Hungry Whisper blurb

OK this is a work in progress I just typed these out tonight and I wanted to sleep on them first before publishing but if anyone has feedback, ideas and criticisms please comment as I want to create the best blurb possible.

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Part 1 of Blurb

Not every life ends pleasantly and not every person gets remembered....

or

Not every life ends pleasantly....

Or

(Blood on his hands and mind and the ones left behind are after him and those that he loves)

Part 2 of Blurb

Death is a hard thing to handle, especially when you are the person that caused it. While returning home and trying to get his life back on track Yu is involved in an accident and what remains of his life is thrown into question. Yu’s sister Kemi disappears while investigating a business man. It is Ghost month and something foul is afoot. Yu beings the investigation into the disappearance but whatever lies behind her disappearance is about to engulf him, will he catch up to the past or will the past catch up to him.

or

Death is a hard thing to handle, especially when you are the person that caused it. Following the death of patient, Yu (last name) has been given indefinite leave to recoup. Travelling home from a family reunion everything does not go well, Yu’s sister Kemi disappears after investigating a mysterious business man. After the disappearance it is Yu’s responsibility to investigate Kemi’s disappearance all the while whatever stalked Kemi will also engulf him.

(You can also add the features at the bottom like solve puzzles to delve deeper into Horror novel/mystery)

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Edit 1: The blurb being a short sentence and then a longer paragraph comes from a system I have seen on DS games and science fiction books, I made it more clear with this edit.

Magazine Cutscene I

Mainly for the artists but this is a quite compilation inspiration post for it.

This is an except/ draft of what I've written so far of the edited script for the magazine cutscene but hopefully it'll give you an idea in how it'll work.

It's basically done in the same style as the cutscene on dA: http://jdwasabi.deviantart.com/art/Hungry-Whispers-OP-PREVIEW-258592236?q=gallery%3Ajdwasabi&qo=3 except, the text will be fade ins rather than typed and the audio will be more linear.  Actually, it might be better if the user is not in control of this cutscene just so that I am in control of all the buildups lol.

I'll post up the full script changes when it's ready but I'll type out what I've done so far just so that you have an idea:

Travel Mag Cover: (Tourist trap type magazine, gaudy looking.  You can use the Train logo like I used on the train ticket in one of my earlier posts or make a new one I don't mind).

"Tour Guide Monthly: special issue focusing on 'Ghost Month'"

Add some filler stuff for the front cover too. OR maybe just have the title and a picture of a scary Asian Demonic mask. Some random examples which I found:

From this link which has loads!!! <-- http://www.superstock.com/stock-photography/Demon+Mask
I'm not fussed where the mask originates from, as long as it's Asian of some kind.

From http://www.edunetconnect.com/cat/timemachine/250sea.html Lol this mask looks....naughty XD.

Chinese opera masks also works: http://www.google.co.uk/search?gcx=w&ix=c2&q=south+east+asian+demon+mask&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hl=en&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&biw=1547&bih=1043#um=1&hl=en&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=chinese+opera+mask&pbx=1&oq=chinese+opera&aq=1&aqi=g3g-s1g6&aql=&gs_sm=e&gs_upl=180379l182257l0l183797l13l10l0l4l4l0l181l704l2.4l6l0&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&fp=f4d9b5af5b439955&biw=1547&bih=1043

Whatever tickles your fancy!

Page 1: (throwing in some ideas: some ornate looking gates (like those used in Shinto shrines?) which are open, spirits pouring out, make them look scary I guess).
It is believed that once a year on the seventh Lunar Calendar, the Gates of hell would open and that its inhabitants would roam the world along with the living.

These spirites are of those who have been denied entry to Heaven.  Either by having violent or accidental deaths, lacking proper burial rituals or having no living relatives to pay tribute to them.

Page 2: (incense pot maybe?)
To ease their suffering, 'Ghost Month' is the time for the living to pay tribute and respect.

Page 3: (reference to those really old style of pictures of 'Hell' etc. )
Neglecting or offending the restless spirits are often the cause of great disaster and/or unwanted attention. To avoid misfortune, many believers heed several warnings:
- Do not disturb or take food from the offering altars as they belong to the spirits.
- Whistling at night invites the dead to walk and follow you.
- Avoiding swimming during this time as playful spirits play tricks on you.
- Avoid travelling during this -

Here the cutscene will cut out and a crash sound effect will sound. After this cutscene, it'll be the post-crash part of day2.  (Please refer to the old scripts of day2 if you're really confused but they'll be updated properly once I've typed them out.)

Some images:

Coloured bg, with black silhouettes is what I'm aiming for.
Art style wise, some Asian shadow puppets, especially those of Java and South East Asia:

Java:

Click on the 2nd image to go to the website for some SE Asian classical dance poses done by real humans too XD.

With bg:

From this link: http://minyos.its.rmit.edu.au/aim/a_notes/01_cutouts_project.html as it has some animation stuff too I think (didn't read all of it) so it may be useful.

I know the designs look complicated but downloading but you can easily use some Asian pattern textures from dA to give it the shadow puppet effect (I've got some already which I can dropbox too).

I'm expecting just a small inanimate images that takes up less than half a page (1280x720, 72 pp), the rest will just be black for the text so it doesn't have to be a big thing.  Something similar to my horribly unfinished lantern concept art like so XD:

 Perhaps a little smaller (half the size I reckon) with the text in the left side.

Anyway, I'll post up thumbnails if people are really stuck but I'm quite intrigued with what people can come up with.  Please refer to my flicker account to see the photos I took of chinatown too.  Ghosts with uber long limbs like the top picture will look extra creepy :D.

Anyway hope this gives you an idea, please let me know if you need any other info!

City & Story

Hey ya Guys

I was talkin to Jade a few weeks ago
an thought it would be a idea to have a history story of the city
as well as name for the city so this is what i came up with

(o yeah i doin a landmark for the City so i did a story for that to)
Hope you like

The Legend of the City

Centuries ago in a land hauling far in the East, raged in civil war between the east side of the Land and the west, The East thats remained Loyal to the Emperor, Fighting against the West who resided with a Traitor of the Emperor's Council

The War Raged on for 3 years with both sides even, Until one day a poor Village man from the east side, appeared to the Emperor with plans of new weapons and amazing strategies.

Desperate the Emperor accepted the man's Plans and put them to work. In within 2 months the war came to an end with the east victorious thanks to the village mans plans. In great Joy the Emperor rewarded the man, and said "For He who helped the Empire and your Emperor, you will be richly rewarded for your deeds" . The Emperor gave the man tons of money and gold for him and his village, then said "Take the River down my lands and if you can find an empty spot, that land shall be yours and your peoples" Overjoyed the man hurried back to his village with the money and the news.

The very next day the men of the Village casted off down river in search for the new land. the night fell and the moon was full the Villagers had no secess on finding a new spot of land but continued on their quest. Then the Man who helped win the war heard a voice telling him to take the left fork up ahead up the river, the man looked up at where the voice was coming from and looks at the moon to see a image of a Great White Phoenix Spirit.

After taking the left fork the Phoenix used the night wind to guard them the rest of the way, until they reached a big lake that connected to the river and a second river on the other side surrounded by clear lands, with a small island in the center, this was what they were looking for.

After collecting the rest of the villagers and finally built their new village, the man and the villagers decided in repect for the Emperors for giving them this land, they will build a Castle on the Island in the lake with a bridge connecting it. After finding out the Emperor was very honoured and completion of the castle, he came to visit the village many times.

