Weeper
 

Ello everybody. I'm currently working on a game and thought it'd be a good idea to give a bit of a preview on the project. :)

The game is called Weeper, and it will be divided into several chapters which will be free to download once they are made. Weeper is going to be a surreal-horror-mystery game... in terms of comparing the style and ideas to existing works, I guess I'd class it as a cross between something written by Agatha Christie, The Wicker Man, The Last Express, something directed by David Lynch and a comic book.

The story begins with the protagonist, a troubled girl named Lotte, arriving at a remote mansion in Scotland to search for the answer to the disappearance of her best friend Celia who vanished four years before. Pretending to be a policewoman in order to get into the house and look around, Lotte encounters the strange residents of the house. She sabotages her own car in order to be able to stay overnight and look for clues to Celia's whereabouts, but much to her surprise, somebody is killed during the night. Believing her to be a member of the police, the residents ask her to stay and investigate and Lotte discovers she has more to uncover than she first thought.

Some pictures:

http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/2870/foyerg1gc4.jpg
http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/7...outsidesa9.jpg
http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8...nroom01xs7.jpg
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/1517/lisette2bu5.jpg
http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/8...closeupkx2.jpg

I'll be honest and say I have no idea when chapter one will be complete to download because I'm doing most of the work on this by myself so it's a big job, but I'm hoping it will be within a couple of months. I'll be sure to drop by and give updates or more information if anyone likes the sound of it. :)

Welcome to the forums Haze. I hope you'll take a bit of time to chill out here as well as working on the project.
Interesting set of influences you have there. :)

The screenshots have a distinctive style. Have you got any in-game character models as well? I'd be interested to see how the characters (such as the mysterious lady in the veil) will fit into the backgrounds.

Thank you. :) I have actually lurked here for quite a few years now, I've never really posted at all before though.

Right now the backgrounds have taken priority over the characters, but I do have a couple of 'in game' shots of characters which will be put directly into scenes. Generally, speaking to a character will bring up close-up shots of them as they speak in another panel, sort of comic-book style.

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7293/lisette6nt7.jpg

Madam Lisette

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/5282/celia3gl6.jpg

Celia

http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/2...meanna2ka6.jpg

Anna

The poses on the last two probably look a little strange, they're both leaning against walls at those points.

It looks great and the premise sounds interesting. Is it going to be a point and click game ? Will there be voices ? Please come back and let us know how everything is going.

Cathy :)

Hi Haze,

Welcome to the forum :)
You project sounds a very good idea and the storyline also seems to be very intresting. I am looking forward for more updates regarding your project to come in near future.

I wish you best of luck for completing your project.

Oops, sorry for not checking back here sooner.

Thank you. :) Yep, it will be point and click and almost all of the characters have people doing the voices so far. Someone is working on music too.

Thanks! Here's some info/updates...

Weeper will contain sixteen characters - all of them have fairly major roles at some point in the game and various subplots that can be explored. I'm aiming to make the game fairly non-linear and leave it up to the player on how much they investigate into a character's story, although missing certain clues may have an effect on how much is revealed at the end of the game.

There will be unlockable secrets, which is a feature I'm hoping to expand on more in later chapters and when the project is finally complete. These come in the form of polaroid pictures hidden around the house.

More of a disclaimer than any real info; the game is aimed very much so at a mature audience - the plot will contain some violent scenes, and themes of sexuality, prostitution, drug abuse/addiction, some potentially offensive religious themes. I didn't set out to make the game that dark deliberately but it's just the way the story developed in my head, seemed a bit silly to tone it down afterwards. Generally I wouldn't think it's anything worse than you would find in a 15-rated film.

This probably won't pop up in the first chapter because the tone of it will be much more peaceful than others, but it will be possible to die. There will be scenes later on in the game where the protagonist finds herself in danger. This will be sort of along the lines of 'death scenes' in the first two Broken Sword games, or the Clock Tower series which is where I got the idea.

A few more pictures:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5...yroom01fq5.jpg
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/5602/lidochkagv3.jpg
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/2...night01bh5.jpg

I like how you have made a white frame, around the scenes, to give it more of a comic-book look. :)