[ RELEASED] Dreams in the Witch House

[Danvzare]

Beautiful background!

Indeed. That's a gorgeous piece of artwork. I can't stress that enough. 

[rongel]

Yeah, don't put the textbox in the middle of it. That's too much of a shame. Maybe put the text along the top or bottom of the screen?

Luckily some of the events and actions, like going to the coffee shop don't take so much space. Also, I might use the picture somewhere else too, now that I have it. It's a positive problem, much worse would be if I had to hide an ugly background with a big text box! 

Beautiful background!

If the screen will be covered by a textbox, at least make it a beautiful textbox, not an ugly one 

Thanks, I try!

Indeed. That's a gorgeous piece of artwork. I can't stress that enough. 

Thank you. I'm happy how it turned out be too, although it took a over week to finish it (including the evening and night versions). The bad thing is that when I look at some of the early art, it pales in comparison. But fixing old art to match newer stuff is a doomed cycle, and I don't want to go there, at least yet!

[mkennedy]

Yeah, don't put the textbox in the middle of it. That's too much of a shame. Maybe put the text along the top or bottom of the screen?

Luckily some of the events and actions, like going to the coffee shop don't take so much space. Also, I might use the picture somewhere else too, now that I have it. It's a positive problem, much worse would be if I had to hide an ugly background with a big text box! 

Beautiful background!
If the screen will be covered by a textbox, at least make it a beautiful textbox, not an ugly one 

Thanks, I try!

Maybe an option to have a bit of a pause before the text box pops up?

[Mandle]

How about: After the player clicks to dismiss the textbox, they can view the full screen for as long as they like and there is a "CLICK TO RETURN TO THE MAP" message subtly at the bottom so they click again to return to the map? It's only one more click and these events don't happen so often that this will become annoying I feel.

OR!!! I have just had a further idea.

I was never quite sure when the game action was paused when I was testing, and the passage of time is quite vital in the game. If I went away to do something I would always superstitiously save the game and then reload when I came back to make sure no time had passed.

You could include a PAUSE feature in the game and, while it is paused, show this beautiful screen with the above mentioned "CLICK TO RETURN TO GAME" message unobtrusively at the bottom.

[rongel]

Maybe an option to have a bit of a pause before the text box pops up?

I think I'll make the fade a bit slower, and maybe add a very short pause. A suitable sound effect may also help, so that the pause feels justified.

I was never quite sure when the game action was paused when I was testing, and the passage of time is quite vital in the game. If I went away to do something I would always superstitiously save the game and then reload when I came back to make sure no time had passed.

You could include a PAUSE feature in the game and, while it is paused, show this beautiful screen with the above mentioned "CLICK TO RETURN TO GAME" message unobtrusively at the bottom.

Yes, time management is important in the game, and a pause feature is a must have. Infact, there is already one (activated by pressing spacebar), but there's no indicators or hints of it yet. Opening the menu also pauses the game. I'll think about the pause-background suggestion!

[arbi]

This thread finally pushed me to register here to say two things:

1. I really enjoy the WIP stuff you are posting - it is really helpful to me.
2. There is not enough content about witches in the world.

All in all, good job so far. Will cheer on from afar. 

[rongel]

This thread finally pushed me to register here to say two things:

1. I really enjoy the WIP stuff you are posting - it is really helpful to me.
2. There is not enough content about witches in the world.

All in all, good job so far. Will cheer on from afar. 

Thanks! Really nice to hear you are enjoying the WIP stuff, and I'm glad you find it helpful!

[splat44]

I'll say super wow graphics!

If you ever need some play or beta testers, I'll more than glad to help out. I done few of them on free and commercial ags games

[rongel]

I'll say super wow graphics!

If you ever need some play or beta testers, I'll more than glad to help out. I done few of them on free and commercial ags games

Hey, thanks! When the game is a bit further, I probably need more "fresh" testers. I'll try to keep you in mind!

Currently I have some other work, so the progress is a bit slower than in the last few months. The good thing is that the game progressed at super-speed during those last months!

[Mandle]

I just finished proofreading through and correcting the MASSIVE TRS of this game and I sent out the following message to several YouTubers that I know who LOVE Lovecraft games. I thought it a good enough plug for the game to just post it here and also bump this thread back into public awareness:

Just thought I'd give you a heads-up here about a new Lovecraft game that is coming out soon.
It's been made by a lone developer who has done everything on the game on their own, graphics, animation, story, coding, puzzles, and so on, and has not been widely advertised, if at all. I've been onboard along the way as a play-tester and now, in the final stages, as proofreader, correcting the script for the past few weeks and now that's done and the game is almost complete.
The name of the game is "The Dreams In The Witch House" and follows the story of Walter Gilman, a new student at Miskatonic U., and also the plot of the original story to some degree.
It is a very unique game in that it's an open-world Lovecraft horror-survival game with a point-and-click adventure game interface.
By "open-world" I mean that you are free, at all times, to roam the world of Arkham as you please. The game doesn't push you down the corridor of the story that it wants you to follow. I replayed the game during many play-testings and always found something new which led me down a new path, sometimes much to my detriment.
Every action you make fluidly affects the direction of the game. There is no BS "She will remember this." text that turns out to mean nothing at the end like most games these days that just climax in the same scene no matter what choices you made.
In fact, the horror-survival aspect of the game guarantees that you will never play the same game twice. There are deadlines you can meet at Miskatonic for study and lectures and tests and get good grades OR you can concentrate on your thesis OR you can just work some jobs and earn some money OR you can go full-time investigating the central mystery OR you can do a combination of any of the above OR you can just sleep in bed all day if it's too rainy to go out OR go homeless and try to survive by dumpster-diving OR... just do whatever you want to. There is even a possibility of dating and romance if you are so inclined, and several friendships to be made along the way, or not, as you wish.
There IS some of the inevitability of Lovecraft stories in that the game DOES have an end to it after 2-3 months of in-game time, after which you get several cutscenes showing your eventual fate, and the fates of the people you have met along the way but, unlike most games that boast "branching stories", the endings always make sense based upon your actions and the reactions of the... ummmm... well I'll leave that for you to find out.

[rongel]

Thanks for the guerilla marketing, Mandle! Those were some nice words.

So a quick comment on the progress while we're here! I haven't posted anything in ages, but the game has progressed slowly, but steadily all the time. And now with Mandle's fixes, it's much more pleasent experience when the irritating typos and awkward grammar errors have been ironed out. My current work will end in a couple of weeks, and after that I can commit myself to the game full-time. So hopefully this will be the beginning of the big push, that will complete the game.

Also, here's a new promo pic!

[Matagot]

This game is looking outstanding! I'll be keeping any eye on your progress.
It's reminding me a little like Dark Seed, but I think that game was also based on Lovecraft.

Keep going! 

[SarahLiz]

The title screen looks really, really good.  Creepy, but not TOO creepy.  I'm glad you'll have more time coming up to devote to the game so we'll finally be able to play it soon(ish?)...I'm guessing your "early 2021" date no longer applies!   

Anywho, I know you've said you can die mid-game or at technically any point if you're not keeping your character's needs met, but assuming you get to the end-end without dying, how long would you estimate that the gameplay is?  I like that you have plenty of "time/days" to complete what you need to, and that you have the ability to pause the game (something I'd definitely require!).  I can't wait to see more as you near the end of development! 

[rongel]

This game is looking outstanding! I'll be keeping any eye on your progress.
It's reminding me a little like Dark Seed, but I think that game was also based on Lovecraft.

Keep going! 

Thanks, nice to hear that! I guess there is some similarity, in both games there's a building at the heart of the story. And an ordinary person who get sucked into cosmic horror.

The title screen looks really, really good.  Creepy, but not TOO creepy.

Thanks, I'm quite happy with that pic too, it kind of sets the mood and tone for the game nicely.

I'm glad you'll have more time coming up to devote to the game so we'll finally be able to play it soon(ish?)...I'm guessing your "early 2021" date no longer applies!   

Oops, I forgot that I gave that deadline, need to fix it! So let's now say the game will be ready this year. 

Anywho, I know you've said you can die mid-game or at technically any point if you're not keeping your character's needs met, but assuming you get to the end-end without dying, how long would you estimate that the gameplay is?  I like that you have plenty of "time/days" to complete what you need to, and that you have the ability to pause the game (something I'd definitely require!).  I can't wait to see more as you near the end of development!

The gameplay duration varies depending on players actions, but it's surprisingly high. When I'm testing the game and breeze through it, skipping dialog etc, it will take me a couple of days. So I'd say the duration is around 10-20 hours, which is a lot more than I thought it would be, when starting the project. On the other hand, if you just sleep, rest and skip everything, you could probably do it in a few hours!

[SarahLiz]

10-20 hours is awesome!!  I can’t wait! 

[Postmodern Adventures]

I've been waiting for this game sincer your first post (2017 wow!). I'm curious about the mechanics and I'm in love with the visuals. Good luck and best wishes for the final stretch of the development!

[rongel]

I've been waiting for this game sincer your first post (2017 wow!). I'm curious about the mechanics and I'm in love with the visuals. Good luck and best wishes for the final stretch of the development!

Very nice to hear that, thanks for the support! Yes, the first post might have been in 2017, but I started making the game at least a year before, maybe two! I defend myself by saying that I've done other stuff too, and in some years it wasn't possible for me to work on the game so much. And at first I knew nothing about coding...

[Hobbes]

With the latest news that development is going to speed up - good luck on the final hurdles. I've been following this game for a while now, super excited about this one!! Best of luck!

[rongel]

With the latest news that development is going to speed up - good luck on the final hurdles. I've been following this game for a while now, super excited about this one!! Best of luck!

Thanks! Yep, now I've been able to work on the game full-time. Currently I'm doing a bit of promotion (finally), I hope you will see the results soon!

[Mandle]

On the other hand, if you just sleep, rest and skip everything, you could probably do it in a few hours!

Or even less if you never go shopping!