next »

[Nuprahtor]

This is a story about people who are having a bad dream

Thank God For The Rain - JRPG/Dungeon Crawler/First Person Roguelike-like.
Development progress: none.


"I keep waking up in this room, again and again. There’s already a new letter under the door. Today I’m killing yet another person."

The player character can (and has to) take on the role of the Killer. The Killer must find a parcel with a gun in one of the trashcans in the slums. Then he is to track the Victim in one of the four bars of the City and kill him.

The player character can (and has to) take on the role of the Victim. The Victim must find a parcel with secret data in one of the trashcans in the slums. He is then to go to one of the City’s bars specified in the package, sit down at the specified table and wait for the Killer.
There are several factions to be found in the City, the members of which have something in common - for instance, a common goal.

People - people need food and sleep. They bleed if you stab them. They suffer hangovers after wild nights at the bar. Every man in the City forgot something very important. Player character is one of them.

Ghosts - having lost all their memories, the ghosts only have feelings left. Every ghost was one of the people in the past, and every ghost has a chance to rejoin people by merely remembering their past.

Plague doctors - a group of people monitoring the ghosts of the City with special equipment and techniques. Wild ghosts, who have lost all connections with their past lives, can be very dangerous to the citizens. The plague doctors’ goal is to prevent the growth of negative ghost energy.

Rats - deep under the City, in the ancient sewers, dwell the rats. They believe the sewers, and even the City, to belong to them. Since the ancient times they tried to negotiate with the people above, trying to establish business relationships; but, these underground creatures remained rats still, no matter what posh tuxedos, gold wristwatches and expensive perfume they wore.

Police - the police uphold the order in the city. Every night in the City can be the last for one of its citizens. The goal of the police is to prevent such crimes, and to register new ghosts in a special log if a crime does happen.The police obey plague doctors’ orders, although unwillingly.

Inspired by stolen from:Taxi Driver, Dragon Quest, Fullmetall Jacket, Earthbound, Fritz the Cat, Shin Megami Tensei, Lupin The Third, Tom Waits, Persona, Dark Souls, Billie Holiday, OFF, Tekkonkinkreet, King's Field, Goblet Grotto, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Legend Of Mana (and go on)
Some screenshots (both old and new):

[tequibo]

Good to see you've started a devlog! I was intrigued by those screenshots on twitter.
Looking forward to this, like the setting/mood/story.
Art as well.
Just one think - coloring at boots of some characters looks a bit jarring to me. Same with the cop's head. And Обращенный's parts too. Hope you see what I mean.
Good luck with it! I will be

[Panurge]

Looking forward to this.

[talhakaya]

Wowsies. 

Looking great. Would like to hear more about it. Is it going to have a lot of text or will the gameplay evolve around the JRPG fighting?

Good luck.

[08--n7.r6-79.84]

You are mad man.

[Nuprahtor]

Good to see you've started a devlog! I was intrigued by those screenshots on twitter.
Looking forward to this, like the setting/mood/story.
Art as well.
Just one think - coloring at boots of some characters looks a bit jarring to me. Same with the cop's head. And Обращенный's parts too. Hope you see what I mean.
Good luck with it! I will be

Thanks!
Yes, I will fix coloring. I don't know what I was thinking when I colored them. (I haven't decided how I will color sprites at the time, so I tryed to make coloring to look like watercolor, now I use "solid" coloring)

Looking forward to this.

I'll do my best!

Wowsies. 

Looking great. Would like to hear more about it. Is it going to have a lot of text or will the gameplay evolve around the JRPG fighting?

Good luck.

There are many dialogs in the game, and many battles. But if player will follow ingame instructions while playing, he will face few dialogs and enemies. Deeper exploration of game reveals more.

You are mad man.

Maybe just a little.

[Noogai03]

this looks odd but extremely cool

[Nuprahtor]

this looks odd but extremely cool

Thanks! I'm not very good at art, but I want to create an unique world where my drawings will fit.



