Melancholy [Horror Adventure]

[Mastermind6425]

Greetings, people interested in this game!

Melancholy is a Psychological/RomanticHorror-Puzzle-Adventure-Visual Novel game about a 16-year-old boy who started a relationship with a girl he didn't love just to give her a reason to live (she had a horrible childhood, attempted suicide 2 times).
The problem is, he doesn't want to be chained down, but he also can't break up with her since he's frightened that she may kill herself then.

[Huge similarities to Catherine incoming, I'm fully aware of this and made it intentionally since Catherine is my favourite Psychological Horror game, you could say this game is a tribute to Catherine]
On top of that, the protagonist drank too much one evening and cheated on her. This made him a target for the skeleton murder series where only the skeleton (without any flesh) of the victim is left at the crime scene. A mysterious person gives cheating people deadly nightmares, (if you die in that dream, you die in reality) and the only way to end these is to confess your mistake to your partner. You may have noticed it already, but the protagonist can't confess his mistake to his suicidal girlfriend, so he has to risk his life in the nightmares.

The game is seperated into daytime and nighttime.
Daytime:
The story is progressing, the police is trying to catch the mastermind behind the skeleton murder series, the protagonist is trying to find a solution to his dilemma, you go to school, you can talk to other students and build friendships similar to Social Links (Persona 3/4), you can explore the city, you can talk to people who will ask you moral questions -> answering these will influence your Karma, you have an usable mobile phone (receive and send mails, view contacts, view photos, etc.)

Nighttime/Nightmare:
Experience creepy and weird nightmares, solve puzzles, deal with jumpscares and chasing monsters, dodge traps, talk to the skeletons (=other people having these nightmares), answer ethical questions in the Karma Tent, meet special skeletons (like the skeleton form of the mastermind or the leader of the "skeleton revolution")

Important infos about development:
-The game is going to be completely FREE
-Because of that, artists should also be volunteers
-The "engine" is RPGMakerVxAce, however, I edited/scripted it so heavy that you won't even notice it was originally a RPG engine

I'll make a trailer soon.

Here are some screenshots:
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/8773/0 ... bdmjzg.jpg - Character by Elzee
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/c956/s ... tqv9zg.jpg - Phone menu
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/7c11/e ... 5zaqzg.jpg -VN Stlye
http://www.mediafire.com/convkey/5abd/d ... fa90zg.jpg -Nightmare, puzzle

I'm open for discussions, questions, etc.
Feel free to write what you think.
I'm in search for artists who can draw CG's; I'd also need someone who can draw skeletons.

[blankd]

I played and mostly enjoyed Catherine and I wouldn't mind seeing more games like it or games that try to explore the subject matter of maintaining strained relationships.

The following questions I ask are ones that I'm not sure if you can alter but are things you may want to consider in the context of being inspired by Catherine and some elements you may want to think about given the character elements that are different between Catherine and Melancholy.

1. Catherine was able to get away with Vincent and his questionable life decisions because he was an adult and he lived on his own. Here it's a little more questionable since the characters are much younger. While it is common in other media to have young characters be unattended because parents tend to "inconvenience" the plot, it might be helpful to address where the adults are or at least address the severe reluctance for the MC to deal with an openly suicidal character when they're both young teens. Granted, I have no idea where this story takes place, but most modern settings tend to have suicide help resources- but this could also be a reflection of your MC, you may want to clarify.

2. The situation of the girl isn't unrealistic but as a word of caution, it would do well to have your research on suicide and infidelity to be extremely well-researched and to portray them with a proper tone.

3. I find it interesting that people being turned into skeletons is limited to cheating- I was kind of expecting a "skeletons in your closet" kind of connection. It doesn't have to be changed but this element could be expanded on if you wanted. I'm a little curious if the "admitting you did something wrong" is true in avoiding going to the Nightmare or if it's simply a rumor in the waking world.

4. Did you mean "confess your mistake to your partner"?

Anyway, good luck with your game.

[Mastermind6425]

I played and mostly enjoyed Catherine and I wouldn't mind seeing more games like it or games that try to explore the subject matter of maintaining strained relationships. [...]

First of all, thank you for the "reply"!

1. The parents of the MC play a HUGE role in the story, I have thought of that.
While it is true that there are suicide help resources, it is not unseen that people suffering from suicidal thoughts are embarrassed / don't want help. It's the same with the MC's girlfriend, the MC is one of the few who know about her problems.

2. Good point. I'll make sure to research the topic properly.

3. I won't spoil anything regarding that :p

4. Yes I did, I don't know why I made that mistake. I'll just use me being German as an excuse xD

[blankd]

[quote="Mastermind6425]
1. The parents of the MC play a HUGE role in the story, I have thought of that.
While it is true that there are suicide help resources, it is not unseen that people suffering from suicidal thoughts are embarrassed / don't want help. It's the same with the MC's girlfriend, the MC is one of the few who know about her problems.[/quote]
Good to hear that that's addressed!
[quote="Mastermind6425]4. Yes I did, I don't know why I made that mistake. I'll just use me being German as an excuse xD[/quote]
Still better than most native English speakers XP