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[AD1337]

I met Rami Ismail (Vlambeer) this week and he gave great feedback on pitching Roguemance. He liked the idea of the game!


I'm the guy with the cool leather jacket. Rami is Rami.

Thanks to Rami for the help and to the awesome studio Kuupu for the photo.

[CesarD8]

You have a very interesting concept here, keep on making prototypes, a lot of people have found their perfect game that way 

[alvarop]

I'm tracking :D

[AD1337]

Working on a landing page! http://www.roguemance.com/



"A romantic roguelite" is how Rami pitched my game to me after I fucked it up.

I still have no idea what the content of the love letters will be, but my idea is to use the "love" voice you see in the site and give screenshots, gifs and other updates on the progress. So if you're into that, please subscribe here  

Please let me know if you're getting a confirmation e-mail when you subscribe! If it went to your spam folder, please tell me!

[AD1337]

I've added some more cutesy stuff to the site and now we have a domain!



Roguemance.com !

Pretty lucky that it wasn't taken yet.

Click the letter to subscribe to the love letters (aka updates!):

So yeah, it's funny how all this site work has little to do with game development yet it is so important.

But it's kinda done for now. The final site will have video, screenshots and features that aren't so vague, but during development I think this landing page is fine. What do you guys think?

[io3 creations]

So yeah, it's funny how all this site work has little to do with game development yet it is so important.

Actually, those that take game development seriously and are interested in financial return will include marketing in game development.

But it's kinda done for now. The final site will have video, screenshots and features that aren't so vague, but during development I think this landing page is fine. What do you guys think?

As mentioned above, you are already doing marketing so I'd go with a website that is as close to the final version as possible - i.e. as you mentioned: screenshots, video, etc added as that can increase the chance of potential players coming across the website to sign up (assuming they are not following you already somewhere else).

[Stricle]

That's a great concept you have! Didn't have to think twice before clicking after reading "roguemance".

Looking forward updates.

[oldblood]

How did I miss you were working on a new game?! Looking awesome! Will be following...

[AD1337]

Thanks for the support, everyone 

Been quiet because I'm back to paper prototying, so there's not much to show. Plus I wasted time, don't remember with what.



My goal with paper prototyping is to quickly try mechanics and see if they produce the intended result - express relationships. Roguemance is different in that I can't let the game "make itself" by following whatever fun mechanics pop out in prototyping. It's a game about romance and anything that doesn't play like a relationship has to be taken out. So there's a lot of trial and error, I need to have an idea, try it, find out if it represents romance, and go further with it if it does and forget it if it doesn't.

I think I'll have something soon.

[yhsper]

This project is just too cool for its own sake.

Can't wait to see what all these plans and sketches are about! Keep us posted, Lucas!

[AD1337]

I wrote a poem! 


http://www.roguemance.com/

I think stuff like this is a good combination between creative marketing and just having fun with the project. Anyway, I validated the new map paper prototype and will be coding it soon.

Next week I'll attend an event called Game Mixer where 10 German developers will come meet 10 Brazilian devs and do stuff. I think it will be fun and I'll show Roguemance to as many people as I can to get feedback.

[MrHassanSan]

That Game Mixer event sounds really cool! How did you get involved? By special invite?

[AD1337]

That Game Mixer event sounds really cool! How did you get involved? By special invite?

Any Brazilian could sign up, they chose based on our applications. The Germans are winners and finalists of some gamedev prize in Germany.

I will try to vlog about the event, expect a video in a couple of weeks.

[MrHassanSan]

That Game Mixer event sounds really cool! How did you get involved? By special invite?

Any Brazilian could sign up, they chose based on our applications. The Germans are winners and finalists of some gamedev prize in Germany.

I will try to vlog about the event, expect a video in a couple of weeks.

Nice, kudos for being selected! Looking forward to the vlog.

[nathy after dark]

So I gotta ask (maybe this is becoming my gimmick), the player will be able to be gay/lesbian/bisexual, right? 

[AD1337]

Nice, kudos for being selected! Looking forward to the vlog.

Here it is! My phone camera is shitty for video, so the quality is kinda bad. But you can get an idea of how it was from my perspective. There were professionals filming though, so we can expect a better and official video in the future.

So I gotta ask (maybe this is becoming my gimmick), the player will be able to be gay/lesbian/bisexual, right? 

Yes, but I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm not sure if there will be only 2 genders in the game, or if characters are gonna be gender-neutral and you use your imagination. Or maybe you can input your own gender by typing. We'll see.

[MrHassanSan]

So I gotta ask (maybe this is becoming my gimmick), the player will be able to be gay/lesbian/bisexual, right? 

Yes, but I'm still trying to figure this out. I'm not sure if there will be only 2 genders in the game, or if characters are gonna be gender-neutral and you use your imagination. Or maybe you can input your own gender by typing. We'll see.