The Village was named after the name of the Phoenix who showed them the way to the new land the name of the Phoenix was Ye Feng. (Centuries later a city was built over the Village but the Castle remained)

The Legend of the Castle

The Legend says 9 years after the village was built, a hoard Demons that gether in a area near the Village, with out warning attacked and Terrorized the Village for 5 nights. After hearing this the Emperor gathered all of his high Priests and Soldiers to help the village. The Battle lasted for 2 day until the priests managed to contain the demons. Know that Demon will alway return the Emperor ordered the priests to imprison the Demons underneath the castle, the Priests did as he ordered and casted a spell of sealing to trap the Demons forever.

However the High Priest told the Emperor and the Villagers thats to keep the demons sealed, shrines must be built and on this day every year they must pray to keep the seal strong. The Emperor agreed and had 4 shrines where built around the Castles and every year that day is to celebrate to Victory over the Demons as well.

(even how groups of priests go to each Shrine and pray on that day every year as Tradition)

...

IT'S ALIIIVEEEEEE.

Defib puzzle rambling

I'll copy/pasta from my previous comment:


I was just thinking about the defib puzzle couple of days back.  Instead of having a close up of Kenny's chest I was thinking about Yu having a momentary flashback to one of his medical textbooks in how and when to use the defib.

You would need to turn on the defib for it to charge. In the meantime, you'll need to attach the pads to the right area of the chest.

There will be a diagram of a person and players would need to attach the  pads to the right place; possibly by trial and error?

Once they're attached, the defib analyses whether the person needs to be administered a shock (shockable rhythm or not) and will be shocked.  Maybe you need to hit the button when the needle points to shockable and you can't miss? Mike, let's discuss this puzzle nearer the time.

There is a time limit to get the patches right as well as administrating the shock.  I was thinking that the longer it takes for players to get it right, the visuals will start blurring/decaying and Yu will start having flashbacks from that day in A&E along with warped/creepy sound design.

If you fail this flashback scene, Yu has another mental breakdown and Kenny dies.  Actually this'll be a good narrative branch that we could possibly expand on for the full version.  Hmm let's keep it simple for now and just make it have a game over scene.  It'll be cool if the result this puzzle has an actual effect on the story though!

Anyway, that's my rambling.

I've added a 'Puzzle Design' tag and will go back and re-tag a few posts.

As an added bonus, I was re-playing the Edgeworth game and I took a few pictures:

This was literally Mike's reaction to reading the Korean horror comic. No joke.

This is similar to what I had in mind for having two characters on screen so it makes it quite nice to see both character reactions to certain statements.

Ema Skye is back! And she reminds me of Kemi :3

Lol.

HW Opening is nearly complete...

Hungry Whispers OP-beta-2

Heyhey...the sound works ;DDDDDD

To finish:
- Visual animation
- Volume slider/mute buttons

;DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The plot thickens even more!

Okay...last final kind of update before it reaches 4am!

I've written a chronological timeline for Kemi and Yu - this way it'll be easier to see how Kemi's events relate to Yu's, especially with the whole phone idea (haven't quite thought about it yet with the dream sequence yet but will get to it soon).

It can be read here:
Plot outline (pdf)

Once you've read that, then only will this flowchart make sense:

Anyway, hope this shoddy flowchart and plot outline gives everyone a better idea on how the plot and puzzle investigations pan out.  The stalker bit is Kemi's stalker and work colleague.  I would go into more detail about it later but it's all written in my notes and I'm literally about to drop so I won't explain everything here just yet. Or better yet, get Mike to explain it haha.

I've signed up to several flash forums to help with that visual discrepancy on day1's blogologue so by the time I sleep and check back, there will hopefully be a reply on it to help me tweak it.  If not I'll just carry on with how I'm working, I've procrastinated enough already as it is haha.

KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK GUYS....IT'S ALREADY SEPTEMBERS! ...feck.

Blog1 screenies...

Lazy Jade is lazy.

To do list:

- Animate

- Program buttons

- Sound design

- Shoot zombies

- Sleep.

Blog 1.2 version 2!

Thanks to Pete for the advice! Looks a lot better now ye?

Pete's version of blog1.2!!

Had to share cos Pete Moran's just cool like that.

Will tweak my version soon XD

DA version here.

