If On A Winter's Night, Four Travelers

[Laura Hunt]

IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT, FOUR TRAVELERS

or

A tale of dark and troubling things

(A free point-and-click adventure anthology in four acts.)

A train. A masked ball. Four strangers and their stories.

THE SILENT ROOM

(Progress: complete.)

In a luxurious hotel room in Rome, freshly arrived from Turin, Carlo awaits for his lover Patrick to arrive. Yet even in the wild and roaring 1920s, these rendezvous must be held in secret, and the tension of meeting in constant hiding is taking its toll.

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/WK5c6No.gif[/imgzoom]

(Main influences: The Talented Mr. Ripley, Inland Empire, and the unsolved mystery of Room 1046.)

THE SLOW VANISHING OF LADY WINTERBOURNE

(Progress: 40%)

Lady Winterbourne has lost her husband in a tragic accident. Now letters from pretenders to her title -- and her vast fortune -- keep arriving every day at her mansion, but the only thing she's interested in is the bottle of laudanum she keeps in her cabinet.

(Main influences: my own experiences with substance abuse, loss, grief, and suicidal ideation.)

THE NAMELESS RITUAL

(Progress: 20%)

Downtrodden by the racism of the American medical establishment, Dr. Jordan Samuels has resorted to the Dark Arts in an attempt to achieve the success denied to him by his peers. However, when the nightmares begin, he starts thinking he might have bitten off more than he can chew.

(Main influences: The Knick (TV show), Doctor Faustus, Twin Peaks, Aleister Crowley, any stories in which somebody finds Something Beyond Human Understanding that drives them to insanity such as The King in Yellow, Le Horla, etc.)

IF ON A WINTER'S NIGHT

(Progress: 50%)

Laylah likes her job, but sometimes she yearns for a bit of variety. So any time the opportunity arises for her to experience something different from her daily routine, she will take it -- even if it means going against her very powerful bosses' orders.

(Main influences: Dr. Terror's House of Horrors.)

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/6mhQav9.png[/imgzoom]

Laura Hunt: coding, writing, music & sound design, game design.

Thomas Möhring: art, animations, cutscenes, game design.

Additional music (so far!):

- Jack Stillman & Orchestra, At peace with the world (Irving Berlin, 1926). Restored mp3 transfer of original recording licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC 2.5 by the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.

- Walter Scanlan, Always (Irving Berlin, 1925). Restored mp3 transfer of original recording licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC 2.5 by the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.

- Gerluz, Serenade for Strings Op. 22 - II. Menuetto (Antonin Dvorak, 1875).  Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 3.0.

- Emanuel Salvador, 3 Old Viennese Dances - I. Liebesleid (Fritz Kreisler, 1910). Licensed under Creative Commons CC BY 3.0.

- Gnossiene No. 1 (Erik Satie, ca. 1890). Piano performance by Edward Rosser, from public domain recording. Harp performance arranged by Laura Hunt from MIDI file by unknown sequencer.

- Lady Winterbourne's Theme by Laura Hunt, inspired by Rachmaninoff's Prelude in C# Minor Op. 3, No. 2.


This post will be updated with new screenshots as we have more to show for the following acts!

[Mandle]

An anthology adventure game with strong horror elements?!

Where have you been all my life?!

[Laura Hunt]

Hahaha

I feel that I should mention, in order to temper expectations and avoid future disappointments, that there is no inventory and the game is mostly task-based rather than puzzle-based, with a strong focus, like my previous games, on narrative and emotional impact rather than gameplay. Again, this doesn't mean that it'll be a passive "interactive experience" or a "visual novel" or anything of the sort, but at the same time, don't expect much in the way of riddles or brain teasers

[cat]

Is this in any way related to Italo Calvino's book, or only a pun on the title?

[Laura Hunt]

Is this in any way related to Italo Calvino's book, or only a pun on the title?

Only the title, the "stories-within-a-story" format, and maybepossiblylikely an in-game reference or two as a wink to anybody who has read the book

[TheFrighter]

And it have a cool photography, also!

(Main influences: my own experiences with substance abuse, loss, grief, and suicidal ideation.)

What?!

_

[Cassiebsg]

Cool, nice to finally see a thread for this game! 
I must admit. I had to zoom in the last picture to make sure the guy had clothes on!   

[Laura Hunt]

Cool, nice to finally see a thread for this game! 
I must admit. I had to zoom in the last picture to make sure the guy had clothes on!   

Hahaha you're not the first Hopefully nobody will play at 1x but you never know!

[Kastchey]

I love the concept which resembles a book of horror short stories made point&click, and the artwork is stunning. Looking forward to this!

[Jack]

Nice background art!

[eri0o]

I really like the art and premises of this game. Can't wait for it. 

I am cool with narrative and emotional impact

[Laura Hunt]

Thanks, guys! Feeling extra pressured now to live up to the expectations

[milkanannan]

This looks so cool! Good luck guys!

[Creamy]

Looks and sounds awesome.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

That's a brillant nerve-wracking movie. My sister in law walked out of the screening.

[imsomnia212]

I really love the art, I don't know why but it reminds me of habbo (I don't know if you know what game is) and the premises of the game have a lot of potential, can't wait for it!

[Laura Hunt]

I really love the art, I don't know why but it reminds me of habbo

Ahahaha now, that's a comparison I wasn't expecting to hear

Looks and sounds awesome.

The Talented Mr. Ripley

That's a brillant nerve-wracking movie. My sister in law walked out of the screening.

