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

Changes, updates, and progress from this month:

MUSIC: wrote almost all remaining music for Episode 1, and recorded some live parts for certain tracks
MYSTERY: created a glossary menu in the backlog notebook for reference (including things like the terms of the Witchs deal, etc)
SAVE/LOAD: system can now handle loading from multiple progression points within each scene
AUDIO IMPLEMENTATION: code for seamless audio looping (with reverb tail) exists now and works
TEXT SYSTEM: scrolling text can now support rich text codes, including font style changes mid-text
POINT-AND-CLICK SYSTEM: there is now a visual change to the background image when hovering over an interactible object
UI DESIGN: started reformatting main menu - still in progress

The longer-version of this development log can be read on itch.io here - it is a lot more personal than usual, and is quite long. It has some teaser photos of the new mechanics though! Overall, health issues prevented me from getting as much done as I hoped to this month, but I'm still quite excited about what I did accomplish. More importantly, I'm motivated about working on the rest. A brief aside - you have likely heard the news that Steam now allows Demos to be published as separate game pages from their full games, that can be reviewed! I have currently not enabled Amadeus for this functionality because the current demo no longer reflects the state of the game as it will be on release, since I've changed and added so much. I'm considering it for when I release an updated demo around release time. If and when that happens, you'll be the first to know! That about wraps it up for this month. Because of aforementioned health issues, there is a chance the tentative release month of October is now an overly optimistic estimate. I'll confirm/deny when I'm certain; for now, the goal is to keep focusing on development. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for next month's updates!

[ 2024-08-01 06:12:58 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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