Kathy Rain

[JSH]

[embed=960,540]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5oxhUgUhq3g[/embed]

She is riding her motorcycle, speeding quickly through the desert. The bike lets out a roar. The wind is caressing her hair, struggling to free itself at the back of her helmet. She is wearing red-tinted sunglasses and a black leather jacket. Her face is displaying a subtle smile, reminiscent of the Mona Lisa. Extensive mods and ornaments decorate her bike. "Katmobile" is engraved in script onto a metal detail upon the front. This bike is her baby, that's for sure. 

Oh, how she loves being on the road. Yet, when thrashing through the highway veering across the vast desert countryside, this day is strangely bitter sweet for Kathy Rain. "How did it ever come to this?", she thought sullenly. "Returning to my roots after all this time. God, it's not like me. But I owe it to him. To those sad eyes and warm hands. I owe it to that stubborn kid I used to be."

Synopsis:

Kathy Rain tells the compelling story of a strong-willed college girl with a knack for detective work and a Harley who returns to her hometown after being gone since childhood. Set in the 90's, Kathy starts investigating a local mystery and the legacy of her recently deceased grandfather.

As she follows a trail of clues he left behind, questions emerge... What was Joseph Rain really looking for that night all those years ago? What turned him into a mere shell of a man, confined to a wheelchair? What secret did a suicidal young artist take with her to the grave, and why are so many people in Conwell Springs going mad? The truth is dark and sinister...

Features:

320x240 (4:3) resolution with crisp pixel art graphics
4,000+ lines of dialogue
Full English voice acting directed by Wadjet Eye Games' Dave Gilbert
Original soundtrack
40+ hand-drawn environments
Compelling narrative with eerie plot set in the 90's

Notes:

Kathy Rain is being developed by Clifftop Games, a small indie studio located in Stockholm, Sweden. Published by Raw Fury Games!

Kathy Rain Website
Clifftop Games Website
Clifftop Games Twitter
Clifftop Games Facebook page

Steam pre-order
GOG pre-order
Humble Bundle pre-order
Green Man Gaming pre-order

Will be released on May 5th for Windows and Mac! If you are unsure about a pre-purchase, try the demo on GOG or Steam!

Team:

Joel "JSH" Staaf Hästö - Writing, puzzles, game design, coding and project management
Shane "ProgZmax" Stevens - Art direction, character art and animation
Nauris Krauze - Background art
Tove Bergqvist - Portrait art
Daniel Kobylarz - Music
Dave Gilbert - VO Direction

Progress:

Story/Puzzles - 100%
Scripting - 100%
Graphics - 100%
SFX/Music - 100%

Development Diary:

July 17th, 2012
Publically announced the project.

July 31th, 2012
Core team assembled, all positions filled.

November 29th, 2012
The project is progressing slowly but steadily. Tove Bergqvist joined the team to help out with the portraits. New art style revealed!

February 16th, 2013
Daniel Kobylarz joins the team as the composer. Added a few new screens and updated some old ones with the latest art changes. Started early with some VO auditions for the lead parts.

October 5th, 2013
The project is still very much alive and moving forward. Now cranking up the pace, hoping for a 2014 release!

February 2nd, 2014
Development goes forward with the first chapter of the game nearing a releasable state. Unfortunately, a 2014 release starts to look slightly optimistic. Late 2014 is still the target, but a possible postponement to 2015 is likely. Negotiations with different distribution partners have been initiated.

April 24th, 2014
There's been some good progress since the last update! Day one is in very good shape, Day two is fully playable from beginning to end, and work has begun on Day three. Also started to look for more testers.

January 18th, 2015
The game is a few months away from alpha, with most of the game being playable now. A 2015 release looks possible, but can't be guaranteed due to external dependencies. An indie publisher startup based in Stockholm has expressed interest in the game and could be a possible future partner.

April 22nd, 2015
A publishing agreement for Kathy Rain has been signed with Raw Fury Games! The initial release of the game will be for Windows and Mac, on Steam and most other common digital distribution channels.

April 6th, 2016
Announced a release date! A detective is born on May 5th, 2016!

[Tramponline]

Oooh, placeholders...
Might sound strange, but I do actually love the look of it just as it is, Krusbert.
A more simplistic graphical approach, a style of it's own.
That highway scene looks very, very cool!

Will be definitely on the lookout for this one.