Yes! The artist went through a bit of an obsession with that movie. At the same time, I was watching Inland Empire for like the 6th time. I don't even know what's come out of this combination of influences in the end. I guess we'll know once people play it!

[Laura Hunt]

We have a logo now! This is getting serious.

[imgzoom]https://s.put.re/DnoYqWm5.png[/imgzoom]

[TheFrighter]

I'm really curious about the italian part! Who helped you in that?

_

[Deabriel]

We have a logo now! This is getting serious.

[imgzoom]https://s.put.re/DnoYqWm5.png[/imgzoom]

I really love your logo!
I hope this don't bother you but I wanted to "fix" some things (pixel clusters or perspective mistakes)
So here is:
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/6mhQav9.png[/imgzoom]
I hope you like it

[Laura Hunt]

I'm really curious about the italian part! Who helped you in that?

_

I don't understand, help me with what?  The chapter simply takes place in a room in a fictional hotel in Rome sometime in the 1920s and there are a couple of words in Italian thrown in for colour, but the dialogue is in English

[Laura Hunt]

We have a logo now! This is getting serious.

[imgzoom]https://s.put.re/DnoYqWm5.png[/imgzoom]

I really love your logo!
I hope this don't bother you but I wanted to "fix" some things (pixel clusters or perspective mistakes)
So here is:
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/6mhQav9.png[/imgzoom]
I hope you like it

Thanks, glad you like it  I'll show your suggestions to the artist and he'll let me know what he thinks!

[shaun9991]

This looks extremely interesting and absolutely beautiful!! Great work Laura & team Very intrigued.

[Laura Hunt]

This looks extremely interesting and absolutely beautiful!! Great work Laura & team Very intrigued.

Thanks, Shaun! Much appreciated

[TheFrighter]

I don't understand, help me with what?  The chapter simply takes place in a room in a fictional hotel in Rome sometime in the 1920s and there are a couple of words in Italian thrown in for colour, but the dialogue is in English

Ah, I thought you had documented about old Italia or asking to somebody!

_

[Haggis]

Now this looks a little bit special, add to watch list (in my head). 

[Cookie_Wood]

The atmosphere is already really nice ! I love it !

[Laura Hunt]

First sneak peek from Act II, The Slow Vanishing of Lady Winterbourne.

Sorry that this one isn't scalable like the others! An actual in-game screenshot would of course be cropped with a 320x200 ratio, so we thought this time we'd show how things look from the artist's perspective before things go into the engine

This one will also go on twitter in a couple of days. Feel free to follow us there if I haven't yet pestered you about it!

[eri0o]

Needs thunders! I love the darkness in this image

[Laura Hunt]

Needs thunders! I love the darkness in this image

[rongel]

First sneak peek from Act II, The Slow Vanishing of Lady Winterbourne.

That is simply a gorgeous picture!

The graphical style is perfect, keep up the good work.

[Laura Hunt]

First sneak peek from Act II, The Slow Vanishing of Lady Winterbourne.

That is simply a gorgeous picture!

The graphical style is perfect, keep up the good work.

Thank you!

[Olleh19]

Looks very promising Laura! I would have guessed it was "pixelshuh" who did the art if i didn't know, similar style

[Matti]

This looks very nice! Good luck with the development.

[Flugeldufel]

Very nice atmosphere, great style!

[Laura Hunt]

Added this screenshot to the main post. No more sneak peeks until Act III!

[imgzoom]https://s.put.re/2VVnqCER.png[/imgzoom]

[Laura Hunt]

Here's a playlist I made with some of my favourite late 20s/30s romantic ballads (and some that I only discovered while doing research for the game) to get us in the right mood for working on Act I: The Silent Room. Playlist for Act II coming soon!

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2CnhhU51vQCf3sM1akr4iw?si=Qy6w2aZGRAWjxYYygYI8Jw



Enjoy!

[lorenzo]

I was sure I had left a comment on this thread, but apparently I didn't.

I love the idea of an anthology of adventure games. In fact, I've wanted to do something similar for a long time, but never did. I have enough trouble finishing a single game, let alone more than one.

I love the screenshots, great use of colours. I especially like that rainy one, is so gloomy and atmospheric!

Regarding the first story. Italy in the 1920s was far from the roaring 20s -- in fact, that decade is a mess, with the March on Rome, the rise of Fascism and so on. But the story you're telling seems more like a personal one, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Best of luck with development!

[Laura Hunt]

I was sure I had left a comment on this thread, but apparently I didn't.

I love the idea of an anthology of adventure games. In fact, I've wanted to do something similar for a long time, but never did. I have enough trouble finishing a single game, let alone more than one.

It's been a weird development process, to be honest! At first it was like, let's just make 3 or 4 super short mini interactive stories, but the ideas just kept piling on, and next thing you know, the initial idea to "just make a game in like, three months" turned into "ok, so... 1 year? maybe?"

I love the screenshots, great use of colours. I especially like that rainy one, is so gloomy and atmospheric!

Thank you, so lovely to hear!

Regarding the first story. Italy in the 1920s was far from the roaring 20s -- in fact, that decade is a mess, with the March on Rome, the rise of Fascism and so on. But the story you're telling seems more like a personal one, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Indeed! The setting is merely meant to convey a mood, rather than a historical snapshot, it it makes sense. There are a couple of historical references for general context, including the music, but that's about it; everything else is on the more intimate/personal side, as you say

Best of luck with development!

Thank you!

