Welcome to Dark Lake - DEMO available

[Milo87]

Welcome to Dark Lake
- A psychological mystery adventure game -
By Rob "Milo87" Westbrook

STORY
After the suspicious death of our mother, I, Ethan Scott, and my sister Rachel, launched seperate investigations into the cause of our mother's demise.
Disappointed by constant dead ends, I eventually stopped looking for answers, whilst my sister, angered by my giving-up, continued to search for answers.

That was one year ago.

Since then, I've started looking for resolutions to other people's problems with my own PI agency. That is, until my sister turned up with news of a mysterious trip our mother made two weeks before she died. A trip to the small town of Dark Lake.

Despite this new revelation, I refused to get caught up in it again, fearing further disappointment. My sister went to Dark Lake alone.

Two days later, I got a phone call. It was Rachel, desperately afraid for her life.

Now Dark Lake is my destination. I may have lost my mother, but I wasn't going to lose my sister too.

SCREENSHOTS

Your journal updates constantly with clues and pieces of useful information


A scene from the introduction sequence

GAMEPLAY ELEMENTS
-An involving storyline featuring investigation, puzzle solving and plenty of mystery.
-Journal system keeps track of progress through the plot.
-Diverse and colourful characters.
-High quality true-colour graphics are 320x240 resolution.

DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS
Story: 98%
Graphics: 90%
Scripting: 80%
Sound/Music: 50%

PRODUCTION DIARY
   19/01/07: First post. Three rooms completed. Fully implimented custom menu system.
   Main character graphics completed aside from some quick animations.

   11/02/07: Production on hold whilst I'm out of the country for a week. Almost all of the puzzles finished, and all of the spriting/backgrounding is done up to the finished bits. Current room count (including menu and intro): 19

   19/02/07: I'm back in the country, so production continues. Just the final push now before testing can begin.

   21/04/07: Added a dream sequence to flesh out the story a bit, and finished all but two or three backgrounds. General bug fixes through alpha-testing.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Please be aware that the production team for this game totals 1: me. Because of this, announcing a final release date would not be appropriate at this time. However, I do fully intend to complete this game. I have plans to split up the story into about three episodes, which will speed up the production time as well as put less pressure on me to create a full-length and enjoyable adventure game in one go. I hope you look forward to future updates.

DEMO NOW AVAILABLE:
 Download

[Hammerite]

i can't wait for this!
sounds great!

[ManicMatt]

I love the name of the game meself!

Reminds me of Silent Hill for some reason, minus the horror. And the 3D graphics. And the guns. And the stupid puzzles. And the... ( Okay i meant the storyline premise!)

[Milo87]

Heheh, thanks for the feedback!
The Silent Hill series are a major influence on Dark Lake. As for the guns, I had originally planned for survival-horror style combat to be included, but after poking around it was just too fiddly to implement. I may add selected combat using simpler commands, though.

[Darth Mandarb]

The graphical style seems nice ... why not show the first screenie without the big book covering it!!  I want to see it!

Sounds like you've got a great start and a solid plan for this.  Good to hear!

Thanks for [clearly] reading the forum rules.  Welcome and good luck with the game!

[Steel Drummer]

Looks nice, can't wait to play!

[auriond]

Anything influenced by Silent Hill is a-okay in my book. The story sounds cool -  would love to see how it develops.

[CosmoQueen]

I love these types of games! Very Ben Jordan-ish

Looks a bit scary though. Will you be able to die in it?

[thewalrus]

     Poor Cosmo, she's always sooo afraid of dying.....LOL!!!  Anyhow, it looks like you have a solid start here. The graphics look really nice and the story sounds excellent. I can't wait to play this.... Also, welcome to the forums and our great community!!!

[Grapefruitologist]

Reminds me of an adventure game I bought once. I think it was called Mystery of Loch Ness Monster or something. I quit pretty quickly because it was reeeeally hard, lol.
Anyway, looks cool.

[Milo87]

A couple more screenshots, including a room I've just finished drawing. These are from the Hill Hotel, which is the first location Ethan goes to in Dark Lake.


There you go, Darth: The Hill lobby, without the journal GUI


The new room: A corridor in the Hill.

Thanks for the kind words to everyone who has replied.

I love these types of games! Very Ben Jordan-ish

Looks a bit scary though. Will you be able to die in it?

Hmm, that's a tricky one. I usually dislike adventure games that kill the player without due warning, so I'll probably include the ability to die, but not a lot, and not without it being pretty obvious that the situation is potentially dangerous

Poor Cosmo, she's always sooo afraid of dying.....LOL!!!  Anyhow, it looks like you have a solid start here. The graphics look really nice and the story sounds excellent. I can't wait to play this.... Also, welcome to the forums and our great community!!!

Thanks I really appreciate the positive feedback: It's a great incentive to finish the project.

[Tom S. Fox]

The room design and the athmosphere reminds me in Yahtzee games.
Could it be, that you got your inspiration from one of those?
Anyway, looking good!

[Hammerite]

how far from completion is the first episode (prediction)?

[Milo87]

The room design and the athmosphere reminds me in Yahtzee games.
Could it be, that you got your inspiration from one of those?
Anyway, looking good!

I was wondering how long it would be before someone noticed the Yahtzee influence  I love 5/7 days and Trilby's notes, and I think they stand as Hallmarks in thriller adventure gaming. So yes, inspiration did come from playing them

how far from completion is the first episode (prediction)?

Oh boy, uhm... I've been working on this in my spare time solidly, so I'd say a few weeks. It doesn't help that I have some college exams coming up, so that's taking up my time too. Still, I'm working at a pretty fast pace, and have a quite good idea of where the story is going, and that always helps, heheh.

[thewalrus]

     Wow, great to hear. Mostly when people put up these in progress threads it is months/years till the game is completed. It's refreshing to see someone who is almost finished with there game when they posted. It looks fantastic..... Can't wait to play..... Keep up the good work and good luck!!!

[Milo87]

Here's a new screenshot for all you lovely folks


An alleyway

Excuse it being a bit dark, but it is a dingy alleyway. It also looks brighter in-game

Also of note: A demo featuring the first puzzle will be out soon, hopefully. It's just a bit heavy on the animation.
And! My good friend and general very talented music-maker Mr Scientist has agreed to do the music for Dark Lake. He's sent me a preview of an ambient track, and it's sounding very atmospheric.

[CosmoQueen]

Awesome! I can't wait!

[Jdinky]

Nice graphics and good plot!

[m0ds]

Looking very good!

And, if you need to fill up that n/a slot, pm me.

[Milo87]

Hey, everybody

Just thought you'd like to know, the DEMO is available over in the demos section (of course ).

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated