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Narrative Game - Blog Posts
You are the butler, and you just murdered the lord! But suddenly, the doorbell rings and his friends arrive for a surprise party! And worst of all, one of them is said to be a famous detective!
Manipulate the evidence, stray false information and construct fake motives for the other guests before the day ends to ensure somebody else will be accused during the detective's grand reveal!
The Butler did it - a reverse detective game, available now on itch.io!
Always happy to see a good grisly mystery! Just played "Disconnected" a fantastic visual novel by Teharra Rose.
You're a 911 dispatcher. You're taking to a woman who wakes up in an ice bath. She doesn't know how she got there. Can you save her life?
What is the key to surviving the ever shifting edges of the Blade Room?
A hidden panel, a memory locked away or just dumb luck?
"Choose Your Fate" in Lydia's Labyrinth the game book - coming soon.
I'm currently rearranging the art from landscape graphics from the visual novel game to portrait book style. I'm also recolouring for print and ebook :D
The game experience will be similar to the "choose your own adventure" novels. The the writing is done and now, the writer and I are working on the formatting and editing. Things are moving forward fast and I'm really excited about it all. Just got to stay focused and get the work done!
Played a great visual novel demo today! Super writing and lore which I'm looking forward to seeing more of.
Also thanks for using Mr Fuffington as the cat!
Once upon a time...
I wrote a story about a powerful spirit trapped in a tree and the bard that helps to break the curse.
It was written for a very special little bard who was just learning to read. Some years have passed and the bard has grown and now we're adapting the story into a visual novel using Ren'Py.
We're working on bringing the fairytale to life for the Once Upon a Time VN Jam, including the magical song.
I'm working on it using a kalimba as it's a great portable little instrument... Perfect for a travelling bard.
Hopefully I can make a song worthy of such a special quest.
Doing some experimental drawing for my next visual novel project.
This blossoming tree has a spirit trapped inside. In this gentle fairytale you embark on a quest to release her.
I'm thinking the hand drawn style has a kind of story book charm which I like a lot. Especially as I'm hoping to submit this to the Once Upon a Time VN Jam.
The season of scare's dark tendrils are ebbing away to make room for winter's symphony but if you have time for one more supernatural story, give Spirit Driver a go.
This wonderfully cozy Halloween story took the first place winner in the Spooktober Visual Novel game jam and I wished I played it sooner!
The game features a cast of humans and supernatural beings and a cab driver who seems to walk in both worlds. There's heart warming dialogue, subtle and witty jokes and lovely pixel graphic art.
If you're thinking about giving it a go, please do!
Lydia's Labyrinth has made it to over 100 downloads!
🖤❤️💜Thank you to everyone who has supported this and helped us to make it here!💜❤️🖤
We're a two person dev team who make short games for free and for fun so having this many people downloading Lydia's Labyrinth is incredible for us! Genuinely, thank you so much.
If escaping a deadly labyrinth while being chided by a cute yet deranged vampire sounds appealing to you, then check it out below!
https://valhallions.itch.io/lydiaslabyrinth
Thanks for stopping by and allow me to raise a glass to you for being a part of this journey.
Cheers!
Lydia really hates this statue. Why does she have a statue that she hates in her labyrinth?
https://valhallions.itch.io/lydiaslabyrinth
What a wonderful night for a quick throwback! I'd like to introduce you to the game which started my Spooktober journey.
You play as Penelope, who's just about ready to give up on her dream of being a singer, until she finds an audition notice for the opportunity of a lifetime... An audition for a reality TV show on a private island which turns into a fight to survive and may see some dark truths come to light.
Truly Sublime was created for the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam two years ago and it's nice to look back on it. Back then, this was my second game that I had published so it's got a couple of rough edges but I want to leave it as it is until I get time to make a shiny, better version.
There was so much cut from the game to make it work in the jam's timeframe so it might be a fun one to return to one day and explore the untold stories, especially with the character Lucinda. She had her own story and endings planned too.
Thanks for checking out my nostalgia ramble and I hope you're having a lovely Autumn evening!
Cheers for stopping by and take care!
The nights are growing colder as the barrier between this world and the next weakens. The season of scare is well and truly upon us.
