Strange DETECTIVE

[Gurok]

I think this game looks wonderful, whichever colour scheme you choose to go with! Both have their perks. The untinted colours are clearer, but I can definitely see the Technicolor effect you're going for, and if that's what you prefer, I say stick with it.

[Mandle]

The prologue will be somewhat irreverent and humorous (I hope) like many Graphic Adventures, but by the end of Day 1 there will be no doubt that you're in Lovecraft country.

Do you have reason for the shift in tone of your game?

If it's to throw the player off guard for what is to come later, or to show the carefree life the main character led before becoming embroiled in the mystery, then go for it! Either could work, but would have to be handled expertly to pull off without jarring the player too much I feel.

If it's just to be "like many Graphic Adventures" then I would say to avoid it.

[strangeDetective]

The prologue will be somewhat irreverent and humorous (I hope) like many Graphic Adventures, but by the end of Day 1 there will be no doubt that you're in Lovecraft country.

Do you have reason for the shift in tone of your game?

If it's to throw the player off guard for what is to come later, or to show the carefree life the main character led before becoming embroiled in the mystery, then go for it! Either could work, but would have to be handled expertly to pull off without jarring the player too much I feel.

If it's just to be "like many Graphic Adventures" then I would say to avoid it.

I'm setting up the short prologue of the game where the player will step into the shoes of a 1930's era Private Detective working out of Arkham, following up on a case involving cheating lovers, a kind of "Day in the Life.." scenario. I'm designing the short prologue just to introduce the player to the setting (but it does introduce an NPC who will appear in the game later). When I mention humorous/irreverent I don't mean zany Monkey Island/Manic Mansion type humor--in fact, I may catch some backlash and flak for it, and at this point don't even know if I'll use some of it in the end or not. If I said anything more it would be too much of a spoiler and ruin it. When I'm finished with the prologue I'll put it up as a tentative demo in hopes of some feedback, but it won't be the final polished version. The Lovecraft angle doesn't come into play during the prologue, only after it's finished and you get a call for a new case do things start to get weird...

I think this game looks wonderful, whichever colour scheme you choose to go with! Both have their perks. The untinted colours are clearer, but I can definitely see the Technicolor effect you're going for, and if that's what you prefer, I say stick with it.

Thanks, yeah there will definitely be a darker color tone for the game than some of the early screenshots I posted--it's Lovecraft, I don't want it to "pop" and look too bright and cheery like The Sound of Music or something, nor do I want all the color leeched out of it like a grunge/film noir graphic novel. I'll likely be experimenting with a classic Hollywood color palette scheme similar to the movies Chinatown or The Last Aviator.

[Mandle]

I'm setting up the short prologue of the game where the player will step into the shoes of a 1930's era Private Detective working out of Arkham, following up on a case involving cheating lovers, a kind of "Day in the Life.." scenario. I'm designing the short prologue just to introduce the player to the setting (but it does introduce an NPC who will appear in the game later). When I mention humorous/irreverent I don't mean zany Monkey Island/Manic Mansion type humor--in fact, I may catch some backlash and flak for it, and at this point don't even know if I'll use some of it in the end or not. If I said anything more it would be too much of a spoiler and ruin it. When I'm finished with the prologue I'll put it up as a tentative demo in hopes of some feedback, but it won't be the final polished version. The Lovecraft angle doesn't come into play during the prologue, only after it's finished and you get a call for a new case do things start to get weird...

Then that sounds perfect to me: YES! Showing the P.I. character in their mundane job, which appears to involve some sleazy extramarital affairs and probably some off-colour humour BEFORE he gets his "call to adventure" sounds like the perfect way to contrast the horrors that await him later on...

So excited about this project!

[strangeDetective]

Here's a little backstory the premise of the graphic adventure, ties into a series of fictional Mythos props I created (a faux board game from the 1930's Arkham era) designed by Willard Whateley. Part of the investigation will entail prodding into the strange histories and backgrounds of some NPC characters referenced in these Lovecraft mythos props I designed.

[Cassiebsg]

These keep looking better and better!
Keep up the good work.

[selmiak]

pretty awesome render you have there. I like all these details, the unlit candle, the skull. Did you model the typwewriter?

