AuthorTopic: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Released!  (Read 14486 times)

Offline MysteryMeat

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #10 on: August 25, 2016, 11:33:22 pm
I'd say do what you did with the intro to the whole game. Remove light fixtures and furniture and replace them with drawings, the intro has a nice popup book feel that could work with the rest of the game too.
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Offline dewdle

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #11 on: August 30, 2016, 02:51:43 am
I think I may well try that - I've got a lot of feedback inching me in that direction - towards a full comic look. So I'll look toward doing that in the next week or so (pending cost/time), and I'll post some shots up here when I get there. :D

In the meantime, a few new shots of the current build:







And some general features that will be included:

General Features:
  • Slick, modern cartoon look, with original characters, backgrounds and animations.
  • Satirical, comedic narrative, with a focus on witty, back-and-forth dialogue.
  • Detailed and enthralling introductory video – showcasing the scene of the crime in classic detective fiction style.
  • Incredible original soundtrack and effects.

Gameplay Features:
  • Logic puzzle gameplay. Find the best way to win the case!
  • Examination, objections, cross-examination and other forms of interaction!
  • Ability to use prior witness testimony as evidence!
  • Ability to call up witnesses in the order you would like to examine them!
  • Judge anger meter – with the possibility of being thrown out of court!
  • Key decision moments where players can affect the endgame with a few possible endings!

Check out the mobile site: http://atreyugames.com

Offline dewdle

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #12 on: September 01, 2016, 07:14:32 am
Here's some pictures with cartoon/reworked backgrounds. :D

Let me know your thoughts:






Keen on any other suggestions.

Visit the mobile site: http://atreyugames.com

Offline eishiya

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #13 on: September 01, 2016, 01:35:22 pm
Those are a slightly better fit, but they still don't match the style of the characters as well as that intro does. The intro used lineart and had a variable level of detail and just looked drawn with some wonkiness here and there just like the characters. These new backgrounds seem to just be photo/3D tracings with the over-perfection and over-detail that comes with that.
Backgrounds need to convey just enough for it to be clear what's happening, and no more than that, so that they don't distract from the foreground. Use that to your advantage. Use the photos/3D as a guide, but draw them by hand, and don't try to get every detail perfect.

Offline dewdle

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #14 on: September 13, 2016, 06:48:33 am
Thanks for the feedback eishiya. :)

We're busy working on our trailer at the moment but will definitely take your feedback into account and see if we can work in those changes to a new edition later on.

In the mean time, take a look at our new teaser video:

https://youtu.be/K13V6cstsYY

Offline dewdle

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #15 on: September 16, 2016, 11:14:09 pm
Hey everyone,

We've just finished working on our new trailer.  ;D

Take a look here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBm7B6wfpNY



See the mobile site for more info: http://atreyugames.com

Offline dewdle

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #16 on: September 18, 2016, 06:52:22 am
Here's a look at some of our gameplay mechanics:


Offline eishiya

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #17 on: September 18, 2016, 12:49:17 pm
They might have some readability issues, and they lack any sense of flavour, there's nothing that makes them really feel like a part of this game, they're generic enough to be in any game. There are most likely visuals other than red-orange-green bars you can use to communicate these gameplay ideas. In the legal system especially! They love their paperwork, stamps, frustrated stares, and foot-tapping bailiffs! Think about what these mechanics are meant to represent. For example, I assume in the witness-pressing minigames, it represents pressing the witness when they look weak/distracted. Why not make THAT the actual gameplay, having their expressions or body language change? Depending on how your portraits are rigged (if at all), this could be a very easy thing to implement. I think that would be much more interesting to play than some generic mini-games, even though at its core it's the same thing - tap the screen at a predictable correct moment.

The anger bar colours overwhelm the judge's head. I think having the bright colours is important on this kind of bar to communicate their meaning, so you'll probably need to play with frames and changing the amount of colour visible. It also looks a bit lazy to have the exact same head sprite without changing its expression. I think having some happier and angrier judge faces could lend the game a lot more character, as long as that's not too silly for the game.
Why not have his changing face be a HUD item that's always there? The face could change, and it could be in a frame that also serves as a round happiness bar that loses sections as the judge gets angrier, and the remaining sections could become redder. That could take up less space than the horizontal bar, while allowing more space for his expression and happiness status.

The white line while pressing witnesses may be difficult to see, especially for people who don't see very well. I think a larger slider that glows (or otherwise changes visually) slightly while it's in the green zone would be much better. That would be slightly more accessible because it would provide more visual cues to the player about when to tap. A slight sound would help even more.

The red outer circle is again difficult to see, especially for people without perfect vision. Bright red, especially on black, in general is a terrible idea for a GUI, because it hurts people's eyes. I recommend using a different colour. I'd also recommend a larger circle so that it's easier to see and tap. Even if the circle's hitbox is actually larger than the circle, players will seek to tap the middle of the circle and will feel frustrated aiming for it even if they never actually miss.

Offline dewdle

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Re: Twelve Absent Men - Legal Drama Game - Pictures!

Reply #18 on: September 18, 2016, 01:26:20 pm
Ah, thanks for all the tips.

I think we've had a bit of confusion - as this is just the "controls" screen. All of the items pictured are larger in the actual game when they appear. This screen just shows how you interact with them.

As to your other ideas:

- The happy/angry judge face is a good idea, I'll look into that. I have an angry version of the judge which I could use. Using both angry/happy would be a bit too silly maybe, but I think just the angry could display that it's the "anger meter" without me saying it as much. But I'll test both - good spotting.

- The colours I'll look into as well.

- The idea of using law symbols as a replacement for the circles could work. I can't rejig the character animations very easily (basically capped my graphics budget) but I can work in symbols as gameplay elements, which is a really neat way of making things more cohesive. So I'll look into what symbols might work.

Did you see my trailer link? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBm7B6wfpNY

Thanks for all the feedback!  ;D

Offline dewdle

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