Shadowplay (updated 27 Jun. 2005)

[GarageGothic]

While acquiring some rare prints from the estate of a deceased collector, film archivist Dinah Burroughs stumbles upon a disturbing but strangely hypnotic silent film by Conrad Gray, a long forgotten director of the 1930's and 40's. What begins as a routine assignment becomes a waking nightmare in the city of dreams, as Dinah's obsessive research into the film and the fate of its enigmatic creator brings her deep inside the dark mirror image of Hollywood's glamour and glitz.

The mystery soon engulfs her, turning Los Angeles into a paranoid twilight world of sunshine and noir, where seeing is no longer believing. A mirage of false memories, where the border between authentic and imaginary is disintegrating, forcing Dinah to question her eyes, her mind, and the medium of film itself.

The gameplay takes the form of investigation, research, and interviews, as you move through dilapidated Sunset Boulevard mansions, tomb-like studio vaults, dusty newspaper archives, and a rundown Hollywood hotel, its former glory long gone. The puzzles will be firmly embedded in the plot: Scrutinize clips from Gray's movies on the editing table and analyze film stills with computer aid. Gain access to the director's personal notes in the library's restricted collection, and track down his few still living co-workers, to expose two terrifying secrets; one fifty years old, another spanning centuries.

Game Features
• Ã, Full length mystery adventure in the Gabriel Knight tradition
• Ã, Well researched storyline blends fact and fiction, weaving threads of film history, philosophy, and esoteric religion into a rich tapestry of horror and suspense.
• Ã, A cast of 15 highly developed characters to interview and befriend, to suspect and seduce.
• Ã, More than 30 locations to explore in a contemporary, real world Los Angeles as strange and magical as any fantasy or sci-fi setting.
• Ã, Unique visual style employing the rough look of set design and costume sketches.
• Ã, Original approach to sound and music inspired by the audio design of David Lynch.

Technical features
• Ã, Hi-color backgrounds in 640x480 resolution.
• Ã, Fully animated characters with hand-drawn dialog close-ups.
• Ã, Custom GUI similar to the expanded Sierra interface of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers.
• Ã, Digital music and ambience tracks.

Ã,  Ã,  Ã, 

Scheduled release dates: Demo, cancelled. Full game, winter 2005/2006.

28 June 2005

Check out the end of the thread for a couple of screenshots of the game interface.

1 September 2004

Oh look, it's already time for my twice-a-year update to this thread
I have absolutely no idea where the last seven months went. And it's quite obvious that Shadowplay is in no state to be released this Christmas as promised - if the demo is out by then, I'm happy. Hence, you might have noticed that the release date has been postponed another year. Let's hope it's not quite that bad, but better be realistic.
If anything, the time spent away from actually coding and animating Shadowplay strengthens the actual storyline and design of the game, as the little free time I have, whenever I'm working abroad, is dedicated to research and pen-and-paper scripting. Thinking and rethinking the game countless times should help to catch the worst design flaws before they are implemented, and generally make the whole process more structured. If I don't have a computer near me, I'm not tempted to start scripting a situation just to see how it would look in-game.

Check out my recent post at the bottom of this thread for more progress info. Thanks to Vel for reviving this thread

12 February 2004

The last few months have been pretty crazy. As you may know, the adventure fanzine The Inventory wrote about Shadowplay in its last issue (sadly it looks as if it will be the last issue ever ). When Dimitris Manos contacted me about the preview, I had actually decided to stop development while finishing my thesis. But all of a sudden I had to whip up a batch of new screenshots along with a detailed press release. A month or so later, I'd casually mentioned my game to an acquaintance who writes for a Danish gaming magazine, and all of a sudden he wants me to write an article on amateur game development! From there everything just went insane. Now they want me to write two more articles this month, and the same acquaintance offered me a job as game tester for Electronic Arts. So now I'm travelling to Sweden for three weeks next month to playtest the translated version of the third Harry Potter game! This is part fantasy come true and part surreal nightmare. Everything is just moving so fast, and I don't have much time for neither my thesis or Shadowplay.

