Noir in Hong Kong [Murder Mystery][Detective]

[liambeale]

Hi everybody,

I've been squirrelling away on this one for a long time, and I'd love for people to check it out so I'm not fumbling in the dark.

https://noirinhongkong.itch.io/noir-in-hong-kong

NOIR IN HONG KONG is a Renpy game in which you collect clues and interrogate suspects by trying to catch them in a web of logic and contradictions. (Whilst balancing rent and relationships etc.) It features some unique mechanics and I think it really challenges Renpy in some interesting ways.

Currently, only the first case is available, but new ones will be added quite soon and the larger structure will hopefully begin to make more sense.

Very happy to listen to feedback and will try to make improvements when I can. I'll be getting things back onto mobile and implementing translations asap. I'm also hoping to network with artists and sound designers (I can pay! I have a gig for you!)

The music used comes courtesy of Julian Winter; His track "L.A." is found in the main menu and his tracks "Journey" and "Acquaintance" are in there too. Also the amazing Eugene Li voluntarily wrote two dynamic tracks for the game, so I am forever in his debt!





I'm actively working hard on additional chapters! Soon it will even feature playable MahJong!

[liambeale]

I made a video of the game here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khotUKlFZS0&t=1s

By the way, the current build of the game features AI artwork - I've already hired artists and we're in the process of replacing them. The project is not monetized and I began using them as a placeholder before I knew of the controversial nature of AI 'art' - but I feel icky having them there and will endeavour to move on.

[Bagel]

I admit, I found this project really interesting, but as an artist, I swerved sideways from trying it at the start due to the usage of AI art. Finding out that you only used it because you didn't know that it was an issue, though, definitely warmed me up to it-- I'll try this as soon as I'm able, and I'll let you know my opinions on it!

If you'd like, I'd be more than happy to partner up as an artist for at least a case/sprites? Unfortunately I don't have samples tailored to the style you currently have in the screenshots, but this might be the closest in spirit. I'm pretty flexible, though, and judging from what you have for character arts so far, I think I can still tweak my style to fit. That tumblr can also serve as a portfolio. I wouldn't mind doing sprites for 3-5 characters in a case for free, just because I found the project interesting.

[AgentCandy]

I was intending to try out this game when I have some spare time (working on getting my own release out there at the moment). In any case, I thought I had better leave a reply here since it's obviously rare people say anything unless something has gone wrong. The art style looks good, and because not everyone is going to be a "good artist" I won't fault you for using AI generated placeholders. It's nice to see you acknowledge the present shortcomings of AI too. Something like your game would look really cool as a television show I think, so keep up the stellar work!

[liambeale]

Thanks so much for the replies! Your kind words really mean a lot to me.

I completely agree regarding AI art and respect anybody feeling reluctant to play a game because of it. I'd say that about 50% have already been replaced and that will reach 100% by the end of June. Another point in my defence - I'm primarily an English tutor and I first thought of the game as a way of engaging my students in creative writing (They're all obsessed with detective stories.) I hadn't really thought of the project as a commercial entity until things started to snowball recently and I have many collaborators that deserve some sort of value from the project.

In any case, I'll use AI as a way of communicating ideas to my artists but avoid putting it in the public build.

And following on from Bagel's kind offer - I'd just like to point out that I've recently been paying people for game-related reasons (Including a pop singer?!) so I'd actually feel that it's unfair to accept such (very gracious) offers to contribute free work - I'm very happy to pay all collaborators just to maintain fairness between them!

[liambeale]

Hey all,

Just a shout-out to some of the creatives that have creatives that have kindly given their talents to the project recently.



First, Jakki_Senpai (From Singapore.) has been redoing my character sprites.
https://twitter.com/jakki_senpai



Then there's HeHudojnik (Ukraine) who is doing the background artwork, which will be fully animated!! ARGH SO EXCITED.
http://artstation.com/hehudojnik

For music, we have

Eugene Li (https://soundcloud.com/lieugene)
Julian Winter (https://julianwinter.de)
And Paul Looney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=By_T39ENlkg

I'm incredibly grateful to all of the above for their contributions and enthusiastic support over the last few months and I really feel like we're heading something interesting together.