[lorenzo]

It's been a weird development process, to be honest! At first it was like, let's just make 3 or 4 super short mini interactive stories, but the ideas just kept piling on, and next thing you know, the initial idea to "just make a game in like, three months" turned into "ok, so... 1 year? maybe?"

Haha, isn't that how it always happens? These things never go according to plan.

The setting is merely meant to convey a mood, rather than a historical snapshot, it it makes sense.

Makes perfect sense to me! A bit like when Victorian London gets chosen more for the foggy, mysterious atmosphere than for historical reasons.

[Laura Hunt]

The playlist for Act II is here for your enjoyment:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/517bp54ku7SSrpad9aeJhd

[selmiak]

these screenshots are gorgeous! I'll be watching out for this game! Horror shorts are always a good thing to play

[Laura Hunt]

these screenshots are gorgeous! I'll be watching out for this game! Horror shorts are always a good thing to play

Thanks! However, a lot of people seem to be under the impression that this is a horror game, so I'm feeling compelled to clarify that it's not. Sure it's dark, and there are horror elements to it, especially in the third act, but I would never call it a horror game as a whole. Just so we're all on the same page

[Laura Hunt]

It's been a loooong time without any updates, but between us not wanting to share too much because SPOILERS and the fact that Act II has grown way beyond our predictions and we still aren't even close to finishing it, there just isn't that much stuff to show off.

However!

[imgzoom]https://img.itch.zone/aW1hZ2UvNjY5OTg4LzM3NDE5MTkuZ2lm/original/%2FMDAjZ.gif[/imgzoom]

(actual game resolution is 320x200, but I made the capture at 640x400. Also, the quality of the gif obviously doesn't represent actual in-game quality )

[Darth Mandarb]

Looks great!

Can you please update the first post to make sure the screenshots are showing? I couldn't see them (they are in the code, but aren't rendering).

Thanks!

[Cassiebsg]

Wow, that looks awesome! 
Great work!

@Darth Mandrab
Funny, they load fine for me. You sure it's not your ISP hiccuping?

[Laura Hunt]

Looks great!

Can you please update the first post to make sure the screenshots are showing? I couldn't see them (they are in the code, but aren't rendering).

Thanks!

You mean the ones from s.put.re? They're showing for me without any issues

[Laura Hunt]

Wow, that looks awesome! 
Great work!

Thanks!

@Darth Mandrab
Funny, they load fine for me. You sure it's not your ISP hiccuping?

Could be... I had an issue for a while in which images from certain sites like Discord wouldn't load on my work laptop and it had something to do with our firewall or DNS server or who knows... It got solved eventually.

[milkanannan]

Anticipation level 3000 for this game! Hurry it up you two!

[ManicMatt]

Great crouching animation!

Sorry if this was already covered in the thread, but did you draw this scene with more colour and turn down the saturation or work with these colours from the start?

[Laura Hunt]

Great crouching animation!

Sorry if this was already covered in the thread, but did you draw this scene with more colour and turn down the saturation or work with these colours from the start?

I'm not the artist! I don't know how Thomas creates his magic and I don't ask too many questions

[ManicMatt]

I heard he uses Pixel Logic MagicianBand 2.3 on his MagicBook Pro.

[Creamy]

So many details with so few pixels 

[Laura Hunt]

I posted this on twitter, but I think it would also make a nice update for the thread

A lot has changed since Thomas came up with the initial roster of characters for the game! So far, neither Dr. Samuels (first on the left) nor Leilah (last on the right) have changed much, yet the others...

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/zKhOuHU.gif[/imgzoom]

Lady Winterbourne's outfit evolved from a princess-like gown to something more fitting for a Parisian bohemian heiress with a taste for laudanum and Satie. She's my favourite character, and Thomas was really acommodating of all my requests to make her look just like I pictured her:

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/2xLbiEl.png[/imgzoom]

As for the third character from the left, he was soon replaced with a series of designs inspired by The Talented Mr. Ripley and re-imagined for the late 1920s. Charlie became Carlo, and Patrick was chosen over Fabrizio to be his lover/secret American affair. Sorry, Fabrizio; we hardly knew ye:

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/eZjZGZ7.png[/imgzoom]
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/VT3mjd8.png[/imgzoom]

The portrait of Dr. Jordan Samuels was very much inspired by Dr. Algernon Edwards, the character played by Andre Holland on The Knick. We won't be using Sierra-style portraits in the end, however, since we find Lucasarts-style dialogue looks better integrated and cleaner.

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/NfLXLpf.png[/imgzoom]
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/b0Yiho2.png[/imgzoom]

And that's all I have for now! It's a hard job for only two people, but we're making great progress. Hopefully there'll be new material soon

[Cassiebsg]

Great update!

Shame you dropped the portraits, That's one gorgeous one! 

[Laura Hunt]

Great update!

Shame you dropped the portraits, That's one gorgeous one! 

Thank you! Yeah, that was our first big "kill your darlings" moment, we loved how they looked but once I switched to over-head dialogue and saw just how much better it fit with our backgrounds, aesthetic, etc, the decision was clear

[Athanor]

These screenshots ooze atmosphere! The way you work with light and shadow looks absolutely stunning, I seriously don't know anything of similar quality. Beautiful!

[Laura Hunt]

These screenshots ooze atmosphere! The way you work with light and shadow looks absolutely stunning, I seriously don't know anything of similar quality. Beautiful!

That's flattering, thank you so much!

[Kastchey]

I concur with the others, this looks so beautiful. And I think you made a good decision with the portraits, Lucasarts style speech suits the isometric view and the subtle play of lights and shadows much better.

