Evangeline [Psychological Horror]

[allurious]

A psychological horror visual novel.

I didn't finish for NaNoReNo, but I want to see this through to completion because I've had a lot of fun working on it so far, so it's going to be a (much bigger) finished game! Inspirations come from Silent Hill & Corpse Party with a gothic twist. Evangeline will be a fully voice-acted visual novel with puzzles and mysteries to solve, leading the player through an unsettling story of guilt, denial and retribution.

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Set in the Victorian era, Evangeline puts you in the very tiny, polished shoes of five-year-old Magdalene (or Magda, for short). Living in a secluded, grand mansion estate with her mother, father and servants as an only child, Magda always has a lot of time on her hands to entertain herself. Her mother, unattentive. Her father, always working. Everywhere in their estate is fair game - except the ornate red door at the end of the second floor landing.

"You mustn't go in there, Magdalene," Her mother scolded one day, catching the young girl with her hand on the doorknob and an intrepid gleam in her eye. "Be a good girl. Leave locked doors be."

Never getting on particularly well with her mother, one day a tantrum directed at her ends up with them tearing her beloved teddy-bear, Francis, clean in half. When the dust settles and the girl retreats to her room with her now-destroyed friend for life, a rusty key falls out of Francis' empty back cavity... the first of many secrets the house will reveal.

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magdalene farley
the protagonist of the story. a small five year old girl, the only daughter of a fairly affluent family profiting from the cusp of industrialisation.

evangeline farley
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francis the bear
magdalene's well-loved teddy bear. there's something about his button eyes.

jasmine ashdown
the family's nanny. utterly devoted to her work.

simon & francesca farley
magdalene's parents. francesca, a housewife and simon, a machinery overseer.

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plot - 70%
character sprites - 10%
backgrounds - 10%
music - 0%
GUI - 25%

[MaiMai]

Oh wow, psych/horror game, count me in. The logo and story/setting has me intrigued! Best of luck on finishing this!

[rainbowcascade]

I love horror games so I wish you the best of luck!

I'm not gonna lie though, I can tell by looking at the title picture that you mainly worked on light fluffy things. The image made me think this is going to be a really cute game with horror elements. I think it's the bow and ribbon.

[Laiska]

Ooh another cool horror game. The little girl + horror angle makes me think of Ib. Looking forward to this!

[allurious]

Well, the sprites are going to be cute-ish, so you're not wrong! Corpse Party was pretty cute-sy (apart from the gore on the wall) so I'm sorta headed in that direction. Also, thanks for all the neat comments and support, everyone! <3

Here's a rough sketch for the main protag sprite (Magda). Will do a clean/less shitty version tonight!

[Sunlit-Dreamer]

That is a shitty sketch? She looks perfect as is if you were going for a painterly vibe. She looks so adorable~ Definitely hoping yours will be finished. =o Good luck!

[Mad Harlequin]

Will do a clean/less shitty version tonight!

Oh, pshaw. She's adorable!

I'm keeping my eye on this. The Victorian Era matches so well with horror, doesn't it?

[allurious]

Aaand main protagonist! Will do expressions etc. tomorrow. (: <3

[GrizelyBear]

Ooh, there are not enough horror VNs in my opinion, so this sounds absolutely great! owo/

Magda looks adorable, and I really think horror stories unfolding in the eyes of a young child is always interesting...

Good luck, and I'll be looking forward to this! <3

[YossarianIII]

Hey, this looks pretty awesome. I haven't played many horror VNs yet, but since you say Silent Hill is an influence here, I'm totally on board.

The finished version of Magda is adorable and the logo is great, too. Definitely hoping to be able to play this one at the end of the month!

(For what it's worth, I think that if you ever wanted to do a future project in the style of your "shitty" Magda sketch, you totally could. Maybe it looks messy or unfinished to you, but to me -- and I think to some of the previous posters -- it looks like you were intentionally going for an impressionistic vibe.)

[allurious]

Getting UI stuff down! It's my first time programming imagemaps, so hey, I've learned something already. (:

[Hazel-Bun]

QAQ Awesome stuff!!

[Maelstrom-Fenrir]

Horror! And Psychological at that too! So excited! (I've been in such a horror mood lately! )

Good luck!

[Harliqueen]

That character is stunning, the colouring really goes with the feeling the logo and GUI gives!

Horror is not normally something I go for (easily scared, lol), but this looks really good so think I will have to check it out once it's done

[YuukiCrossPudding]

Awesome art is awesome! Love the GUI, the logo and the sprites, they totally match each other well.
The plot is interesting and eerily creepy already, also poor teddy :"(
This will be on my 'must play' list when it's completed! Good luck!