[ RELEASED] Dreams in the Witch House

[rongel]

Hi all!

I really like when people post making-of gifs from their upcoming games, so I wanted to make one too! Here you can see Miskatonic River waterfront, and the Unvisited Island with the mysterious standing stones. I probably still need to work on it a bit, but here's the background anyway:



There will be some subtle background animations that you can see here in the almost finished version:



And like most of the locations, this too will have three different versions depending the time of the day, so a lot of work to be done... But last month has been very productive, and I've been able to concentrate fully on the game, which is a nice change!

[Matti]

Beautiful background, I'd love to see the other versions! Must indeed be a lot of work to have different day time in your game.

It's always a pleasure to see updates of your game

[TheFrighter]

Look, the chimneys are smoking! 

_

[mkennedy]

Do the day and night versions use different rooms, or is it just the graphics that are different? And how is the passage of time handled? If you go AFK and stay in the same room will time still progress? The screenshot looks awesome. Will Walter be able to get his hands on a fishing rod, (or a skiff) and if so, can he fish anywhere with a significant body of water or just at a few locations? Plus a fishing rod can always be useful for various puzzles.

[rongel]

Beautiful background, I'd love to see the other versions! Must indeed be a lot of work to have different day time in your game.

It's always a pleasure to see updates of your game

Thanks, very nice to hear that! Currently I have made a rough evening version of it, but the night version is still missing. I've finally realized that it's better to not try to finish them, if there's a chance that there will be still some changes coming. If  I edit the day version, I have to fix the other ones too. So I can't yet show all the different variations. I might do it later, the evening version will be quite atmospheric because the city lights and the water reflections!

Look, the chimneys are smoking! 

They are! I would love to add also some background animations to the waterfront opposite side: trucks, people walking etc, but I there's tons of more critical stuff to do.

Do the day and night versions use different rooms, or is it just the graphics that are different? And how is the passage of time handled? If you go AFK and stay in the same room will time still progress? The screenshot looks awesome. Will Walter be able to get his hands on a fishing rod, (or a skiff) and if so, can he fish anywhere with a significant body of water or just at a few locations? Plus a fishing rod can always be useful for various puzzles.

Day and night versions use the same room. There is a clock ticking in the background all the time (1 real minute = 1 hour in game) and when it's time for change, the screen will fade in and out, and all the changes happen during the fade. So if you leave the keyboard, it's best to pause the game first. For the second question, no plans for fishing minigame yet! There will be a fisherman though, so you can watch him fish . I had to look up what skiff meant, and yes, it's possible!

[TheFrighter]

Day and night versions use the same room. There is a clock ticking in the background all the time (1 real minute = 1 hour in game) and when it's time for change, the screen will fade in and out, and all the changes happen during the fade.

Oh, it's like the old Dark Seed!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bjjIdKU3-M

_

[rongel]

Oh, it's like the old Dark Seed!

Hopefully not! I've never played Dark Seed, but it seems to have a quite infamous reputation because of the strict three day time limit. In The Witch House you have sixty days so there shouldn't be any rush.

[selmiak]

this is beautiful. Only the paved path in the foreground could also be a stone wall. Maybe add some papers or other trash to make the path flat. or widen and flatten the individual stones, I think they are not in perspective. Maybe add a tree on the right that casts a shadow over the path, that should make easier to read.

[rongel]

this is beautiful. Only the paved path in the foreground could also be a stone wall. Maybe add some papers or other trash to make the path flat. or widen and flatten the individual stones, I think they are not in perspective. Maybe add a tree on the right that casts a shadow over the path, that should make easier to read.

That's a valid criticism and a good point. I noticed that something was wrong with the pavement when I was drawing it, but kind of let it go, and moved on. But it shouldn't be that hard to fix, I think I'll add it to the to-do list. Thanks for the observation!

[Hobbes]

Really looking forward to this game! The inclusion of a day-night cycle adds a lot of manual labour but in a horror-game, it adds so much! I loved the "safe" moments in a game like Alan Wake where you explored the town during daylight. Then, when night fell, all bets were off.