[Laura Hunt]

I concur with the others, this looks so beautiful. And I think you made a good decision with the portraits, Lucasarts style speech suits the isometric view and the subtle play of lights and shadows much better.

It's definitely more immersive; sometimes having a huge face pop up every time a character says or thinks something can feel a bit jarring, depending on the kind of game/atmosphere you're going for Thanks for your kind words!

[Laura Hunt]

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/e58p6tb.gif[/imgzoom]

Grief weighs heavy on the soul. But laudanum helps, for a while. Makes the pain go away, for a while. And brings sleepless dreams, sometimes...


(real game resolution is 320x200; gif was captured at 640x400)

[Cassiebsg]

How can you guys put so much beautiful detail into so few pixels is a mystery to me.
Keep up the good work. 

[ukz530]

Cool! Animation or atmosphere is so cool. I'm looking forward to the next thread. 

[Laura Hunt]

How can you guys put so much beautiful detail into so few pixels is a mystery to me.

And you should see the stuff that we don't want to show because we're saving the best for the game! There are some animations there that when he sent me the spritesheets I was like how in HELL did you do that... I'm the biggest fan of his work myself tbh, hahah. Hope my writing will be half as good

Keep up the good work. 

Cool! Animation or atmosphere is so cool. I'm looking forward to the next thread. 

Thanks for the kind words!

[Creamy]

But laudanum helps, for a while. Makes the pain go away, for a while. And brings sleepless dreams, sometimes...

I get some House of Mirth vibes even if Lady Winterbourne doesn't seem to face the same problems as Lily Bart.

We won't be using Sierra-style portraits in the end, however, since we find Lucasarts-style dialogue looks better integrated and cleaner.

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/NfLXLpf.png[/imgzoom]

Neat portrait. I agree that you probably don't need them with your skilled writing and such animations.

[Ali]

This looks fantastic.

[Laura Hunt]

But laudanum helps, for a while. Makes the pain go away, for a while. And brings sleepless dreams, sometimes...

I get some House of Mirth vibes even if Lady Winterbourne doesn't seem to face the same problems as Lily Bart.

I've never read it, but going by the summary, I see what you mean

Neat portrait. I agree that you probably don't need them with your skilled writing and such animations.

This looks fantastic.

Thank you! *curtsies*

[LimpingFish]

This looks very nice! Seriously! Looking forward to playing the finished game!

[selmiak]

the background is still very beautiful but that animation is so smooooooth I can hear her clothes rustle already

[KyriakosCH]

This looks awesome!

[Laura Hunt]

Thank you all so much!

[KyriakosCH]

Inland Empire

I usually dislike Lynch, but I liked Inland Empire.

[Crimson Wizard]

I usually dislike Lynch, but I liked Inland Empire.

By coincidence, I just watched Inland Empire recently, and it made my head hurt a little. And these Lynchian jump scares, lol...

--nightmare warning--

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkB2cqOTKDc

[close]

I had some guess about whole story, but maybe it was my personal imagining and not what David Lynch actually meant.

I think "Mullholland Drive" is my favourite film, out of his "surreal" films. It's also the one which is easiest to understand (you only have to watch it twice and things begin to make almost perfect sense )

[KyriakosCH]

I usually dislike Lynch, but I liked Inland Empire.

By coincidence, I just watched Inland Empire recently, and it made my head hurt a little. And these Lynchian jump scares, lol...

--nightmare warning--

Spoiler

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkB2cqOTKDc

[close]

I had some guess about whole story, but maybe it was my personal imagining and not what David Lynch actually meant.

I think "Mullholland Drive" is my favourite film, out of his "surreal" films. It's also the one which is easiest to understand (you only have to watch it twice and things begin to make almost perfect sense )

^_^

A bit off-topic, so inside the spoiler (my thoughts about the Inland Empire plot)

Spoiler

I assumed that the trauma-ridden east european girl was watching some sitcom/other on tv and hypnotized herself into thinking she was the heroine of that show (played in the film by Laura Dern). I did like the metaphor "Inland Empire"; very suggestive. I mean, if you are in some massive unknown empire that is landlocked, you are unlikely to ever return 
That said, I suppose that Lynch usually doesn't have a very specific account of everything/how all ties up, and rarely (eg MH drive) is one readily available.

[close]

[Laura Hunt]

I absolutely hated Inland Empire the first time I watched it. I left the cinema ranting and raving about how David Lynch had lost it and how this was just a brain fart and he'd gone off the deep end and he wasn't even trying anymore. I've now watched it 5 times and it's one of my favourite movies. Go figure.

(I still hate

Spoiler

Twin Peaks: The Return, though. What a pile of crap... Make a movie with the first episode and the two final ones and throw everything else in the trash.)

[close]

I like Mulholland Drive, but sometimes it's too obvious that it was meant to be a pilot episode for a TV series, and that some characters were meant to have wider arcs (Mr. Roque, the two guys at Winkie's) so they were left without much purpose in the movie. In many ways I prefer Lost Highway because it has a near-perfect balance between comprehensibility (not that it really matters, but you can make sense of it) and plain off-the-wall Lynch weirdness.

A bit off-topic, so inside the spoiler (my thoughts about the Inland Empire plot)

Spoiler

I assumed that the trauma-ridden east european girl was watching some sitcom/other on tv and hypnotized herself into thinking she was the heroine of that show (played in the film by Laura Dern). I did like the metaphor "Inland Empire"; very suggestive. I mean, if you are in some massive unknown empire that is landlocked, you are unlikely to ever return 
That said, I suppose that Lynch usually doesn't have a very specific account of everything/how all ties up, and rarely (eg MH drive) is one readily available.

