Project Birthplace:New Progress Report

[Glenjamin]

Project Birthplace's Pre-Alpha demo is available now!
https://glen-devan.itch.io/project-birthplace




Set the mood with one of Project Birthplace's demo tracks:

https://soundcloud.com/glenanddevan/project-birthplace-demos-shadetown-acoustic-v1

Project Birthplace is a point-and-click survival game about a young man on a quest to learn about and track down his missing father.


Welcome to Shadetown!

The first stop on Dan's journey: Shadetown, is populated by eccentric robed figures called "Shades". A shade's enchanted robe obscures their voice, height, face, and gender, allowing them to live anonymously.



Is this truly a utopian society free of discrimination and bias, or an unsustainable cult of hedonists and cowards?

Features:

• Day night cycle to bring the world to life
• A cast of over 25 unique characters with backstories, personalities, and daily schedules
• A dense, intricate open world
• Meticulously designed areas where every object is interact-able
• Secret variables which manage in-game permutations for hundreds of possibilities!

Why scumm?

I find modern western role-playing games to be too combat centric. At the same time, in many scumm based games most of the verbs go largely unused.
My goal in designing the game's mechanics was to have every verb have an equally entertaining/valuable reaction per object.

What's next?

Project Birthplace is scheduled for a pre-alpha release February 10th. The main goal of the demo is to show you the intended scale of the world and how the features are currently implemented. Tell your friends!

Screenshots:











To help ensure development continues, consider checking out our Patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/glenanddevan

Rewards include: In-depth monthly progress reports, early access to updates of the game, and a weekly podcast, Q&A, and even your likeness becoming a character in future updates!

[Slasher]

This looks terrific.......

[Monsieur OUXX]

I was a bit spooked off by this "pre-alpha demo" thing at first (reminded me of the darkest hours of OSD) but the screenshots are promising.
Are the waves/water level animated for realsies?

[Glenjamin]

I was a bit spooked off by this "pre-alpha demo" thing at first (reminded me of the darkest hours of OSD) but the screenshots are promising.

The idea of the pre-alpha is to give you an idea of what the mechanics are and how they're implemented.

The demo will contain:

• Three characters with full day/night cycles.
• 75% of Shadetown's full map. (Mainly the implemented/stable parts)
• The intro to Shadetown's main quest.
• 5 set-piece events
• Some but not all objects will have reactions to the 8 verbs
• Sarah's mechanics are not yet implemented

In short, you'll be getting bite-sized glimpses of how the game will work as a whole.

Are the waves/water level animated for realsies?

Whats that? You wanted the long answer? Gotchya! The main game is going to be divided into three sections:

• Towns - Like shadetown, this is where the majority of human NPC's will be.
• Grottoes - Similar to dungeons in other games, this is where many monsters and treasures reside.
• The wilderness - Links the areas of the game. Harsh conditions give the game a survival edge. Make sure you pack enough food to get from town to town!

So Shadetown's main grottoes mostly take place underwater! The underwater levels have full swimming animations. Working on some bubbles/fish to bring it to life.

[Glenjamin]

Hey everyone,

Ever wanted to listen to two egomaniacs talk about Project Birthplace?

That's odd, since the game was only announced yesterday...

But you're in luck, because Devan & I do a weekly podcast where we talk loosely about our lives and plan out our next steps when it comes to Project Birthplace.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/progress-report-24335427
(Still free listening even though its a patreon link)



I'll be uploading episodes two and three later on today.

-Glenjamin

[mkennedy]

Nice work. Does this game take place in the same world as "Project Beach House" and if so will any of the characters from that game be appearing in this one?

[Glenjamin]

Nice work. Does this game take place in the same world as "Project Beach House" and if so will any of the characters from that game be appearing in this one?

Glad you asked! Project Birthplace is a direct sequel to Project Beach House. The main characters: Dan and Sarah are still front and center, although Sarah may be taking on a new role in the game.

The cultists who kidnapped Dan at the end are the leaders of the five main cults that appear on the island. The Shade, named Francis, is the leader of the children of the void. You'll be able to find him giving sermons in the temple at the center of shadetown.

Many new and interesting characters await you in Project Birthplace. 

In regards to Project Beach House:

There was what I'd call a "Silent release" where I realized that the last update I uploaded was probably as good as I could make it. I was inexperienced at the project's inception, leaving less room for improvement.
I couldn't have done any of my subsequent work including Project Birthplace if I never worked on Project Beach House with Slasher. Though I'm often critical of it I hold it in high regard.

