The Darksiders Part I - The Curious Case of Mark Idalo

[Cluey]

After a four year hiatus from really doing anything, I decided to restart one of my long dead games, The Darksiders. Before I begin I shall explain that the new thread is mostly down to the fact that after talking extensively with various people (RickJ and my Brother in particular) the game is pretty much completely different than it was 4 years ago. The story is similar, but ultimately less farce and more wit.

Anyway, without further ado, I (and hopefully when I get my graphics all done, my team) shall present to you:

The Darksiders - Part I - The Curious Case of Mark Idalo

Story

Detective Inspector Mark Idalo is brilliant, well, that is to say he WAS brilliant. For Idalo, life has taken a bit of a plummet. World War II is kicking up a storm, all the good London bars are closed, rationing means he can't get a decent Full English breakfast anymore and to top it all off, through a series of unlucky co-incidences, he's found himself deceased.

Undettered by this he sets out on his spectral way in an attempt to solve his murder, and uncovers something that could send both the afterlife, and the living world, to hell.

Figuratively speaking of course.

EARLY Screenshots
These screens represent what the graphics of the game will be like, only one of them is really "ingame", the rest are backgrounds, use your imagination to impose Idalo and a cursor on them for now 


I tried to capture the bleak feeling of run down London



Noir films and Jazz are one of my key inspirations



Life is a stage, or rather it was...



Inconspicuous murders await!

Gameplay info
As my attention is currently focused on graphics production, this is all subject to change later on due to mood swings and the ebbing of the tides.

-Medium length game
-Verb coin GUI
-A system that measures your reputation with certain people, making them more likely to give you clues or hints on what to do, non essential, more of a fun help system.
-320x200 resolution, though may up it for a constant inventory on screen (think R-09 style)
-Explore the Underworld! (screens of that coming later)
-Meet a diverse cast of spooks and mobsters
-I'm going to locate a jazz musician if it kills me, and have some awesome music to boot.

Progress
Ah my least favourite part of the pitch:

Story: 80% - Working out certain characters and dialogue, other than that I've got the story down

Graphics: 35% - Done a good number of backgrounds, about 7 in all, only 2 characters done and fully animated so far though. Hoping to get all of it done by mid July, I can (if I put effort into it) do a background in a day, characters take longer. If I put that much effort into it I could have it all done by the mid June. But I can't because of other commitments at the moment.

Scripting: 0% - Seeing as I'm not counting my mock up as scripting, it's not going to get started until most of the graphics are done.

Sound/Music: 0% - Again, going to wait until the end to get this bit done, the musician I find will have a better idea about what's needed.

ETA- 2009 - Slipped due to work and uni


Feb 29th - March 7th: I will be working on at least 2 new backgrounds, one of which will be an Afterlife scene. I'll also work on my Grim Reaper character and get an animation done for you lovely folks. Until that time, adieu.

[m0ds]

Ahh, yay, the boat interior game Looking forward to this one a lot! Very nice style, good luck!

[Layabout]

The graphics are awesome, the idea is awesome.

Only issue is the theatre background. The other screens are mostly cut off. The theatre is full screen. Is there a reason? Theoretically, you could incorporate the gui in the black spaces. I prefer 16:10 resolutions anyway cause i have a widescreen. It just seems really odd to me...

Anyway, good luck, hope to see this done.

[CosmoQueen]

This sounds and looks great! I love detective games. I can't wait to see what the main character will look like.

[tube]

Nice graphical style, and the premise sounds fun and quirky. Somehow I'm inclined to believe that the writing won't let me down either. Go Cluey!

I can't wait to see what the main character will look like.

I thought that was him in the first screenie, next to the lift.

[Cluey]

Only issue is the theatre background. The other screens are mostly cut off. The theatre is full screen. Is there a reason? Theoretically, you could incorporate the gui in the black spaces. I prefer 16:10 resolutions anyway cause i have a widescreen. It just seems really odd to me...

Well that background is used in the opening cut-scene, so it's ok to have it take up the whole screen. Thanks for the compliments.

As far as the main character goes, the one you see in the first screen is him in his living state, the afterlife parts are going to be a bit more twisted and baroque, and the character will reflect that.

I'm going to whip up some sprites this afternoon, as soon as I'm done resurrecting Yog-Sothoth (ok, I lie, I'm going to town to buy No More Heroes).

Also, if out of curiousity you want to see the original game, you can see the old thread here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=11743.0

I shouldn't have to say this but DO NOT REPLY TO THAT THREAD FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

[Cyrus]

What will be the picture on the GUI? (for example, in CMI it was a gold coin).

[i k a r i]

Pixel art with shiny light effects, just beautiful.. too bad we have to wait so much 

[miguel]

Nice graphics and mood from what you've shown. I really like detective games and am a jazz fan.
good luck

[Dixon]

Your artwork is a huge improvement. If the rest of the game is as good as the graphics then this will be an amazing game for sure. Good luck!

[stevetheblack]

I think this looks and sounds awesome   Definitely one I'll have to keep my eye on, good luck!

[bicilotti]

Beautiful palette choice. Looking forward to that, good luck!

[Rd27]

Looking forward to this one.
I really like the story and the graphics looks good too.

Good luck!

[robotsquid]

LOVE the backgrounds.

[Cluey]

I'm going to reply to my thread sooner than I'd planned to at least ensure it doesn't fall off the first page because of a certain troll.

Anyway, thanks for all the compliments on the game, I've been working on the Grim Reaper sprite when a grand idea hit me for it.

The Afterlife parts of the game are much more cartoony and twisted than the real life parts, I drew the Grim Reaper like this for the real world parts of the game:

(x3)
Terrifying no? I'll draw the scyth in later. This sprite is only going to be on screen for a few seconds, I'm going to animate the purple haze and make him float a bit, some dripping blood wouldn't go amiss as well.

In the afterlife parts of the game, he'll appear a lot less terrifying, kind of like his appearance depends on the reality that he is in at the time. Originally I was planning to use just the cartoony sprite for his appearance to the deceased. But I think using a more serious sprite just for the apparition will add a bit of depth.

[[Cameron]]

Will this version of it get released Cluey? I've been waiting for it for years Good to see something happening.

[Mr.T]

I love the Noir look you did! I really love the style, can't wait to play this one!

[ThreeOhFour]

This is the fourth time I've looked at this thread, and only just now did I realise that the guy is investigating his own murder.

Now this is an idea I love. I look forward to the game!

[Cluey]

Will this version of it get released Cluey?

Hah, I know what you mean, I wouldn't want to get your hopes up.

Anyway, I've got alot more drive to finish things now. I also have alot of free time, well, at least until I go to university, but hopefully by then the majority will be done so it won't take so much time. As most will know it's the graphics that take the longest, and I've got a pretty steady production rate on those.

[Snake]

Wow, this looks and sounds amazing!
\
Good luck, I'm looking forward to this,


--Snake