[close]

Spoiler

That makes a lot of sense, especially when you know that Inland Empire is a relatively poor area in Los Angeles where unemployment and crime are much higher than the average, and given Lynch's penchant for showing the hidden dark aspects underneath everyday life (Blue Velvet, Twin Peaks) or Hollywood glamour (Mulholland Drive), I wouldn't be surprised if he chose this title with the same idea in mind: in the middle of glamorous, star-studded L.A. you have this neighborhood where the people that didn't make it end up.

Also, Lynch himself announced the movie as being about "a woman in trouble". Most people take this woman to be Laura Dern's character(s), but I agree that it's more likely the Polish woman in the hotel room. I do believe, however, that The Phantom is real and not a figment of her imagination or some kind of metaphor.

[close]

[KyriakosCH]

^ I like the Busey scene in LH 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0SvEUa_F5M

[Darth Mandarb]

Okay okay let's get back on point here

[Laura Hunt]

Alright, here's a tiny little something else. With sound this time!

(Sorry if the volume is a bit low, it's literally my first time using OBS Studio. Except for that other first time some two years ago when I thought maybe I wanted to do some streaming on Twitch. So it's not literally my first time. ANYWAY.)

Parigi, o cara noi lasceremo
La vita uniti trascorreremo
De' corsi affanni compenso avrai
La tua salute rifiorirà
Sospiro e luce tu mi sarai
Tutto il futuro ne arriderà

[lorenzo]

La Traviata?
A small typo: it should be "La tua salute rifiorirà", not "rifiorià".

[Laura Hunt]

La Traviata?

La Traviata indeed!

A small typo: it should be "La tua salute rifiorirà", not "rifiorià".

Hah, that's what I get for trusting google. Fixed, thanks!

[KyriakosCH]

Dreamy

[javixblack]

Woooooow, it look beautiful! Just a silly and obvious question... it will be a commercial game?

[Laura Hunt]

Woooooow, it look beautiful! Just a silly and obvious question... it will be a commercial game?

Nope! It will be 100% free.

[Laura Hunt]

We have a fully operational Pause menu now, with mouseover sounds and everything. Exciting times!

[Slasher]

When do you expect a release?

The game looks brilliant and I want to play it now 

Great work...

[Laura Hunt]

When do you expect a release?

The game looks brilliant and I want to play it now 

Great work...

Thanks! We're aiming for an October-November release, but that's what we said last year, so who knows

[Yanek_Crispbread]

This looks absolutely fantastic. Beautiful art.

[WHAM]

Hadn't checked in on the GiP board in a while and the first thing I see is this gem in the making!
A rare and quite unusual choice of perspective gives the art a unique look, and I really like the atmosphere on display here. Character design and animation is a prime example of how much can be done with very little in the way of pixel count.

Definitely keeping an eye out for this for when it comes out, and I wish all the best in the project!

[Grim]

What a lovely looking game

[Laura Hunt]

What a lovely looking game

Oh thank you! The Cat Lady is one of my all-time favourite games, and one of the first that showed me it was possible to tackle serious themes such as depression or suicide in video games, which in turn motivated me to start fiddling with AGS. So thanks for the compliment and the motivation!

[FireFlower]

I like the art style of this game.

[Laura Hunt]

We have a proper main menu at last!



The parallax effect (using Ali's Smooth Scrolling & Parallax module) is a bit jerky because of the reduced gif framerate, but it should give an idea of how it'll look in-game

[Crimson Wizard]

I see you are definite to make your game as cinematic as possible

[Kastchey]

This looks simply stunning. Your tiny 2 man team never ceases to amaze!

[Laura Hunt]

I see you are definite to make your game as cinematic as possible

At this point, I'm sure that making a movie would have been easier

This looks simply stunning. Your tiny 2 man team never ceases to amaze!

Ahem, 2 person team, if you don't mind

(Thank you! <3)

[Cassiebsg]

Awesome! Love the menu! 

[Laura Hunt]

Awesome! Love the menu! 

Thanks! Looks nicer than those ugly grey buttons you guys had to deal with when testing it, that's for sure!

[Kastchey]

This looks simply stunning. Your tiny 2 man team never ceases to amaze!

Ahem, 2 person team, if you don't mind

(Thank you! <3)

I obviously meant it as a general term but yes, now that I think of it, you're absolutely right. That is a stupidly sexist wording...

[milkanannan]

Woooooow, it look beautiful! Just a silly and obvious question... it will be a commercial game?

Nope! It will be 100% free.

Great news for cheapskates like me but just out of curiosity ~ why go this route? The project looks professional and your team has logged so much time, why not explore the e-commerce side of platforms like Steam and make a few bucks off of it? Might bridge you into a rewarding new career.

[Hobo]

That main menu looks very smooth and impressive even in the .gif format. I'm really loving the overall polish and attention to detail that oozes from everything you've posted in this thread. It's also interesting to finally see an outside shot, I think I've only seen indoors scenes so far.

[Laura Hunt]

Nope! It will be 100% free.

Great news for cheapskates like me but just out of curiosity ~ why go this route? The project looks professional and your team has logged so much time, why not explore the e-commerce side of platforms like Steam and make a few bucks off of it? Might bridge you into a rewarding new career.

- Because monetizing your hobbies is the best way to guarantee that you'll end up hating them. I've always drawn a line between what I do to pay the bills, and what I do because I love it. The day I have to force myself to spend 12 hours coding in order to meet a deadline is the day my interest in game development will die.

