#game demo
May’s Featured Game: Verloren
DEVELOPER(S):Choko
ENGINE: RPG Maker VX Ace
GENRE: Horror, Adventure
WARNINGS: Flashing images, loud sounds, sudden sounds/images, full list (contains spoilers).
SUMMARY:Chris Winter, find himself alone and lost in a black void filled with nothing but coldness. The only warmth you feel comes from your breath. In this void the young boy sees a door filled with light, trying to reach the door only leads to the boy to fall deep into a world filled with nothing but nonsense.
Only when you find the key, then you’ll be able to leave.
Download the demo here!
Our Interview With The Dev Team Below The Cut!
Introduce yourself!
*Choko: Hello, I’m Choko! I’m the developer, artist, and writer for Verloren. I’ve been messing around with rpg maker since 2013 but finished my first finished game in 2016 which is Desolate Village. I’ve also made other games since then. Those being Demon Tea, Friend Hunt, and Star Detective. So Verloren isn’t my first rodeo in the whole game development stuff, but it is the biggest project I’ve ever work on so far.
Besides game dev stuff, I’m a huge rpg maker games, horror games, rhythm games, and just games with a interesting style to them.
What is your project about? What inspired you to create this game initially?
*Choko: Verloren is a horror adventure game that focuses on Chris Winter, a young boy who finds himself alone and far away from home because of this he won’t stop for anything to find a way home and learn why did he arrive here. During the course of the game Chris would meet others who have their own goals.
What inspired me to make Verloren is a bit hard to say from what I first started to work on it back in 2017, I was mostly trying to work on another project after finishing Desolate Village. It could have been something else but I really forgot.
But since I took a huge hiatus year break during 2018, I would personally say the time I actually initially started to work on Verloren was in February of 2019. Since everything was rework with a fresh outlook on everything, so the whole head space with Verloren is totally different from 2017-2018.
What inspired me when I went back to rebuild/fix the game was friends, since their support made me feel I could go back to work on the game. During 2018 I would say I wasn’t in the best mood while working on the game, so the support my friends gave me really helped a lot and encouraged me.
How long did you work on your project?
*Choko: I’ve been working on Verloren for three years now.
But will say 2019 to now is when actually development started/actually got going. 2018 I took the whole year off to cool down/chill. So the Verloren of 2017-2018 is very different from the Verloren of 2019 to now. If that makes sense….
Did any other games or media influence aspects of your project?
*Choko: Oh boy, this section might be very long since there’s a lot of games and media which inspired/ influences Verloren, though for many different reasons.
Will say the two rpg maker games that inspire me a whole lot when it comes to everything they do is Mare and Akademia (I know it’s just a demo still at the time writing but it’s very good. Good demo, like the characters are great!! Everything is very nice!)
Other rpg maker games do inspire me, mainly friend stuff but Mare and Akademia are two games I really love and wish I can make Verloren a game which has characters which feel realistic in a way they do. Like please go play them.
Besides rpg maker games will say that NieR Automata, Okage: Shadow King, RE 1/RE 0, Deemo, Rule of Rose, Smile For Me, and the Kirby series are games that just really inspire me with Verloren, there’s just certain aspects of them which I hope I can capture in Verloren.
Other than video games, I do get a bunch of inspiration from artist I follow, comics/manga, and anime though if I mention all of them it would just lead me to ramble away, but will say Pandora Hearts and Death Parade are two series I really love and both. I just enjoy series that shows character interaction and bonds, because that’s a main part in Verloren.
I really just get inspire by character development if you couldn’t tell….. ^^;
*Choko: Besides the 2018 thing I mention earlier.
There has been tiny bits of challenges, like with creating maps, since it takes me a while to get into the mood to make them, but wouldn’t really call it a challenge. Since all the time I just have to take time away from the map to gain motivation to make them.
Another challenge I guess would be writing cut scenes which I love, though it’s a whole process of making sure the characters aren’t just rambling or going off-topic since when I write I tend to get in character, as in voice act the lines or try to think how they would. Though the process isn’t really a bad challenge since it just takes a while until I get it right.
Have any aspects of your project changed over time? How does your current project differ from your initial concept?
*Choko: There’s been soooooo many changes to this game. The biggest change I would say is the characters, they had a lot of design changes and personality/motivation changes.
But other than that, I would say the mood of the game change a lot, also how scenes play it, originally it just felt like stuff happen to happen. Now it makes a lot more sense and isn’t just some random thing I added. Sadly I can’t list everything that change because that’s spoilers but trust me everything change for the better.
What was your team like at the beginning? How did people join the team? If you don’t have a team, do you wish you had one or do you prefer working alone?
*Choko: At the beginning there wasn’t a team, since I wanted to do everything solo. I mostly enjoy doing art, writing, and eventing the game.
Though currently now there is a team, mostly with people I know, it’s more so just a critique/feedback team + voice actors. Currently there are only two VAs since I didn’t want to focus on voice acting before I had most of the game done, in the far future I may make a post about it.