That being said I plan on releasing one final update which will add a crucial function relating to Project birthplace, giving players a good reason to go back and learn the story. No solid ETA on that.


Also a special bonus:

We're going to be showing a pre-alpha demo at a local convention this Saturday! This will help us address any important responses/issues players come across before launch.

[Glenjamin]

Hello everyone!

January's long gone, so here's everything that was implemented during those cold winter nights.

This is a sample of of what the "Cultist" tier will get at the end of every month. So if you're interested in the nitty gritty of Project Birthplace's development, consider checking out the patreon.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/january-in-24435495


January in review

January was one of the most productive parts of Project Birthplace's development. Having winter break right at the start of the game's dev was very lucky. Hopefully things will still go smoothly since school and work have continued.

Events:

Not quite January but February 2nd was the winter play expo. Special thanks to everyone who came out and played “Escape the Room?”. It was great seeing you all!

Major updates:
A majority of Shadetown (The current update's main area) has been implemented
Added room for the first grotto and wilderness areas
Re-tooled the scumm interface to have only 8 verbs
day/night cycle structure is now functional
Dan and Sarah's costume mechanics can be accessed via wardrobe
NPCs can be moved from location to location and animate according to the time of day
Character's now have a numerical value for miscellaneous animations, meaning their miscellaneous animations change depending on what they're wearing.
Added variables for Health, Energy, Character relationships, Societal relationships
Added framework for dream sequences, mind altering substances, and interdem variable tracking


Design updates:
No more bland Tee's. Dan and Sarah now have cool new default costumes
Re-skinned dialogue system to fit the game's themes
Added broken versions of many in-game items
Functioning main menu will change depending on the player's location
Shades now have their own unique “Face” patterns while remaining indistinguishable to the untrained eye.
Fog now appears in shadetown in the morning.
Angels have attack animations
Lighting changes according to day/night cycle

Specifics:
Added Anchovy, Gio, and Cheryl's setpiece event
Stocked Cliffside imports' shelves with mead
Added marco's subs and fries kitchen appliances
Added seven new NPCs
Three NPCs have day/night cycle behaviors
Francis will introduce the player to Shadetown's main questline from the temple
Added the first meditation event
Added framework for the “exasperated shade's night quest”

[SarahLiz]

Oooo!  This looks intriguing.  I like the simple graphics style, and the dialog options alone are everything I ever (secretly) wanted in an adventure game.  If you can't say "Eff off grandma" here, where else can you, really??   


Can't wait to play!

[Glenjamin]

Thank you for the replies and views so far everyone!

Dan's a little nervous for his big day on the 10th, so he's preparing with a little liquid courage:

(Yes, I just wanted an excuse to post this animation ya turkies.)

If you can't say "Eff off grandma" here, where else can you, really??

I'm glad you like it! It's important to me that you're allowed to play the way you want and say how you feel. A lot of the characters will be less-than friendly, so it's important that you're verbally armed.

Most of the dialogues are designed with a gradient of manners followed by (or preceded by, not sure yet) conditional options.

For example:

• Hello, It's really nice to meet you!
• Good evening.
• Hi.
• Need something bucko?
• I didn't realize I was wearing my "Idiots come talk to me!" shirt today.
• [conditional]

Conditional options are context based. What the player knows, previous events, even what the player is wearing can add conditional options.

Can't wait for you all to see VeEeEeEery sOoOoOoOon.

[Glenjamin]

WHATS THAT?

OVER ON THE HORIZON!

A new hecking episode of The Progress Report with Glen & Devan! Sorry to get your hopes up pal.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/24559565

(Still free listening despite the patreon link)

We're very sleepy this episode so the topics are all over the place. We did get around to the pre-alpha and the whatnot.

I'm also not going to bump the thread every episode in an effort to keep the thread from feeling spammy. You know where to find us. 

[Glenjamin]

It's time!



Come download the game at our itch.io. DRM free.

https://glen-devan.itch.io/project-birthplace

Thanks to everyone for checking out the project. Here's to many more awesome updates!

[Glenjamin]

Hey everyone,

We've got a brand new episode of the podcast! We talk a lot about our plans for the future, upcoming games, and more.

https://www.patreon.com/posts/25105206

(Still free listening despite patreon link)