Blog 1.2-1.3

I hope 1.2 is starting to look a bit menacing, 1.3 looks really crap atm but I plan to add some more animation to this panel.

Blog1.1 Interactive Animation

Holy cow it works.

Mike, regarding the animation for the 'text type' in game dialogue, I reckon leave it out if we chose to go with the AS3 version.  It took too long and I'm afraid I only managed to do with with AS2 and not AS3 so maybe you'll need to translate it into AS3 if we were.

SO SORRY! N00B AT AS3 XD

Hungry Whispers OP -beta-

(It's up on my dA btw)^

Blog1.1 screenie

Once I figure out how to get that 'typing' effect and add some sound effects here and there and a 'next' button I'll finish up the artwork for Blog (Day) 1, (panel) 2-6.

Update & Moar chara sketches

Posted on behalf of Michelle because Blogger is being a bit of a douche!

Also, some introductions for characters for the train scenes. Sorry if they've suddenly sprung up as I was working  on day2's script and their characters kinda just evolved from that in the process.

Bartender: Works in the 1st class food carriage at the bar. Friendly and approachable
Mother & sniffy kid: Mother is a bit spacey and the kid is a bit sniffy/has some illness in which he coughs every now and then.  Their backstory is that the rich husband is moving abroad and wants them to come hence they didn't have much choice to travel. Yu befriends them during day2's events in which you'll see how.
Frustrated Phone Guy: Business worker who's trying to salvage a company deal and trying to get back to his office as fast as he can.  Rude to Yu but softens after the incident
Old Man: At first glance he seems like a normal old guy drinking tea but it's slowly revealed that his son recently passed and that the tea was actually wine.  He goes crazy after a while and is very suspicious.

Day2 general plot:
- Yu isn't feeling good and gets a phone call from Kemi
- Kemi suggests to get fresh air and water in which Yu complies.  They also agree to meet up later that evening.
- Yu comments that the seating area of carriage 6 is practically empty apart from the above characters and wonders whether it's because it's not dinner time or something else.
- Yu then talks to the other characters
- Bartender: gets water
- Mother & Child (Mrs. Lee and Kenny): Kenny initiates the conversation by asking Yu to draw him an elephant. Following this conversation, Yu builds a good relationship with the mother and especially Kenny.  I've done it so that when Kenny asks you whether Yu can be his big brother too (after hearing about Kemi) players can choose Y/N XD
- Frustrated Phone Guy: Keeps telling Yu to buzz off as he's blocking the phone signal
- Old Man looks like he was meditating by holding his teacup but Yu finds that he was actually trying to calm his nerves. It turns out that the Old Man is incredibly superstitious and due to his son recent passing he's forced to travel back hom to sort out the affairs.  During conversation he keeps talking to 'Yao' and making creepy comments like "If you're wondering why this carriage is so empty compared to yesterday, it's because it's already FULL! HAHA!" stuff like that.
- After talking to everyone to the point of repeating, Yu prompts the players that he's feeling unwell again and to go back to his compartment
- There he reads a travel mag explaining about ghost month and warnings
- During reading a minor crash incident happens (earthquake inducing a small landslide in which several rocks knock into the train carriages)
- Mother knocks on Yu's door asking for a doctor - Kenny is injured (que trauma centre puzzle)
- Yu talks to the other passengers, old man is sleeping, phone guy calms down and bartender is trying to work out what happened but communication has sporadic signal due to being in a mountainous area.
- Yu gets the distressed call from Kemi
- Old man wakes up and goes a bit crazy
- Yu's guilt builds up again cos he can't do anything for Kemi or Kenny.
- After the train starts moving, Yu remembers that the nearest hospital next to their station is his hospital so he writes notes for his hospital to prepare for Kenny.  As the train pulls into the station, Yu runs off without looking back to find Kemi.
- Yu returns home to get phone batteries only to find that Kemi left a voice msg on his landline saying that she's fine.
- Yu decides to visit Kemi the next day and gives his respects to a nearby altar.