But so far the whole team is more so just a chilling area then anything else and I enjoy all the fun talk that happen there.
What is the best part of developing a game?
*Choko: The best part of creating a game is to see the characters you created come to life. I just really enjoy seeing everything come together. Idk I just find it cool that when making a game all starts out as concepts/ ideas and then after days/weeks/months of work it becomes a actually thing you can look at and show others. Most cutscenes in Verloren I get super happy when I finish them up, because I can see them as a real thing rather than a bunch of ideas of “this is what I’m going to do”.
Also the joke/shitpost memes….they are also the best part of making a game.
Do you find yourself playing other RPG Maker games to see what you can do with the engine, or do you prefer to do your own thing?
*Choko: Yep!!!
I play a lot of rpg maker games, I really enjoy seeing what other people do.
I just find it cool that anyone can pick up the engine and learn how to use it.
Also it’s a fun way to find inspiration, just seeing other rpg maker games and being like “>:O I didn’t know you can do that!!!”.
Which character in your game do you relate to the most and why? (Alternatively: Who is your favorite character and why?)
*Choko: This question is very hard, mainly because I relate to because a lot of characters in the game I relate to in tiny levels.
For my favorite character it’s Vladimir….I do like every other character in game. Chris is my second favorite I have to say (kinda a lie since ties with another character) but Vladimir number one, he’s just soo much fun to write. He’s maybe the one character who has a lot of scenes which gets a huge smile from me.
Looking back now, is there anything that regret/wish you had done differently?
*Choko: Not really, mainly since I was lucky to be able to take a huge hiatus which help me in 2019 to rework everything. So every problem I had with the game I fixed.
Do you plan to explore the game’s universe and characters further in subsequent projects, or leave it as-is?
*Choko: I would just leave the game alone after I finish Verloren, it’s a game that doesn’t need any follow ups because I feel it would just take away from the impact when you get to the end.
There really isn’t anything I would need to explore, since Verloren is meant to be a single game and that’s it.
What do you most look forward to upon finishing the game?
*Choko: I look forward seeing how people react to the full game, I am low key shock on how people are reacting towards the demo and all the tiny predictions/speculations. Also the warm positive feedback towards Vladimir is shocking, since I thought no one would like him because of all those jokes/puns.
I hope the final game has the same positive reaction, also that other characters get a warm positive feedback towards them.
Was there something you were afraid of concerning the development or the release of your game?
*Choko: The only thing that worries me is that if I mess up and people can’t understand reasons why x character did that. Since one of the main things with Verloren is that characters have their own way if viewing stuff.
Like morality is pretty gray because I don’t want to write a black and white story.
Do you have any advice for upcoming devs?
*Choko: Main advice I’ll give out is placeholders are your friend.
Don’t spend time making assets for a system you didn’t test and you test it and it doesn’t work. Just have a placeholder graphic which helps you test it and when it’s done you can always slap on the asset.
Following up with this, create a debug room. It would come in handy to test systems/ events than having to play through your game to test it and learn you need to fix it.
Question from last month’s featured dev @cheesesteak-horror: Do you have creative processes you practice before starting development?
*Choko: No, not really. I often just jump right into development and go from there.
Most of my practice come from when I work on small stuff or just when I’m bored I often just mess around with things.
We mods would like to thank Choko for agreeing to our interview! We believe that featuring the developer and their creative process is just as important as featuring the final product. Hopefully this Q&A segment has been an entertaining and insightful experience for everyone involved!
Remember to check out Verloren if you haven’t already! See you next month!
- Mods Gold & Platinum
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Congratulations to all the devs who completed their projects and demos last month! Click the titles for links to downloads.
Flowers For Kasumi (DEMO)
Release date: 9/6/2017
Developer(s):@flowersforkasumi-project
Genre: Puzzle, RPG, Mystery
Mr. Kohei’s Horror Show (DEMO)
Release date: 9/11/2017
Developer(s):@rukomura-games
Genre: Puzzle, Exploration, Horror
Sightless (DEMO)
Release date: 9/5/2017
Developer(s):@sightless-game
Genre: Exploration, RPG
Turovero: The Celestial Tower (DEMO)
Release date: 9/27/2017
Developer(s):@turoveroofficial
Genre: RPG, Fantasy, Horror
Your game isn’t here? We must have missed it so shoot us a message!
I just played the Coffee Talk 2 demo, and I’m already in love! Lucas is a beautiful sunshine boy and Riona takes no crap! Can’t wait to see more! I’m sad Freya is apparently not going to be in it, but I have my fingers crossed for Gala and Hyde!
Hey guys! As I mentioned before, the update yesterday was a bit on the smaller side because most of the development has been going into the game at large- and we haven’t shown any of that to you guys yet, so let’s give you a little tour of the Purgatory Ridge Ghost Hospital Lobby!