Oh yeah, Shadowplay, that was what I'm supposed to talk about here, right? I've got a lot of backgrounds done. The movie star's mansion was the hardest part. I wanted it to resemble the house from Sunset Blvd. so I grabbed hundreds of screens from the DVD for reference. The film is black and white though, so what color should it be? By a coincidence I discovered that the derelict mansion in Rebel Without a Cause - which is a color film - was shot at the very same house, so that solved the problem.
The drawing style of the characters has been finalized. I think I've found a good compromise that removes most of the Poser look from the characters while still making my work much easier than animating by hand. Several of the characters are now designed. I only need to paint the special textures. Using 3D allows me to do some very cool things, like giving the sidekick character Lucas a different shirt to wear every day. without having to redo every single frame.

Apart from that, amazingly I just keep on researching. I've found so many new facts and rumors from the old Hollywood days, that I just have to include somewhere. So I plan on rewriting the story yet another time. I promise you, it will be nothing like you've ever seen in a game before.

7 October 2003

My monitor broke down a few weeks ago, so currently I'm working on my old 14" in 600x800 resolution, which sucks. I did manage to color a background for my tutorial in the latest issue of the AGS Ezine though, so production hasn't halted entirely. But I've given up on doing anything in Poser until I get my new 19" monitor, because the interface takes up so much screen space that it's impossible to work with in low resolutions.
The same technical difficulties have delayed the website now that I can't test how the tables look in 1024x768 - but I'll probably put together a temporary one before the end of the month. Some new screenshots - I'm currently working on the Sunset Blvd. mansion - should be released along with more story and character info on the website.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention. I've purchased a video-grabber card, so now it'll be much easier to gather reference pictures of Los Angeles. And I won't have to wear out my video tapes or my VCR while sketching architectural details or constantly rewinding when trying to grasp the geography of some location (thank God that Hollywood filmmakers are so cheap and lazy that they never leave town. Once you realize exactly how many Los Angeles landmarks are used as movie locations, you'll never search for still photos again).

1 September 2003

Shadowplay is now officially in production. I've been developing and researching the story for more than two years, and the time has come to turn the rough storyline and all the pieces of dissociated knowledge, as H.P. Lovecraft used to call them, into a real design document complete with puzzles and dialog. I'm quite surprised how all the plot elements - fact as well as fiction - are falling nicely into place. At times it seems as if I've actually come across a real mystery similar to the one in the game.

For the last few months I've experimented with different styles of art, and have now settled on a sketchy pencil-and-watercolor look, a bit like the style you see in set design sketches for movies (there are some incredibly pieces on the Se7en and Fight Club DVDs). I think this will work very well for the atmosphere of the game. Technically, I draw the backgrounds by hand, then scan them and color them digitally - it beats trying to cover up mistakes in water color, and it allows me to create differently lit versions of a scene without redrawing the entire background. Characters are created and animated in Poser 5, then output with the program's sketch renderer and colored frame by frame in Photoshop. Faces may be drawn by hand - like the dialog portraits, and a few static characters - and then merged with Poser bodies, if I don't find the original renders expressive enough.

While finishing the design docs, I'll be drawing dialog portraits and "establishing shots" of locations (exteriors shown when visiting a location for the first time). The walking characters and interiors will have to wait until I know exactly which animations and which background elements I'll need for the interaction.
Further down the line I'll need someone to help out with the music. I'm recording the David Lynch-style ambient sounds myself, but there are at least Ã, two pieces of real music in the story - at a party and as a movie score - and it would be nice with a theme/credits piece as well. It'll probably have to wait until the demo is finished though. Until then it'll be difficult to convey the atmosphere I'm looking for.

Shadowplay is © 2003 Camera Obscura

[remixor]

Nice, GG!  It sounds like this is going to be one pretty damned well-researched game.  Christmas 2004, though?  Curses!

BTW, I remember that second background from the Critics' Lounge (I think) some months ago.  Glad to see it's being used in a game

[GarageGothic]

The screenshots are examples of the visual style, not final versions from the game. The carnival picture which, as you say, was posted in the c&c forum  a while ago, was the image that established the look of the game. It will however be remade - after watching a documentary about surfers in LA, I decided that it should be on a pier instead.

I hope to have more backgrounds and character sketches up within the next few weeks, along with a website.

BTW: Can anyone tell me how to change font size in forum posts (for headlines etc.)? And is it possible to "left align" images (not just [ left ]image.gif[ /left ], but so that the text following it goes to the right of it rather than below. Is this making sense?), like you can in html?

