Whoa! The Novelist was nominated for the Outstanding Achievement in Story award at the 17th annual DICE Awards! It’s going up against 4 big-budget AAA games:
Beyond: Two Souls
BioShock Infinite
The Last of Us
Tomb Raider
Needless to say, I’m truly honored that my game is being considered alongside such successful mainstream titles. It’s crazy to think that this weird little thing I made in my apartment will be on the big screen at an awards show.
What’s more encouraging, though, is seeing such strong representation from indie games at this year’s show (you can see the full list of nominees here). Going back just a few years the awards were dominated by mainstream AAA games, with nary an indie title in sight. It’s fantastic to see that the crazy amount of quality and innovation in the indie space is being recognized by larger organizations (the Downloadable Game of the Year and Outstanding Gaming Innovation categories are a murderer’s row of incredible ideas and execution).
Again, I’m honored that The Novelist is part of the discussion.
As for what’s next, I’ve made great progress on updating the game to Unity 4.3. I’ve fixed all the stuff that broke during the upgrade, and next week I’ll dive into adding customizable controls and pushing out some text builds on Linux. As always, stay tuned, and thanks once more to everyone who’s supported the game!
The Novelist asks one central question: can you achieve your dreams without pushing away the people you love? The game focuses on Dan Kaplan, a novelist struggling to write the most important book of his career while trying to be the best husband and father he can be. The Kaplans have come to a remote coastal home for the summer, unaware that they’re sharing the house with a mysterious ghostly presence: you.
Read the family’s thoughts. Explore their memories. Uncover their desires and intervene in their lives. But stay out of sight; you can’t help the Kaplans if they know there’s a ghost in the house. It’s up to you to decide how Dan’s career and family life will evolve, but choose carefully; there are no easy answers, and every choice has a cost.
Dan’s relationships – to his work, his wife, and his son – react and shift in response to your choices. With a different sequence of events in every playthrough, The Novelist gives life to a unique experience each time you play.
The decisions you make will define the Kaplans’ lives, but they may also tell you something about yourself.
MINIMAL SETUP
Processor: 1.8 GHzMemory: 2 GB RAM
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics: 256 MB VRAM video card
Storage: 800 MB available spaceAdditional Notes: Built with Unity 4.3.4. tested in Ubuntu 12.04 and 13.10