- Because money is not the only reward for something into which you've put effort, passion and time. Getting paid for a gig was always nice because it meant free pizza and weed, but it never compared to people walking up to me and saying that my music had touched and inspired them in some way.

- Because I don't need the money (although that's not quite the case anymore now that I'm unemployed, but whatever) but many other indie devs do. This way, our game won't take away from other studios' potential earnings, as people won't have to choose whether to spend their money on IOAWN4T or something else. They can have both!

- Because it gives me the chance to be like "oh, you didn't like it? Alright, here's your money ba... OH WAIT LOL". I'm just mean like that. (j/k)

Note that this is only *my* position and that Thomas actually believed we should release it on a pay-what-you-want basis (which is not really possible anyway because of the NC-CC licensed music I've used), so if/when we do another game together it probably won't be free despite my reservations. But fair is fair, and since we've gone my way on this occasion, I'm willing to do it his way next.

[Ben X]

This whole game looks very impressive, and that train shot is especially dope! How did you make that, it feels like maybe a 3D scene (or at least one with some 3D elements) that has then been 2Dified?

[Laura Hunt]

Nope! It's all drawn by hand, and animated frame by frame

[Ben X]

Wow, impressive!

[Laura Hunt]

The music for the main menu is pretty much done, so I get to show some of my own work for a change Next step is finding an actual human violinist to play the violin parts!

[arj0n]

Impressive intro scene, love the four masks (assuming these are masks)

[Laura Hunt]

Impressive intro scene, love the four masks (assuming these are masks)

They are Thanks!

[Click'd]

Unless Kastchey misspelled his own name on the forums, there's a typo in the credits. But who knows, could be intentional.

[Kastchey]

If it was intentional, it wouldn't have been the first time 

[Matti]

Loving every update. I'm really looking forward to the game!

You're obviously putting a lot of effort and attention to detail into this and I think it will pay off well 

[Laura Hunt]

If it was intentional, it wouldn't have been the first time 

Of course it wasn't intentional! I was using an, erm, archaic transcription from Cyrillic and got them mixed up, rookie mistake, ahem. (fixed)

Loving every update. I'm really looking forward to the game!

You're obviously putting a lot of effort and attention to detail into this and I think it will pay off well 

Thank you and I hope so! I'm having the WORST case of writer's block right now and everything I come up with feels like trash, so I appreciate the encouragement

[Kastchey]

If it wasn't intentional it wouldn't have been the first time, either :>

[Creamy]

For a while, I also misread your name for:

Spoiler

[close]

Gorgeous title screen. Because the train goes so fast, I was expecting a more energetic song. Not that I dislike it 

[heltenjon]

A sad song accompanying an unstoppable train hurling through a bleak winter landscape. What a great and sadly beautiful way to make a contract with the player before the game has even started! 

[Laura Hunt]

If it wasn't intentional it wouldn't have been the first time, either :>

This I get, it's easy to make a typo. But... why would someone misspell your nickname on purpose? Just to be annoying?

Gorgeous title screen. Because the train goes so fast, I was expecting a more energetic song. Not that I dislike it 

It was a tough decision! I tried a lot of different stuff, some more energetic, some more sinister, but ultimately I wanted the music to contrast with the visuals, rather than reinforce them. I think it makes for a more interesting mood

A sad song accompanying an unstoppable train hurling through a bleak winter landscape. What a great and sadly beautiful way to make a contract with the player before the game has even started! 

[Click'd]

Quite fitting for the train imagery, I seem to have derailed the thread. Sorry.

[Kastchey]

If it wasn't intentional it wouldn't have been the first time, either :>

This I get, it's easy to make a typo. But... why would someone misspell your nickname on purpose? Just to be annoying?

*Looks in Mandle's general direction* 

[ukz530]

The title screen and music are so cool!

I like this style. awesome! 

[Laura Hunt]

Thanks a lot!

[Laura Hunt]

when everyone you have ever loved is finally gone
when everything you have ever wanted is finally done with
when all of your nightmares are for a time obscured
as by a shining brainless beacon
or a blinding eclipse of the many terrible shapes of this world
when you are calm and joyful
and finally entirely alone
then in a great new darkness
you will finally execute your special plan



Act III, "The Nameless Ritual" is underway. Pray for Dr. Jordan Samuels' soul.

(Please excuse the usual grainy .gif colours, obviously this does not represent final in-game quality.)

[Laura Hunt]

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/ezy33KL.png[/imgzoom]

May 2019 vs. July 2020. Oh, how far we've come.

This first version was a quick sketch so I could experiment with implementing an isometric perspective in AGS, but more than a year later, a lot of the elements have ended up finding their way into the final version. Bit of an improvement, I'd say!

Anyway, here's the playlist we've been using to get in the mood for Dr. Samuels' adventures, in case anybody is curious as to what direction the music will take in this act: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6xZnkp3bI626WTx28j4zUb?si=KF0OKdQsQnCUnw03o0CyIQ. Unlike acts I and II, in which the soundtrack was made up of classical music pieces and Irving Berlin songs, act III will feature a series of dark-industrial-ritual-ambient pieces created by yours truly!

[javixblack]

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/ezy33KL.png[/imgzoom]

May 2019 vs. July 2020. Oh, how far we've come.

This first version was a quick sketch so I could experiment with implementing an isometric perspective in AGS, but more than a year later, a lot of the elements have ended up finding their way into the final version. Bit of an improvement, I'd say!