If you're looking for something to stir your cauldron you can check out this years Spooktober Visual Novel Jam where over 270 free and new spooky experiences await your ghoulish delight. If you like any of the horrific offerings please give them your support by rating them for the jam! Time grows short as there's only a week left to rate.
You can see my entry, a choose your own adventure game here.
Thanks for stopping by and take care in the Autumnal air.
No filters and hot off the drawing table! These are some work in progress sketches for an upcoming project...
Lydia's Labyrinth has received some wonderful feedback during the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam. We aimed to make a choose your own adventure story with a healthy dose of mystery and a cute and deadly host and thanks to some helpful comments and suggestions from amazing players, we're going to bring out a game book of the story 😁
It's going to be the first book in our "Choose Your Fate" series and we hope to bring many of our ideas and stories to the table under this project. The sketches above are for dividing sections of the story and feature props and elements from Lydia's game.
Thanks to everyone who has played our game! It's the most downloaded one we've ever made and it really means a lot to me and Robert.
If you want to see the original jam version of the game you can check it out here...
Thanks for stopping by and take care!
It's October 1st, you know what time it is!
Lydia's Labyrinth is out just in time to hit that Spooktober Visual Novel Jam release deadline!
We wanted to mash up the feel of a choose your own adventure book and a mystery story. Then we threw in a hearty helping of a larger than unlife, thirsty vampire who seems to know a lot about you.
Don't keep her waiting darling!
Game jam stuff - today the writer wanted a tiger for the labyrinth!
A tiger getting ready to strike...
So I know I'm not gonna get time to hand draw a vicious tiger so I thought I'd see what I could cobble together from available images on pexels and pixabay.
With a bit of tweaking and some filters I came up with a tiger. This project is getting big so I'm having to resort to some quick and dirty tactics. Here's hoping it works!
Lydia's Labyrinth is coming to the Spooktober Visual Novel Jam 2024 - now with a tiger!
A sneak peek at Lydia's Labyrinth... Mwah Darlings!
It's day 2 of the Spooktober VN jam! Here's a quick image drop to show off the look we're going for in Lydia's Labyrinth!
As always, royalty free photos from pixabay are doing the heavy lifting for backgrounds and graphic design. I add a lot of colouring and effects to make it look more vampy.
I've also started the coding in Renpy and Robert is working on the writing, maze design and sound effects. So it's all go and I hope we can get this dangerous labyrinth finished!
Hope your all having a great Spooktober and keep healthy during the jam!
Introducing Lydia...
We're getting ready for Spooktober season with our upcoming escape visual novel - Lydia's Labyrinth!
Can you escape from her evil clutches and solve the mystery of your shared past?
For the third year we're taking part in Spooktober visual novel jam. Can't wait to see what everyone creates!
Here's a quick screenshot from The Hate Show - an interlude to the Travel Devil story. Development hit a couple of roadblocks but things are back on track and I'm feeling fiendishly hopeful!
The next devlog will follow soon.
Take care of yourselves... and each other.
Travel devil 2 - Shame the Devil, tell the truth - DevLog 4
Well folks it's been such a week. I've had some extra work on this week but fear not... Travel Devil 2 continues its march through development.
This week I have
Designed some additional menu assets
Worked on a talk show set
Designed some apocalypse assets based in Paris
Learned about the national dish of the Netherlands - Stamppot (critical cultural research and tonight's dinner)
Paris has fallen to the unholy march.
Unfortunately the talk show set is still a work in progress as it's not coming together in a way that I like. Also things are going a bit slower than I’ve expected. Just gotta keep my head up and keep on with it.
I've also got some news about the writing. Robert has been leading the story development and has
Been writing many new scenes
Started a point of view chapter for our new character Chloe (art reveal coming soon!)
Finished a secret scene
Carried out location research about demonic art in Amsterdam
Poster for the play "Lucifer" from 1910 painter by Richard Roland Holst (1868 -1938) - https://resolver.kb.nl/resolve?urn=urn:gvn:WITS01:109324, Public Domain
I'm glad to say that things are still moving forward. These devlogs help me to recognise that. Next week is going to be hectic as well so I'm going to try and focus on character art. I'm also hoping to make some time to play some visual novels. There's a few I've been meaning to try and I always find it inspiring to see what magical creations other people are making.
