet) when faced with the fact that one of the cast is an odd one out, i didn't immediately have a hunch who that was. when reading mysteries, i've got a bad habit of guessing the culprit (or innocent) early on, and then said hunch turning out to be exactly right--but with the story you've presented, even after two full chapters, i'm not sure who i could say it is. it feels like a proper mystery, not something where i could just guess my way to victory.

this ended up pretty long but i had a lot on my mind while i was playing! i'll be really looking forward to seeing this project progress!

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#13 Post by Syrale »

@Nay: Thank you! I do hope you will enjoy it!


@daisychainlinks and @traptrixnepenthes: Thank you very much for your kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the demo even though it's still lacking in many aspects.
People like you are what motivates me to work even harder! Additionally, I'm surprised by Maesol's and Kydan's popularity. Please look forward to their backstories.
I'm very grateful both of you took the time to write those long replies and I really appreciate the feedback.

Here's an awkward thank you from Saeva since you said you liked his smile:
Image

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#14 Post by Syrale »

(This post is a little outdated now.)
Last edited by Syrale on Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
Syrale
Regular
Posts: 100
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 10:28 am
Completed: Robot Daycare, Deep Sea Valentine, Locke(d)
Projects: Artificial Selection, rei_carnation
Github: kigyo
itch: kigyo
Discord: kigyo#2564
Contact:

Re: Artificial Selection [Mystery][Psychological][Sci-Fi]

#15 Post by Syrale »

Bumping this because I rebuilt the demo from the ground up. Both the graphics and writing were improved upon and now accurately reflect my current skill set. Please check out the demo on Itch and let me know what you think! All feedback or motivation boosters are greatly appreciated!

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot]