High Crimes: Blood Money - good start, screenshots

[DarkRiver Design]

I'd like to formally announce a game that's been, up until a couple weeks ago, a figment of my imagination.

THE HOOK
High Crimes: Blood Money (tentatively titled) is a photo-realistic detective game with a true-crime flavor. Its inspiration is derived from the likes of Gabriel Knight and the Police Quest series, and if done well, fans of these games should enjoy High Crimes.

THE PLOT
You play private eye Christopher Foss with help from his sexy sidekick Laura Parker. Together they endeavor to solve a suspicious crime backed by an equally suspicious, haphazard police investigation.

THE CHARACTERS
There are two main characters: Christopher Foss and Laura Parker. Chris is a down-on-his-luck PI with a past that's haunted him for years. He was going to be a police officer until he accidentally killed his best friend in live-fire training exercise. Upon opening up his own practice, he met Laura.

Laura is a smart, classy, witty young woman with a penchant for biting sarcasm (can you say Grace Nakimura? I really didn't mean it to be that obvious). She is a true friend, and will help tremendously throughout the investigation.

I have a couple NPCs, but I will not post them here until I'm absolutely sure what their roles in the game are going to be.

THE STATS
16 million colors.
640x480 resolution.
Photorealistic backgrounds.
Characters made in Poser 3.
Graphics editing program is PhotoShop 7.

To achieve the right atmosphere, I am using real photographs for the locales. The characters and talkies are made with Poser 3.

I have yet to incorporate a soundtrack. I'm saving that for the very end. I should have a demo out shortly, but what I have is not quite ready for primetime yet.

I have a ten-page design document right now that includes a pretty thorough explanation of the plot, character profiles, and some choice puzzle explanations. The game is far from worked out, though. Expect an August 2004 release.

I will post more plot details as I feel it appropriate. I do not want to put too much of plot down, though, and end up changing it.

Please post any comments, questions, suggestions, or offers for help (wishful thinking, I know) here, or email them to me at darkriver@wildmail.com. Thank you. I hope you are looking forward to this game, but more importantly, I hope you enjoy it when it comes out.

SCREENSHOTS
The following are a couple preliminary screenshots. Click the text for a full-size image:


The old title screen, still displaying the moniker "High Crimes: Bad Blood."


Chris chats it up with his assistant at the reception desk. Note that the title has been changed since this screenshot was taken.


Chris in his tiny office, with a view of the GUI icon.

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By the way, kudos to Neole for the webspace. I really appreciate it.

[Totoro]

Sounds not bad, but you might consider using Kozaburo's free hair for Poser. Those Poser4-included hair styles just look too much like plastic wigs.

http://www.horae.dti.ne.jp/%7Ekozaburo/dload.html

[DarkRiver Design]

Thanks. I would, but I checked them out and I don't think they're compatible with Poser 3, and I don't want to shell out the dough for a new version (I got this version for free from a computer magazine).

But I completely agree with you, they do look just like plastic wigs. The models themselves are a little weird looking too, but I get by with what I can. I hope it won't detract from the game.

[MadReizka]

Hey, if you are in a need of some music in the game (midi, mod, or mp3) I can make some (as well as bunch of other (and more better) artists)

[sedriss]

Looking good.
There is something wrong with the second screenshot though..
The people look way too small.. compare the computer monitor with the girl, or the chair with the man.
Other then that, it looks great.

[James Kay]

Yeah, I'd say the characters are too small, in both screenshots.

[DarkRiver Design]

As far as I'm concerned right now, the reception desk is just placeholder for now. I'll find something more appropriate for a detective's office sometime, but this'll work for now.

I'm not sure how he's too small in the office, though. But really, I guess all the rooms right now are just placeholder until I get further along.

Thanks for the compliments and suggestions.

That's really nice of you Mad Reizka. It's also quite an undertaking. I haven't put any music in my game yet, though.