If you’d like to see how the infernal story began you can download the original Travel Devil narrative game for free on the Valhallions itch page. You can also see my side projects and asset packs on the DoubleFree itch page.
Take care everyone!
DoubleFree
Hell yeah, I'm back! Travel Devil 2 - DevLog 3
Good news! Was sick. Got better! It wasn't anything major, just sucked for a while.
Bad news - Game development was pretty loosey goosey, but stuff still happened! Here's what I've been working on:
Storyboard of the prologue is planned.
Started working on a talk show set.
Concept sketches done for a demonic talk show host.
Menu art done.
Worked with the writer on the flow and pacing of the writing.
Many pose sketches done for CGs.
Development is going well, just a bit slowly but that's to be expected. We're still on track for a 2024 release on Travel Devil 2 but if you want some fiery, decision-making action you can check out the original narrative game here - Travel Devil - Episode 1 Paris. We hope you'll join us on our demonic travel vlog across Europe featuring your host Tornacense.
Thanks for stopping by!
Travel DevLog 2 - Working with the devil on my shoulder.
Week 2 of development has been going well on Travel Devil 2. We’re setting it straight after the first game so you get to see how the dynamics of Tornacense and Kirby are changing as they get used to being around each other.
Tornacense and Kirby facing an unhinged street preacher in the first game.
It’s great returning to these characters. I’m trying to make their drawings more exciting and dynamic. I’ve got a lot more time to make the character drawings now as I’m not working to game jam timeframes. I’m also going to learn to use the Renpy Action Editor to add more options to the movements in the game.
I’ve been working on many different aspects of the Travel Devil 2 to keep things interesting and motivating. Here’s what I’ve been up to:
Many more concept sketches were drawn. Now I need to get them looking swish on the computer.
Backgrounds and video footage of Amsterdam have been sourced to showcase in the vlog parts of the game.
Set up a Bluesky profile – now I just have to learn to use it :S
Spent a lot of time updating software – yay!
Planned some fancy menus for 1st game recap, unlockables and character profiles
Coded some of the game framework in Renpy
Drank a lot of tea (Woo rock and/or roll!)
I've been using the plot outline to build the framework for the game. Robert has been working away on the writing. He's already written the recap of the first game and the opening scene which we’ve been hammering out together.
We’re hoping to get Travel Devil 2 out this year if we can. However if you can’t wait, you can pop on the old humask and check out the (short) first installment here on itch.io.
Thanks for stopping by and I hope March is treating you well!
Travel Dev(il)Log – And so it begins...
Hello and welcome to the first DevLog of Travel Devil 2!
Ever wanted to get out of the daily grind and escape to a paradise of travel-vlogging in Europe? Well, so did Tornacense the demon! The Travel Devil series follows Tornacense and the (un)lucky human who summoned him, Kirby.
In Travel Devil 2, Tornacense and Kirby are going to Amsterdam to enjoy all the fabulous delights that this city has to offer! The outline is done and development is beginning! Robert has been writing away and has sent over the summary. Now it’s time for me to get stuck in to the art and the code.
So to keep me on track, I'm making weekly progress lists to help keep me motivated. This week I have:
Practised drawing the characters lots (I haven’t worked with these characters since October so I’m a bit rusty!)
Designed our new character Chloe, reveal coming soon – she’s a peach!
Watched a lot of travel guides for Amsterdam – it’s been years since I’ve been there so I hope I can do this fantastic city justice.
Researched art from famous Dutch artists to give the game an air of culture and sophistication - Amsterdam isn’t all red lights and smoking and we want to showcase all the great aspects of this famous city!
Travel Devil 2 is the sequel to a game that I made for a game jam. It was set in beautiful Paris and showed the first episode of Travel Devil featuring the overnight doomtube sensation, Tornacense. I had so much fun making it that I’m diving back in and we’re heading to the Netherlands on the next step of the Journey.
If you want to check out the first instalment it’s right here waiting for you to come enjoy it!
Thanks for stopping by!