Umbra [Psychological Horror/Drama/Survival][Phase 2]

[Maelstrom-Fenrir]

Black Witch Project & Spacenote

Present

Once light is lost.

Once sight is lost.

Only fear remains.

We are all on a journey.

We are all wayfarers.

The small town of Willow Falls has been swallowed by a never-ending darkness. But what about the rest of the world? How do those outside of the town react? What if they know people inside the town, do they run and hide? Do they worry for their loved ones? A journey for the truth begins. What lies in the darkness and what truths will the light reveal?

Genre: Psychological Horror/Drama/Survival Episodic KN


Warnings: Umbra contains some slight imagery/depictions of violence that might bother some people. It also has mild language.


Story: Maelstrom-Fenrir

Music: Ziassan

Sprites: Chocojax

BGS: Chocojax

CGS: Chocojax

Test Victim Reader: Anon-kun

Quality Checker: Cirno

Progress:
Writing:
Chapter 1 = Done
Chapter 2 = Done
Chapter 3 = Roughly 60%
Chapter 4 =
Chapter 5 =


Current Total Time: 2 hours
Estimated Total: 4 hours

Art:
Sprites: Concepts 100%
CGs:
BGs:

Music:
2 New tracks so far

Phase 1 Cast:


Concepts:

More coming soon!

I hope you enjoyed Phase 1 http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... 11&t=33367 and are looking forward to Phase 2.

Just a few questions if you wouldn't mind, just some things I'm curious about.

Who was your favorite character in Phase 1, and why?

What was your favorite scene in Phase 1?

What do you expect to happen in Phase 2?

And lastly what would you WANT to have happen in Phase 2?

Thank you for your interest, Chocojax, Ziassan, Cirno, anon-kun, and myself greatly appreciate it, we hope you enjoy the second trip into the darkness.

[raven.baskerville]

Who was your favorite character in Phase 1, and why? To be honest, the protagonist is my favorite. He's quite realistic. Even though he's scared and left alone by all, he still tries to move on and show everyone how much of a 'good-person' he is.

What was your favorite scene in Phase 1? The "You're not my father" anymore. ;( Even though I cried at that scene, I'm quite a sadist for fictional characters and enjoy seeing them suffer-

What do you expect to happen in Phase 2? Hmm, that is a hard question. But I really think Mira appears in our eyes. Or even maybe, the revelation that Mira is actually the purple eyes we've been seeing all the time.

And lastly what would you WANT to have happen in Phase 2? Uh- Angst, and fluff- No seriously. I really want Reed and Evan and Ryker befriend each other and be friendlier to another. (Evan and Ryker already are though-) Also I would appreciate Pitch's brain exploding inside her brain- (translation : Dying).

[Maelstrom-Fenrir]

Hello! Got an update about Phase 2

Currently sitting at 44k (Which plus Phase 1's word count makes Umbra over 100k total so far)


Enjoy some of the new art that Chocojax has been cooking up for Phase 2



And Music, enjoy some of the new tracks going to be in Phase 2!
https://soundcloud.com/ziassan/another- ... st/s-oS4AS

https://soundcloud.com/ziassan/night-dr ... st/s-oS4AS

https://soundcloud.com/ziassan/venomous ... st/s-oS4AS

Thanks for checking up on Umbra Phase 2's progress.

[Maelstrom-Fenrir]

Happy Halloween!

While I originally wanted to release Umbra Phase 2 today, it turned out Phase 2 was just to big to finish in time. So you'll have to settle with an interesting update instead, as we continue working away.

This update I'm going to talk about a feature Chocojax and I cooked up when we were starting work on Phase 2, that we are both really excited about, and didn't want to talk about much until we got it all cemented in code.

This is something I'm calling Wits End Moments. Because I didn't want to just call them 'choices' haha.

Wits End Moments are points where the POV character does not know what they want to do, they simply are at a crossroad and don't know which path to take. Which is where you come in, you get to help them figure out their choice in their mind. So, Umbra has transcended the KN genre, but I wouldn't consider it a standard VN either though, more like a sort of hybrid, which I'll explain in a minute.

