TheEmbracedOne's recent activity

  1. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link Parent
    There are some dynamic systems in place such as our camera manager during dialogues, and another, different kind of camera manager outside of dialogues, and some others, but we firmly believe in...

    There are some dynamic systems in place such as our camera manager during dialogues, and another, different kind of camera manager outside of dialogues, and some others, but we firmly believe in handcrafting everything related to narrative, even if it takes a lot more time.

    2 votes

  2. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

  3. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link Parent
    Thank you for the support and the kind words!

    Thank you for the support and the kind words!

    2 votes

  4. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link Parent
    We use Unity (3d, not 2d, for parallax), Fungus for the dialogue system (heavily customised, and source code modified somewhat too), and I'm "porting" some of our systems currently from PlayMaker...

    We use Unity (3d, not 2d, for parallax), Fungus for the dialogue system (heavily customised, and source code modified somewhat too), and I'm "porting" some of our systems currently from PlayMaker to BOLT. Playmaker is great, but there's no point using both. For stat management we have a completely custom written system for saving and querying stats and event data. It's all C# apart from the few systems written in Playmaker/BOLT.
    Before something is ready for implementation; we use ArticyDraft3 for writing because it's easy to see how dialogues branch and it can be used to play out dialogues, and we use Twine sometimes for quick, small prototypes.

    3 votes

  5. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link Parent
    Intent; yes, plan; not yet. I am somewhat familiar with the process of getting a game onto consoles because I worked with the people handling it at the studios I worked at, but for a first title...

    Intent; yes, plan; not yet.
    I am somewhat familiar with the process of getting a game onto consoles because I worked with the people handling it at the studios I worked at, but for a first title from a new team, it's not as easy to get the relevant test/dev kits and the support to do it (it gets easier once you have something released under your team's name). Current plan is to release on PC first and then work on the console ports, but this may change for the better if we get our hands on a few useful contacts who could make the process easier.

    2 votes

  6. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link
    Someone asked about how we make sure choices matter in another thread, I thought it might be a good idea to post it here: You play as the unconscious mind of a very bad man, with habits and...

    Someone asked about how we make sure choices matter in another thread, I thought it might be a good idea to post it here:

    You play as the unconscious mind of a very bad man, with habits and opinions which you might disagree with. But through choosing the actions you, the player identify with, (every single dialogue choice is included in this) you can slowly condition him to change his ways. However, if you are too direct (choosing choices which go STRICTLY against the protagonist's view) he can reject your "choice", and start listening to you less and less.

    ♦ We have a bunch of hidden stats in the game that tracks your playstyle as the player, and every single dialogue choice or action accumulates these, tipping the scales ever so slightly each time.
    ♦ We also track a massive amount of events and decisions specifically so that whenever we need, we can do a check against these.
    ♦ We have "skills" - these are unlocks essentially, and you unlock them when you meet the requirements of having either a certain amount of a hidden stat, or having done actions. These dont necessarily have active effects.
    ♦ A lot of dialogue choices and actions have "hidden stat"/event/skill requirements, which if you dont meet, you'll still see the options but wont be able to click them.

    For example, in a hypothetical scenario, a hidden stat could be how much a character you're talking to likes you. If you piss him off enough during the conversation, maybe he'll flip out and it'll erupt into an argument. At this point we would take note that you pissed him off enough (save a variable to track this event outcome), so that any future interactions with him will reflect this. An example of a skill would be that if you keep winning arguments against him or keep convincing him to do your bidding, you might get a skill that reflects this, lets call it "Argument Winner", which would make certain future dialogue or action choices available.

    Lastly, one of our focus points is branching dialogue. We want to make sure that the actions of the player have consequences, not just a follow-up one-liner, then get the same dialogues as if you chose the other thing. I personally hate it when this happens in games.

    It is inevitable that you "collapse" dialogue because you cant have an infinitely growing branching dialogue system, but where you collapse and how is super important! Too many times I see in games a scenario where you argue or fail to convince someone to agree to something, then the next line has them act completely neutral to you, as if no argument or failure to convincing had happened before. We take extra care with situations like this, so if you piss someone off, he really will act hostile to you, and it'll take effort to change that.

    Let me know if you have any questions!

    5 votes

  7. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link
    One of the devs here: Thank you everyone for the kind words, it really warmed our hearts today! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, I'll keep an eye out for them here.

    One of the devs here:
    Thank you everyone for the kind words, it really warmed our hearts today! If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask, I'll keep an eye out for them here.

    6 votes

  8. Comment on Where Birds Go to Sleep | Teaser trailer in ~games

    TheEmbracedOne
    Link Parent
    Hi, one of the devs here. I never realised that part could be misread in such a way, so let me clarify: what we mean by this is really that you can decide to manipulative, through dialogue choices...

    Hi, one of the devs here. I never realised that part could be misread in such a way, so let me clarify: what we mean by this is really that you can decide to manipulative, through dialogue choices and other actions, people around you instead of being honest/straightforward with them, and that has consequences (both on your character and those you manipulate). Your influence is only on the protagonist (and through him), you wont get to control anyone else or give them "commands" etc. There is no micromanagement or management of people/crew mates!

    Hope that clears it up and let me know if you have any questions.

    7 votes