[Vel]

Wondeful! It is one of the projects I am looking forward to.

[Minimi]

Absolutely Cool!! I love your drawingstyle, and the dialog-closeups. I might use that style myself one day. A question about that style. Is it a GUI with pictures and that you change the pictures everytime a dialog comes, or is it a complete level for each conversation?

I'm not the biggest fan of horror, actually I really hate the genre, (gives me the creeps, or is that normal??) but when I only see these screenshots and read how much effort you put in this, then I can't block myself from looking forward to the gamerelease!

Good luck with the production!

[GarageGothic]

A question about that style. Is it a GUI with pictures and that you change the pictures everytime a dialog comes, or is it a complete level for each conversation?

EDIT: Ok, I re-read your question and I realize that you're probably asking about how it's done technically in AGS? Is that it? I'm using Dorcan's excellent AGS version of the GK1 dialog system. which uses a separate room and switches the character sprites into dialog closeups whenever you enter conversation mode. See his tutorial at

http://membres.lycos.fr/digitalmindstudio/script.php?id=2&____ord____=1062411613

(I just wish he'd translate the last part of the tutorial too )


I'll keep what I first wrote in case somebody else wonders about the interface:

"I'm not sure what you're asking here. If you're familiar with GK1, this interface is very similar. Moving around and interacting with the environment is done through Sierra-style icons - they pop up in the top part of the screen when moving the cursor over it. Text appears in the black area below the main image, somewhat like subtitles on letterboxed movies.
Whenever you talk to someone, two things may happen: If it's a minor character, maybe a street vendor who you ask for directions, conversation takes place in a LucasArt style with dialog options appearing as text in the bottom part of the screen. When conducting more complex interviews with major characters however, the background is replaced by a black screen with portraits of Dinah and the NPC, and dialog topics appear as in a list in the middle of the screen, as seen in the picture on the left. QFG4 had a similar interface (except no hero portrait). Certain topics lead to a list of further sub-topics, but you can always return to the beginning by picking "Something else".

I hope this clarifies things, although I'm not even sure if it's what you were asking about."

I'm not the biggest fan of horror, actually I really hate the genre, (gives me the creeps, or is that normal??)

Isn't that what horror is supposed to do?
Shadowplay isn't "horror" in the popular meaning of the word. There are no vampires, werewolves or zombies. Not even a serial killer on the loose. It is much more of a psychological suspense story in the style of Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now and Polanski's Rosemary's Baby with just a dash of Thomas Pynchon for that paranoid feel. The first 40 minutes of Lost Highway - but not the rest! - should give you a good indication of the atmosphere and genre.

[Vel]

It aint horror. Its like saying that GK games were horror. They were all mystery/suspense.

[Goldmund]

 :o
the screens look terrific, GG!  l love the style of drawing on the dialog one! (although Donna has the same haircut...hmmm...)

I'm really, really waiting for this game! I'm sure it will be great, what with the real research... damn!

[Hobbes]

Wooooooow!

(And that's no exagerating!)

I actually typed a very lengthy response to this, and then my connection went haywire. So, in short:

1. The GK interface makes this game instantly stylish!
2. The graphics so far look terrific.
3. The fact that you've been labouring on the game for so long already shows great promise! I bet you know the ins and outs of all that happens.

It just looks terrific! (And it makes it clear where all the surveys were about )

[Squinky]

This looks like it will be neat. The two screens you've shown us make me wanna check it out....

-Connie Chung

[Rincewind]

GarageGothic, I've been waiting for this thread for a very long time now... All I can say is that Shadowplay looks like it's going to be terrific game. Great of you to use the GK1 Dialog-GUI as well!  Really looking forward to play it.

[GarageGothic]

A minor update:

7 October 2003

My monitor broke down a few weeks ago, so currently I'm working on my old 14" in 600x800 resolution, which sucks. I did manage to color a background for my tutorial in the latest issue of the AGS Ezine though, so production hasn't halted entirely. But I've given up on doing anything in Poser until I get my new 19" monitor, because the interface takes up so much screen space that it's impossible to work with in low resolutions.
The same technical difficulties have delayed the website now that I can't test how the tables look in 1024x768 - but I'll probably put together a temporary one before the end of the month. Some new screenshots - I'm currently working on the Sunset Blvd. mansion - should be released along with more story and character info on the website.

