This is looking lovely. A game that takes inspiration from Phoenix Wright, 80 Days and SH:CD? Yes, please! And I really enjoyed reading about your process creating the map and directory. Thanks.

I missed this post! Thanks for the support

[CRAFTING THE MAP SCREEN (PART 3)]

CRAFTING THE MAP SCREEN (PART 3)

This week, I made a part of the San Francisco map and its navigation controls. I had to deal with modeling, shaders, and performance trouble -- things I have little experience with, but learned while working. Here's a quick rundown of the events:

Milestone 1 - Shapes and Shaders
Each building on the map had to be selectable, and the map needed to pan and zoom. The style also prescribed an outline for each building. With those constraints, I thought the most obvious choice was making basic shape models in Blender and writing a shader to outline them. If I had to redo it, it'd be a breeze, but making the correct shapes, normals, and shaders took longer than anticipated. In the end, though, the results were good! Here are some screens of the progress (Click for full size):



Milestone 2 - Navigation
A static map is okay, but for the world to feel large, panning and zooming the map are necessary. I also needed to make each shape a selectable button -- and, once selected, I needed to center the camera on it. It was a lot of work, but here are the final Zoom and Focus animations:

Milestone 3 - Interface Integration
Up until the map, the rest of my game exclusively ran in Unity's GUI system. The map, though, is 3D models. This led to a few problems with masks:

Thankfully, most of these problems were easy to solve, so this was the quickest milestone. Unfortunately, the next milestone was less merciful:

Milestone 4 - Optimizing the Map Directory(!)
The most unexpected milestone of all! Since I'd only ever run the map's directory on its own, I hadn't noticed how inefficient it was. But, by panning and zooming the map, I could see that this screen chugged like a college freshman. Through the Unity Profiler, I saw that most of that time was spent dealing with the EventSystem -- i.e.: updates to the buttons themselves! It took a while to solve, but apparently, this is only a problem when the buttons are in a hierarchy! I still have no idea why that's the case, but it meant I had to rewrite the search functionality. Between that, making my shaders more efficient the more I learned about them, and batching or removing unnecessary updates, I managed to move the screen from a crawling 1-2FPS to ~25FPS on my two year old Macbook, with over a thousand directory buttons and map tiles. I still have a few tricks up my sleeve (compressing the images better, pre-loading assets, and loading/unloading the buttons in a clever way) so I'm confident I can get it running 30+ FPS on most hardware with however many locations I'll eventually want to use. Here's a static image of the map, in game, right now!

Future of the Map

Now the directory is done (and efficient!) and the map moves. Next, I'm going to take a long and deserved break from the map screen and focus on story writing. Once I get back to it, there are two things left to do: tie the story/directory to the map buttons themselves, and actually create the entire map of San Francisco. Wish me luck!

Cheers! Thanks for the motivation! 

I was thinking about writing a post about my schedule -- how I organize my tasks and where I plan to be by the end of the month. I know I like to see other devs' planning strategies, but I wonder if it's too dull for a devlog? Would anyone be interested in something like that?

You want a lot of backstory on your characters before you even try to make them say anything.

Where is this character from? What was their childhood like? Do they have siblings? Who are their parents? What's their favourite memory? Who do they love? What do they want? What's their motivation? What are their hobbies? What are they the best at? What are they afraid of?

Absolutely any question you could answer about yourself you should be able to answer about your characters. Only then will their dialogue feel real -- because you've actually created a person, not a cardboard cutout.

Good luck!

It's clear you're an animator -- the face's stretching, squishing, and bouncing looks fantastic! From the short GIFs you posted, the level editor looks easy to use, too. I'm excited to see where you can go with this concept! Good luck!

[CRAFTING THE MAP SCREEN (PART 2)]

CRAFTING THE MAP SCREEN (PART 2)

The map screen will continue to evolve throughout its development. I took three days to implement the map's directory in Unity, so here are some gifs, where you can already see that transformation beginning:

Day 1 - Basic Screen and The List
At the end of the first day, I had the "map" implemented as a static screen. I populated the map screen's directory with names from a mock address book generator, and I made the list scroll:

You can see the implemented directory is on the opposite side of the screen from the mock-up. I made this switch because of the Notes button in the bottom right corner -- I thought it might be confusing if you wanted to click on a name but accidentally clicked on the Notes, or vice versa.

Day 2 - In-Game Functionality
The second day was all about getting it to work. I had already created a "travel" concept in my Twine story, so I just had to represent it with the Map screen. I created a temporary starting location, then used a basic link to open the map. From there, clicking the name "C.S. Stable" takes you to Stable's apartment:

I again strayed from the mock-up by making the directory's headings in-line with the names. This allowed the names to be larger (easier to read at a proper resolution -- don't worry that you can't read them in these compressed GIFs).

Day 3 - Search Implementation
Scrolling through that list sucked! So on the final day of implementing the directory, I created a search feature for easier navigation. This required almost an entire rework of how I had set up the heading/list generation, and exposed a bug with Unity's button hierarchy, but I still managed it all in a single day, and I was pretty proud of that!



