Project Mystery

 

* Temporary name for mock up purposes*

I guess it’s time I started talking about Project Mystery, as I haven’t really said much about it at all so far.  Project Mystery is the biggest game project I’ve worked on thus far in my career. Far bigger than Zombie Diggers, which was the most recent game I’ve worked on and even bigger than Prime. The reason this is it possible is because it’s a group project. I decided to work on this project as team because, that way, each person specializes in a certain field, making a better end product. As of now there are 3 members:

1. Programmer
2. Artist: (Myself) David
3. Writer: Russell

I think most people realize I’m the artist behind the project, but I thought I’d say so just to make sure. In the near future I’m going to bring on a musical person and that will complete the team! The good news is that because I’m not going solo, we are actually developing the game in XNA, which works for the Xbox 360 and PC. In the future, we might even sell the game and then split the profits 25% each or something close to that. We could even have some of it go towards future game projects, which would be really cool! :3

Game Synopsis

 

Blame (title pending) begins with the player controlling protagonist Clyde, who has just staggered off a train, startled from his sleep by the hiss of screaming brakes.  Right off the bat, Clyde is handed a deck of “Rock, Paper, Scissors… the card game” and finds that no one in the town of Middlewillow can resist a match. Soon the hero finds the strange town is run by a Mayor who is also a feline (Yes, a cat). He is told two things, one: A young girl is missing; and two: no one may leave town until she is found.

As Clyde searches around town he finds plenty of strange, suspicious characters inhabit the eerie architecture.  So with only twenty days (20+ hours) and untimed nights (extended with dungeon play) to search for clues, battle for answers and find a culprit in the disappearance, Clyde is in a race against time. And with various motives, secrets and a colorful gang going by the name of the Unicorns, twisting reality, Clyde had better hope his hours of role-playing a detective as a kid pay off.

Game Elements

Characters

The characters in the game are being created based on the story the writer is currently developing. The Protagonist of the story goes by the name Clyde. He arrives on a train that breaks down right as it comes to a halt on a routine town stop , leaving him stranded until it is repaired. The first thing you’ll probably notice about the character is his bandages. You’ll find out why he is injured as you play through the game and you’ll also realize the town has an unsolved disappearance on its hand.

The Card Game

The game is very unique in that it is a mystery game mixed with a strategy/puzzle game. I originally came up with the idea of a Rock, Paper, Scissors card type game and realized that with my limited programming abilities, it would prove to be very difficult to create. This is when I decided to go to a friend of mine who was the programmer of the Prime game project. I talked to her about my idea and she decided to join the team. She also offered some suggestions and said she wanted to mix in a mystery factor to the game. At this point I decided to turn to my brother, who is a talented writer, for help with the story line. It was decided that the original Rock, Paper, Scissors card game would be the battle system of the game and that you’d be able to run around as a character in the strange town to solve a mystery.

The following is an image of what the current UI looks like for the card game:

The board consists of 25 empty squares in which the two players compete to win the most squares by flipping each others cards with their own set. This battle system is what we are currently working on completing at this point. It has a lot of details that take time to develop, such as this first turn selector that shows up at the start of battle:

The turn selector will be randomized and can allow either character to go first. You’ll notice that there is a AP +1 on both sides. This means that not only does that player get to go first, but they also get an AP point to use during their first turn. This is beneficial as you usually have to flip your opponent’s cards to even get AP points, which takes a few turns. Starting with an AP point gives you a big advantage.

The Town

The game will take place in a small town that has had a recent disappearance take place. You’ll be able to control Clyde and run around the town talking to individuals and also finding clues. If you want, you can even challenge citizens to a match of cards. Later on in the game you’ll be able to go into dungeons that have monsters to battle. At this point, you’ll be glad you practiced on the town folk when you did. Below is a picture of what the town square might look like in the game. This is an early render I’ve created, so it might not look like this in the final game. We shall see how it goes when I get further into creating it.

The following video shows a test I made trying to animate the fountain in the square:

As you can see, this game is well underway, and I will be posting more updates as we go. If you want updates without having to check the site every few days, you can join my Twitter or Facebook Group. Don’t be afraid to leave a comment on this post either! You can now log in with your Facebook account for those not wanting to create a new account with this site.

Adding information on this soon~!

Yay! Day #4 is done! I managed to finish up UV Unwrapping the character and getting very basic textures onto him. As you’ll see, he still has a long way to go, but at least there is progress!
I’ll be adding the detailed textures tomorrow and actual hair as well. I’ll also have to go in and fix some mapping if I have time.

This is the character I designed the 3D model after. The 2D character was also created by myself.