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TIGSource ForumsCommunityDevLogsZeitgeist 1980
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mcoorlim
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« on: July 25, 2020, 08:35:07 AM »

Zeitgeist 1980 is a digital gamebook set in the cinematic 1980s, heavily inspired by the weird cinema and television produced during the decade. This is a solo project being developed in Godot using Inkle's Ink scripting markup. At present I am also creating all of the art assets, and using CC0 audio assets for sound effects and music, though I'd prefer to eventually commission professionals to supply me with both.


This screenshot has a typo that has been fixed in-game.







https://mcoorlim.itch.io/rascal-and-the-boxer

Story:
The player, an 80s teen protagonist, is sent to stay with his cousin Colt over winter break. Unexpectedly he's roped into helping Colt with a mysterious cross-country delivery of a mysterious cargo for even more mysterious patrons. Things go horribly awry in a road-trip tale inspired by 80s action comedy movies "Smokey and the Bandit II" and "Any Which Way You Can."

The prototype was written in Twine last November for a game jam. You can play it free on the web here:




Progress So Far:

Here's a video in which I discuss how I used my limitations to design the game's UI.





Here's a video in which I talk about how I actually implement said UI.





Currently, I'm converting the Twine script (basically HTML, CSS, and Javascript) to Ink.

Future Plans:

As planned Zeitgeist 1980 is going to be an episodic interactive fiction game, with future chapters inspired by other 80s movies. First step, though, is nailing down the godot interpreter.

After that, I need to choose appropriate background music, and create a large quantity of pixel art for the game's visuals.
« Last Edit: April 05, 2021, 10:06:10 AM by mcoorlim » Logged

mcoorlim
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« Reply #1 on: July 28, 2020, 11:42:52 AM »

Story structure and converting from Twine to Ink.



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Earworm
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« Reply #2 on: July 28, 2020, 01:47:57 PM »

This looks really cool. You have a really interesting idea for character development with your courageous/compassionate meter. I love the idea of essentially an interactive John Hughes movie where depending on my choices I can bring out the compassion in Bender from the Breakfast Club.

I think you have some really interesting opportunities here to play with the soundtrack here depending on how your inter-character relationships are developing. For instance you might have a character theme for an NPC that might get reharmonized over the course of the game depending on whether you've developed good chemistry with that character or not. As a composer, this type of interaction between the music and the character arc is super appealing and interesting.
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mcoorlim
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« Reply #3 on: July 28, 2020, 03:37:18 PM »

Yeah, I'm in the middle of learning chiptune so I've been thinking a lot more about using those thematic elements. Not that I'm anywhere near good enough to include my own compositions yet. I'm awful!
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Earworm
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« Reply #4 on: July 28, 2020, 03:55:08 PM »

I'd love to help! I sent you a PM!
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mcoorlim
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« Reply #5 on: August 04, 2020, 11:17:27 AM »

Here's a short video on the artistic choices I've been making for the game.



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Suttebun
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« Reply #6 on: August 04, 2020, 11:21:11 AM »

Did I just read ink-reader? Give me a sec.

Your book sensibilities did a good job, I really like your design layout.
The gameplay reminds me of a SSH terminal mud mmo of sorts, or a Visual Novel.

I wish you luck on your journey man!
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mcoorlim
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« Reply #7 on: August 11, 2020, 07:23:13 AM »

Hey, thanks! Appreciate the feedback and encouragement!

No new devlogs for a bit as I'm just focused on creating the placeholder art I need. You can check out my thread in the Art forum to see what I've been working on.
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mcoorlim
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« Reply #8 on: September 29, 2020, 10:09:01 AM »

Ended up commissioning the art I needed, and working with an excellent composer for the music. We're at the point where we can move from Alpha to Closed Beta.





What's next? Well, I've sent a demo to my $5+ supporters on patreon to beta-test. In about a month it'll go out to the rest of my patrons, and shortly after that I should have a public demo available.  This demo covers the first "episode" of four, inspired by the 1980 movies Smokey and the Bandit II and Every Which Way You Can. I'll need to crowdfund the art and music budget for the next 3 episodes, so I'll probably be launching a kickstarter early next year.
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mcoorlim
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« Reply #9 on: November 09, 2020, 08:20:47 AM »

Final edits are done, art is implemented, music is implemented... I've decided to treat this as a stand-alone "episode" titled "Rascal and the Boxer" and the entire serial "Zeitgeist 1980." After all, I have no idea if the kickstarter to fund episodes 2-4 will be successful, and if that's the case I'd rather be able to cut my losses and call this self-contained than unfinished.

Accordingly: you can find Rascal and the Boxer here: https://mcoorlim.itch.io/rascal-and-the-boxer
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mcoorlim
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« Reply #10 on: April 05, 2021, 10:05:46 AM »

So, it's been a few. Ran a kickstarter to try and fund the creation of a few more episodes - basically to raise the art and music budget, estimated at $2500. Only hit 65% of goal, so... for now, that's that.

Without that budget I can't afford to go ahead with the art and music, so I'm going to fall back to continuing the project in Twine for now, with an additional six episodes of approximately equal length, funded by my supporters on patreon. I don't make quite enough through it to commission the art and music, but it does help pay for other costs of development.

I'll be making public releases to try and get more supporters, incentivized by earlier access to dev builds, and exclusive patron-only character options; after a poll of my current supporters I've decided to include - at their option - a very 80s "secret alien buddy" plot element.

I'm hoping to have the first Twine release ready by the end of the week.

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Beastboy
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« Reply #11 on: April 05, 2021, 02:48:28 PM »

I first tought this is bloodlust devblog but then i realized you two have identical art styles but totally difrent games.

I need to say i love the artstyle and i like your game concept.

I will follow
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