[Coming on August 28!] Refraction [Sci-fi][Slice of Life][Multiverse]
Posted: Sun Jan 06, 2019 1:37 pm
Universe Zero presents its first creation:
A game trapped between dimensions.
Jackie Shields wakes up to find everything in her world a little different than she remembers it. Trapped between her own dimension and a parallel one, she soon realizes that nothing can remain unchanged in her life. Not her friends, not her plans, and especially not herself...because the other dimension has a Jackie of its own!
Our game is coming to Steam and itch.io on August 28, 2020! Feel free to play our demo now.
Steam Page: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1366060/Refraction/
itch.io Page: https://universe-zero.itch.io/refraction
Here's where you can find us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/UniverseZero2
These are our lovely team members. You should definitely check out their other work!
Piper, Director, Writer, Programmer: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=43896
Sayuui, Character and CG Artist: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=27035
minyan, UI Designer: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=29406
Foxeleos, Background Artist: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=40190
Ende, Editor: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=45121
Lukedoc321, Composer: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=32485
KotoriMWorks, Trailer Designer: memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=42277
We're so proud that we can bring this visual novel to you. Please let us know in the comments if you're excited about the game's release, along with any thoughts you have. Thanks so much for reading! ^_^
Make a choice.
Original Post:
Hello, all! ^_^
Back in July and August of last year, I reached out to the community here to find a team to help me bring this game to life. I received a terrific response, and we made some great progress through the end of 2018. Since our goal now is to have a working version of the game by the end of summer 2019, I figured it was time to make a progress thread so that we could update everyone on how things are going.
Game Summary
Refraction is a game that is generally about alternate dimensions and specifically about the differences in circumstances and people between two very similar dimensions. The main character is Jackie, a journalism college undergraduate in the US. Allegations of abuse of power have been brought against the president of her university, and she is striving to find the evidence that will be able to convict him.
However, something strange begins to happen to her just as she's making her plans to find this evidence. When she wakes up, she finds that things about the world around her are slightly off: people look different, others are acting strangely, and her memories don't match up with reality. She soon discovers that she is mysteriously traveling back and forth between her world and an alternate version of it. Even more bizarrely, she finds that there is another version of herself that is switching places with her...and messing up things in her world in the process! She has to find a way to come to terms with this other person that looks just like her and prevent her from ruining everything Jackie has set out to do.
The game also has two romantic interests: Paul, a quiet, thoughtful boy from the South of the US, and Jun, a boisterous and opinionated girl from Taiwan. As the game progresses, players have the option to get closer to each of these friends, but this is complicated by the fact that Jackie is traveling back and forth between two dimensions...and the person she's interested in today might be a different version than the one she talked to yesterday!
Development So Far
One hope I have for this thread is that I'll be able to keep updating it regularly so that everyone is informed on our progress. This will probably involve quick updates, as well as sharing new resources to keep interest up. In this section, I'd just like to quickly introduce the members of our team and some of the things they've created so far. I'll be referring to them by their profile names on this website so that you can check out their pages if you're interested~
Piper:
For starters, there's me, of course. I'm acting as the writer and programmer for Refraction, as well as the general director and organizer of the team. The first version of the game's script was finished before I started looking for team members, so luckily that part is already completed. As resources start to come in, I'll be organizing them and putting them into the game's code. I'm always happy to respond to questions or comments, so feel free to contact me. ^_^
Ende:
Ende is the most recent addition to our team, but he's already proved himself invaluable as a proofreader and editor. It's hard to see the errors and limitations of your own writing, so it was a great relief to me for Ende to come in and let me know what was and wasn't working in the script. The game will be very noticeably better because of his efforts. He's also worked hard to put the script into RenPy format. Thank you, Ende!
natjieo:
Nat is our character and CG artist. Her vision has managed to breathe life into the characters that only existed in my head previously. Have a look at these character sketches for Jackie that she sent to me:
We're currently looking for another artist to assist Nat with lineart and coloring, if any of you are interested. (I'll talk about this at the end of the post, too.)
Foxeleos:
Danil is our background artist. He's made several backgrounds for us so far, and his work speaks for itself. Check out these amazing pics:
minyan:
Min is our UI Designer and Artist. You can thank her for that incredible logo at the top of this post! Here's some of her work on a text box as well:
Lukedoc321:
Luke is the composer for our game. He has an amazing musical sense for what I imagine when I picture this game as fully made. I can't seem to attach an mp3 to this post, so you'll just have to wait to hear some of the amazing stuff he's come up with.
All of these team members are phenomenal. I'm so lucky to have them working with me. I hope you look forward as much as I do to what they'll come up with next! ^_^
Purpose and Updates
There are a few reasons I wanted to make this thread:
1. First off, I want to be able to keep everyone here in this forum updated on this game's progress as it develops. Our plan is to keep working through the next few months so that a working version of the game is complete by the end of summer. It will help keep us motivated if we have this post to update regularly.
2. Second, I would love to hear from all of you! I think that Refraction has some good potential, but I want to know what other people around here think of our ideas and the things we've developed. Please feel free to comment or message anytime about your thoughts. I'll be happy to read them.
Just to get things started, I would be very grateful if you would leave a comment about your opinion on the project and what you like or dislike about it. I'm hoping we can generate interest through discussion.
3. Finally, I'd like to use this thread as a way to reach out to the community in the event that our project needs some additional help. At the moment, we do have one opening we're looking to fill: Nat is in need of another artist to help her with lineart and coloring in order to increase her efficiency and rate of production. If anyone has the requisite skills and is interested in joining our project, please send a message to me as soon as possible, and we'll discuss.
Thanks again for reading this post! I look forward to interacting with you as we seek to make this game a reality!