A NEAR DAWN - Dark Humorous Psychological Thriller <Play the Prologue!>

Started by LeonDaydreamer, Sat 21/10/2017 15:42:29

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LeonDaydreamer



Hey guys! I don't know why I never posted here before, I love all AGS things!  :)
The works of Wadjet Eye Games, particularly the Blackwell series, is one of the things that inspired me most to make this game (slightly more than that is Broken Sword - my all time favorite game series!). I have been an adventure game fan all my life, and when I was 14 or so I picked up programming and kept wanting to make one myself. I was really terrible at art at the time, and wound up dropping programming altogether and going into art. Fast forward many years, and I somehow managed to put together this project! As an adventure game, the concept behind it is if you remove the little person walking around and directly interacting with things from a traditional adventure game, and make the art more cinematic - this is what you get, it's kind of a crossbreed between an Adventure Game and a Visual Novel where you are in control and can explore your environment. I hope you check it out and let me know what you think!




Update #10 ~ Mysteries and Science Fiction in A Near Dawn

Our KickStarter wrapped at 76% ~ We didn't quite reach our goal. It will be nice to take a little break and reflect on things. You can download the full Prologue for A Near Dawn FREE on Itch.io (Russian Version available, as well) / Steam / GooglePlay! (Android Version)










A Near Dawn is a visual adventure created by Leonid Pilchin. It is the first commercial project from Far-off Daydream Games.

A Near Dawn is an enjoyable yet devastating psychological thriller with amusing highs, gut-wrenching crashes, and mature themes. While grounded in reality, supernatural and science fiction elements will unfold as the story progresses. The opening sees our main character - Seattle-based attorney Sam Nichols - who seems to be experiencing disturbing psychological difficulties, exposed to progressively dire circumstances that threaten to unravel his reality and destroy those closest to him. Haunted by personal demons, with your law firm struggling and on the brink of collapse, you take the helm on an important new case involving a ruthless multinational corporation, defended by some of the vilest people you ever had the misfortune of knowing. The odds already seem stacked against you, but you will soon learn that things are not as they appear, as a deeper conspiracy begins to emerge. Where will you end up if you keep untangling the threads? You must be brave to uncover the truth.







This project is an interactive visual novel adventure featuring:
  • Beautiful artwork and animations rendered in 1080HD
  • Immersive cinematics with some frame-by-frame animation
  • Original music composed for the game
  • Fully voiced audio provided by exceptionally talented actors
  • Point and Click interface with puzzles to solve - the flow of this game is inspired by traditional adventure games
  • Dynamic decisions that alter the course of your interactions with others - rewards or consequences for your actions
  • Psychological tension - the main character has a darker personality who will come to the surface if you feed that darkness
  • Multiple endings - there is one true ending, but your successes or failures can take you off course
  • Episodic narrative - This is a full game, but it is part of an ambitious project with a far-reaching storyline

The plot will not progress without you, you are in control of the main character's actions at every turn. You will explore your environment and speak to other characters to learn about what is happening and what must be done. A key concept of this game was to give as much freedom and put as much detail into the content of the story as could be managed, as such you will have the option to skip important elements of the game not necessary for advancing the main plot if your character chooses to ignore them or fails to explore them. At the same time, you will not be able to move forward without resolving issues necessary for advancing the story along.


















































The stage is set - in fair Seattle, where we lay our scene.





The neighborhood diner near your workplace. Our story begins here with a chat between two of our protagonists over a lunch that goes terribly wrong.





Where, oh where could this be?





Writing & Programming - Leonid Pilchin
Character Art & Animation - Leonid Pilchin
Background Art - Alexander Kaloyan
Music - D.G.






PROLOGUE:

Writing - 100%
Character Art - 100%
Animation - 100%
CG Art - 100%
BG Art - 100%
Music - 100%
Voice Acting - 100%
UI - 100%
Programming - 100%







1. What do you think about the concept, pacing, and gameplay?
2. What are your impressions of the characters and story? Who is your favorite?
3. How do you like the art style?
4. Would you support this project on KickStarter?  :)


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Let us know what you think and wish us luck!

Mandle


Frodo

Wow, have to say, this looks absolutely gorgeous!  Very excited.  :cheesy:

You mention where to get the prologue.  But how will the final game be distributed?  Will it be DRM-free?
Have you considered submitting the game to GOG?  That's the best place for DRM-free games, and a game like this will do brilliantly!  :grin:


LeonDaydreamer

Quote from: Mandle on Sat 21/10/2017 17:15:28Watched the trailer and the music and voice acting are amazing!
Thanks Mandle! We really did the best we could with this project.  :)

Quote from: Frodo on Sat 21/10/2017 17:27:55Wow, have to say, this looks absolutely gorgeous!  Very excited.  :cheesy:

You mention where to get the prologue.  But how will the final game be distributed?  Will it be DRM-free?
Have you considered submitting the game to GOG?  That's the best place for DRM-free games, and a game like this will do brilliantly!  :grin:
Thanks so much Frodo!  :)
Yup, absolutely. I want nothing to do with DRMs, DRMs are lame.
So far, we have our Demo up on Itch.io, Steam, and Google Play, but I would for sure like to have it up on GOG as well. I didn't think of contacting them yet until just now. We'll see what they say...  :P

Let me know your thoughts if you guys have the chance to check it out some time!

