check the official site <3 x itch.io page
heavily inspired by Coffee Talk & The Red Strings Club
You’re a barista, but there’s almost no need for humans in the job market anymore - in 2030 and after the 2020s pandemic forced technology advances, there’s a robot capable of doing everything better than you.
You've been recently fired from your local bar, and your childhood friend, Pandora, indicates you to a job opportunity in a building you didn’t even know held a bar. Accepting for the unusually high salary, you receive a call a few days later saying you’re in.
The building looks like an old library, with very few regulars who happen to be oddly peculiar. Although it’s fun to talk about weird subjects, you wouldn’t even dream of the possibility of them being a… cult? And their objective is simple.
To create God.
Enjoy this peculiar little tale about the ending of things. Here, you can:
- prepare regular drinks; (partially programmed)
- prepare cool drinks with magical stuff; (partially programmed)
- make your own playlist; (done)
- access the city's news feed; (done)
- know every dumb thing about your regulars, including their music taste (through playlists they prepare for you);
- know all the juicy gossips about the cult members (everyone trusts the barista guy);
- choose your name, appearance, pronouns, and gender alignment; (partially programmed)
- choose the regular you like the most to keep you company during the end of your shift - and learn about their personal life, with LGBTQ+ rep!;
- enjoy a lot of chats about the paranormal, God, the end of the world, and stolen cellphones.
CURRENT PROGRESS
Hello! I'm Gio and I'm solo-working on this project for some weeks now! Currently, here's the progress I can present to you:
Event CGs
I plan to have approx. 20 CGs - currently, there are 8 of them made!
Here's one:
Sprites
From 9 characters presented above, I've designed and made their base sprite 100%. There's still one more character to be done + the player customizable graphics (partially already done). I tend to do the characters' expressions alongside the dialogues, so it'll come both together.
Story
The story will be separated by days, and the full story will be told in 30 in-game days. Currently, the first day script is fully done!
Music
EDIT: You can listen to some demo songs at "Progress" accessing the site!
As stated, the player will be able to choose which songs will be played during the game through characters' playlists. Each playlist will have 10 songs, and the player will be able to obtain new playlists by spending time with the bar's regulars. This is the current situation on each playlist:
DEFAULT PLAYLIST: 04/10
PANDORA PLAYLIST: 02/10 (one song currently in progress)
CLEMENTINE PLAYLIST: 00/10 (one song currently in progress)
CYRIL PLAYLIST: 01/10
EZRA PLAYLIST: 02/10
SASHA PLAYLIST: 01/10 (one song currently in progress)
LEONA PLAYLIST: 08/10
PHANUMAS PLAYLIST: 01/10
EROS PLAYLIST: 00/10
AGATHA PLAYLIST: 02/10 (one song currently in progress)
Programming
Here comes the tricky part! I'm a musician, so I don't really actively program, although I've played around with some codes on Ren'py and RPG Maker before.
The drink game system is partially programmed. I'm still working on drink graphics and recipes.
The playlist system is done (yay!).
The dialogue's visuals and positioning are done.
The character profile system is done.
The news feed system is done.
The message system is done.
The save, config and menu screens are being planned.
I will be able to release the first demo after all systems are done!
WARNINGS
As a final statement, there are warnings I'd like to point about this project! Some topics covered in the game are sensitive and can be triggering. Stay safe.
(triggers: mental disorders, drugs, addiction, deaths, grief, prejudice, emotional abuse.)
The dialogues also have swear words and some images partially show blood and/or wounds.
WHERE TO ACCESS THE GAME
The game's still in progress, but I'll be always updating new stuff to whoever's interested! It'll be available on Steam when it's ready (and this thread will be also reporting the progress).
Currently, you can access the game's site, that'll be also updated soon with more content, and I'm thinking about the possibility of creating a Patreon during the next weeks to support this project.
Right now, I'm still not sure about pricing: should I make this game free with paid DLCs (similar to Our Life) or fully paid without DLCs? What would you rather?
And, finally: what do you think about The Hazy Hideout Bar and what are your expectations?
PRINTS
**images original size reduced
dialogue with one character
dialogue with two characters - whoever's not speaking becomes b&w; their eyes follow whoever's speaking
character profile menu
message system; you can type your pre-defined answers like in "emily's away"
Thank you so much for reading! I hope you're as hyped as I am about this game!