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[UnFantomeBleu]

Hi there!

I'm UnFantomeBleu, I’m french and I’m a student in a third year program « Licence en Sciences de l’Information & de la communication » with a video games option.

Since 2014, I worked on several small games like Archeos.

"Archeos" - "For Them" - "Blue":

During a work placement, from 7 January to 15 February, I decided to create a mix of point’n’click and interactive fiction with Atavismus (who worked for examples on Dustbowl and Somewhere).

I have 6 weeks to release a proper demo!
I’ll write about my progress every day.
That devlog will be a part of my university report.

We are using Photoshop, Twine and some custom javascript.

The game name is H Corp and the story is set in a dystopian society, unequal and quite authoritarian.

DAY 1

First mockup:

The main idea is to put the freedom of the first Deus Ex in a 2D pixel art point’n’click oriented on choice / consequence gameplay with several ways to deal with different situations.
You can play brutal, social or sneaky.

To set the pace, I leave you with the opening speech:

Hail 1894-JD-1963.
Your life expectancy is under one year.
You decided to join our healthcare program.
To prove your dedication to our organization, you’ll have to fulfil several missions.
Here is the first one:
A criminal organization is threatening our economical interests.
You have to steal their data.
Your cover is: ordinary repair technician.
Beware:
The area is marked as outlaw and its inhabitants are last class citizens and even non citizens.
You are allowed to use coercion, even lethally.

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

PS: You can also follow our progress on TWITTER:
https://twitter.com/HCorpGame

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 2

I decided to use the Vanishing Point filter, very useful ! (I’ve never never used this tool in my old projects)
I like the wall textures but I don’t know if I keep it like that, I like when it's a little minimalist. Still working on the visual identity.
I worked on small details of the scenary too and I will start a "prototype" of the 2nd scene.

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 3

A little more detail on the scene, more elements, more textures.. and I'm looking for a right color palette



Little animation:

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 4

New background and I'm starting to think about UI design.

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 5

Background in progress



And a test about the UI

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 6

Small week-end break: I'm working on an Unity project (still for my education):



(A horror visual novel)

Tomorrow I'll post an overwiew of the first week. 

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 7

The first week is over!
5 more to go.
It's almost far but not that much: the first 7 days have passed so quickly!
Anyway, I really like to work fulltime on gamedev.

What I did:
I concentrated on backgrounds and on the visual identity of the game.
3 backgrounds are on the right track I guess, but they still need more work (polish, details, colors, etc.).

What I will do:
During the second week, I'll finish those backgrounds and I will also work on the 6 characters:
- tramp
- prostitute
- pimp
- dealer
- black market guy
- guard

Atavismus wrote and integrated around 70% of the dialog.
Here is the Twine stats:
26163 Characters
 3885 Words
  163 Passages
  137 Links

In fact, we would like to avoid a too verbose game.
We prefer to create more passages (so more possibilities) but with rather concise dialogs.
The idea is to avoid a slow paced game, still with enough elements (dialogs, lore, characters, gfx, etc.) to make a palpable world-building and ambiance.

To conclude, I guess we can say our progression is going well.




We have a lot to do, a lot to improve, but we are very excited by the project!

Feel free to ask/advise/criticize anything.

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 8

More details and some new characters !

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 9

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 10

Test some filters, shadows / textures modified and more colors, I had some problems with vanishing points and perspective but it’s resolved

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 11

2 new small backgrounds in progress (that I will share you later) and I modify some details with some characters (especially the guard in the 3rd "room")

Little evolution of the first background

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 12

New background !



I try to create light without polluting the visual of the room, I wonder if I should "smooth" the effects of light for a better rendering..

[mihaipuiucernea]

This looks amazing. I'll be keeping an eye on this.

May I ask how you mke the backgrounds? Besides Photoshop, are you also using 3D? I saw some wireframe in your gif.

[UnFantomeBleu]

Hello ! Thank you,  I use only Photoshop, especially the Vanishing Point Filter to create a perspective grid

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 13

Like the last saturday, I take a small break from H Corp to work on my education.
By the way, I finished the horror visual novel I mentionned on day 6:



Tomorrow I'll post an overwiew of the second week.

[negator2vc]

Hi!
Very nice atmosphere!!! Especially those animated screenshots with the rain!!!

The game is more visual novel style (less interaction, more dialogues, etc..)
or more adventure game style (more interaction, puzzles, exploration, etc..)?

[UnFantomeBleu]

Hello thank you !

The game is not really a visual novel.
It's more a kind of point'n'click with an interactive fiction interface.
It's choices / consequences oriented.
Your choices matter and close / open ways to succeed.

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 14

The second week is over!
It has passed even more quickly than the first!
Anyway, I still feel good about the project.

What I did:
I polished 3 exterior backgrounds: I added details, colors and some animations (they still need at least one more iteration).
I also worked on 2 interior rooms (work in progress).
As well, I draw 5 of the 6 characters (also work in progress).



We still don't know if the hero will be displayed on screen.
By the way, we wonder what's your opinion about this.

What I will do:
During the third week, I'll go on with characters and I will also work on portraits.

Atavismus wrote and integrated more dialogs and especially concentrated on story design.
Indeed, we decided there will be no game over.
So, as your choices have consequences, it's important to avoid dead ends.
Also, as there are several ways to win, we have to avoid a too easy game.
All this means a lot of possibilities, conditions and tests.

Feel free to ask/advise/criticize anything: your opinion matters to us.

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

[UnFantomeBleu]

Day 15

More details for some characters (colors, shadows and shape)



and



Id Number: 76140-LPQ-126 Citizen
Class: 4
Name: Cat Young
Profession: Leisure services

[UnFantomeBleu]

Day 16

I finish all the characters, I still have the middle character to do, when finished, I will create portraits ^^