Future of the Map

The Directory is now fully functional! But the whole thing looks ugly as sin! Next week, the directory will get its proper assets imported, and I'll even make the map of San Francisco to stick in the background!

Finally got around to watching the trailer -- exciting stuff guys! The entire video had a great tribal feeling, and the black material on coloured backgrounds turned out excellent Job well done!

Dude, this game looks stunning! I love the style. Any influence from Papers Please?

Thanks for the love! No direct influence from Papers Please, but it's one fine game, and who knows how my subconscious works?!

Been chatting recently with your composer, Tony. He's a cool dude. Reading the devlog makes me think that y'all are equally friendly. Following this both cuz I'm interested in the game, and cuz I'm loving the team. Good luck, gents! I'll play the Mac version soon!

[CRAFTING THE MAP SCREEN (PART 1)]

CRAFTING THE MAP SCREEN (PART 1)

Sometimes, an idea is so vivid, I just go ahead and create whatever's in my head -- right in the game, the first time, with no preamble. The map screen was not one of those times. I had no clue what to do with it. In these cases, what happens next? Seems like a topic for a devlog! I'll go through the entire process as I make the map, but for today, let's start with getting a clue: making the concept art. I'll keep the text short, and images a-plenty!

My Concept Process

Step 1: Outline Requirements
Sounds like a no-brainer, but without actually listing the gameplay needs, I'll surely miss a subtle detail, leading to fugly clutter later in production. So what is the map screen, then? It allows players to answer two important questions: where can I go? and where have I been?. Pretty simple! Which leads to the following small list of requirements:

• A scrollable directory with many names that players can look up
• Items in the directory should be clickable
• A visual map of San Francisco
• Buildings on the map -- at the very least, previously visited ones -- should be clickable as a shortcut to looking them up again
• It all fits with the style of the rest of the game

Step 2: Inspiration
Gathering resources for concept art can be a blast. Quick Google Image searches lead to some great map ideas, including some seriously awesome stylized ones:


But remember, my map needs to show previous locations, and those locations gotta be clickable. Hard to incorporate all that with my minimalist silhouette style! A lot of searching later, the following thumbnails were the most inspiring. Note there are a few era-appropriate maps in the mix -- especially useful since they're both historical and public domain! Also note the directory inspirations -- a mix of era-appropriate for style with contemporary usability. Finally, there are some images from the board game Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective, my original inspiration for this whole travel mechanic:


Step 3: Concepts and Iterations
At first I toyed with the idea of a 3D map, where I rendered previously-visited buildings as silhouetted 3D objects. This was heavily inspired by the first thumbnail above. So, just for the mock-up, I decided to paint right over it:

Notice that I added a simple directory here too -- showing the names as a scrollable list on a side panel.

There's a good style here, but I don't think it's quite grunge-y enough to match the rest of my art. Let's take away some color and add a few masks for roughness:

This looks better! But there's still something not quite right. The map looks... empty! I mean, there are dozens of buildings rendered, but it still looks like there could be so many more. In fact, I bet I could render a hundred buildings and it would still look barren. And if I took the time to render an entire city (not a small task!) the map would be cluttered and confusing from almost any angle except the top. And would it really add that much to the game for the heaps of dev time required? I don't think so. I'm not liking this 3D idea anymore.

This is where the blueprint inspiration comes in. Let's go back to 2D like the rest of the game!

Much better! I think this style really compliments my other artwork. And I don't need thousands of buildings! Maybe not every one of those city blocks is a location the player can get to, but perhaps they're all clickable, and I can at least write some text for each. Now that's a more efficient way to make the world feel large!

Still, the style got a bit too dark. And that side panel needs some love. Okay, one final mock-up! (Click the image for full size)

Now this I like! A bit lighter on the blacks, a full blue ocean, and a directory that has some style (and an important Search function, that will make the long list manageable). This is a concept I can work with!


Future of the Map

Next up is actually creating this map in the game. I'll probably make the directory panel first, since that's most important for early gameplay, then I'll move onto the map itself. I'll keep you up to speed, and we can see it evolve together!

So much mobile passion! Of course, with another platform also come many UX changes (especially some of the travel stuff I've been tinkering with) and definitely some pipeline changes too. I personally enjoy adventure games on desktop (I think in the end this'll skew closer to an adventure game than IF, but now we're just talking semantics ), so I'd like to get this on PC first, and then see where to go with future content.

But wow, I'm happy anyone wants to play my game anywhere! Being in the dark with this game for so long, I still smile at every devlog comment

Mobile is now a strong contender as a stretch goal. Thanks for the input guys!

More updates soon!

I noticed you mentioned 80 Day's travel as how you maneuver around the city. Will there also be interactive fiction bits and being able to explore different locations like in that game too? (I guess scaled down to different districts/buildings/etc. instead of cities)

That's the hope! The idea is to make the main story first, then pepper the world with different story-arcs at various locations throughout San Francisco. I swear there's a Gamasutra post somewhere (and I hate myself for not finding it, because lately I've been good about bookmarking articles I like!) where Meg Jayanth talks about writing a node-based narrative in 80 Days; how they had a baseline story but continued to add to it organically -- at any point they could have called it "done", but even in subsequent versions, they added new nodes and storylines. An important influence that I didn't mention is Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective, a very cool board game that features a similar story mechanic.