I shall post the script for day2 after I've proof read and finalised it; it currently stands at 18 pages XDDD  I'll also update the labels later to include the added characters so far.

Also I have to quote Michelle's text for my Yu chara design because it's just awesome "Yu is gna b one smexy chunk of a man" which decides things: Yu's face/hair design is complete XD

Hungry Whispers Script1.1 & 1.2a

It seems that no one received the script into their email account so I'll post up a download link for it.  Or better yet, if you have DropBox it'll automatically be synced into it.

Just to clarify the naming conventions:
"hungrywhispers-script1.2a":
'1' = refers to the day, '2' = refers to the script version, 'a' = refers to which version of the version (lol) usually it's a minor update/edit. So...
"'hungrywhispers-script1.1" = Hungry Whispers Script Day 1, Version 1
"hungrywhispers-script1.2a" = Hungry Whispers Script Day 1, Version 2 with a slight change. This is the latest update for day 1 version 2.

Hope this helps everyone better understand the pacing and some of the mood notes I've implemented into parts of the script.  An example would be the audio direction column for specific points of the dialogue.

Please download and again decide whether you like version 1 or 2 better...cheers! (The files are in pdf btw)

hungrywhispers-script1.1
hungrywhispers-script1.2a

"Assistance, bitte!" (Warning, long ass post)

EDIT: As Rumzi pointed out, it's "bitte" not "Peter"....I've just failed as a TF2 player.

Right.  I'm very, very happy with the sudden influx of posts and comments invading my inbox ^W^.  Firstly, I'd like to ask if everyone's received the script?  I've just noticed that there's a slight error in version 2 of the script.  In version 1, the player wouldn't find out the name of the character that they're playing, only until you talk to Kemi on the phone.  In version 2, Yu starts his blogolobue with "my name is Yu" so all the "???" bits should be corrected to Yu.

After reading them all, I have several notices to update you all on now~

PLOT UPDATE:
Day 1 = Script DONE!
Day 2 = is when creepy shiz starts to happen (to answer Michelle's question).  It's the day of the festival and when stuff happens to Kemi.  The disappearing carriage will also happen here but I'm not sure whether Yu should notice it or not. Another idea in which to have is that since Yu starst seeing more creepy shiz, there could be the 'nice next door neighbour' that he met on the train and that he keeps bumping into at Kemi's only to find that she's (gender may change) is a ghost.  An incident should definitely happen in which Yu has to use his Nursing skills to help a child who has [insert incident which would make someone scream around the carriages asking if there's a doctor on board] and after he saves the kid he is thanked by this person.  It's also noted that since Yu would do a lot of hesitating, we can make it into a puzzle.  You know what, the child swallowed an atom bomb. Yeh that's it. Sorted.

After Kemi's disappearance, Yu also learns of Kemi's boss' murder but is unable to get any details from the police (he just knows about it) and goes to Kemi's place to find more clues. Insert 'Find Kemi's spare key' puzzle and you get to explore Kemi's place and try to hack into her computer puzzle.  Not a lot of information turns up apart from stuff about the corrupt politician and Kemi's address book.  Yu finds some names highlighted in which he searches them up online - they're Private detectives so he hires one to help him search for more clues.  Now we have a detective Gumshoe character! To help! Hooray!

Another bit in which I forgot was the idea that Kemi starts to spiritually send Yu hints through his phone. The idea was that when Yu goes to sleep he starts to dream - in the dream you actually play as Kemi's spirit but Yu and the player won't know this.  Essentially this is more like an interactive cutscene but an example would be getting the player to take a picture of a certain object/location.  When Yu wakes up, he doesn't remember the dream but is just WTF about finding the picture on his phone.  Which, turns out is a clue in that the player would need to work out in order to unlock the next location to explore along with some more info from Gumshow (example: the murder scene of Kemi's boss).  The idea of the maze puzzle would work here when Yu needs to try and sneak in, in order to find more clues.

