Who is Mike?[Mystery/Thriller,Supernatural]FULL RELEASE!

[ameliori]

◄[Mystery/Thriller, Supernatural, Comedy/Romance]►


WIP Thread
Tumblr
Itch.io Page


◄STORY►
You wake up with an aching head and the world out of focus. In front of you is a man accusing you of being “fake”.
He looks exactly like you, down to the last scar and pimple, has the same memories, the same voice and the same personality.
But who is lying and who is telling the truth? Who is fake and who is real?

With over nine different possibilities, you can either end up as the tragic hero, the sly villain, or an innocent victim.
Will you keep your cool or pick a fight? Play through all the endings and take a peek at the truth of your demise.

Whatever action you take, ultimately, you must answer the question: “Who is Mike?”

◄CHARACTERS►







◄SCREENSHOTS & ART PROGRESS►


◄DOWNLOAD THE FULL GAME►



◄GAME INFO►
Free
Release Date: April 2015
Screensize: 1280 x 800
Endings: 6 9 endings
Length: 10,500 words
CGs: 22 CGs
Genre: Mystery/Thriller, Supernatural
Rating: PG-16+ for Strong Language and Violence

◄FEEDBACK►
Questions: updated
1. Did you enjoy the story and characters?
2. How was the pacing of the story?
3. Which ending did you like the most?
4. Did the story flow naturally to the ending?
5. Any general comments?

Team
Art: ameliori
Story: ameliori
Music/SFX: stock music
Programming: Marionette
Testers/Proofs: ColaCat, Saltome

Goals for the game:
- Simple but entertaining story
- Likeable characters
- Good visuals
- Lots of extra art

◄PROGRESS LOG►

Updates
Story: 99%
Programming: 99%
GUI: 100%
Sprites: 100%
BG: 100%
CG: 100%
Music: 99%


Notes:
Hello guys! This is my very first VN Project! It's a relatively simple thriller story with some comedy/horror thrown in. My goal for this VN is to get my feet wet with Ren'py and improve my art skills.

Although the premise may sound simple, I've tried my best to make the story compelling and fun. All endings are complete and can be read as stand-alone short stories. I hope you enjoy playing this once it's out! I'm a beginner in making VN games in general.. And I would appreciate any kind of feedback to improve!

07.10.14
- Official Character posted in WIP
- Mike: Pose # 3 - Done
- Mike: Expressions finished

29.06.2014
- After some work-related hiatus, the project is on the way
- Sarah: Pose # 1,2,3 - Flats done
- Mike: Pose # 1,2 - Flats done
- BG # 2 finished

28.05.2014
- Changed resolutions to get rid of the black bars
- Did a character color test
- Character Design for Mike finalized
- Character inking for pose 1 - Done

28.04.2014
- 90% Story finished
- WIP Thread started
- Character Design started
- Splash Screen uploaded
- Screenshot uploaded

8.08.2014
- 50% of Character Expressions for Mike Done
- Added some sound effects and music
- Announced a 2-week hiatus (Click here for more information: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 76#p335176

25.09.2014
- Started prep on Sarah
- Edited Script

06.12.2014
- 99% Sarah Sprites Done
- 99% Mike Sprites Done
- Added 3 more endings
- Started work on CG art
- Coded Endings
- Started coding on Gallery
- Poster Art updated
- Edited Script

12.12.2014
- Proofreading process currently going on
- Script polishing
- CGs inked

16.12.2014
- 17 original CGs, 22 in total colored
- Updated Artwork

19.12.2014
- Updated UI Design
- Updated Artwork
- Sound effects 55%
- Cleaned up Script

22.12.2014
- UI Design Finished and Running
- Gallery Finished
- Sound effects 60%

27.12.2014
- Finished attaching sound effects and BGM
- Updated and Cleaned up Script
- Submitted Final draft for proofing

30.12.2014
- Fixed Icon error
- Fixed caching errors
- Grammar and script clean-up 10%

1.19.2015
- Added "Blurred" Sprite
- Fixed Sarah's white fringe
- Improved Intro
- Fixed some typo issues
- Fixed the "true ending" (Added Hint)
- Improved the coding

4.5.2015 updated
- Fixed Sprite Transitions
- Improved Quick Menu UI

1.22.2015 updated
- Release!

