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[Nebirvi]

Hi there fellow adventure lovers!

I´d like to introduce you to myself and my personal WIP project "Bookworms"



Above: One of many backgrounds in its work progress.


Above: Main Character Laura in the games early environments.


An audience with this King will be unavoidable...

I´m Nellie Johansson, and I create from my mind in the centre of beautiful Sweden!
The idea of bookworms started out as some loving sketches in my notebook, and then just flooded.
I needed to make a game about this little world unfolding in the pages and, being a developer, THAT is what I set out to do.
I began the actual work of Bookworms in the spring of 2015 beside my job as an hired artist at Zoink - Gothenburg.


Me at the office last summer, creating life from my mind. Mohaha! ( I still haven´t cooled down.)

I have played adventure games and loved animated movies all my life and all that which that have given me I hope to give with
Bookworms. Monkey Island, Kings Quest and many more from days gone by and Night of the Rabbit,and Blackwell from today, are all
beautiful games which have filled my head with joy throughout the years. Get caught in a universe, like when you fall right into
the wonderful world of Ghibli for example THAT is joy. I want to bring that joy to gamers in colourful 2D hand-animation.

*About the game itself*
You play as Laura, the young protagonist in our world that is suffering from an overall collapse. Society seems to slowly fall apart
with, people disapearing, no new ideas and memories fading away. But Why?
Nobody knows. In all this Laura is trying to run the family bookshop and Book restoration firm while taking care
of her sick grandmother.

One day though, Lauras world changes as a mysterious man arrives at the bookstore and leaves her with a book.
When it opens... London fades away, and Laura finds herself in a library, accompanied by the mysterious chronicler.
She finds out that there are far more worlds than ours, suffering from similar problems. Each represented by a book in the Chroniclers library.
He tells you that something is destroying the worlds from within, and he needs YOU to help him fix it.

As Laura you travel through the worlds searching for the cause of their decay, acompanied by your faithful cat Scruffy
and guided by the Chronicler and his assistants. It is set in a mostly colourful 2D setting of diferent types, and with many
characters to get to know. Want cute animals? There are bunnies! Want some muscles? There are Bikers too! Bikers and Bunnies...

Current state: In progress.
Platform: PC.
Categories: Adventure, Point-and-Click, Puzzle, Indie
Genre: Storybook

I will update here everyother day, so if you think Bookworms might be the next thing for you, or just want to hang out.
Join me!



Also find me on...
https://twitter.com/Nebirvi
http://nebirvi.tumblr.com/

With love - Nellie!

[chrilley]

Looks really nice - The art style, especially the backgrounds reminds of the ones I'd see in the childrens books I used to read as a kid.

I am looking forward to see where this project goes

[Nebirvi]

Chrilley: Glad to hear it! That is one of many feelings I hope this game will bring. Please stay tuned and enjoy more posts ^^

[Nebirvi]

So who is this Laura figure?
Tall, Dark, Mysterious... not really. But she is quite a girl anyway!
A young Librarian who lives in the outskirts of London alongside her Grandmother above their Book Restoration firm where they sell and restore old books. She's currently in a tight spot, without much money, and her grandmother is in a deep coma. But Laura is optimistic and has a lively imagination to keep her going. As company she has her British short hair Scruffy ( a cat with a royal bloodline...) and of course hundreds of dusty books.


The Journey of Laura is not all a straight line though. In the Sketches I made in early 2015 "she" was a "he" and so it was for quite some time. From old school, to big head, to hipster... I was really comfy with the latest male design, and I might just as well have kept it, BUT a little something in my gut told me to try something new, and so I did a drastic change that turned out even more likable to me than what I had before.


Now, female redhead Laura is what I'm working with, and changes might still come ( I've already decided to cut her hair for a nice silhouette ) But the female version of our protagonist is here to stay!

[Pixel Noise]

Definitely interested in this! Love the art so far. Following

[Davi Vasc]

Nice looking art! Following 

[Nebirvi]

Awesome, you guys :D Thanks for the support! - N

[Nebirvi]

Hi guys!Glad you are watching out there :D
So the last few days I've been working on Lauras animations for the demo. Her walk animation is now fully finished and the work on other animations has begun, like the pickup animation. Because what would a point and click be without pockets full of loot!