[Mandle]

Amazing render indeed... The typewriter does look a tad too small though when compared with the size of the other objects, especially the human skull... Maybe that's just an optical illusion though...

[strangeDetective]

pretty awesome render you have there. I like all these details, the unlit candle, the skull. Did you model the typwewriter?

Thanks, it's a real prop (I meant just not real like something you can go buy in the store) there's more images in my Imgur gallery where I keep my game screenshots, they are ultra-HD and huge so I won't post too many here, but it's a faux board game I designed with other Mythos props which will be in my graphic adventure. You can look at the fake newspaper articles I created, they contain some characters and stuff that will end up in the adventure game. Not necessarily a spoiler but will touch on some of the same stuff.

But yeah, I've seen renders that are so photorealistic hard to distinguish I know what you mean!

[selmiak]

now I'm confused and go to bed! So are these fake newspaper articles also printed out and pinned there or are they photoshoped in?

[strangeDetective]

now I'm confused and go to bed! So are these fake newspaper articles also printed out and pinned there or are they photoshoped in?

I made them with photoshop but yeah they're all printed out, all the props are real, but I designed them myself and aged them to make them look old. Goes back to role-playing days, when we used to make player hand outs for Call of Cthulhu RPG campaigns, something that connected the players to the game's world. I'll be making some especially for this game at some point. One thing I miss about computer games today is you usually don't get any cool game items with them (maps, letters, old journals), nor even a box; that's one thing I miss besides the games themselves. Part of the fun of getting the game was the packaging itself, and all stuff that came with it, it gave you a deeper connection to the game's story/world. You had something real you could hold in your hand, that was also part of the game's world. Like the old Infocom text adventures, they had beautiful games and cool items that came boxed up with them. I understand its expensive to produce stuff like that now and not practical to do, where most games are just delivered digitally or in a slip-case.

But a lot of those old games still fetch unbelievably high prices on eBay today, because I guess a lot of other people miss that too. I've seen game boxes/items from popular games dating back to the 80s/90s selling for hundreds of bucks online to collectors.

[SilverSpook]

Fascinating stuff.  I like, 'Game designer sanity in question' headline.  This is constantly in the news cycle scrolling on the ticker inside my forehead.

[strangeDetective]

Fascinating stuff.  I like, 'Game designer sanity in question' headline.  This is constantly in the news cycle scrolling on the ticker inside my forehead.

Yeah I think you have to be a "little mad" [as Norman Bates would say] to be a game designer and start on one of these projects in the first place. But madness/insanity is something that's been explored in the fictional and non-fictional universe of poets/writers/artists, etc. of all types so it's something I wanted to explore in this Lovecraftian game, except the character's a game designer in the 1930's instead of the usual poet or artist.

[Bishy]

Wow, that screenshot with the gate looks gorgeous. There's such a wonderful atmosphere to it.

[strangeDetective]

A view of Arkham from the Miskatonic River circa. 1940's.

Update:

Demo (Episode One) almost ready for beta-release testing.

Rooms: 10.
Sound FX: None yet.
Voice: None yet.
Music: Jazz musical score.
Puzzles & Interactions: Fully working (I think...)
Animations: Partially implemented, mostly place-holders but functional.
Rating: Mature (for language, some sexual imagery)
Interface GUI: Mostly functional, standard Sierra-style. Will re-vamp later.

It's not ready to release yet, but what I've got so far is a few weeks work, and has given me a rough idea of how long it will take to finish the game, which is about five episodes altogether.

I have yet to polish all of the animations, add voice and sound FX, implement a few things with the interface and GUIs, also add some atmospheric effects.

I think by the end of next week I can have a beta demo if anyone wants to help test it and offer any advice or feedback. The file size is rather huge I was surprised, 1GB, but there's a ton of assets packed in that I haven't used in the demo but are part of the game. I'll look into that later...

If anyone wants to help test it message me I'll let you know when I have it ready.

[Stupot]

How, this is looking more and more intriguing by the week. Keep it up.

[Cassiebsg]

BG looks gorgeous! well done!

The character's pose looks a bit odd to me, though.

[exsile]

Nice sprite for the main character.