Oh yes, I nearly forgot to mention. I've purchased a video-grabber card, so now it'll be much easier to gather reference pictures of Los Angeles. And I won't have to wear out my video tapes or my VCR while sketching architectural details or constantly rewinding when trying to grasp the geography of some location (thank God that Hollywood filmmakers are so cheap and lazy that they never leave town. Once you realize exactly how many Los Angeles landmarks are used as movie locations, you'll never search for still photos again).

Edit: Uh oh, I'm having some nasty premonitions here. I was just reading an article on Jane Jensen's new as-of-yet-untitled project, and I'm beginning to worry that we're working with some of the same paranormal/philosophical themes. I'm sure that Jane is going in an entirely different direction with it, but still...
What will set the games apart - I hope - is the way that I treat these themes as metaphors for everything in the game rather than just the solution to the mystery. It's much more focused on the characters and their growth. And as such, the supernatural serves as a frame and an abstraction rather than THE enigma essential to the player's enjoyment. Maybe this sounds obscure, but I'd rather not reveal too much. Remember how the idea of bloodlines ran throughout GK3, not just in the mystery but in the details as well, how Grace's mother were trying to set her up with a boy, the connection between viticulture and genetics etc. THAT's more or less what I'm trying to do with Shadowplay - tying everything to the main theme, but on different levels of abstraction.

[Vel]

Hey GG, how's the game going?
I'd really like to hear what the progress is.

[GarageGothic]

Hey Vel,

Sorry that I hadn't noticed your post before now.

The status of Shadowplay is that I'm still in the design phase. I want it to be 100% scripted out before I start coding more than the interface. After reading through Al Lowe's design docs for LSL5, 6 and 7 and Freddy Pharkas, I'm really trying to make the screenplay as structured an professional as possible. Even though I'm only writing it for my own use, I know I'll need it, or I'll get lost in a game this big

The art finished so far are mostly non-interactive or pass-through screens where I don't have to worry too much about interaction with the scenery. Don't worry, it's nothing like all the empty screens in Syberia. It's just that I've added exteriors for most locations, so you'll get a sense of the area and the architectural style. I though it was a major problem for GK1's New Orleans atmosphere that you never actually saw the wonderful French Quarter buildings except in cutscenes. I want to capture the feeling of Los Angeles/Hollywood, and that's hard to do if you show nothing but offices and living rooms.
I'm about to re-import most of the backgrounds and sprites. The new 32-bit color mode and its support of alpha channels allows for so many new effects that I have to take into consideration. Things like out-of-focus and semi-transparent foreground objects as well as interesting light and atmosphere (fog and smoke) effects.

For more info, as well as a bunch of new screenshots, see the next issue of The Inventory (no. 11), which should be out tomorrow, or at least that's what dimi tells me. Without revealing too much, I can tell you that I've hidden many clues to the plot within the screenshots I sent him.

[Vel]

Its really good to hear that Shadowplay will be previewed in the Inventory!

[quintaros (at work)]

Just read the preview in the Inventory.  This game sounds great.  Very intriguing story and atmospheric graphics.  I like your puzzle design philosophy too.  Can't wait for this one.

[Vel]

I read the preview too, and I must say that this got me even more excited. The only thiing I can complain about is the main character. Before I read the article itself, I thought that she was male.

[GarageGothic]

Vel, I somewhat agree, but Dinah is meant to look androgynous. She's not your typical computer game heroine. I did realize though, that there is no shading at all to suggest that she might have breasts, and I'll correct that. But don't expect more than a very subtle shadow on her sweater.

[Vel]

GG, Im not expecting you to make Pamela Anderson or Lara Croft. But it'd be nice if her face had some accessories like earrings, lipstick that show the gender.

[GarageGothic]

But it'd be nice if her face had some accessories like earrings, lipstick that show the gender.

Not trying to offend you or anything, but I hope you can hear yourself how ignorant that statement sounded. Still, Dinah is a pretty gender-atypical person with short cropped hair and big chunky Doc Marten's boots, so earrings and lipstick would be totally wrong for the character. I hope though that when you see the animation, you'll be able to tell she's a female (and I think she looks at least SOMEWHAT feminine in the dialog closeup).