I am very glad to share with you the visual assets of Somewhere.
It has been a great feeling to work with a graphist to produce these images, it is like the project is finally taking shape.
So here is the splashscreen (story starts in Berlin, but as you can see it will lead Cat far away from home!):
And here is Cat!
This will be the icon of the game:
We still need to rework the design of the game to be in line with these visuals.
Also, the avatars need to be done (there are 10 characters whom Cat or the player will discuss with in the game).
Now, for the record, here are the currently implemented features:
Real-time, using device notifications
Save
Checkpoints (used in case of game-over)
Change language
Random events
Answer in a limited time
*Geolocation / device informations (brand, manufacturer, os version, phone number)
Rewind story and change previous choices
Dynamic sound ambiance
**Fast mode
* These informations are then used in the narration.
** Once fast mode is unlocked, it allows to get rid of real-time and explore the different branches easily.
There are also some comfort features which are still to be implemented such as configuring notifications, font size and reading speed.
I had other ideas of features in mind which I will probably have to remove from the scope (altough I may implement them at a latter stage and ship them through an update).
Here is how it looks when the player has to make a choice in a limited time (sorry, still in french):
On the writing side, story is now ~40K words and there are ~800 passages spread into a dozen of Twine files.
But we are not done yet... we just started writing the final chapter with all the different endings, and we will then have to translate it from french to english.
By the way, if ever you can read french and want to test the game, the beta version is currently available on Android and iOS, just PM me
We are now considering to work with a publisher, mobile market is so tough that we don't feel we can handle the promotion by our own. We have some names in mind but if ever you know a serious one, please share.
I must say your game looks excellent and clearly shows what can be achieved with the Jonah story format. I look forward to playing the English version when it is available.
I am starting to translate the story right now as I write this very message
Initially, we planned to start translation only once we are 100% done and happy with the story but since we decided to contact publishers quickly I guess we'll have to show them something they can understand
So the content of the beta shall be available in english in not too long I hope.
I'm guessing you either have two versions of each passage (one in each language) or you are using language related conditionals within each passage to determine which section gets shown.
I indeed have two versions of each passage.
I really wanted to avoid adding complexity in the passages content.
So I ended up duplicating each passage 'xxx' as 'xxx_en'.
Then I introduced a dirty change in Twine code in order to consider the passage 'xxx_en' rather than 'xxx' if selected language is english basically.
The cool thing is that it still allows to change the game language without loosing history, as you can see.
I indeed have two versions of each passage.
I really wanted to avoid adding complexity in the passages content.
So I ended up duplicating each passage 'xxx' as 'xxx_en'.
Then I introduced a dirty change in Twine code in order to consider the passage 'xxx_en' rather than 'xxx' if selected language is english basically.
The cool thing is that it still allows to change the game language without loosing history, as you can see.
Awesome implementation. Can't wait to see your release!
The translation is still in progress (damn, what a colossal work this is...), but in the meantime you can have a glimpse of what Somewhere is by playing it on Twitter!
Basically we will tweet a screenshot of the game every Saturday and Tuesday, then you can participate by making a choice through the related poll (in the answer of the tweet).
Just click on the link above and you should be able to install it on almost any Android device.
And please please tell me what you think!
Either leave a comment on the store page or send me an email (vince [at] somewheregame [dot] com).
Also please report me any bug that you may see (there's a 'report a bug button' in the game settings).
I already know that notifications may not trigger sometimes (which is really bad since the whole game kind of relies on that) but I'm still interested to get details about this issue.
Forgot mentioning, but if you're interested in the game, you can register to the mailing list on our website and you'll be notified once the game is released.
Cheers!
Comments
It has been a great feeling to work with a graphist to produce these images, it is like the project is finally taking shape.
So here is the splashscreen (story starts in Berlin, but as you can see it will lead Cat far away from home!):
And here is Cat!
This will be the icon of the game:
We still need to rework the design of the game to be in line with these visuals.
Also, the avatars need to be done (there are 10 characters whom Cat or the player will discuss with in the game).
Now, for the record, here are the currently implemented features:
* These informations are then used in the narration.
** Once fast mode is unlocked, it allows to get rid of real-time and explore the different branches easily.
There are also some comfort features which are still to be implemented such as configuring notifications, font size and reading speed.
I had other ideas of features in mind which I will probably have to remove from the scope (altough I may implement them at a latter stage and ship them through an update).
Here is how it looks when the player has to make a choice in a limited time (sorry, still in french):
On the writing side, story is now ~40K words and there are ~800 passages spread into a dozen of Twine files.
But we are not done yet... we just started writing the final chapter with all the different endings, and we will then have to translate it from french to english.
By the way, if ever you can read french and want to test the game, the beta version is currently available on Android and iOS, just PM me
We are now considering to work with a publisher, mobile market is so tough that we don't feel we can handle the promotion by our own. We have some names in mind but if ever you know a serious one, please share.
I am starting to translate the story right now as I write this very message
Initially, we planned to start translation only once we are 100% done and happy with the story but since we decided to contact publishers quickly I guess we'll have to show them something they can understand
So the content of the beta shall be available in english in not too long I hope.
I really wanted to avoid adding complexity in the passages content.
So I ended up duplicating each passage 'xxx' as 'xxx_en'.
Then I introduced a dirty change in Twine code in order to consider the passage 'xxx_en' rather than 'xxx' if selected language is english basically.
The cool thing is that it still allows to change the game language without loosing history, as you can see.
Awesome implementation. Can't wait to see your release!
I just created a facebook page for the game : https://www.facebook.com/SomewhereGame
Don't hesitate to share if you like it
Basically we will tweet a screenshot of the game every Saturday and Tuesday, then you can participate by making a choice through the related poll (in the answer of the tweet).
This all happens on the game twitter account.
Here is the first tweet, hence the very beginning of the game.
The development and the writing are still ongoing, but we are hopefully getting closer to the end of this (way too long) project!
I will show case the game at the Reversed festival in Vienna from 6th to 9th of July.
I translated the beta (~60% of the game) in english, and I will make it available soon on the PlayStore and AppStore, stay tuned
Somewhere is finally available in english as a public beta on Android!
It represents ~70% of the game I would say.
Just click on the link above and you should be able to install it on almost any Android device.
And please please tell me what you think!
Either leave a comment on the store page or send me an email (vince [at] somewheregame [dot] com).
Also please report me any bug that you may see (there's a 'report a bug button' in the game settings).
I already know that notifications may not trigger sometimes (which is really bad since the whole game kind of relies on that) but I'm still interested to get details about this issue.
Anyway, I hope you'll enjoy it!
Cheers!