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Posts by Starspawn: A Miskatonic Mystery

A glorious library reading room. Shelves from floor to the vaulted ceiling. A long table with chairs. Statuary and an orrery in the rear. Beams of light shine in through the windows; green chunks of crystal intrude on the serenity

A glorious library reading room. Shelves from floor to the vaulted ceiling. A long table with chairs. Statuary and an orrery in the rear. Beams of light shine in through the windows; green chunks of crystal intrude on the serenity

Celephaïs library reading room

1 week ago 3 1 0 0
A pixel art map of a library. It has two levels with wood floors and a variety of shelves and periodicals, it feels very cozy

A pixel art map of a library. It has two levels with wood floors and a variety of shelves and periodicals, it feels very cozy

Finalizing the chapter 1 maps. Library entrance!

2 weeks ago 4 1 0 0

"this is my daughter R'lyeh, pronounced Riley"

1 month ago 190 32 6 2
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We're zeroing in on the elements we want for the top-down 'navigation mode' of the game. There's no combat, but we still want things to feel dynamic and keep you on your toes. We have some exciting traps coming next!

1 month ago 4 1 0 0

Help me make a dream project: a documentary film (on Blu-ray) about the SCUMM engine and the incredibly-imaginative, brilliant LucasArts games that redefined the adventure genre. It'll feature designers Ron Gilbert and David Fox, artist Mark Ferrari, and many many more, but only with your help.

2 months ago 83 37 3 0

1 like = 1 instance of Lovecraft using the word "queer"

2 months ago 106 12 1 0
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automated tests heck yeah

3 months ago 3 0 0 0

They fixed it 🙌 we haz automated UI tests #gamedev

4 months ago 5 2 0 0

Well gosh darn it. The latest ren’py version adds a powerful automated test suite and good OpenGL optimizations, but also breaks the sprite manager class we depend on for the whole top down mode 😔

4 months ago 0 0 0 1

When my father asked me what cosmic horror was I had to pick a book he'd actually recognize and I blurted out "Moby Dick." I stand by this. See also: this print.

4 months ago 37 11 0 1
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label .give_diana_grant_seen_prof:
    main "Yep. He actually made {b}less{/b} sense after that. It almost sounded like he'd been experiencing things in the wrong order."

    diana "Huh. Okay. That's a new one."

    main "Dude's nuts."

    diana "Duh. Did he say anything else?"

    main "He knew my name before I said anything."

    diana "Interesting... Well, if he's experiencing things out of order--"

    main "You're just gonna run with this?"

    menu(screen="choice", side=True):
        diana "You got a better theory than time shenanigans?"

        "In {i}Slaughterhouse-Five{/i} it's a metaphor for PTSD. We probably just met at a mixer or something.":
            $ game_state.change_rapport(diana, +1)

            diana "Good reality check. It's always worth considering plain old madness... It {b}could{/b} all be in his head..."

            main "{b}Something{/b} definitely is."

        "Lucky guess?":
            diana "Hunter. I know you don't want any of this to be true, but {b}come on{/b}."

            main "Okay, umm, he could have... supernatural... luck?"

            diana "And it turned him into {b}this{/b}? I appreciate your willingness to brainstorm here, but I'm gonna stick with time shenanigans for now."

        "Literally any theory would be better.":
            $ game_state.change_rapport(diana, -1)

            diana "You can't just say that and not provide an alternative. How many impossible things have already happened to you today?"

            main "More than I'd like, that's for sure."

            diana "Exactly."

label .give_diana_grant_seen_prof: main "Yep. He actually made {b}less{/b} sense after that. It almost sounded like he'd been experiencing things in the wrong order." diana "Huh. Okay. That's a new one." main "Dude's nuts." diana "Duh. Did he say anything else?" main "He knew my name before I said anything." diana "Interesting... Well, if he's experiencing things out of order--" main "You're just gonna run with this?" menu(screen="choice", side=True): diana "You got a better theory than time shenanigans?" "In {i}Slaughterhouse-Five{/i} it's a metaphor for PTSD. We probably just met at a mixer or something.": $ game_state.change_rapport(diana, +1) diana "Good reality check. It's always worth considering plain old madness... It {b}could{/b} all be in his head..." main "{b}Something{/b} definitely is." "Lucky guess?": diana "Hunter. I know you don't want any of this to be true, but {b}come on{/b}." main "Okay, umm, he could have... supernatural... luck?" diana "And it turned him into {b}this{/b}? I appreciate your willingness to brainstorm here, but I'm gonna stick with time shenanigans for now." "Literally any theory would be better.": $ game_state.change_rapport(diana, -1) diana "You can't just say that and not provide an alternative. How many impossible things have already happened to you today?" main "More than I'd like, that's for sure." diana "Exactly."

We've been busy working on the script and some top secret UIs, so there hasn't been anything particularly photogenic to share. But here, have a chapter one story beat

4 months ago 4 1 0 0
Screenshot of the Tiled map editor showing a library. Welcome desk on the bottom, stacks in a T shape, stairs going up to a nice study area. Space beneath the overhang provides nothing

Screenshot of the Tiled map editor showing a library. Welcome desk on the bottom, stacks in a T shape, stairs going up to a nice study area. Space beneath the overhang provides nothing

Playing with multi-level maps, doesn't make that much sense as a library at the moment but the tileset looks great. Guess I can't do much with the space under the overhang though (we don't have "you can see through walls if you're under them")

4 months ago 1 0 0 0
A drawing of a messy and very weird professor's office full of occult items and damaged goods. Translucent pink squares overlay the clickable areas since we're in debug mode

A drawing of a messy and very weird professor's office full of occult items and damaged goods. Translucent pink squares overlay the clickable areas since we're in debug mode

It's Friday night so you know what that means! That's right--we're implementing a point and click puzzle

5 months ago 6 2 0 0
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Happy Happy!