Anyway, here's the playlist we've been using to get in the mood for Dr. Samuels' adventures, in case anybody is curious as to what direction the music will take in this act: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6xZnkp3bI626WTx28j4zUb?si=KF0OKdQsQnCUnw03o0CyIQ. Unlike acts I and II, in which the soundtrack was made up of classical music pieces and Irving Berlin songs, act III will feature a series of dark-industrial-ritual-ambient pieces created by yours truly!

Amazing work!!! I'm really excited for the release!!! I can't waittttttttt
About the language, it will be in spanish?

[Laura Hunt]

Amazing work!!! I'm really excited for the release!!! I can't waittttttttt
About the language, it will be in spanish?

Only English, sorry!

[Honza]

Holy sh*t does this keep looking better and better! Love the title screen and the new screenshots.

Might be a dumb idea, but have you considered monetizing it and donating the money to charity? At least for a few months before a free release. That way you'd have your cake and eat it too... or, rather, you'd have no cake but others would get to eat . It feels like a shame to give out this much labor and professionalism completely for free.

[Laura Hunt]

Holy sh*t does this keep looking better and better! Love the title screen and the new screenshots.

Might be a dumb idea, but have you considered monetizing it and donating the money to charity? At least for a few months before a free release. That way you'd have your cake and eat it too... or, rather, you'd have no cake but others would get to eat . It feels like a shame to give out this much labor and professionalism completely for free.

Thanks, but I already explained here why I don't want to do that: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=57487.msg636622831#msg636622831

[Honza]

Thanks, but I already explained here why I don't want to do that: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=57487.msg636622831#msg636622831

I'd seen that, that's why I tried the charity angle . Never mind, I'm happy to get a great game for free of course.

[Laura Hunt]

Act III intro scene. Still some idle animations pending, but pretty much 99% ready.

[javixblack]

Act III intro scene. Still some idle animations pending, but pretty much 99% ready.

Delightful. I want to ask you, and probably it's a really stupid question, but, how many hours per day (more or less, an arithmetic mean) do you and you partner work in this game actually? Just for curiosity, 'cause you said it is like a hobby for you, (make games I mean), and this game looks pretty complex, narrative, artistic and technically. And, if isn't too much pretentios, can you tell me something about the game process; how you work; how you organize the plot, the dialogs, wich tools are you using for that; if the artistic decisions are just of your partner or both must agree together, etc etc etc.
And last, but not least, I see in internet an italian book called "if on a winters night, a traveler"; the 4th act will be based in that novel or something? Sorry for the silly and annoying questions, Laura!

Gracias y saludos desde Argentina!

[Laura Hunt]

Act III intro scene. Still some idle animations pending, but pretty much 99% ready.

Delightful. I want to ask you, and probably it's a really stupid question, but, how many hours per day (more or less, an arithmetic mean) do you and you partner work in this game actually? Just for curiosity, 'cause you said it is like a hobby for you, (make games I mean), and this game looks pretty complex, narrative, artistic and technically.

In Thomas' case, it's pretty easy to estimate: he usually works 8-10 hours a day Mo-Fr. Of course, there are days in which he just feels like playing Darkest Dungeon all day, or he has other stuff to do, but in general he's pretty consistent. On the other hand, when he gets a paying gig, he can spend literally three months without working on the game, which does bring things to a screeching halt sometimes but it is what it is.

As to me, ehhh it's hard to quantify, because in a way I'm working on it 24/7. Since I do everything else, I might spend days searching online for royalty-free or public domain music, or sounds, or actually making music, or writing dialogues, or thinking about puzzles in the shower. Coding is probably what takes me the least time overall, at least compared to all the time I've put into writing, designing and plotting the story.

And, if isn't too much pretentios, can you tell me something about the game process; how you work; how you organize the plot, the dialogs, wich tools are you using for that; if the artistic decisions are just of your partner or both must agree together, etc etc etc.

Ehhh it's a bit of a mess, to be honest XD We had no idea of what we were getting into, and our workflow has been extremely chaotic, but I'm trying to get things back on course by using a proper design document from here onwards. But in general, Thomas has ultimate deciding power over most visual stuff, and I take on more of a general game direction role, apart from actually writing every text. There's a lot of overlap though when it comes to puzzles, for example, and stuff like gameplay and pacing, where we both contribute pretty much equally. I really think we should have divided tasks more strictly from the start, but it's ok, we always end up figuring things out

And last, but not least, I see in internet an italian book called "if on a winters night, a traveler"; the 4th act will be based in that novel or something?

Not really, it's more of an inspiration because of the whole "story-inside-of-a-story" concept, but it is in no way an adaptation. My brain works in a very collage-like kind of way and I tend to grab a lot of little things here and there that kind of make sense for me when put together, if that makes sense? Like for example, in Act II you can listen to a fragment of La Traviata, which is in turn an adaptation of the Dumas novel La Dame aux Camélias, which is hinted at later by a pot with camellias in another part of the mansion, and in turn white flowers are referenced in a book you can find elsewhere which has a fragment of The King in Yellow, which in turn is linked by many to Thomas Ligotti because of True Detective, and in turn a Thomas Ligotti text is quoted in Act III. That's an example of how my brain works XD

Sorry for the silly and annoying questions, Laura!

Not annoying at all! Everybody loves talking about their creations

Gracias y saludos desde Argentina!

¡Gracias a ti, y saludos de vuelta desde Berlín!

