Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz (tuxdb.com)

Development Sidequest: The Mystery Game Jam

Back in February, I planned out my next several months to help stay on track for Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz to release this Fall. I had a good chunk of work planned for April:

Mechanics - prototype + implement all "Must-Have" new mechanics for the full game
Background Art - finish 1-2 new backgrounds
Sprite Art - finish 1-2 new sprites
Music - fully flesh out a placeholder track for 1-2 BGM pieces
Narrative - write first draft of all scenes through a certain point in the game
Marketing - prepare + announce 100 Wishlists celebration; make + publish press kit

However...... something came up. Something called the Mystery Game Jam. Suffice it to say that I did not accomplish all of the above, but I DID write an entire mystery game this month. What I actually accomplished from my April to-do list for Amadeus is closer to:

Prototyped "save/load" mechanic
Implemented mechanic that can create pauses mid-text-appearance for dramatic effect
Researched and sketched 1 new point-and-click background
Have sketches for 2 BGM pieces
Outlined draft of narrative for 1 new scene in the intro
Planned 100 Wishlists celebration
Made draft + format of press kit

If you'd like to read a longer version of this post that covers the process of writing the Mystery Jam game at length, it's available on itch.io here and currently linked at the top of The Amadeus Linktree. There are 2 announcements coming next month - stay tuned for those! In the meantime, if you're interested in a silly Ace Attorney knockoff made in a month featuring a robot detective, it will be posted before the end of the Mystery Jam [ends May 5, 2024 at 10PM Pacific]. It will briefly be featured on the Linktree as a bonus, so keep an eye out! Working title: Robot Detective and the Case of the Automurderated Intern.

[ 2024-04-30 03:11:32 CET ] [ Original post ]

Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz
ArcanaXIX

Developer

ArcanaXIX

Publisher

October 2024

Release

Action Indie Strategy Casual RPG Adventure Simulation F2P Sports MMO Racing Singleplayer Multiplayer Coop EA

Story

Play as Amadeus, a young werewolf struggling to understand his condition, as he navigates a tale woven by Witches. He is equal parts desperate and determined—how can one reclaim agency over themself, when afflicted by a curse that steals it from them every time the moon Aska draws full?

Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee is a narrative game heavily inspired by Umineko When They Cry thematically, and Professor Layton aesthetically. Gameplay is a blend of pure Visual Novel scenes + Point-and-Click Adventure scenes. The story is linear, and will be told in 5 sequential episodes.

Episode 1 ~ Waltz will release Fall 2024. Please check out the demo in the meantime!

Demo Features

20-40 minutes of playtime
7 detailed, hand-drawn backgrounds to explore
6 portrait expressions for Amadeus
6 original music tracks, including 1 track with 3 dynamic layers
Point-and-Click controls with unique cursor icons to indicate player interactions
Alternate Hover-and-Spacebar control scheme for players who have difficulty with mouse click
Toggle for auto-scrolling text with adjustible appearance speed and delay time between textboxes
Diegetic backlog of previously-read text
Optional splash screen to fill window beyond 4:3 gameplay (may impact performance - see system requirements)

Controls

VN Scenes

TAB Key: toggle Auto Text Progression on/off
SPACE Key: display full text/progress text
1/2/3 Key: select choice
Mouse click on the displayed buttons is supported as an alternative

Point-and-Click Scenes

HOVER with mouse, cursor will change to indicate if object is interactible
If cursor changes, MOUSE CLICK or SPACE to trigger...
-Boot: Amadeus will MOVE to location
-Eye: Amadeus will INSPECT distant objects
-Hand: Amadeus will INTERACT WITH nearby objects
-Arrow: Amadeus will MOVE to a new screen
WASD and ARROW KEYS supported as alternative to MOVE Amadeus
SPACE supported as alternative to INTERACT with nearby objects

UI

ESC Key: pause/open Settings Menu
N Key: pause/open Notebooks Menu
To adjust sliders in Settings Menu, use mouse to click and drag the pencil icon left/right
Menus can also be opened + closed by clicking on the buttons in the screen corners

Credits

Game Design, Art, Music/Sound, C# Scripting, Implementation, Narrative - Leo ArcanaXIX
Clarinet (Deal With a Witch) - Lucas Bere
Marimba (Spellbound Mischief) - Jay Lee
VO (Kain's Ghost) - Nat Ferare
Narrative Consultant - Ashlee Scheuermann*
Code Consultant - Dan Mellott
Mix Consultant (Deal With a Witch, Spellbound Mischief) - Sonia Mokhtari
Playtesting - Derek, Joanna, Luke, Aaron, Ashlee
Playtesting (original prototype) - Alex, Lucas, Skipper, Nathalie, Taylor, Dan

*Ashlee also wished to be credited as "Made Everything Worse." Thank you Ashlee. <3

MINIMAL SETUPOS: Linux MintMemory: 8 GB RAMStorage: 500 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Currently only tested on Linux Mint but should support other distros.
Memory: 8 GB RAMStorage: 500 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Currently only tested on Linux Mint but should support other distros.
Storage: 500 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Currently only tested on Linux Mint but should support other distros.

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