A NEAR DAWN ♣ [Thriller x Mystery x Comedy] < Play the Prologue! >

[LeonDaydreamer]

Sign me up! This sounds right up my alley.......I'll be keep an eye out for this game! Thanks for being considerate with walkthroughs too, since I'm not too experienced in puzzle games. xD

Hey neuropsy, thanks so much for your support.
I really appreciate it. :)

I can only hope it meets your expectations. I'm sure you noticed I kept the plot description pretty vague, I did't want to reveal too much about it as the first chapter really raises more questions than it answers.

Yeah, I think with this type of game many people would rather follow the story along and wouldn't appreciate getting stuck on a puzzle that needs to be solved. I love adventure games and nothing feels better than figuring out a puzzle, but at the same time nothing feels worse than being aimless for an hour and not knowing what to do. ;P

[neuropsy]

No problem! Developing visual novels, especially when you're mostly going solo, is tough, but I know that in the end the satisfaction of creating a game for people to enjoy will make the stress worth it.

I think it's fine to keep the plot description vague, especially for a mystery game. What stood out to me the most in your post was the concept of the Sanity Meter, and a mechanic like that can make up for ambiguity in a synopsis. Maybe something you could do for a future edit would be to show the a screenshot of a scene that heavily features it, vague enough to not give any spoilers but telling enough to really showcase the psychological themes of this game.

I hear you on the being aimless part. I'm probably gonna attempt the puzzles since I know they'll be a walkthrough; hopefully my brain decides to work at that point. But mostly I'll be really engaged in seeing how sane I could keep Sam as I unravel this mystery >3 (yes, I know I keep mentioning the sanity meter...but it sounds so interesting!)

[LeonDaydreamer]

No problem! Developing visual novels, especially when you're mostly going solo, is tough, but I know that in the end the satisfaction of creating a game for people to enjoy will make the stress worth it.

I think it's fine to keep the plot description vague, especially for a mystery game. What stood out to me the most in your post was the concept of the Sanity Meter, and a mechanic like that can make up for ambiguity in a synopsis. Maybe something you could do for a future edit would be to show the a screenshot of a scene that heavily features it, vague enough to not give any spoilers but telling enough to really showcase the psychological themes of this game.

I hear you on the being aimless part. I'm probably gonna attempt the puzzles since I know they'll be a walkthrough; hopefully my brain decides to work at that point. But mostly I'll be really engaged in seeing how sane I could keep Sam as I unravel this mystery >3 (yes, I know I keep mentioning the sanity meter...but it sounds so interesting!)

I'm glad you like the Sanity Meter idea, neuropsy! I actually call it 'Psyche', it's essentially the health bar for my game. It's kind of a combination of punishing the player for doing terrible things (which you are free to do in certain key interactions), and a decreasing ability to defend yourself in desperate situations if the need calls for it.

I'd like to see how people respond to it in the first chapter. Personally, I don't like to be punished when I'm playing a game, and I am aiming to minimize this impact, but I think it is a good way to intensify the gameplay a little.

And yeah, I have really been enjoying working on this game. :)

[LeonDaydreamer]

Amber is a 9-1-1 emergency dispatcher, please stop bothering her.


Aaand, I'm officially finished designing all the characters for the first chapter of my game! :)
Next come backgrounds...

[LeonDaydreamer]

Presenting my first background for the game (which took way too long to finish :P )

THE DINER



The neighbourhood diner near your workplace. Our story begins with a chat between two of our protagonists over a lunch that goes horribly wrong.

[Lesleigh63]

Saw your background in the art thread, and now I've come across your game WIP.

Interesting idea.

I like the art style (very comic book style imo) although for some reason I don't like the look of Janet, Zack and ??? as much as the others (maybe they're simply not as aesthetically pleasing - ??? is pretty damn ugly like he's a zombie or something).

Good luck with the backgrounds. I know what it's like to think they take way too long to make

[LeonDaydreamer]

Saw your background in the art thread, and now I've come across your game WIP.

Interesting idea.

I like the art style (very comic book style imo) although for some reason I don't like the look of Janet, Zack and ??? as much as the others (maybe they're simply not as aesthetically pleasing - ??? is pretty damn ugly like he's a zombie or something).

Good luck with the backgrounds. I know what it's like to think they take way too long to make :)

Thanks a lot Lesleigh63!

Yeah, Janet and Zack are two of the lesser important characters and some of the first ones I completed. I guess I couldn't help not putting as much effort into bringing them together as some of the others. I will have to go back and make sure they are a little more uniform though, since my art style for the characters evolved somewhat from the early ones.

Haha! Yeah, '?????' is a mysterious character. Could you tell he's supposed to be a villain? ;P
The ladies are definitely not lining up to meet him.

[LeonDaydreamer]

A little animated test for the intro to Back To Reality... If only I knew how to implement these things into the actual game. :)



Let me know what you think.

[LeonDaydreamer]

Sam is having a moment with himself.

I'm still working on the game slowly but surely and I'm liking how the artwork is turning out.

[Lesleigh63]

I like the sense of depth with the trees in your forest animation. Nicely done.

[LeonDaydreamer]

I like the sense of depth with the trees in your forest animation. Nicely done.

Thanks Lesleigh63! :)
I put it together in Flash. I'm an animator by trade, so I'm good at making things look like they work, but actually implementing this in the game will be the real challenge for me.

[LeonDaydreamer]

Another animation test. I remember starting on this shot thinking, 'oh, I might finish this all in a day.'
But then I got perfectionist with the hands (which was to be expected) and got to thinking about the glass cracking and breaking away... Five days later, here we are:

[LeonDaydreamer]

Mega overhaul of this page, with a bunch more details about the story and characters, as I pick up this project again. Let me know what you think!

[LeonDaydreamer]

The script for the demo is finally complete! It runs at around 6, 500 words and apparently features Spongebob references.

[ForkAndKnife]

I just ran across this thread today and I'm really excited to see how it turns out! I especially like that you're using some flash animation. It really sets your project apart from others I've seen. It's also great to see such a diverse set of characters. You hardly see older characters in VN's (or maybe that's just the ones I've been playing). The physiological aspect of this story really interests me. This should be great when it's finished!!