Devlog and Preview: Demons Within

Hey hey!

YES! Today, I can finally prattle a little more about what I've been relentlessly working on for the past month or two. This is going to be a devlog, where I talk a bit about how development is going and what to expect for those that have any interest. Mind you, this post WILL be a bit long, so bear with me if you'd like!

Also usual disclaimer, absolutely everything that you read here is subject to still change! It's all work in progress, but the basis and feeling of it is in there.

And behold...

We finally have a name and a logo!

I deliberated about the name for a good while, had a few that fit what this project will be about, but in the end, this is what stuck with me the most.

Today I'll talk a little bit about my development and show off and give more early previews of a few of the assets we'll be seeing in the game.

The project itself

First and foremost I'd like to talk a bit about what it is and what it became. When I made The Mage's Tower, I did so with the intent of making something quick and kinky so I could learn how it is to write for such a different environment while, at the same time, learning the tool used to make those games! 

Life pulls us in weird ways, though. While at first this project was going to be much like Mage's Tower, as in, an interactive story, I got the sudden opportunity to get art to go along with the project as well, and then, while the heart of it is not changing, by definition, I guess I'm now working on an interactive story, or a novel, with lots of visuals, which also kinda sorta makes it... a visual novel?

That's a big trend nowadays. However, unlike a lot of Visual Novel developers, I'm not an artist, but a writer. The art in this case is meant to supplement the writing, but the writing will still be the main thing about it. This is why, even though I had a lot of changes in the direction of development, I'm still making this in a format that favors the writing and the story the most. It will be like reading a novel, a story, on the screen, with visuals around to help with the immersion!

Why don't I show a bit of its current state instead of just talking about it?

As you can see, the feeling I'm going for is not one that is too different from what you would get reading my stories in a PDF, but I hope that this new format will make things all the more interesting! There is so much that can be done with the power of interactive media in order to provide a more and more awesome experience!

The story

Though this is arguably the most important subject of the project, I will keep this one short and simple. I don't want to talk too much about it so that I don't spoil things! We already know a little bit about the main character, but I don't think I ever disclosed the premise of this story.

To put it simple... you will play this game as an entity. An unknown, mysterious entity that ends up residing inside our dear main character in a spiritual level. From there on, the rest will be up to the player to figure out. Yet, even as you share a body with him, his body, mind and soul are still his own. You, especially in the weakened state you find yourself in, are nothing but a bystander watching things unfold from behind his eyes and sharing his space.

How the his world works around him, what you or he can or can't do, and what happens to the main character because of this will be what makes this story go forward.

The development

Some of you avid VN players might be able to already recognize Ren'Py's signature look at the bottom of that screenshot. I was going to go with Twine at first, since it was one of the main reasons I made Mage's Tower to begin with, but when the scope of my project became more visual, I realized I would have more work adapting it to Twine, that is made for pure text, than I would have adapting a more visual engine like Ren'Py to work with more text and less art. 

In the end, it has still been challenging. The format of this project goes against a lot of the standards that you might see in Visual Novels and that the software expects. I had to jump through some hoops while learning Ren'Py at the same time, but overall, it's a very good and robust tool and I've sorta managed to execute everything as I envisioned it so far! 

Mind you, we're still at a very beginner phase, but the first introductory, proof of concept build is pretty much done and should be released here so everyone can take a look soon.

After that, I'm already working on what comes next. The second build will have a more bulky amount of content, with initial character development and an introduction to a few of the more game-y mechanics I'm planning to include, which brings me to my next topic...

The mechanics

Since we're dealing with something with a story-focus and that falls under the category of 'visual NOVEL', the bulk of it is, of course, the story itself. Expect a lot of reading since this is, after all, an interactive story of sorts, but I do plan on introducing a few things to make things more interesting and branch things out in different ways! That was the point of Mage's Tower and it still kinda is here. :P

The first and most important mechanic is directly tied to the lore of the game, and it involves what I call... the Essences Wheel.

Unlike most visual novels, Demons Within won't offer the player character choices to make. The main character of the story, this time, is not you, and is not controlled by you. Instead, you are a literal bystander watching him go through life and ordeals alike! That doesn't mean, however, that you don't get to do anything. 

Being a powerful entity as you will be, you can't make the character's choices for him, but you can influence his emotions. Or, well, his essences, as we'll call it. I won't go too in-depth about this as it could contain spoilers of what's to come or how exactly some things work, but I will say what we will learn right at the very beginning. The main thing you will be able to influence, not only in the main character but also on those that surround him, is... lust.

The sudden spike in lust coming over the main character or on those around it can easily sway a conversation, drive new actions, and cause different events to happen. This is how the story will branch in this project, and it's a mechanic that is still in the works for the second build and forward!

Needless to say, the introduction of this will be appropriately spicy! But that also leads to...

Actions and consequences

Though, as stated, you cannot make the character's decisions for him, the way you influence him into making them does make a difference. And a big one, at that! There will be times where influencing might be required to help him get out of a hairy situations, or there might be times where abusing your power, especially if overindulging in it, can lead to unrepairable consequences.

One of the concepts from Mage's Tower that I definitely wanted to keep was that of 'bad endings'. Bad endings will most often come from the use or abuse of over influencing the characters, which can lead to truly spicy scenes, but in situations they can no longer get out of, and thus the story cannot continue!

I feel like this is beneficial, though. In all my time writing stories, one of the things I hear the most was always "I wish this villain had won so we could see what he'll do to this character!" and, while I know that that's not how everyone feels, this type of story writing presents the unique opportunity to get both outcomes! Want to see how far you can push things? By all means. Just, expect that things will go south and the story will have to halt there for it. You might need to go back and try to work things out differently to get the outcome you really want...

Yet, still, this is a moving a story. I have plans to not make too many bad endings, but instead create lasting consequences that shift over the course of things. I know it's ambitious, but I'm pouring my heart and soul (and time... and money!) into this project and I hope to make it as best as I can in this regard!

Conclusion, credits and final thoughts

Well... I did say this was going to be long, didn't I? Even for those that didn't read it, I hope that the screenshots and WIP assets shown so far please you! I have one more to share before I throw in my current final thoughts:

Another very important character in the works, is all I will say! ;)

Regardless, that's all for now. I wanted to write all of this to keep you all posted! Though I did do my best to write up a few stories I had been working on so I'd have something to release, I'm often left thinking I'm not offering enough to you all that are so generous to support my work. I love you all! I've been trying to think of more ways I can reward you all and I did think of some stuff... but we'll see!

I hope that this peek of what's coming soon helps. My current predicition right now is that I'd like to release the first introductory, small build around the 10th of the month. After that, as I mentioned, I'll already start working on the bulkier version, to which I already have some things done for, and from there on, I'll build up a rhythm!

As a few special, final bits of thanks, I'd like to mention BlainWolf, the wonderful, amazing and talented artist I'm working with to make this project come to life. Give him a peek if you haven't yet! I'd also like to mention and thank Raus, who not only made this wonderful, amazing logo and emblem of my main game mechanic, but has also helped me in so many ways, both emotional and practical, in order to get this project going and off the ground.

There's a dozen other friends I'd also like to mention, but I'll leave that for later! For those that have read this far, thank you! Thank you so much for everything! I'm beyond excited (and nervous) with this new project and I hope you'll all enjoy it after all the hyping up I've been doing!