Having a gender-neutral option is a welcome addition, but it can lead to some bland writing. Take Undertale for example: The main character is whoever you want them to be, and that makes them really boring. But it's OK because the game is carried entirely by the non-player characters.

For a game about delving into relationships, making the main character a bland Everyman would be severely limiting from a design standpoint. In addition, if you let the player choose whoever they want to be, it limits what they get out of the game. It's not challenging (intellectually) if the player just role-plays as the idealized version of themselves. You can get a lot more meaning out of playing a character you don't 100% identify with--that's why reading fiction tends to challenge people's minds. It puts you into someone else's shoes rather than letting you choose the nicest pair of shoes in the shop.

Since your game is actually about something (relationships), I think you have a wonderful opportunity to be inclusive of different sexualities AND be specific enough to draw meaning from those relationships. For example, here's a suggestion:

What if instead of choosing your character, the game chooses your sexuality/gender/race for you via RNG?
You must play the game as that character with unique challenges along the way.

• Say your character happens to be a gay man. Maybe you decide to stop at an inn, but the innkeeper says she doesn't want you there messing up her sheets with your gaiety. Maybe that encounter, which would have been completely normal if you were a straight person, turns into a battle with the Innkeeper and her husband, where you try to prove your relationship is just as strong and meaningful as theirs.
• Or maybe the Innkeeper situation prompts a discussion between the player and their partner about if they should split up for the night. That decision could lead to you being attacked at night, alone. And maybe your partner is attacked while you two are separated, and there's a chance they might not make it to morning.
• Or say your character is a straight woman. Maybe when you're single (or when your boyfriend's not around) you're attacked by more human men than monsters. That could lead to some interesting choices if "splitting up" for a while is a part of the game's normal strategy.
• Or, say your first character is a bisexual man. If the player knows being in a same-sex relationship comes with some game-related downsides, maybe they choose to only pursue women--which would be so interesting because that's a choice real people make in real life.
• Or say your character is in an interracial relationship. People could treat you differently. Perhaps there's a side-quest where you have to bring a mate home to your parents, and this causes a battle instead of a nice meal and an upgrade.

If you can afford it, there's a lot of meaningful shit you can do by not having the character be a blank canvas. Just a thought!

[JWK5]

^ Just make sure that in that regard you tow the line carefully as it can potentially blow up in your face.

In any case, the idea sounds interesting and I am liking the game's graphics. Keep up the good work! 

[nathy after dark]

@MrHassanSan, Those are some great/interesting ideas for using the game concept as a vehicle for empathy and political themes, but on the other hand I see the dev's original concept as something a bit more whimsical and carefree. As an LGBTQ person, I personally might rather play a game in which queer character choices are available (them being randomly chosen for the player forcibly is interesting, but what if someone only ever feels comfortable playing as a lesbian and would rather always have a choice not to be straight?) and given the same space to be breathe as straight relationships. So if AD1337 really is going for a more lighthearted tone, I'm sure lots of queer people would actually rather there never be homophobia in the game even if it's thematic.

Basically I think equally valid here to go either way (but I have a personal preference for the first option):

• The player can roguemance anyone they want in the game (as long as the partner is into it—there should totally be NPC-player rejections in the game), and will have the same fun/joyful experience no matter what kind of partners they go with. This is great because someone like me could express a queer identity in the game without having to interact with the same discrimination this brings IRL. We're making fantasy—so why import the bad parts of the real world?
• Any variation of the mechanics you suggested, designed to increase the player's empathy for different types of romance. This could be very cool, and maybe help more straight people realize what heteronormativity and homophobia are like, but could also end up alienating people who get enough of that IRL.

Just another perspective.

[MrHassanSan]

I could see it going both ways. I agree Lucas' game looks like it'll be more carefree than dramatic, but I wasn't imagining the game being a straight take on the potentially dark themes of romance in the modern world.

Taking Undertale once again as an example (since it's the only recent Indie game I can think of that most people on the internet have played or heard of)--if you *really* think about some of the things it brings up, it's horrifying. But it still manages to be one of the funniest, lighthearted games I've played.

A recent game I played--Owlboy--also had a fairly lighthearted tone. But if it didn't have bright, cute graphics, a soaring soundtrack, and the power of friendship---it would have been extremely depressing.

I guess my point is,there are ways of making dark themes palatable, and sweet even, all while still making someone think.

As an LGBTQ person myself, I personally sympathize with wanting to be able to play a cute game where nothing bad happens to you. But at the same time, I'm wary that many games haven't used their potential to make a person empathize with people outside their comfort zones. I think it'd be a neat opportunity to have a fun, romance-related game that also makes you think about other people's relationships--but I also recognize it's totally the developer's choice! Just wanted to offer a take he might not have considered.

By the way Lucas--the event you went to looks like it was fun! Learn anything cool while you were there?