So, you're a ghost now

Standart Ghost Initiation Test
(By the way, right click on image - Open Image to see fullsize version)

Plague Doctors ranking (not all Plague Doctor ranks are on this scetch)

[Noogai03]

this looks odd but extremely cool

Thanks! I'm not very good at art, but I want to create an unique world where my drawings will fit.

you don't need to be good; it's what you do with it that counts

[Nuprahtor]

About battle system
TGFTR features a turn-based battle system with ATB (Active Time Batle from SNES's Final Fantasy). Every enemy on the battle screen has a special stat that affects how fast his ATB-meter will increase, and when the ATB-meter is full, the enemy can make its turn. Same applies to the player character.
The interesting challenge in implementing the battle system of TGFTR is the fact that player controls only one player character, like in the first Dragon Quest game; but, unlike DQ, the player character can encounter more than one enemy in battle.
I also want to get rid of grinding (although I do like it in most retro rpgs, grinding doesn't fit in the TGFTR story and mood). Player character can safely make it through the central parts of the City, mostly dealing with weak trash rats and only rarely meeting bandits that may pose a threat, but if player wants to explore the far territories of the City (Roofs, Sewers, Slums, Ghost Tunnels etc.) he has to level up his character.
Winning the battles is awarded with cash only. To gain experience points, the player must complete the Main Task for the day (usually, to kill the Victim in the bar or to be killed by the Killer).
Along with experience points, player character gets special points which he can spend on altering the City's stats, which will affect the entire City's new day structure, amount of enemies, level of Ghost Energy, special events and more.

[Jarkko Vallius]

I like your style.

[Nuprahtor]

[Carrion]

Woah woah woah birds and dreams you say? I'm always up for this kind of thing.

[Nuprahtor]

About ghosts
People who die in the City become Ghosts. They lose even more memories than every Human who enters the City does. To become a Human again, a Ghost has to remember what he has once forgotten. Going to the cinema, talking to other Ghosts over a dram of whiskey in the bar, listening to music is what helps a Ghost to remember.
Modern medicine distinguishes between three basic states of a ghost. These states are referred to as sheets.

White sheet is a recently turned ghost. It doesn’t mind its existence as a ghost too much, so some outside help is necessary to make it try to remember. “Fresh” ghosts go through an interview in the Board of Ghosts, which has a department in every police department of the City. In this interview a ghost is told what steps are necessary to take in order to become a Human again. Ghosts also undergo a special test to analyze their psychological state.

Grey sheet: if a ghost can’t remember his past life for too long, it becomes darker in colour. It is no longer interested in bar talks - it only comes for the drink. Excessive alcohol intake is a certain sign that the ghost is becoming grey. Grey ghosts don’t like going out of the house, as well as music and loud noises. This further hampers their ability to remember their past.

Black sheet: a wild ghost which is incapable of normal communication with neither humans nor other ghosts. Wild ghosts are aggressive; a human encounter with a wild ghost may prove fatal for the former, and a white ghost will turn black when attacked by a wild ghost. Black ghosts enjoy dark places and often hide in the tunnels connecting the City districts. Going through these tunnels on foot is very dangerous; only going by taxi, with the car radio playing loud music, can one avoid the wild ghosts, since they hate music.

Picture: A high-rank Plague Doctor cleanses the streets of wild ghosts.

[Nuprahtor]

I always liked strange and bizarre enemies in Earthbound, so, here's an Unlucky Cat (first form of a Very Unlucky Cat which I won't show you)

[Nuprahtor]

Working on user interface sounds. Made some samples, can't decide what is better - clear sounds or slightly distorted.
You can hear the samples here

[Nuprahtor]

Working on a save system (it will be similiar to the Dragon Quest/Earthbound).
I don't want to show you my code, so here is an introduction of a new character.

This is God, and he is a one of the main characters in the game. He acts like Devil when he's drunk.

[Carrion]

bird lives CAW CAW

[Nuprahtor]

Cabinet Noire is very crucial to the game plot

[Nuprahtor]

Save system almost done. Three (maybe I will add more later) slots for characters. With some neat ideas like character's ability to hire a killer to assassinate himself (other character can accept request and get amount of money, which depends on killed character stats. And killed character save slot will be erased forever).
As for music, I want something like this (instumental hip-hop, drum and bass and something like that as main genres of the game soundtrack)