I also forgot to mention (again) that Kemi gets found a few days after she disappears and ends up in the mental hospital.  It could be part of the same hospital that Yu works in, in another hospital branch.  Her mental instability gets worse and worse with each (scripted) visit so you can only converse with her face to face, then phone with a glass pane in the middle, then suddenly tv. Around this time, the PI starts to get even more nervous with finding out more info so he quits (now the player can only really rely on Kemi for info). Yu can get chased by an entity through the hospital corridors at one point here in the hospital (most likely near the end?).

Now I'm not sure how but the plot will start to focus on the thugs/politician.  The ending twist is that the reason the politician started the whole thing in motion was that the kid that Yu failed to save was his son, so Yu was the one who started the whole thing in motion, not the ebil politician.  Before the game focuses on how evil the politician was but was actually doing it to get revenge and not to TAKE OVER THE DAMN WORLDDDDD.

After finding that out (if we get time) I'm still not sure how to end it - maybe just end it there.  But I'd personally want a bit more closure.  As Michelle suggested, maybe someone should die now XD I dno :/

This is where I'll need your assistance!
I'll definitely need some help in brainstorming these areas:
-  Creepy experiences in which Yu should encounter cos now I'm slightly out of creative juice.
- Puzzle ideas.  Be creative in what to include such as maybe incorporating the use of webcam/mic into solving a puzzle (and an alternative for ppl who don't)?  Maybe Yu needs to blow out some candles...actually no, he'll need to blow on the joss sticks to be used on the offering altars. I'll explain this a bit more because this leads to...

INTERFACE/GAME UPDATE:
Game Statistics: Since it's Ghost Month and Yu feels really guilty about the A&E incident you can interact with the offering altar outside his apartment.  Say if Yu interacts with it 10 times before a certain day, it would make the spirits happy and may change a certain cutscene.  This lead me to another idea for another puzzle in which Yu has to dive/swim somewhere (one of the taboos) in order to get a clue. The taboo is that it is believed that there are many spirits in the water which will try and drown you.  If you prayed at the altar enough times, Yu will be saved by the ghost of the Boy in which he didn't save in A&E, if not he'll see the Boy's face start to distort and scare Yu.  The player won't know that it's the Boy from A&E, they'll only find out later.  Either way, Yu will survive...or maybe make it a timed event lol.

Death: I'll write it here again but in case of the player dying there will be scripted events.  Nothing is more terrifying that being chased and running for your lives, plus it'll make a good contrast to incorporate some 'action' into the game.  I'll use an example for this.  If for instance, Yu gets chased by an entity during the mental hospital corridors, players have a 2 second limit to click on the door in the background to keep moving forward. [Note for Mike, for places to move, can we change the cursor to a little arrow when it hovers over spots to 'move' Yu?].  If they don't click on the door in time, Yu will be caught by the entity and it'll be game over, players will need to reload back to their saved states.  Right think that's it for that part.

SKYPE/DROPBOX:
Do you guys shave skype?  I'm thinking it'll be very useful to have voice conferences so that we can all chat/brainstorm ideas together and may be easier to brainstorm together that way. For dropbox, I can invite you guys to my dropbox account so that when I add stuff to it (say scripts) it will pretty much instantly load on your computer and vice versa.  DON'T create an account yet if you don't, let me invite you so that I can get an extra 200mb for my account which we can share XD.  The starting space you get is 2gb.
http://www.dropbox.com/

Ok I actually haven't written all that I wanted but the rest are inspirational ideas that I think would be good for you guys to have a look at.  ONWARDS TO EPIC POST 2.

I also apologise if this post seems rather rambly, it's taken me over two hours to write this already XD.

Hungry Whispers script version day1 v1&2

Version 1 and 2 is now mostly complete. I'll send an email to you guys it's called 

- Hungry Whispers script version day 1.1

- Hungry Whispers script version day 1.2

Note that the cells highlighted in blue are the dialogue parts for when the players start to explore the area.  More can be added but I've addd the basics as I don't know what the final background artwork will contain but I do have an idea.

