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[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 37

I think about differents poses of the "hero" and the color of the UI, text is currently not very readable. I modified some details in the room 1 (for the scenario), I also think and test some animations for others characters but I have difficulty  to create good ones/interresting.

[UnFantomeBleu]

DAY 38

Some détails in the room 1 are modified.



The hero is a little modified too, I've created most of animations (characters and environnements).

[UnFantomeBleu]

- LAST DAY -

Hi there!
 
The 6th and last week is over.
 
Is the game finished?
No.
 
Are we on the right track?
Yes.
I would say 80% is done.
But as a lot of us know, the last 20% are the more difficult hehe.
 
Are we happy with the result?
Yes.
Still, there is only one judge: players.
So, now, our goal is to release asap a closed alpha demo to get precious feedbacks in order to improve the game.
(You can already PM me if you are seriously interested.)
 
Not sure how much time we’ll need.
We’ll take what we need (no rush), but we don’t want to loaf.
As they said: "You have to strike while the iron is hot". ; )
 
On my side, I have a lot of tweaking to do here and there:
Polish some gfx.
Add some animations (rooms and characters).
Polish UI and modify portraits to make them fit properly to it.
 



On Atavismus side, there are some code fixing to do and still linking branches dialogs/conditions to write.

Another time consuming and unestimated phase we’ll be tests, tests, tests (before to be able to release the alpha).
 
Anyway, I guess I can make a first assessment.
I learnt a lot with this game.
I faced two well known realities:
We always need a solid organization all along.
Naming photoshop layers (even the little not important ones) is mandatory. :D
(By the way, I guess I should not have layers spam so much. ^^)

More seriously, I noticed one thing: a gfx is never finished (even if I thought it was many times during the process haha).
Also, maybe I underestimated some parts/details (especially animations).
Some stuffs seem easy, but in fact it’s hard to deal with and take more time than expected to get a satisfying result.
By the way, sometimes, it’s better to change subject of work (to avoid to be stuck) or go for inspiration (R&D, tutorials, etc.) and come back later on the difficulty.

Still, that was really great to work fulltime on art!

Well, I guess that post is already too long. ^^
 
TL;DR:
The work placement is over but the gamedev is going on!

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

Thanks for reading and see you soon*!
*(next week-end I guess)

[Thomas_]

Hi there!

I’m Atavismus, coder and writer of H Corp.

Here is some news about the dialogs and the Twine stats:



I planed 5000 words for the first mission.
I wrote +6500.
I should not outreach too much 7000.

So we are coming to end and the alpha demo is on a good way.

As always, feel free to ask/advise/criticize anything: your opinion really matters to us.

Thanks for reading, cya and take care!

[Thomas_]

Hi there!

Today, I completed the demo for the first time!

There are still some stuffs to fix (code and branches), but it’s on a good way.

I would say the alpha demo is 90% ready!

(There’s no spoil, that door is your target. Still, will you enter?)

What now?
We already mentioned it here: there is no game over in H Corp (some will think it's good, some will think it's unrealistic).
It means two risks:
- dead ends
- a too easy game

It seems we dealt with the dead ends.
Now it's difficulty's turn.
As the game is very "open", we have to balance it to keep it challenging.
So, some choices have to meaningly close some others.
That's the basis (sometimes forgotten) of the genre: your choices have consequences.
But game over is not an option, so it's more difficult for us.

As always, feel free to ask/advise/criticize anything: your opinion really matters to us.

Thanks for reading, cya and take care!

[Thomas_]

Hi there!

Just some few news: progress is slow but still real.

I wrote roughly 98% of the dialogs.
It's more than 300 "passages" and more than 7400 words.
Initially, I planed 5000 words, which is 10% of my previous interactive fiction "Somewhere: The Vault Papers".
50 000 words is rougly 150 pages for a book.
Why 5000?
Because if people like the first mission, I plan to wrote at least 9 more, each one in a different layer of the society.

The artist also progressed with some new animations.

I would say the alpha demo is 95% ready.

Here is a picture of the 3 exterior rooms (in original resolution: 320x180) with the 7 characters.





As always, feel free to ask/advise/criticize anything: your opinion really matters to us.

Thanks for reading, cya and take care!

[Thomas_]

Bonsoir !

Pour info, je parle de H Corp en français ici :

http://adventuregamestudio.1fr1.net/t2972-h-corp-une-fiction-interactive-visuelle-et-dystopique

Bonne semaine à tous !

[UnFantomeBleu]

Hello !

We pay attention to details to create a good atmosphere ahah





It's not easy to find time to progress but dialogs & animations are almost done, the alpha demo comes soon !

[Ramos]

You guys did amazing work, truly talented.
I am also curious about that horror project, is it uploaded on any website?
Good luck!

[UnFantomeBleu]

Hello thank you ! :D

Yeah I've uploaded a demo https://unfantomebleu.itch.io/away-in-the-dark but it's not in English and it's very short ^^

For others "horror" projects, not yet sorry aha

[Thomas_]

We are not dead!