But, I should temper expectations a bit. I'm doing a major rework of the story that I currently have  -- some of the characters might stay, and the world is historical, but everything else is being rewritten with a new style in mind. Super early, so anything could change at this point. It's very possible the first version of this game releases without a ton of side-content.

Also do you have any plans for mobile versions?

Not impossible, but definitely not simultaneous release. I think this type of game could work really well on mobile, but targeting too many platforms too early will cause headaches, especially as a mostly one-man team. I think PC has a more fertile indie scene -- maybe less huge hits, but many smaller success stories. It's also where I play my games, so I think I'm more aware of what players might want.

Thanks for the questions! Gave me a good break from writing backstories

I need to catch up on all of these posts, but equally important, I don't want to miss future ones. The game looks incredible -- from the art-style to the world you've created. Isometric RPGs aren't my wheelhouse, but with something this uniquely inspiring, that may have to change. Well done! Subscribed!

Also, holy crap, thanks for the support! I wasn't sure how much traction this game would generate, but I'm really happy to see others liking the idea. This is my first indie project that I plan to sell, so it makes me feel warm inside seeing your encouragement. From the most honest place in my heart, a warm THANK YOU to everyone!

[Overarching Plot]

The real writing begins. What exactly am I going for? Here's a very quick breakdown of the overarching plot, the individual mysteries, the world's style, and the historical elements:
Overarching Plot
The game will feature many mysteries that tie into one another. I've yet to decide if the stories will be linear (you solve one, then you solve the next, etc) or parallel (you can solve all the mysteries whenever) but there will be a tie throughout all of them -- probably something about the main character's past that she's trying to discover. It's something I still need to think about, but I have some ideas already.

Individual Story Structure
The Golden Age Mystery structure is perfect for a game, with the suspects known at an early stage -- important for gameplay, so the mystery itself doesn't seem unfair. With this structure, all the clues, red-herrings, and lies are vital -- everybody has something to hide, but what is it? Murder? The player must break down each suspect to find the truth! Agatha Christie is my main inspiration here.

Style
While I like the Golden Age's structure, its classic settings -- a country town, a secluded mansion, an enclosed train -- feel contrived by modern standards, and far too innocent to explore some themes I want. I need grit in my sandpaper. Jazz singers, mobsters, shady cops, and drug addicts. In that sense, the style will lean hard-boiled -- Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. But I don't want it as bleak as a classic noir film. Instead, think more neo-noir -- films like Chinatown and The Long Goodbye. A cutting humor in a corrupt backdrop.

History
The 1920s were both the pinnacle of glamour and the nadir of crime, contrasting the parties of Jay Gatsby with the shotguns of Al Capone. It was the first automobile age, featured the rise of women (though they'd hit many hard ceilings!), and kick-started consumerism. Jazz took hold (though black artists were still maligned), flappers became the first youthful rebells, and radio and film revolutionized media. Of course, the Volstead Act -- the American prohibition of alcohol -- played maybe the most well-known role of the decade. This was, quite literally, the first electrifying age. While main characters will be my own creations, their backdrops will be absolutely real. It gives me many themes to pull from; themes that I can tie to contemporary discussions -- about race, about drugs, about corruption, about industry, about almost everything. I'm eager to explore it!
I'll break down each element further as I get to it, but that's the basics of everything. Writing is maybe the hardest part of this entire undertaking. But I want to share as much of it as I can (without spoilers!). Wish me luck!

That's not a game that's art :O

High praise! Thanks for the confidence elixir!

Played the first episode of this game and was thoroughly impressed! Great art and hilarious script. I'm excited to join Bertram for his second act. Good luck!

You could probably get a very similar effect, for a fraction of the cost, by using a a texture with a perlin noise (or hand-drawn) mask for the alpha channel, and fading the material with a script that changes the alpha cutoff value over time. If you used multiple layers, with the alpha cutoff offset slightly on each one, you could get the 'burnt edges' effect.

Anyway, very nice work so far. I look forward to seeing more.

Good call, I hadn't thought of that solution! Definitely if the images get too expensive/unwieldy, I'll have to change techniques. Thanks for the input, I'm glad you're liking it so far!

Narrative-drive adventure game. Gorgeous visuals. Innovative story technique. This might be the perfect game for me. I can't believe I've just seen this, I have many updates to pore over! I'm leaving this comment to subscribe to future updates. And to say Well Done! It's fantastic!

Thanks for the interest, gents! I hope to update this thing pretty frequently, so stayed tuned for more info to come.

I really like the little transitions you have - the screen melt, the magnifying glass, and the door opening. How are you pulling those off? Full-screen masks?

Yes, they're all full-screen masks using Unity's GUI system. Most of the animations are generated by creating 3D objects with blender, then rendering an animation to PNGs that run at 30fps. In the demo, those PNGs are fairly large, but since they're just masks, I've played around with their size/quality to significantly bring down their overhead. I'm also just letting Unity dynamically load the mask images when needed, which works (at least so far!), and means I don't need any fancy resource loading.