[fleet]

Unless Sarah was an exceptionally good street cop, and then did well in her first few detective assignments, getting promoted to a specialty position (homicide detective) at age 22 would appear to be a bit of a stretch. She could have been promoted for other reasons (such as nepotism).
Explaining in your visual novel why she got the promotion at such a young age shouldn't be hard.

I wish you success with making your visual novel.

[ameliori]

Thank you fleet! I've thought of that too. Her original age was supposed to be in the 26-30 bracket but I was concerned that she would be too old for the audience. Thanks for pointing it out though! Gonna edit it so it's more believable

Thank you for extending your insight! I appreciate it a lot!

[Anne]

Her original age was supposed to be in the 26-30 bracket but I was concerned that she would be too old for the audience.

Your characters look more like their original age as well (and that's exactly what got me interested in your project).

[ameliori]

Your characters look more like their original age as well (and that's exactly what got me interested in your project).

Oh wow! I didn't know age was a deciding factors to VNs. I might consider tweaking the ages a bit. Thank you so much for showing your support!

[Lesleigh63]

Your characters are looking good and drawn from different angles too. Little hard to comment on the BG - will depend how well your sprites go with it (colouring, style and perspective - i.e. the sprite needs to be in the same perspective as your background [I remember I had a table once that would have been taller than my sprite if he'd actually walked up to it]. Good luck with it.

[ameliori]

Your characters are looking good and drawn from different angles too. Little hard to comment on the BG - will depend how well your sprites go with it (colouring, style and perspective - i.e. the sprite needs to be in the same perspective as your background [I remember I had a table once that would have been taller than my sprite if he'd actually walked up to it]. Good luck with it.

Thanks so much! I am having problems with perspective too hahaha... But I already did a lot of work for the bg so it would be hard to do it again! ^^; That's a lesson learned for next time!

I did a color test today, so hopefully it looks passable enough (i hope nobody notices the perspective at least haha)

++
UPDATE:
Color test!
These are draft coloring since I just wanted to see how to blend them with the scene lighting.

[Lesleigh63]

If you have strong lighting from the side in your backgrounds as above, it may work to rim the right hand edge of your sprites with a very light colour (saw that in a game I was playing recently and thought it looked very effective and helped tie the sprite in with the background).

[ameliori]

If you have strong lighting from the side in your backgrounds as above, it may work to rim the right hand edge of your sprites with a very light colour (saw that in a game I was playing recently and thought it looked very effective and helped tie the sprite in with the background).

Ohh you're right!! Thanks for that tip!

[ameliori]

UPDATE!

Character Design for Mike and Sarah finalized in flat colors One more pose to go and then expressions time

[JimG]

Oh wow! I didn't know age was a deciding factors to VNs. I might consider tweaking the ages a bit

My guess is that all age groups are represented in the audience for VNs. I would also suggest that a good story makes the VN appealing to a large group regardless of the age of the characters. My advice would be to tell your story, not try to tailor it to a specific group, you will be happier with the end product and the better story will attract more readership. I do think your police person would be better a little older. 22 years old is a funny age, to a twelve year old, 22 is ancient, to a fifty something year old, 22 is still really young, and the 22 year old considers themselves experienced and very youthful.

Best Regards
Jim

[ameliori]

Thanks JimG! You're right about focusing on the story. This is valuable advice Especially for a beginner like me. I guess I was a bit nervous nobody would be interested in a story with mostly adult characters (the general trend seems to be on the teenage to early 20's side). Thanks for reminding me that story is still the most important

[ameliori]

After some month-long hiatus, this project is still going Finally finished the second BG.



A screenshot of Sarah's Pose3 :



After the character poses, I will start working on the CG's. Hurrah!

[Ran08]

Wow, love the BGs. Haha.

Anyway, the word doppelganger caught my eye. Plus, I love the genre combination! Hahaha. Rom-com horror is actually my favorite genre combo of all time. <3

So, yeah. Super duper looking forward to this! Keep up the good work~

[ColaCat]

If you need some form of proof-reader I'd be more than happy to help. This is a really good idea for a VN and I'm impressed that it is going to be for free (considering how well produced it all looks).