Keep up the great work. Your pixel art looks amazing!

[rongel]

Really looking forward to this game! The inclusion of a day-night cycle adds a lot of manual labour but in a horror-game, it adds so much! I loved the "safe" moments in a game like Alan Wake where you explored the town during daylight. Then, when night fell, all bets were off.

Keep up the great work. Your pixel art looks amazing!

Thanks, really appreciate that! Now, back to drawing!

[ManicMatt]

Yeah, that park is wonderful, it's really relaxing and detailed!

[rongel]

Hi all & happy 2019!

It's been way too long since my last update, sorry about that! Good news is that the game has progressed further in the silence. I don't want to reveal the new backgrounds now, so here's couple of new characters and their walk cycles.





The first one is an Arkham beat cop, possibly of Irish descent. There is some functionality with him, he can help you with the plot and if you get robbed (well the robbing is a planned feature, not yet in the game) The woman is Anastasia Wolejko, a Polish laundry worker that Walter might meet at some point.

Some time ago, I made an impulse purchase, and I bought Asesprite pixel art/animation software. Been using that with the characters and I've been quite happy about it. Seems to be bit faster to use that than my previous Photoshop / After Effects routine.

I'll try to make my next update sooner next time!

[TheFrighter]

They looks fine, Rongel! 

Usually HPL's tales are short of female characters...

_

[rongel]

Non-spoilery screenshot:



Walter can have a decent lunch or a refresing coffee at the local coffee house. Both options raise Sanity points, but as a poor student, Walter can't afford to go there all the time. The new location is probably more important if you choose the straight, non-occultistic (is that a word?) route.

They looks fine, Rongel! 

Usually HPL's tales are short of female characters...

Thanks! Anastasia Wolejko was written very well in my opinion in The Dreams in the Witch House. Lovecraft mentions her only couple of times, but her fate feels very real. But you're right, luckily the game is an adaptation and not all things are exactly the same in it 

[Dualnames]

How have i not seen this!! Looks fantastic!!

[mkennedy]

Non-spoilery screenshot:



Walter can have a decent lunch or a refresing coffee at the local coffee house. Both options raise Sanity points, but as a poor student, Walter can't afford to go there all the time. The new location is probably more important if you choose the straight, non-occultistic (is that a word?) route.

They looks fine, Rongel! 

Usually HPL's tales are short of female characters...

Thanks! Anastasia Wolejko was written very well in my opinion in The Dreams in the Witch House. Lovecraft mentions her only couple of times, but her fate feels very real. But you're right, luckily the game is an adaptation and not all things are exactly the same in it 

Very much looking forward to this game when it comes out! The sign advertising tuna from Innsmouth is a nice touch. Anything nifty planned if Walter orders it?

[sofiaaq]

Wow, this looks amazing. I wanted to do a day-night cycle, too, but right now, the sheer amount of work that would take made me shy away from it. Great work, here! I hope to see it soon.

[rongel]

How have i not seen this!! Looks fantastic!!

Thanks, nice to hear that! 

Very much looking forward to this game when it comes out! The sign advertising tuna from Innsmouth is a nice touch. Anything nifty planned if Walter orders it?

Well spotted! Walter can only order breakfast, dinner lunch, or have a coffee. So it's up to the imagination of the player did Walter have the tuna. Also now that I think of it, before the authorities raided the place, Innsmouth tuna was probably quite excellent.

Wow, this looks amazing. I wanted to do a day-night cycle, too, but right now, the sheer amount of work that would take made me shy away from it. Great work, here! I hope to see it soon.

Thanks! Yes, it's a lot of "extra" work, but the game is progressing quite nicely now. Good luck to your project as well, looking good!

[selmiak]

this looks very nice. Just wondering, do I have a dirty mind (I do) or does that sign really say Coffee anal? Must taste pretty shitty lol