The story is still linear, and only the finale phase will have multiple 'routes,' but that doesn't mean these choices earlier are meaningless, far from it. While the basic pathway for each phase is set in stone, how things transpire and the the outcomes can be vastly different. Your choices can affect who lives, who dies, what the POV character thinks and stands for, and the relationship between the cast, throughout the journey. This will be very clear in the final phase as all your choices prior will influence just how the final phase plays out.

Let me now explain the 3 ways your choices affect the story, which I call the following:

Consequence - The immediate result of your choice, typically these happen in that scene or the scene after.
Chain Reaction - This is the stuff that happens later in the story due to your choice, this is typically how other characters react to the POV character after the choice. You can make or break friendships or relationships with a Chain Reaction.
Response - This is how the POV character changes based on their choice. Their values, goals, emotional state, how they treat others, etc, can change based on your choices you make.

Let's me give a quick example. Say you betray someone's trust. You could break a friendship and they will treat the POV character colder, or maybe even be deadly hostile and betray the POV as well, that would be the Chain Reaction. Now the POV character could feel guilty over it and change how they treat the person they betrayed because of it. They could realize how they hurt others with it, or maybe they might think about doing it again, to someone different even, because of it. That would be the Response, how the POV character changes.

Every choice you make in life matters and changes you, someone can go from nice to mean depending on the situation and the choices they decided to make. I wanted to try to emulate this, and show how the choices we make affect not only ourselves, but others around us as well.

And now the final part about what I want to talk about in this update, just why I don't think of Umbra has a 'standard vn' even though it has choices now. In life we can't take back our actions, this is the same in Umbra. I wanted to keep the weight of a KN, and still allow the reader to affect the story. So that is why Chocojax and I settled on this.

Once you make a choice, you can't change it.

That's right, you can't redo it. Not even saving, loading, re-starting the phase, none of it will change a thing. Umbra locks in your choice the first time you make it, and then will skip over the choice if you try to view it again. You've already cemented the POV's characters thoughts and they've made their choice. So think carefully before you select which choice you want. Weigh each option before you answer because just like life there is no take backs and you'll have to deal with the consequences of your actions, or lack of actions.

Who will you ally with? Who will you betray? Who will you be friends with? Who will you destroy your relationship with? Who will be left standing at the end of the tale?

Hope you look forward to it, Chocojax and I certainly are.

[sayakon]

Who was your favorite character in Phase 1, and why?
Probably Tone because she's such a gentle little thing but she can be so brave when she needs to be. She seems like the most sane/normal one there haha

What was your favorite scene in Phase 1?
Awww I loved the entire thing though! But I guess I felt all warm and fuzzy inside when Reed and the protagonist was walking on the road and their relationship seemed to patch up a bit more

What do you expect to happen in Phase 2?
I think we'll get to know the truth behind Antoinette, Sasha, the weird cult thing that was going on and whether Ryker really is a good guy... hmmm...
But I have a feeling someone else will die ); Maybe even Reeed!!?? And some situations where the protagonist is given conflicting truths and needs to decide who to trust..

And lastly what would you WANT to have happen in Phase 2?
Sob sob I want a happy ending.. I always insult the conventional happy endings in movies and such but when I read something with an ending where everyone dies or is such a terrible ending where everything gets torn apart I get all saad. So I kind of make up a happy ending by myself and trick myself into thinking that that was the real ending hee hee. I would like all the living remaining people to end up living in a far detached city, where time will help them dull the traumatic experiences a little D;
But oh well, life isn't always a happy ending, is it \( O w O )/


Aaalso, does that mean we can't explore any of the other endings? I often just replay games to see all of the endings..

