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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsReturn of the Obra Dinn [Releasing Oct 18]
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Author Topic: Return of the Obra Dinn [Releasing Oct 18]  (Read 924567 times)
dukope
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« on: May 24, 2014, 08:15:20 AM »




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My next project will be a 3D first-person mystery game set on an East Indiaman merchant ship in 1808.

Setup

In 1802, the merchant ship "Obra Dinn" set out from London for the Orient with over 200 tons of trade goods. Six months later it hadn't met its rendezvous point at the Cape of Good Hope and was declared lost at sea. Early this morning of October 14th, 1808, the Obra Dinn drifted into port with sails damaged and no visible crew. As insurance adjustor for the East India Company's London Office, find means to board the ship and recover the captain's logbook for assessment.


Goals

I want to challenge myself so this'll be a very different game from anything I've done before, including Papers Please. There'll be less creativity with the gameplay and instead I want to experiment with the rendering, story, and a few technical features. Right now I have only a rough idea about the narrative. I'm hoping to capture a compelling mystery with suspense and twists in the limited space of an old merchant sailing ship. It won't be the typical "collect items and look for clues" structure. There's a slightly cool gameplay hook but I won't go into details on that until much later.


Devlog

I'll try to keep this devlog lively as I make progress. Because the gameplay itself is more standard, there probably won't be as many creative updates as the Papers Please devlog. I will post lots of pictures and builds as soon as I'm able. Things will likely also move slower than Papers Please did too, at least at the start. P,P still takes a good amount of my time so there's less chance for me to maintain a laser-like focus on one project like last time. The lower bound for finishing this game is around 3 months but realistically I think it'll take me around half a year. My Maya skills are pretty rusty so I expect the modeling/animation to take the most time.


1-bit Rendering

My first computer was a Mac Plus. I've always had a nostalgia-softened spot in my heart for 1-bit graphics. I'd like to capture the detailed black & white look of old Mac games in a realtime 1st person game. I plan to push it grittier and less cartoon-like than those old games; the hard part will be keeping everything legible without it becoming an unreadable mess of dithered pixels. One interesting problem with 1-bit rendering is that it doesn't scale well for images and it compresses to video like shit - so YouTube stuff may look really poor. We'll see how it goes.


Unity 3D

I'm gonna use Unity for this one. I fell in love with Haxe/OpenFL on my last project but unfortunately the 3D situation is not that great there yet. Also, it's time to finally see why 90% of the indie scene is using Unity. I have a good amount of experience with 3D games and the few days I've played around with Unity so far have been pretty productive. The animated title screen scene up there (with post-processing shaders and all) was created in one day. I now have unrealistically high hopes.

("Obra" is pronounced like "Cobra" without the C)
« Last Edit: October 10, 2018, 11:00:06 AM by dukope » Logged

Panurge
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« Reply #1 on: May 24, 2014, 08:20:14 AM »

*Falls over and begins to twitch uncontrollably with excitement.*
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Nico May
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« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2014, 08:22:22 AM »

Looks interesting, I'm gonna follow this one!:)
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Anfex
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« Reply #3 on: May 24, 2014, 08:25:26 AM »

The aesthetic really makes this project stands out. Smart choice!
Looking forward for future updates.
Good luck man!
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melos han-tani
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« Reply #4 on: May 24, 2014, 08:54:18 AM »

Really great and motivating to see you wanting to challenge yourself, Lucas! Looking forward to it.
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hipster scumbag
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« Reply #5 on: May 24, 2014, 09:10:02 AM »

I've been waiting so long for the indie scene to bring back the Macintosh Plus look! I'm guessing few do it because it's more challenging to do well than NES pixel stuff. Best wishes!
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nihilocrat
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« Reply #6 on: May 24, 2014, 09:25:01 AM »

This should help for the graphics:  Wizard

http://wiki.unity3d.com/index.php/Dithering_Shader
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Tuba
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« Reply #7 on: May 24, 2014, 09:49:40 AM »

Can't wait to see more of this!  Who, Me?
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Kurai
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« Reply #8 on: May 24, 2014, 10:00:04 AM »

Is the gif you posted rendered in Unity or is it just a mock-up? Can't wait to see how it comes out.
I've always tried to make dithered shaders in Unity, but unfortunately my experience with shaders is almost non-existent.
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Federico Fasce
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« Reply #9 on: May 24, 2014, 10:20:28 AM »

Gorgeous title screen.
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Eigen
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« Reply #10 on: May 24, 2014, 10:59:15 AM »

Looking forward to seeing how the 1-bit visual plays out in first person. It's certainly challenging. And this whole old-timey-seafaring-adventure feel has me intrigued. Good luck!
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unsilentwill
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O, the things left unsaid!


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« Reply #11 on: May 24, 2014, 11:16:59 AM »

You have all my attention.
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mediochrea
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« Reply #12 on: May 24, 2014, 12:08:28 PM »

Hoorah, you're back!
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zargy
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« Reply #13 on: May 24, 2014, 01:03:35 PM »

This is looking pretty good. I'll be watching.
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Dualhammers
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« Reply #14 on: May 24, 2014, 02:13:25 PM »

Did you design the notice bill at the top of your post yourself or is that taken from a book? I can't find any record of an actual Obra Dinn, or of lost Indianmen in that same year.
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gausswerks
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« Reply #15 on: May 24, 2014, 02:56:32 PM »

Couldn't be more interested in the prospect. Playing Uninvited on the original Mac was one of the most scarring moments as a child, so I appreciate going back to that kind of thing and amplifying it. Looking forward to seeing more.
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Alec S.
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« Reply #16 on: May 24, 2014, 03:36:50 PM »

Premise sounds really interesting.  Looking forward to it!
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AD1337
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Lucas Molina


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« Reply #17 on: May 24, 2014, 04:52:20 PM »

Surprised this isn't set in the same universe as your previous games. How historical are you hoping this to be?
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Inanimate
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« Reply #18 on: May 24, 2014, 05:14:29 PM »

Looks dope! I'm also a huge fan of the "1bit" style, so I'm eager to see what the gameplay will look like, and will be avidly following this project. (:
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forwardresent
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« Reply #19 on: May 24, 2014, 05:42:17 PM »

Looks really nice and sounds super interesting. Never had a Mac, but this style is really neat.
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