[javixblack]

Thanks a lot for the reply, was totally interesting to read
I just curious about the process of making games as hobby, 'cause it isn't a full time job, u know, and let me make an idea about that 

[mkennedy]

Is this going to be a horror game or a game with horror elements?

[Laura Hunt]

Is this going to be a horror game or a game with horror elements?

There are horror elements especially in Act III, but yeah, I wouldn't define this as a horror game per se.

[Laura Hunt]

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/wNT1H0x.gif[/imgzoom]

After a fair and realistic assessment of the workload still ahead of us, we have to accept that there isn't a chance in hell we're going to be able to meet the October/November deadline we had set for ourselves, which means that the most likely release date is now Q1 2021, as even if we managed to finish it before the end of the year, we wouldn't want to publish it during Christmas season. A million apologies for the delay.

[Kastchey]

We've all been there

The newest screenshot looks beautiful, as always.

[FormosaFalanster]

That's refreshing to see a game so story-driven  I will follow that closely.

[Racoon]

I am really exited to play this game when its completed. Can´t wait! The new stuff already looks so good.

[Daniele82]

Wonderful. a game with a particular atmosphere. there is a lot of energy in your creativity. it will be a success. 

[Matti]

Danele, please don't quote the entire first post!

[Laura Hunt]

Thanks for your kind words, everybody, and apologies for the lack of updates and responses.

I made a short teaser for the game a few weeks back, but never posted it here. It's still not the final "official" trailer since we don't have any train scenes yet, but I hope you'll like it:

Also, all the original music for the game is now 100% finished. Here's a tiny 20-second snip from the piece I finished a couple of days ago:

The finish line is very close now. Hopefully just a couple more months to go!

[Slasher]

The graphics are really really good and i'm so glad the end is close.

I for one will be waiting..

[Laura Hunt]

Slowly getting there. Still missing a few things, but we're so close to the finish line now.

[Matti]

Cool to hear that you're so close 

The trailer is quite intriguing!

[TheFrighter]

Take your time,  Laura Hunt! The pics are getting intersting!

Anyway, what age rating the game should have?

_

[heltenjon]

Take your time,  Laura Hunt! The pics are getting intersting!

Anyway, what age rating the game should have?

The game is quite dark and probably will have its audience among adults.

[Laura Hunt]

Take your time,  Laura Hunt! The pics are getting intersting!

Anyway, what age rating the game should have?

The game is quite dark and probably will have its audience among adults.

Yeah, I don't think age ratings are really that useful. Something like "for mature audiences" would be more appropriate.

In any case, I included a disclaimer at the bottom of the game's itch.io page saying "This game contains references to thematic elements such as racism, homophobia, mental illness, murder and suicide." I think it offers a pretty specific overview of the kind of subjects we're dealing with and what to expect.

[javixblack]

Hi Laura! how is the project going? 

[Laura Hunt]

Hi Laura! how is the project going? 

We're almost done! The only things pending are the intro and the final cutscene, but the game itself is finished. As soon as that is done we'll ship it to the testers in order to hopefully launch in late February / early March

[Pax Animo]

I'm very much looking forward to playing this game.

Good luck with the future release. 

[luisdementia]

I really love the look and the concept of this game! Excited to see that it's going to be released soon

[javixblack]

Wonderful news! I hope everything goes well (:

[Laura Hunt]

The game is finished. This thread can be closed

Unless testers find any showstopping bugs or issues with the Linux build that might force us to delay the launch, I'll open a new thread in Completed Games Announcements on the day of release, add it to the games database, etc etc.

Thanks to everybody who has helped us make this possible!

[Slasher]

Looking forward to the release..

Congratulations..

[Cassiebsg]

Best date ever! 

[mkennedy]

Where can the game be downloaded from?

[isatche]

Can't wait.
Congratulations!!!

[Laura Hunt]

Last tease before release! 1080p60 and full screen strongly recommended.

[Matti]

Nice tease! 

[Hobo]

Last tease before release! 1080p60 and full screen strongly recommended.

I don't have a 1080p screen 

But the trailer was great! Really looking forward to playing the game!

[Laura Hunt]

Last tease before release! 1080p60 and full screen strongly recommended.

I don't have a 1080p screen 

But the trailer was great! Really looking forward to playing the game!

Me neither! Mine is 1600x900, but it definitely looks sharpest if you choose the 1080p option from all the ones YouTube offers.

[CrashPL]

*slams fists on table* Now THAT'S the content I want to see!

Excellent job, the trailer looks fantastic! Really loving that crispy clean pixelwork - can't wait to try it out!

[javixblack]

Man... that looks beautifull. That dude... Thomas? is a prodigy of the pixelart. Tell him I love him, please. The concept for this game is really good! an anthology of playable stories, what more can I ask for. Can't wait, Laura!!!

[javixblack]

Oh!!! I wanted to ask before it's too late if is it possible to pause the game at any time? I mean, in the middle of a dialogue for example, without skipping it. That is very important. Greetings!

[Cassiebsg]

I'm not sure if ESC will do that, but if you're play it in windows mode you can just click outside the game window and it'll "pause" the game until you return to it. I use this, to read text that "runs away" too fast for me.

[Laura Hunt]

ESC pauses the game, but not during dialogues because pressing a key or clicking the mouse skips text.

[FormosaFalanster]

For those who are interested, Laura answered my questions for an interview for my blog, here's what is inside the head of the creator of this game https://formosafalanster.wordpress.com/2021/03/08/one-of-the-best-parts-of-making-videogames-is-being-able-to-lose-yourself-for-a-while-in-that-world-youve-created-an-interview-with-laura-hunt/