[Maelstrom-Fenrir]

Sob sob I want a happy ending.. I always insult the conventional happy endings in movies and such but when I read something with an ending where everyone dies or is such a terrible ending where everything gets torn apart I get all saad. So I kind of make up a happy ending by myself and trick myself into thinking that that was the real ending hee hee. I would like all the living remaining people to end up living in a far detached city, where time will help them dull the traumatic experiences a little D;
But oh well, life isn't always a happy ending, is it \( O w O )/

I totally get where you are coming from. I tend to complain about happy endings being well cop-outs at times, but then when something ends tragically and I really got attached to the characters, I always want to take a cop-out ending then haha

Aaalso, does that mean we can't explore any of the other endings? I often just replay games to see all of the endings..

Replying will be allowed, it simply is just not available at first. So, you can relax I don't plan on blocking people off completely from seeing other endings and paths. The system is more or less in place so that it won't screw up when keeping data from 1 phase to the next. You will be able to 'replay' after finishing the whole journey.

[sayakon]

Replying will be allowed, it simply is just not available at first. So, you can relax I don't plan on blocking people off completely from seeing other endings and paths. The system is more or less in place so that it won't screw up when keeping data from 1 phase to the next. You will be able to 'replay' after finishing the whole journey.

Yaay!! Oh my gosh this game is going to be so much fun! (haha is this even called a game? Sorry I'm still a noob XD). I'm looking forward to it so much!!!

[Maelstrom-Fenrir]

Been a while since I gave an update, but fear not progress moves onward. I'm just not the type to keep spamming little things haha.

So I present some interesting wip things that will appear in later phases. (phase 1's updated version will have some of them as well)

The first two are things to help the reader follow the story with more ease.

Character Chart:

This is a chart list of all the characters from each phase. When a character is introduced they will then appear in the chart, along with the little information. As you learn more about the character it updates. Allowing you to keep track of reveals and changes in the characters. Also if they go missing or die, it will appear on this screen as well.

This is so the reader can easily remember who is who, and if they are alive/dead/mia.

The second is

Incidents:

This is a list of events that occurred in the story. Anything that was big and caused changes to the direction of the characters will be included in this list, also anything that confused the pov character will be added. And just like with the character chart, it will update when new information is learned about an incident. If the text is blue (might add another change to help players noticed it) new information about that incident has been added and not been viewed yet. Text = red, the one you are currently viewing. Text = white, ones you can view. And finally text = green, means 'complete.' No new updates will occur with that incident.

Note, and this is important. The incident list is impossible to make all green. So don't even try. Since some questions and events might occur, and due to the path you end up taking through the story, they might not get full explanations, so they can update to their final stage. And some paths you won't even encounter some incidents.

Both of these screens are tied to your journey, so just like with your choices, unless you delete your journey data (only available after reaching an ending) And isn't recommended to take unless you have reached such a point and want to 'restart' as it is a restart. These screens are made to help the reader remember characters and story events, as well as maybe offering some new insight as you read the summaries. You might realize something, that you missed during the actual scene.


The final little announcement is something I'm really excited about, and after this am not going to talk about at all, since nothing to say on the matter and despite it is very far off. I still want to talk about it.

It is 'trust'

Each character has a hidden 'trust level' with the pov character. During points in the story, there will be times when the story will look over the trust levels of all the cast/or a few of the cast, and depending on the number you might change up the current scene, might get different scenes, and so on. Trust levels might even effect sometimes if a character lives or dies.

And the last thing I'll say about 'trust' is that in the final phase, the character with the highest trust level, that is alive at the end of the story. You'll unlock an extra scene with them and the pov character. Sort of like a little achievement for being closest to them and keeping them alive. I've been playing around with this idea for a long time, and maybe there might even be other extra unlock able scenes depending on if certain conditions were fulfilled along the journey.

Obviously I'm not going to show a screen of this menu ever, since it is super spoiler-filled.


Last bit is showing off a bg for Phase 2.

The script is about to head off to betas this weekend, sprites are all finished and bgs are being worked on. Music was finished a long time ago

Can't give an ETA just yet. But hopefully we can release phase 2 before the day phase 1 released, haha.