[Daniel Thomas]

I remember you showing interest in AGS, it's good to see that you got a AGS project going, Krusbert.
The story sounds interesting and I would have offered to help if I had any free time to spare.

Good luck, keep us updated!

[Snake]

I agree with what Trampoline has said. This game looks and sounds like a good one to keep an eye on.

[Andail]

I agree too
The simplistic style is nice, even though you see it as placeholder at the moment. If you decide to go for another style I wish you good luck with finding artists/animators for your team.

[JSH]

Oooh, placeholders...
Might sound strange, but I do actually love the look of it just as it is, Krusbert.
A more simplistic graphical approach, a style of it's own.
That highway scene looks very, very cool!

Will be definitely on the lookout for this one.

I agree with what Trampoline has said. This game looks and sounds like a good one to keep an eye on.

I agree too
The simplistic style is nice, even though you see it as placeholder at the moment. If you decide to go for another style I wish you good luck with finding artists/animators for your team.

I'm really glad you guys like it! We'll see how it turns out, the issue for me is not only the quality of the graphics, but the time involved in creating them. An experienced artist would be able to produce not only art of a higher overall quality, but at a much greater pace than myself. If I did it all on my own I would need time to learn all the necessary aspects of drawing, animating and then spend a large amount of time on actually creating the assets. It would take more than a few years to get there judging by other similar one man projects, and I want to get the game out within a reasonable timeframe. I'm still not completely disregarding doing it all by myself but the plan right now is to try to involve a few more people.

I remember you showing interest in AGS, it's good to see that you got a AGS project going, Krusbert.
The story sounds interesting and I would have offered to help if I had any free time to spare.

Good luck, keep us updated!

Thanks Daniel, I'll be updating this thread regularly. Best of luck with your own project!

On a side note I rewrote the synopsis, it was too long and unfocused. The new one should be clearer and hopefully more thought provoking.

[JSH]

I am very excited to announce the newly assembled core team of Kathy Rain!

Shane "ProgZmax" Stevens - You heard me! I feel very lucky to have the sprite master himself on board. He will be making character designs and animations.
Nauris Krauze - The man behind the gorgeous backgrounds in Resonance! I was most fortunate to get Nauris signed up for creating the environments of Kathy Rain.
Sten Oom - A friend of mine, a newcomer in this field but with a serious talent for lifelike movement, Sten will be helping out with some additional animation!
Joel "Krusbert" Staaf Hästö - Lastly, I will reintroduce myself. When I'm not at my daily job I will continue working like a madman on story, puzzles, game design, coding and overall project management of Kathy Rain.

[Andail]

That's a mighty fine-looking team, Joel!

Good luck with the game

[Daniel Thomas]

Nice team, Krusbert!
Is that avatar of yours Kathy herself?

[JSH]

That's a mighty fine-looking team, Joel!

Good luck with the game

Nice team, Krusbert!
Is that avatar of yours Kathy herself?

Thanks guys!

Daniel - Oh, I wish it was! But alas, it's part of an acrylic painting by the brilliant comic artist Phil Noto.

*edit Now it's Kathy actually!

[Ilyich]

Sounds very promising, and with such a great team I'm sure it will turn out to be a splendid game!

I actually really like the simplistic look of the now-placeholder screenshots - some really nice colour choices there, but if it's going to be even better - well, I'm all for it.

Really looking forward to this - best of luck!

[JSH]

Hi everybody, the project is progressing slowly but steadily!

Got some new screenies for your viewing pleasure in the original post, courtesy of Nauris and Shane!

We also have a new addition to the team: Tove Bergqvist, a promising young art student who has been helping us out with the character portraits. You can see her excellent work displayed in my forum avatar!

[Anian]

Looks very polished and judging from the team it really can't be bad.

[Tabata]

... damned - now it happened   

You got me hooked for this game!
                             
Looks really gooooood!
A cool team for a cool game about a cool lady ~ I MUST PLAY! 

[Mati256]

Count me as one of the hooked ones too!
You have gathered a fantastic team, please take this project to a fantastic end.

[Grim]

Absolutely beautiful!

[Nikolas]

Looks excellent! Not much else to say since I've worked with Shane and Nauris and know what they can do!

Congrats!

[Fitz]

Looks gorgeous - and sounds fun, too. Gotta love the short piece of narrative there.

[Daniel Thomas]

Looking good!
Nice touch with the 'Dalahäst'.

[CaptainD]

The nw art style is terrific! Hope development goes well.