I'm writing a psychological exploration game for Yuri Game Jam, which runs from September to October. If you decide joining, it would be nice if you could be available during most of the two months. You can either PM me or hit me up on Twitter (@robotlolita). We'll communicate through Slack (a messaging service that can be used on the phone or on the web).
Psychological fiction is something I’ve always been interested in writing, but the usual medium for that is limiting. As the author, you’re the only one who gets to decide how the events unfold, and how the characters react to them. The reader can only sit tightly in their chairs and hope they enjoy the ride, but they can’t really influence it. For some stories, I don’t think this medium is a good fit.
It wasn’t until much later, when I became more familiar with the Interactive Fiction scene, that all of these ideas I had about how to portray these stories turned out more feasible. In IF, the player can explore the world of the game, and influence it. Emily Short’s Versu, in particular, was a major influence in this vision.
Now it’s about time I put those ideas in the paper (or rather, computer), so people can experience them. The keyword here is experience. The major goal of EVūL is to let people explore and experience the psyche of the characters and their relationships.
Plot
When life seemed to finally go the right way for the lesbian journalist Mary, her fiancée, Ann, dies in a car accident. Devastated, Mary takes a break from work and moves to a countryside town to try and carry on with her life, and devote her attention to her daughter.
(While most of the game revolves around Mary reminiscing her late fiancée, there's a fair bit of other kinds of relationships to explore, including a potential future girlfriend)
Characters
Mary
A 32-year-old lesbian journalist who likes outdoor activities. She has a daughter from her previous marriage, and the father visits his daughter regularly. After the death of her fiancée she moves to a countryside town to try getting on with her life.
Clara
A cheerful 8-year-old girl who loves art. She and Ann were pretty close, and used to talk about different art styles and history all the time.
Ann
A 28-year-old professional photographer who loved nature. She was particularly famous for her nude art.
Michelle
A 41-year-old woman and Mary's psychologist.
Laura
A 25-year-old woman who's the guitarist of an indie/folk rock band, and DJ's as a hobby. She's a pansexual, and becomes quite interested in Mary after meeting her.
What am I looking for?
- A background artist
-
Possibly a sprite/CG artist so I can focus on the story/game engine (since I can't use Ren'Py :/) -
A musician -
An editor (because I'm ESL, and my English is terrible)
- 5 backgrounds (Mary's bedroom, living room, kitchen, a backyard, a park)
- 4 sprites (Mary, Ann, Clara, and Laura), with 5 emotion variations (happy, sad, angry, surprised, scared)
- A few cut-ins of some items (past photos and stuff)
I still need to figure out how much work it would be music-wise. Initially I'm thinking of songs to just fill the major moods (sad recollection, fond memories, carefree chatting in a park, slice-of-life-ish general mood).