LeonDaydreamer



We launched on KickStarter! Excitement! Fireworks!
Finally! This is my first ever KickStarter campaign (super nervous about it) - Please have a look at it and if there is anything you can do to help share or support it, we would greatly appreciate it!  :)

Frodo

Congrats on your first Kickstarter  :grin:

Wishing you lots of luck.  Backed it, of course.  :cheesy:

Mr Underhill


LeonDaydreamer

Quote from: Frodo on Tue 24/10/2017 19:04:21
Congrats on your first Kickstarter  :grin:

Wishing you lots of luck.  Backed it, of course.  :cheesy:
Thanks so much Frodo!  :)

Quote from: Mr Underhill on Tue 24/10/2017 23:16:14
Yay. Go get'em! You're off to a great start. :-D
Thanks Mr Underhill!  :)

I hope this goes well....

LeonDaydreamer



Hey guys, a little KickStarter Update - we received a lot of support in the first day and are up to 20% of our funding goal!
Also! Some one super enthusiastic about the project supported it on the highest tier!! One of the rewards for that one is adding a new character into the game based on their idea. So that should be interesting!  :)

[This is our KickStarter Campaign]

Wish us luck!

LeonDaydreamer

Does anyone watch Pouchmon?  :)



We are up to 1/4 funded on our KickStarter Campaign  :)  Have a peek if you haven't already, we have some pretty snazzy rewards.

LeonDaydreamer

In my KickStarter Update #2, I talk about how A Near Dawn got started - from text-based adventure to fully graphical adventure game! :)
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1760145755/a-near-dawn-visual-adventure-game/posts/2027643


Frodo

Would really love to play the original text version, as well as the graphical version.  :cool:

LeonDaydreamer

Quote from: Frodo on Sun 29/10/2017 20:15:45
Would really love to play the original text version, as well as the graphical version.  :cool:
I made it in Twine. Maybe I should release it some time?  :)
I went way past where the Prologue ends. I don't think I would share that far, to save the mystery for the actual graphic adventure. It's an interesting idea, though. I'll have to take a look if it's in decent enough shape to release a text-based version of the Prologue!

Frodo


LeonDaydreamer

Quote from: Frodo on Mon 30/10/2017 00:44:40
You NEED to release the text version.  :cheesy:
Okay, I'll do it!  :)
But you may regret it... it doesn't have the visual kick of the graphical version.


Frodo

Quote from: LeonDaydreamer on Mon 30/10/2017 20:28:24
Quote from: Frodo on Mon 30/10/2017 00:44:40
You NEED to release the text version.  :cheesy:
Okay, I'll do it!  :)
But you may regret it... it doesn't have the visual kick of the graphical version.

Yippee!  :grin:

Thankyou Leon  :wink:

LeonDaydreamer

Quote from: ClickClickClick on Mon 30/10/2017 21:03:16
One's own fantasy has the best graphics.
I sincerely hope that's true in this case.  :)

Quote from: Frodo on Wed 01/11/2017 12:19:41Yippee!  :grin:
Thankyou Leon :wink:



Alright guys... I have never been less excited to release a game.  :P
Since you asked for it, here is the original text-based prototype for Back To Reality A Near Dawn!

https://leondaydreamer.itch.io/a-near-dawn-text-prototype

I actually developed a good half to two-thirds of the game in Twine before going graphical, but to avoid spoilers I ended this version at where the Prologue ends. And without voice or graphics... that's really like 2 minutes of gameplay.  :P  -  But you can see how things changed, and I never had the introduction where he is running in the woods in the original (I came up with that to spruce up the Graphical version). Also you will find that there is no mention of Richard Grave, because he came around later as the story developed more.

So, really, this is just a sad, lonely WIP from two years ago!  :)

Frodo

That was really good, I enjoyed it!  :grin:

I feel bad for poor Ally, the waitress.  :sad:

Thanks for sharing.  :cheesy:

LeonDaydreamer

Quote from: Frodo on Wed 01/11/2017 20:35:23
That was really good, I enjoyed it!  :grin:

I feel bad for poor Ally, the waitress.  :sad:

Thanks for sharing.  :cheesy:
Haha, thanks Frodo!  :)
I'm glad you liked it. But what about Harry? I feel bad for everyone... even though I did this to them.
No problem! I actually put it up then I realized it wasn't mobile-friendly and for like half an hour I was trying to fix it (adding support to my text-based prototype...), but my computer crashed part-way and corrupted some of the file I was working on. In the end I decided I spent enough time on this for now.  :)

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