[Update] Project Conversation's first mockup screen

So, I can finally show you what the game might look like, or at least what you can expect from the interface.

First thing you may notice is that the girl is gorgeous. :) I was already in love with that character before she even had a face, but now I am even more. :p But enough eye candy already, let's talk a bit about the interface elements.

1. Whenever it's your turn to submit a conversation topic, you may choose any of them among those you have previously unlocked (as long as your conversation partner has something new to say about it).
2. You are also required to choose the tone you want to use for that segment of the conversation, among 8 possible tones (for instance, "Teasing" in orange is a combination of "Hostile" in red, and "Casual" in yellow). This will influence what your character will say, and in turn, how your conversation partner may respond.
3. The objective gauge depends on the conversation situation, but the general idea is that you have to reach an objective before it fills up. In this case, you have to follow the trail of topics that the girl is giving you, in order to reach a particular topic that's not on your list yet. Each time you choose a topic, the Annoyance bar will fill according to how far you're straying from the path she has in mind. So, by cross-checking what the girl chooses to talk about, and how annoyed your own choices make her, you should get a pretty good idea of where she wants the conversation to go! (well, at least that's what the game will be expecting from you :p)

Note that this is a Ren'Py screenshot, and well... I'm a bit annoying with my changes of heart, but I think we're going to move on to Unity. The main reason we may want to do that is because we wish to animate our characters using Live2D, and there's a Unity plugin that allows full support for it. So, if all goes according to plan, our game should be GORGEOUS.

I will be posting about a more in-depth overview of each game mechanic later. Don't hesitate to leave a comment to tell us what you think about that first mockup screen, and Blueroze's beautiful art! :)

[Update] Project Conversation underways!

Okay, so I've been itching to tell about this for weeks. I can't say there's much to see yet, which is the main reason why I've been waiting to make a post in here. But what I can't show yet, I can already tell quite a bit about.

Perhaps you remember me trying my hand at Ren'Py about one year ago, messing around to create a prototype of a conversation simulator. It was a timid attempt at impressing the game-making community, and it didn't work out as well as planned :p, but I wasn't just putting up a style exercise. I was intent on building a whole game out of it.

And that's what's going on in my life right now.

I've paired up with the talented Blueroze, who turned out really enthusiastic at the game I had in mind, and we're in the process of building it as I write this, stone by stone. The programming is actually well ahead, so I'm waiting on my partner to produce a few screenshots (no pressure, mate). :p

So, what's the deal? Project Conversation, as we're uncreatively referring to it, will tell the story of a scout camp taking place on a fictional island, off the shore of Brittany, France. So yeah, you'll get characters with French names, baguettes and cheese, obscure French songs at the campfire. And strange phenomena that might be explained by local folklore. Maybe.

Gameplay-wise, it will revolve around three main concepts:

1. Topic navigation, where each conversation is essentially a maze you and your partner try to walk by taking turns at submitting conversation topics.
2. Mood management, where you get to choose your tone at each topic, which in turn influences your partner's mood, and the way she will react.
3. Memories making, where each conversation goal you manage to achieve lets you bond deeper with each girl, and improves the chance that her artificial intelligence finds you good enough to be her lover.

That's right—you're looking at the early development stage of a next-generation dating sim! Forget the routes, forget the branching plots, forget the hours of reading through hundreds of endless, boring dialogues, just to wake up every now and then for an obvious choice before going back to sleep again. This time around, you will actually be required to think, to feel, to read between the lines, to adapt your decisions to each situation... and to live with them!

No screenshots yet, but you'll be seeing more of Project Conversation very soon! :)