Right now the script can pretty much be used for story boarding, animation, programming and sound design purposes and please let me know your thoughts about it soon and if anything needs to be drastically changed.

The style in which the script is written is very similar to the script for TKoN (the flash game I made last year) so it probably gives you an insight in how I made it. 

Right now because time is slightly getting on, I propose that we work on a Day by Day basis.  I've no idea if you guys are busy til late September and I really don't want to take up too much of your time.  Plus we can always end it on a cliff hanger and write a bit "TO BE CONTINUED...." note at the end of whichever Day we get up to XD.

Keep up the great work guys!

- Jade

Script Day1-v1

I suck at writing >:[

But it's gotta be done XD So anyway I've written two versions for Yu's blogologue for the beginning and I'm not sure which is better as I approached it differently for Yu in slightly different mindsets. One seems a bit more emotional compared to two but I'll post up both of them anyway.

VERSION 1:

Cutscene: INTRODUCTION

Train, sleeper compartment interior / sunset 

Yu is on the train writing on his laptop (player learns a little about the main character and his situation).  The train is a sleeper train and Yu sits alone in his 1^st class compartment.  He has a very serious look on his face and is very focused on his laptop screen.

Today is the 13^th August.

I am sitting on a train travelling from a family reunion back to the city.

I never really do these things-you know writing. “It’s not a girly diary, it’s a journal or a blog if you want to call it that”, so says Kemi.

I suppose you’d want to know why I’ve decided to start writing at all huh?  Well … I’ll be honest.  It was all my fault no matter what my work mates say.

My profession is a medical intern at the _______ City Hospital. About a week ago a kid was brought into A&E and because of … I … My team leader suggested I take a break.  “It’s Ghost Month soon, why don’t you take this opportunity to visit your family”. So I-

Yu’s laptop battery dies.

Cutscene ends.

===

OR

===

VERSION 2:

Cutscene: INTRODUCTION

Train, sleeper compartment interior / sunset 

Yu is on the train writing on his laptop (player learns a little about the main character and his situation).  The train is a sleeper train and Yu sits alone in his 1^st class compartment.  He has a very serious look on his face and is very focused on his laptop screen.

My name is Yu.

It’s been about a week since that incident at A&E.

According to my sister, writing about my troubles will help me.  Well…here I am.

I am on a train.  I am travelling back to the city after visiting family and relatives for a bit.

I lied about having to go back to work - of course I don’t, since my team leader told me to take a break and use this holiday.

I couldn’t tell them anything.

I couldn’t tell them how I suddenly froze, how my vision went dark…how I failed….because of me we couldn’t….

The kid’s mother screaming and my team sticking up for me.

I couldn’t look them in the eye.

I went to the mother after and apologised for my inability.

I will never forget that face … [or that]- *scream*

Yu’s laptop battery dies.

Cutscene ends.

========================

Crap.  I forgot to plug in the charger before I started typing.  *Sigh*. Oh well, maybe I’ll go explore the train for a bit and give my legs a stretch…maybe grab a drink too.

-----

[Laptop]

My laptop is charging at the moment.  By the time I get back I can I should be able to save what I’ve written properly and perhaps watch a movie or something.

——

[PA] *PA jingle*

Thank you for travelling with us today. The time now is 17:00 with dry weather conditions at 23º.  We have just reached our journey’s  halfway point and travelling on schedule. We should arrive at our destination tomorrow evening at 18:00. Have a pleasant journey. *PA jingle*

—

Game cutscene: KEMI PHONECALL

Train, food carriage interior / sunset 

Close up of the caller ID on Yu’s phone, it shows KEMI.  Split screen with Yu on the left and Kemi on the right.

YU: Hello Kemi.

Kemi: Yu~~~ How are you? Train journey going okay?

Yu: Yes, just had the halfway announcement. Should be back tomorrow evening.

