Alright, there’s been some problems with spam on the blog lately, so I set up a new spam blocker. Hopefully it’ll work better than the previous one.
In other news, This is a Work of Fiction continues to move along. The gameplay is starting to work now (it’s an implementation of the Link-A-Pix puzzle style), which means you guys will probably get to see it relatively soon. Keep an eye out–I’m really satisfied with where the game is going.
Here’s the introduction to This is a Work of Fiction. I thought you guys might be interested. Probably more to come.
To whom it may concern,
For starters, a word of warning. This is a work of fiction. Nothing contained should be considered meaningful or relevant. Do not, for even a second, pretend that this represents anything more than a mostly random collection of arbitrary information and possibly flawed insight. Whether or not you find any meaning in it is no concern of mine.
-The Author
The game that I had previously mentioned called The Influence has a new name, and a lot more writing. The new title is “This is a Work of Fiction.” I don’t want to explain the whole story, but the title works impossibly well once you’ve finished the game. It’s…kind of intense.
The basic idea of the game is that you’ve stumbled upon a jumble of lightly encrypted files. Each level is a grid puzzle that you have to complete to unlock a file. Once a file is unlocked, you get to check it out–Some files are excerpts from books or snippets from old newspapers. Some are notes written directly to you. Hopefully we’ll get some images and audio mixed in there, too. I’ve included two examples of these files. One is a newspaper clipping and the other is a series of Bible verses.
“…but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.”
-Genesis 4:5
“If we go on sinning after we have learned the truth, no sacrifice can take away our sins.”
-Hebrews 10:26
“They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.”
-1 John 4:5
“So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.”
-Matthew 10:26
I’m pretty set in the idea of working on one of two projects that I’ve got laid out now. The first is Fix, which I explained at least vaguely in an earlier post. I’m still writing up stuff for it, and I’ve got some damn good ideas. The extreme basics of the engine work, but I’ve got a lot more to do on that front before there’s anything really presentable.
The second project might be called The Influence, and it’s a puzzle-horror game. It’s a story about the biggest fucking conspiracy ever. Like, take the sort of cheesy idea of a shadow organization, but extend it to Lovecraftian scales, where it doesn’t even really exist as a normal entity anymore. The basic goal is to make you paranoid about every single thing in your day. The enemy isn’t just everywhere. It’s everything.
As it stands, I’ve got three games that have good stories but no gameplay yet. Here’s a quick runthrough of them. These will most likely be the last three games for my contract with Armor, unless something cooler comes around.
1) Chivalry is Dead
This is a game about the roles we put ourselves in, and the relationships we form with each other. The White Knight feels obligated to save the princess from the castle, mostly because he knows that this is the sort of thing that the White Knight is supposed to be doing. CiD sits somewhere between drama and dark humor at this point–I’ll very likely shift it more towards dark humor as I continue to write for it.
2) Fix
Fix may or may not be a prequel to Company. I haven’t decided yet. Limbo has put me in a “whole game in one level” mood, so that’s how Fix plays. If it ends up being a prequel, then you’ll be playing as Kathryn. Either way, the game features a recurring motif of the player occasionally passing through a strangely realistic house, and watching it slowly become more and more decrepit as you get through the game. Braid is to Company as Limbo is to Fix.
3) Grief
In development hell for quite a while now, but still present. I’m taking a break from this one to work on one of the other two first, because the gameplay that was coming along just plain old wasn’t good enough. It wasn’t fresh enough, it wasn’t satisfying enough. Wasn’t anything special, and that’s no good, so I’ll let it sit on the back burner for now, until I figure out something better.
One Response
Mike
Nice idea with the musical instruments, that’s suuuuuuper important for learning something completely. Like you’re going to know about different materials and how sound works, thats cool. I learned about how meat dries, and now I have an idea of how things dry. Also, for the cell game, (maybe) making it more realistic, by like making it kinda like a 3d osmosis jones will make it more visceral and real. maybe. Yea but it’s gonna take you a while to make anything, just like my cousin who’s an artist, each mosaic takes like a month, depending how big it is. A big project, like on the side of a building took him like 8 months, but his work is…. rigorous and detailed and very thoughtful and carefully crafted. His works are good, old museum art good, like roman vases good. Anyway, yea it’s good that you are making your own instruments because i’m doing the same thing, but with economics. It really helps you understand precisely how the physical world works. It’s nice.