[itch.io][gamejolt]
Right upon leaving the emergency ward, you have your option to go right back in, and Vinny! A man’s gotta stay on top of his market. From here, you can go back into the emergency ward and interact with the patients in the south wing that you didn’t have access to before, and you can also go back to bug Carna!
You can go to the cafeteria and get healing items and a sort of inn-system for general healing!
The Pharmacy, a place to find new weaponry, and perhaps a new friend…
The gift shop, where you can find more defensive items and various other odds and ends!
…along with a few other areas that are a bit non-essential, but they’ll certainly be a bit more essential once you gain access to sidequests!
Yes, this game will have sidequests! These quests are totally optional, but will give you some nice insight into the lives of the denizens of the Ghost Hospital, and perhaps even Robin herself!
Alright, that’s all we have to offer for the time being- things are still a bit in development, there’s still a couple of default and placeholder assets that will be replaced in the future, but we’ve made significant progress!
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you next time…
Hey guys, we’re back again with another Halloween Update, and a little early this time! The changes aren’t super huge this time around because more focus has been going into creation of the game at large, so expect an update about the full game tomorrow!
Here’s a list of what’s new:
- Minor visual updates to make the graphic style more uniform.
- All NPCs now have names and dialogue sounds.
- New music! Carna’s battle theme has been tweaked to be slightly less headache-inducing, and Libitina’s theme has been completely overhauled.
- After much feedback on the hospital rooms, there’s now more of a visual indicator of when you’re able to start exploring (nothing too hand-holdy, just the doors that don’t require keys now being open).
- Said hospital rooms also have minor cosmetic updates, just to make them look a bit different.
- A bug causing the line of text before opening the door to Carna’s office to appear again after going inside has been fixed.
- The loading screen isn’t the default asset anymore! Almost sad how long it took to fix that.
And I believe that’s all for this update! Keep your eyes out for the following devlog, where we show off what’s to come after the Emergency Ward! Happy halloween, everyone!
[itch.io][gamejolt]
Hey, everyone! This update was supposed to come out in November!
Oops!
Anyway, we have 1.3.0 live, and I’ll list out the changes under the cut:
- Massive overhaul of combat! The anxiety system is still present, but most everything else has been modified- damage formulas, attacks, enemy behaviors, the whole nine yards. There’s also some new enemies and skills.
- The Emergency Ward Key Puzzle has been shortened! This is the one thing that I’ve gotten consistent complaints about, and honestly, I agree, there’s no need for it to be as long as it is. It’s been shortened significantly.
- Saving is different now! You can save anywhere now, but save points now allow you to heal, and talking to Minerva will net you some new dialogue just about every time, once you have all three protagonists, so there’s extra incentive to use them! But like, you don’t have to. Do whatever you want, I’m not a cop.
- Dr. Poe has a unique track now! While I love Sim Gretina’s musical stylings, our team and composer agreed that it was still a bit weird to have that one royalty-free track sticking out like a sore thumb. So that’s in there now, and there’s a new ‘resting in your bed’ jingle.
- Sparklies have been redrawn in order to increase visibility. I don’t want these things to be hunt-and-find searches, so they’re clearer now.
- More flavor text! Who doesn’t like flavor text?
- Carna has been nerfed. I thought I already did this, but it’s done for real now.
- Some dialogue has been tweaked for better flow and personality consistency.
- Enemies should all be at a consistent resolution now, I know that was bugging some people, myself included.
- General optimization and bugfixes.
Thank you so much to Liquid Mikan who’s worked very hard on translating 1.2.0 into Japanese! It’s amazing to see this little project have its scope broadened to a wider audience! Check it out on Youtube, or on NicoNico! Be sure to check out the OST Playlist on Youtube, too!
We’re hard at work on the next chapter of the game, which everyone will be able to experience in the full version! Thank you immensely to everyone who’s supported the project on Patreon! Remember, being a patron for three or more months not only means a credit in the game, but depending on tier, the ability to add content into the project itself!
Thanks you all for your continued support, and we hope for your continued support in the future! If you run into any bugs or troubleshooting issues, please feel free to let us know.
Thanks!
Sightless Ver 1.1 Demo: Download!
After over a year of work and kind support from my Patreons, the demo for my game, Sightless, is here! This game is an exploration based game with RPG-like elements, and stars Sena, a curious boy who yearns to learn more about the world he lives in. To download, simply click on the link offered above!
Notes:
- This game can be dark, and has several violent images. For those who do not like blood at all, this game may not be for you!
- Alongside this, there are a few moments that could be considered sudden. These ‘minor jump scares’ have all been noted in the read_me.txt as a warning for those preparing themselves!
Thank you very much to everyone who has supported this game from the beginning! If you enjoyed this demo, consider buying me a Coffeeorpledging to my Patreon.
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I’m working on a new little game about keeping your team of robots alive. I just posted the early prototype for all tiers of my Patreon! (link in the comments)
✨ Check out the prototype of Mechanibot here: https://www.patreon.com/jonnielsen