No worries, I'll keep them posts coming! - N

[Jacob0209]

Absolutely love the art style, hope the story is as good (which it looks like it is).

Reminds me of the games I played when I was young.

[Nebirvi]

Scruffy! A trusty companion on a possibly dangerous journey...

Working on Scruffy is one of the funniest things on my to do list. Much because I love the idea of a bulky cat following you around in the game and it is nice to see him do so, but most of all because he is the first four legged creature I´ve had the honor to animate. It has been a learning process, and I am happy with how he turns out. I feel like a surgeon tweaking and rotating all these limbs...

Gifs will be up!



Workin hard! - N

[Nebirvi]

Absolutely love the art style, hope the story is as good (which it looks like it is).

Reminds me of the games I played when I was young.

Thanks a bunch! I promise the story and puzzles is written with much care and thought Which games does it remind you of? *curious*
- N

[Rarykos]

I'm looking forward for more stuff from this game! :D

Characters remind me a lot of Daedalic games

[Nebirvi]

I'm looking forward for more stuff from this game! :D

Characters remind me a lot of Daedalic games

Glad to hear it! :D I am a big fan of both Lucas arts and Daedelic as well, so it is an honor to be compared to any of them. Stay tuned and more will come!
-N

[Nebirvi]

So, I believe I promised to post some gifs on the animations I´ve been working on?
So allow me to present my dear friend SCRUFFY THE CAT!

He is loyal, chubby, not too intelligent and always want to help! ( Last two not always a great combo...) give him the love he deserves!



He will follow you almost always! When he is not licking his private parts or chasing imaginary butterflies...



Just look at that fluffy bum :D

All his animation angles are now done for the demo! Woo!, some refining might still occur before the real game. ( which is far ahead)

More about Scruffy later.
Thanks for watching! - N

[Nebirvi]

A little Monday update! First of all it is Monday so I am super tired, so I tell everyone who feels the same to take a big cup of tea/coffee and a twice as big piece of chocolate  :tup:

So today's update: Here is a few concepts on some characters from the world of Bookworms.



Above: One of the things you need to know is that there are a lot of old people in Bookworms. Why? Because they are great sources of knowledge, tell great stories and have great facial attributes! ( And it just kinda happened...) So where ever you go you can be sure to stumble across some old veteran.



Above: " The brothers" These two live on the so called "Dream Islands" along with their mother (wheelchair on pic 1) They are both hard working men, one with brains, one with brawn. They do not have much in common, but the love for their mother. You´ll get to know them later!




Above: The RabRabs ( one of my personal favorites and actually one of the first races and places that started my whole train of through) The Rabrabs live by the rules of their King on their "Island of Rab" Where carrots grow sky high and the tropical climate make the people scream for ice cream everyday.

I´ll now return to my huge cup of tea and these adorable chocolates shaped like rabbits in suits...

-N

[Nebirvi]

Just a little postcard from me and Laura to you! A personal photo of Lauras actually. She and Scruffy go way back.
Catnipp, Laura's Grandma´s cat is actually the mother of the little rascal and his other three siblings.
The other three was placed in other homes, but Laura wanted to keep Scruffy as her own.
Can you see which one is him?


Clue: He is the only bob tail. :D

Have a nice Tuesday guys! - N  :heart:

[Pixel Noise]

Wow these new characters looks awesome!

That one Rabrab has a...saxophone/didgeridoo? Do they have a band? A Raband?? I want to hear that music.

[jctwood]

Everything here is so lovely! The characters are wonderful and the older characters I love, especially the guy with a door in his hat! Scruffy is amazing too. So excited to see this world unfold, thank you for sharing!

[YogX]

Wow this looks awesome. I love games that look like an animated movie.
Keep up the good work.

[ｂ∀ ｋｋｕｓａ]

The RabRabs are amazingly cute. good luck on this project