Lost & Found [Updated 6/14/15!]

[sasquatchii]

Story

Dogs are animals that seem to walk the line between beast and human. They've been hanging around humans for 14,000 years, loyally working as hunters, guardians, and companions. Even feral packs of dogs seem to live on the outskirts of humanity, scavenging landfills and dumpsters as a way to survive.

In this game, you play as a stray- a mutt who was born on the streets and raised on whatever scraps of food he could manage to to snatch out of trash cans and back alley dust bins. However, he's dissatisfied with life in the streets- and longs to be with humans. He's often caught begging for attention and following random strangers around. Even though he adores humans, he's not always sure how to act around them and sometimes becomes a nuisance. People also misinterpret his body language, and sometimes they do things that he doesn't understand and isn't fully comfortable with.

This pup's mission is to find a person who will love him the way he will them- unconditionally. He wants someone to hang out with and play with and be affectionate with. There is also that pesky guy from animal control who is always trying to ruin his fun.

Main Characters

Dog (You)

Dog always seems to be hungry, and always wants to be patted by strangers. He's still an adolescent, about a year old, so he's very high energy, which drives some people crazy.

Questions

1. How do you like the concept/story?
2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
4. Would you play this game, even though it's not romantic and you don't even get to play as a human?

Progress

Writing - 1/90 Chapters
Backgrounds - 1/???
Character Design - 2/???
Character Sprites - 6/??
GUI - 10%
Coding - 2%
Music/Sound Design - 2%

[Rinima]

1. How do you like the concept/story?
It's..... so cute! I really like the idea of this :3

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
Naw, adds to it's charm!

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
I love dogs. So Dog XD

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
Interesting.

[sasquatchii]

1. How do you like the concept/story?
It's..... so cute! I really like the idea of this :3

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
Naw, adds to it's charm!

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
I love dogs. So Dog XD

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
Interesting.

Yaay! I'm glad the art doesn't scare you off Thanks for sharing!

[khnachi]

Such interesting concept and art style, I'm looking froward to this project.
1. How do you like the concept/story?
I love it!
2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
No ofcourse not! Personally I think it adds to the game's charm
In fact I love the art style in this one, it gives me this children's book kinda of feel(sorry is that bad?/hit)
3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
Food lady! Reminds me of my younger self when I sneak out some food to give to a stray cat. /lol
4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
I really love the idea behind this, aside from the fact that I get to see a world in a dog's point of view I get to see how hard it is for them to survive on the streets how they settle the conflicts they have to endure in such conditions(being homeless).

I'm looking forward on how this will turn out in the Visual Novel medium so good luck with the project.

[sasquatchii]

Such interesting concept and art style, I'm looking froward to this project.
1. How do you like the concept/story?
I love it!
2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
No ofcourse not! Personally I think it adds to the game's charm
In fact I love the art style in this one, it gives me this children's book kinda of feel(sorry is that bad?/hit)
3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
Food lady! Reminds me of my younger self when I sneak out some food to give to a stray cat. /lol
4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
I really love the idea behind this, aside from the fact that I get to see a world in a dog's point of view I get to see how hard it is for them to survive on the streets how they settle the conflicts they have to endure in such conditions(being homeless).

I'm looking forward on how this will turn out in the Visual Novel medium so good luck with the project.

Yay, thanks for your input! And no, a children's book feel isn't bad at all! I've actually been told more than once that I have a child-like approach to sketching & drawing and making stuff (dunno if it's a good thing or not, but I don't mind)

[Mad Harlequin]

Questions

1. How do you like the concept/story?
2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?

1. Oh, this is so cute! And it's so refreshing! It's always nice to see deviations from the typical romance/drama stuff.

2. I quite like the art style! I think it suits this kind of story/game.

3. All of the characters sound interesting enough, but I think Meat Man is my favorite so far. He seems the most like his own character right now. (It might partly be because he reminds me of a rotund, brown-haired, and bearded Gaston, but hey. I look forward to liberating meat from his clutches. ) But I have some advice for Cookie: never ever give a dog chocolate! It's toxic!

4. I don't mind if there are survival mechanics, but I don't think that it should become a chore to keep Dog alive.

Best wishes!

[miraiparasol]

1. How do you like the concept/story? This seems like a neat project. I like the idea that you take the perspective of the dog and how you have named the characters in mind of a dogs world
2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
I really love the style it's very simple and cute. I think it really contrasts with the survival element you've added. It feels like it's going to be a light-hearted game from the art.
3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
I really like mr. Cat he's a daring little fellow
4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
I find the survival element intriguing. I think it has the potential to help the game. As I said earlier it really contrasts your cute art as surviving on the streets is a hard thing to do. You could do a number of things with the art to help push this element, but it all depends on how you want your players to receive the game

[sasquatchii]

1. Oh, this is so cute! And it's so refreshing! It's always nice to see deviations from the typical romance/drama stuff.

2. I quite like the art style! I think it suits this kind of story/game.

3. All of the characters sound interesting enough, but I think Meat Man is my favorite so far. He seems the most like his own character right now. (It might partly be because he reminds me of a rotund, brown-haired, and bearded Gaston, but hey. I look forward to liberating meat from his clutches. ) But I have some advice for Cookie: never ever give a dog chocolate! It's toxic!