Kemi: That’s great bro! Did the aunties hassle you to look at potential bride pictures again? I’m sorry to leave the reunion earlier than planned.

Yu: Sigh, yes they did but it’s fine.  They didn’t put up a lot of fight as they did you to get me to stay longer though.  

Kemi: Haha yeh … well you know. They’re old so they still have their ‘traditional values’ to uphold.

Yu: Ha tell me about it.  So what was that phone call in the end? Your Boss? Sounded pretty important to leg it back to the city.

Kemi: Yeh I think we’re trying to snoop on that new business politician.

Yu: Be careful, Kemi.

Kemi: No worries Yu! I can look after myself~ Oh yeh! Did you manage to start writing?

Yu: Yes.

Kemi: Did it help?

Yu: A bit. Yes. I think I’ll carry it on for a while longer.

Kemi: That’s brilliant bro! That makes me really happy!  Okay, I gotta dash.  I think we’re starting an interview.

Yu: Okay. Good luck with work Kemi. See ya.

Kemi: Take care!

——

(Extra cut scene?)

Kemi is the only one who knows about the incident. I didn’t have the hear to tell our parents anything.  Instead I made up a lame excuse about how the hospital were low on staff which was why I had to leave early.  Kemi had to leave early for her job too … unlike me, she didn’t have to lie.  God, I’m such a state.  I definitely need that drink.

So far version 1 has one vote!

The Plot Thickens

Now my writing skills will slowly start going downhill but I figured that this project will at least need some sort of closure.  The main aim of this project is focusing on the experience for the player, unlike games which focuses on gameplay and replay value *cough*L4D2/COD4*cough*.  I think the plot right now is not the most original in the world but I'm confident that if we work on this together it'll still make it a really good game to play.  Like FF9 or PW.

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The original idea was that since Kemi and her boss were investigating a corrupt businessman/politician, he sent a few thugs after Kemi and her crew to scare them.  However in the process, they disturbed several offering tables during the commotion and because of that it caused the attention of many unwanted spirits lol.  In a sense the business politician isn't directly responsible for anything but setting the whole thing into motion.

After Yu finds out that Kemi's boss is murdered, I was thinking of having three distinct areas in which the player can explore to find clues and stuff.  Kemi's apartment (hacking into her laptop for instance), the murder scene (haven't decided where yet) in which Yu can ask around for information/get witness statements ala PW.  Finally somewhere abandoned (that zombieland linke was useful Emma!)  where Yu can talk to the gang members, then finally perhaps the corrupt official.

The ending can go in different ways:  Kemi comes back alive/dead or ends in a cliff hanger... or Kemi is found but stays in the mental hospital, Yu still sees weird things until the end of the Ghost month.

As Mike said, we can only reveal so much to the player if I manage to write it properly lol.  Mike also came up with the idea of sneaking into the crime scene without being detected by the guards at night Metal Gear style.  I then had the idea of making it so that the environments look incredibly similar and maze like and avoid the guards.  You can't see them but you can hear their footsteps which forces the player to listen out for them and puts them on the edge.  There's a possibility that we can randomise the source of the footsteps to say either left or right and you'd need to go into the opposite direction.  Almost like a mini game.

Also, any ideas to contribute in what should happen on the train scenes?  I can only seem to come up with the 'diffusing the bomb' situation from Trauma Centre lol.

EDIT: forgot to add Emma's link to the abandoned amusement park pictures! Here it is: http://www.lovethesepics.com/2011/05/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics/.

Grace's Diary

I completely forgot about this game, and while doing some research found it again today. Its a visual novel very much in the style of hotel dusk, complete with 'two screens'. I think its a great reference of what we are trying to do and also is good visual research. I tried to you show my code to get the code from it but no luck so I'm not sure how they did everything, but at least it shows that its all possible. Takes a while to load but its worth it.

http://jenniferann.org.p8.hostingprod.com/2010-game-first-place.htm