“People always told me growing up that it's never about the destination – it's about the journey.
But what if the destination...is you?”
~ Mr. Robot
For a little over two years now, ever since the episodic indie video game Life is Strange wrapped up, I've been writing a script for a visual novel sequel to its story.
IF YOU HAVE NOT PLAYED LIFE IS STRANGE AND DO NOT WISH TO KNOW DETAILS ABOUT ITS STORY, PLEASE PLAY THAT GAME BEFORE LOOKING INTO THIS PROJECT.
I recently finished the prose version of the narrative, which can be read here.
With that finished, I'm ready to get to work adapting it to visual novel format, which was actually how I originally envisioned the story in the first place.
I've already put together a lengthy demo featuring about two hours of content which can be downloaded over here.
I'm considering updating the public version of the VN as I finish more chapters of the story -- there will be between 20-25 when all is said and done, depending on how I adapt or format chapters of the original script.
This would skew much more toward a novel than a sim or a story with branching paths, much like the original game it's directly based on. But I want to incorporate not just alternate dialogue but completely alternate scenes here and there to reflect the reader's choices, and even multiple variations of the climax resolution based on a the cumulative choices the reader has made across the story. One 'hook' with this project is that unlike Life is Strange, the story will bounce back and forth between perspectives of its protagonists, so the reader won't just be making choices for a single character.
I'll be incorporating original music and artwork from members of the LiS fandom (with permission and credit), and I've already got some artists to help with sprites for the characters (though I'll probably be fudging it with edited public-use photos for backgrounds).
As for the concept of the story, it will primarily feature Max and Chloe's relationship after the 'Save Chloe' ending, quickly growing into a romance, and then being put through the paces of the supernatural PTSD Max has incurred from the original game's story, as well as the more natural mental health issues Chloe already has to deal with. So the story would be about seeing these two, through their relationship with each other, work through the grieving and healing process, despite supernatural repercussions of the game's endings. The closest game I can think of that hits the kind of intent and tone I'm going for would probably be Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, though that is a more extreme and harrowing experience than this would be. That being said, one of my motivations of using the format is to capture some of the tension and confusion I'm trying to express in a way that words alone can't quite reach.
I was originally planning on just roughing it all out on my own, but just the formatting alone on this sucker is proving to be a Nightmare (pun intended), so if anyone is interested in joining the development team, at the very least to help with formatting the prose to Renpy format, any help would be welcomed.
You can see a few samples of scene artwork for the project here, and I'll include a few screenshots from the current build, as well.
I worry the first chapter lays on the "edge" a bit thick (this story has a happy ending when all is said and done, it is about healing, ultimately), and that both chapters drag on longer than they should, but this version contains the first two chapters in fully functional form with basically finalized presentation. I also know the art style might be a turn off for some, but the style used in the title screen is actually what I'm hoping the final version will look like, at least once a certain point in the story is reached.
Thanks for your time! Any feedback is appreciated!
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Intro:
https://youtu.be/5GXVmsPLMRE
DOWNLOAD DEMO