4. I don't mind if there are survival mechanics, but I don't think that it should become a chore to keep Dog alive.

Best wishes!

I couldn't agree more on not making it a chore to keep dog alive. I think some survival games tend to make certain aspects of game play into chores- and I definitely don't want to do that to people who play the game. I think it would only frustrate and annoy them. But games where it's possible to fail are so much more interesting than games that are all rainbows and happiness- at least to me anyways.

Thanks for the encouragement!

1. How do you like the concept/story? This seems like a neat project. I like the idea that you take the perspective of the dog and how you have named the characters in mind of a dogs world
2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
I really love the style it's very simple and cute. I think it really contrasts with the survival element you've added. It feels like it's going to be a light-hearted game from the art.
3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
I really like mr. Cat he's a daring little fellow
4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
I find the survival element intriguing. I think it has the potential to help the game. As I said earlier it really contrasts your cute art as surviving on the streets is a hard thing to do. You could do a number of things with the art to help push this element, but it all depends on how you want your players to receive the game

Awesome, a cat lover! A friend of mine has this cat who is an angel with humans but an absolute menace to dogs (and any other animal, actually) so I thought it'd be fun to bring that dynamic into the game.

As for the survival part, I'm still in the planning stages but you're right about it probably going to end up feeling more light hearded and happy than anything. I think mostly because even though dogs have bad things happen to them, most of them are able to easily bounce back and live in the moment, happily.

I appreciate your help, thanks for taking the time to answer the questions

[Googaboga]

1. How do you like the concept/story?

It sounds great.

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?

Not at all, I love vector art C:.

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?

Sneaky. I like his description XD.

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?

It depends on how it is implemented. But if done well I think it could be really fun :3.

I look forward to seeing more. Good luck!

[sasquatchii]

1. How do you like the concept/story?

It sounds great.

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?

Not at all, I love vector art C:.

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?

Sneaky. I like his description XD.

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?

It depends on how it is implemented. But if done well I think it could be really fun :3.

I look forward to seeing more. Good luck!

Awesome! I'm so relieved that people aren't repulsed by flat vector art in games. I haven't played a visual novel with vector style art, so I was hoping that it'd be alright and people would still be interested. Thanks for answering the questions!

[sasquatchii]

So, I've roughed out dog a little bit more. The full body images are how he actually looks, but when his character is thinking/emoting we will see his portrait in a circle (which is what we will see of him for the majority of the game). I'm having waaay too much fun coming up with Dog's expressions, but I think I'll start doing the other character's portraits soon!

[Vynuxys]

huh, i was reading this and freaking out about it yesterday, and i forgot to post?? gah!!

anyway i think this is brilliant! i've been a dog-lover since childhood and i even considered making a similar game before myself. i love those expressions - is Dog blushing while crying? haha.

1. How do you like the concept/story?
so far so good! i'm curious how the game will work choice-wise and keeping-dog-alive-wise.

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
nuu, i always loved vector stuff. it's looking good and i think it'll add a uniqueness to the game.

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
angry meat man is my favourite so far. i'm not sure why - i just find him interesting. i can't help but wonder if there's more to him and if so, if we'll be able to learn it; after all, a man that raised a cute kitty and a kind daughter can't be that bad :'D

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
that's fine but like others said, so long as it's not a chore.

[sasquatchii]

angry meat man is my favourite so far. i'm not sure why - i just find him interesting. i can't help but wonder if there's more to him and if so, if we'll be able to learn it; after all, a man that raised a cute kitty and a kind daughter can't be that bad :'D

Angry Man will definitely have a back story- when I write I love to try to flesh out characters as much as possible- right now I'm just trying to figure out how to work that back story into the game, and how much of it to include

Thank you for your input!

[Ran08]

Oh my goodness, this is so adorable~

1. How do you like the concept/story?
It's very cute, and I like it very much. Hahaha. It reminds me of some childhood cartoons I used to watch when I was little. =)

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?
Oh my gosh, no! As a matter of fact, I love it. :") I don't know, I find art like this really refreshing and cute. Although I do hope that you'll be making the backgrounds as well...? It can be pretty hard to match this art with a pre-made BG. It's still beautiful nonetheless.

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?
I like Ms. Foody! Err, Foody Lady. Hahaha. I can somehow relate to her in the sneaking out to give bits of food thing. Hahaha. I also do that, and when I was younger my dad scolded me whenever I did it. ^^ Oh, and also, I like Mr. K. I love cats. Hahaha. We have both a cat and a dog at home.

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?
I'm not sure. I was thinking that it would be just a cute, light-hearted story that will warm your heart. <3 I don't know if the meters would affect that though. Still... I guess it's alright? Haha. Just as long as it's not a chore, like the others said.

Anyway, good luck! I would surely love to play this game~

[ArachneJericho]

I really like this already!

1. How do you like the concept/story?

I think this is wonderful and innovative. Much capacity for cuteness coupled with heart-breaking. And there are dogs. What's not to like?

2. What do you think of flat, vector art? Would it turn you off and discourage you from wanting to play the game?

Nope, not at all! Gives the game a good, unique look.

3. Which characters sound interesting to you and why?

They're all pretty interesting!

4. What do you think of this being a survival type game where you have to keep Dog's hunger & thirst meters up?

Can I turn that part off?