Jump to content

Criminal Investigations: With Woman's Tears (Updated 7/23/15)


NoBullIntentions

Recommended Posts

Header.png

 

Name: Criminal Investigations: With Woman's Tears
Genre: Crime/Mystery
Status: In Development
Platforms: Windows, Mac Linux.
iPad, Android and handheld (eg: PS Vita) are also under consideration.
Release Model: Commercial.
 
Synopsis:
Do you have what it takes to be a criminal investigator? Take on the role of an FBI Special Agent in this contemporary mystery game where your investigative skills will determine the outcome of the case and the lives of everyone involved.
 
Monmouth, Rhode Island:
Fourteen year-old Madison Bradley disappears on her way to school. There are no witnesses, no ransom demands and no sightings. Monmouth PD call on the FBI’s Child Abduction Rapid Deployment team to send one of their best agents to support the investigation. But when a second girl goes missing amid suggestions that both girls frequented an occult-themed website, media speculation is rife that the girls have been abducted by a “Vampire Cult”. Use your investigative skills to navigate through a complex web of truth and lies to find out what really happened to the girls and bring them home safely.
 
  • Explore the fictional town of Monmouth and uncover the secrets that lie within small town America.
  • Interact with a cast of complex characters, each with their own weaknesses and motivations.
  • Utilize an array of tools and techniques to uncover the truth of Madison’s disappearance
  • Experience a dynamic narrative where your every action has consequences
  • Test your investigative skills against one of the most challenging detective adventures ever created.
  • Discover a world of moral ambiguity, where doing the right thing may not necessarily mean getting justice.
 
Characters

Profile_BenLevy.png

Profile_KathyBrouillard.png

 

 
Gameplay:
The game is going to be a classic visual novel in many respects, but there will also be investigation elements. Your role as an FBI advisor gives you unique oversight of the investigation, allowing you to do as much or as little investigation as you choose. If you just want a relaxing visual novel experience, you can simply observe the Monmouth PD investigation and offer little direct involvement. Alternatively, you can get involved in every aspect of the investigation and try to move the investigation in the direction you see fit. There are 10+ major endings and numerous minor variations but there is no "true ending" or correct answer. It's your investigation. It's up to you to determine what's true and what isn't. It's up to you to decide how justice is best served. All possible endings are available on your first play through, although we would encourage you to play through multiple times to explore other endings and learn more about the characters you meet.
 
Screenshots:

Screenshot1Mini.png

Screenshot2Mini.png

 

 
Progress:
Writing : 10%
Programming: 50%
Backgrounds: 10%
Characters: 5%
Audio: Not started
 
We are currently aiming to bring the game to Kickstarter in January 2016.
 
Feedback:
All feedback is welcomed (within forum rules).
 
Jobs:
We're not currently in need of any assistance, but if you have mad skills in art, writing, or audio design, you're welcome to drop a link to your portfolio.
 
How can you help?
The game is still very early in development. The art style for characters and backgrounds is pretty much set. Everything else is still very much up for discussion, and we would love to hear your views, thoughts, opinions and ramblings. We also need as much help as we can get spreading the word. We want feedback early and often and we plan on releasing several demos at various stages of production. The more people we can get feedback from, the better we can make the game.
 
What do you like about the game?
What don't you like?
What concerns do you have?
What features are must-have for you in a visual novel?
What would you like to hear from us? We're going to be posting a lot of pictures, discussions and features about the game on Tumblr and Twitter but rather than just posting what we want to say, it would be great to know what you would find interesting.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for all of the kind comments.

 

 

 

Not going to lie, I totally thought this was a legitimate story about an investigation using a woman's tears.

You know, in retrospect, I kind of feel like I missed a trick here. A serial killer who leaves behind no body and no forensic evidence except the tears of the women he murders.

 

 

 

 

I really hope that writing would be decent... As it is far too easy to go cliche and write lot of your usual stupid VN dialogues

The quality of the writing is my number one priority. I intend to have test builds out at various stages of development so that I can get criticism early and often, and ensure the writing is the best it can be. Currently, I'm doing all of the writing but if I feel it is necessary to bring a co-writer or editor onboard then I'll be doing just that.

I posted a little article on our Tumblr earlier explaining how our auto-adapting UI adjusts the size of text, dialogue boxes, buttons, etc. so that we can ensure that text is readable on small screen devices like tablets and handhelds without making it huge and painful on high resolution monitors and huge TVs.

You can view the whole thing including all screenshots here but here are two of the screenshots of the exact same part of the game in both UI modes.

KathyUIPC.png

PC Version

KathyUITablet.png

Tablet Version

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Thank you, Seraphinite!

 

Today, I'm adding a few animated character portraits. I'm one of those visual novel fans who finds characters with full animation a bit distracting and painful on the eyes, but our character artist has created some lovely, subtle blinking animations to bring the characters to life a little without causing eyestrain.

 

Alex_Blinks.gif

Ben_Blinks.gif

Deborah_Blinks.gif

 

The first two I've already introduced above. The new one is Deborah Carrillo. She is Madison's homeroom teacher.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...