5 months ago 39 6 1 0

Thank you!

5 months ago 1 0 0 0
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Update 2: Update 2! · Starspawn - Lovecraft Mythos Visual Novel/Dating Sim Feature developmentMap puzzlesWe are continuing to work through our feature backlog. Lately we have focused on two of the top-down-mode adventure/puzzle elements: rooms with a

We have posted our second update :D in case you're curious what we've been up to!

#gamedev

5 months ago 12 5 1 0

the lit area around the bulbs is mostly just the absence of the dark nighttime overlay, but there's some additive yellow in there too. more obvious around e.g. a fireplace

6 months ago 2 0 0 0
top-down pixel art map of a new england college campus. brick buildings, one has a big gym sign... it's nighttime and dark. gas lamps around the map glow with yellow cores and reveal the true colors underneath, tinged yellow

top-down pixel art map of a new england college campus. brick buildings, one has a big gym sign... it's nighttime and dark. gas lamps around the map glow with yellow cores and reveal the true colors underneath, tinged yellow

Added additive lighting for night scenes, real bulb glow, colored tints

6 months ago 5 0 1 0

Fair. We do have some timed decision menus, which only work as a gameplay element at all if they block rollback, but of course we could get rid of those too I guess, but I like it as a jump scare

6 months ago 1 0 0 0

I am told that people expect the ability to rewind visual novels, so we wouldn’t really need them at all in that scenario, but I also hate that and think choices should have consequences

6 months ago 1 0 1 0
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Ok question for the #gamedev crew. I think it would be neat to have an indicator by menu choices that shows dialogue tree flows like “this moves you forward” vs “opens a sub-menu of questions” or “exits a sub-menu”. These placeholder emoji are terrible of course. Thoughts? Good/bad idea?

6 months ago 9 3 1 1
Visual novel screen. Weird gym background. Ethnically ambiguous character is thinking (Alright. That's enough sitting here and moping...)

Options are 

(Getting the feeling that this day will never end if I freak out every time I see a monster. Let's play ball.) (Madness ≥ 50%;)

(I should go back to my room, lay down, and mope there instead.) [Madness < 50%)

Visual novel screen. Weird gym background. Ethnically ambiguous character is thinking (Alright. That's enough sitting here and moping...) Options are (Getting the feeling that this day will never end if I freak out every time I see a monster. Let's play ball.) (Madness ≥ 50%;) (I should go back to my room, lay down, and mope there instead.) [Madness < 50%)

lockable choice menus

6 months ago 2 0 0 2

Sun Tzu in his Art of War once said "those who save consumables will be buried with them."

7 months ago 508 184 7 4
visual novel screen, a vertical text box to the left reads "Brody: Yo, Hunter! You made it!" In the background is a very strange and dilapidated gym. oh, and Brody, who's in the middle, is huge and green and has tentacles for hair and webbed hands

visual novel screen, a vertical text box to the left reads "Brody: Yo, Hunter! You made it!" In the background is a very strange and dilapidated gym. oh, and Brody, who's in the middle, is huge and green and has tentacles for hair and webbed hands

who up finally making it to water polo practice

7 months ago 2 0 0 0
Ugly checkbox screens showing lists of game state keys and inventory items like

C1_DONE_INTRO

cl_seen_beach

cl_seen_stealth

cl_seen_shrine

cl_seen_fortress_exterior

cl_seen_fortress_entrance

cl_seen_bas_relief_room

cl_seen_sculpture_room
cl_seen_control_room

Ugly checkbox screens showing lists of game state keys and inventory items like C1_DONE_INTRO cl_seen_beach cl_seen_stealth cl_seen_shrine cl_seen_fortress_exterior cl_seen_fortress_entrance cl_seen_bas_relief_room cl_seen_sculpture_room cl_seen_control_room

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Made a screen that’ll let us set really granular game states and jump around the story

7 months ago 2 0 0 0

Seems like a nice chill spot to hunker down and finish the game, and not at all like a setting in the game

7 months ago 4 0 0 0

Right back atcha!

7 months ago 0 0 0 0

Thanks so much to everyone who contributed to the kickstarter, we’re gonna have so much extra art now! Well above the bare bones we need to produce a satisfactory result—this is gonna be great

7 months ago 9 1 1 0
Preview
Starspawn - Lovecraft Mythos Visual Novel/Dating Sim Your scholarship is in danger, your friends aren't human, and something ancient awakens in the dreamlands. Welcome to Miskatonic U.

Last night to pledge! Every little bit makes the game that much better at launch 😇 www.kickstarter.com/projects/485...

7 months ago 4 2 0 0
Pixel art of a weird horned dinosaur skull fossil, but it’s got 8-9 eye holes of various sizes clustered together

Pixel art of a weird horned dinosaur skull fossil, but it’s got 8-9 eye holes of various sizes clustered together

ewwww

7 months ago 5 1 0 0
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