Bleeding Moons (demo available)

[cabfe]

BLEEDING MOONS

​

What kind of game is it?


Bleedings Moons is an interactive story borrowing Adventure Games and Visual Novel mechanics.
It revolves around the themes of fate, duty and free will.

If you have played games like To the Moon, this game is similar in its gameplay except that there is much more interaction.

A word of caution : This game features some scenes and dialogues that are not suitable for children.


Features

Spoiler

- Bilingual!
All the texts are available in english or french.

- Immersion!
170+ talking people, each with their own pictures and emotion sets, displaying a wide array of expressions.
No fantasy, no magic, no hat tricks. The setting and world are on the realism side.

- Interactive!
Almost everything you see is interactive and choices during dialogues will help you shape the story and the fate of many people, including your own and the ones you love.

- Keyboard or mouse play!
Control your character with the traditional keys or use your mouse to point and click on interactive elements.

- Cinematic music!
For a more movie-like and unforgettable experience.

- Romantic!
Choose between 3 possible romances, or none at all. It's your call.

- Replayable!
Multiple paths and endings that change according to your actions. Also includes a Commentary mode with behind-the-scenes insight and extra cutscenes.

- Beautifully enhanced maps!
Over 100 beautifully hand-drawn locations with custom sprites, tiles edits, image editing, lighting and real-time special effects... which you can get a glimpse at the Screenshots section

Background story (spoiler free)

Spoiler

After gaining its independance 80 years ago, the county of Valmain is well-known for being a trade hub and a respected impartial diplomatic conflict resolver. But when the king of the neighboring united kingdom of Corwick is assassinated, old rivalries and ambitions arise again. The greedy county of Freymont crushes the army of its wealthy neighbor the duchy of Thorem, which calls out your county for help in exchange for advantageous trade agreements.

You are Ian de Valmain, second son of the count de Valmain and not destined to heir. Through a chain of events, he is sent to work at a mercenary camp. With all that he will see and do, Ian will have to deal with his conscience and find the reason why he is alive. Will he endure the suffering of this life so the one he loves can be happy? How far will he go to protect them? Whatever he chooses, his life will never be the same thereafter.

(Slight spoiler on the introduction of the game)

Spoiler

At night, in a clearing near the city. Five bodies lie on the ground and blood is everywhere. One of them is still alive though, Ian.

Brought back and healed in his office by a physician, Ian tries to remember how a count of Valmain got involved in this bloodbath.

This is his story.

Characters

Spoiler

Ian de Valmain, second son of the count de Valmain. A book lover who thought that his fate was already written. Until that day when he meets Riviera Moon, the daughter of the new baker in town. Will his first love be able to redeem his soul? Or maybe he will be the one who can bring happiness to a bleeding heart.

Riviera Moon, commonly called River, is the daughter of the baker in Valbois, capital city of the county of Valmain. Despite her cheerful smile and her love of singing, her short childhood made her a worrying adult too early. She works everyday at the bakery, which leaves her little time for herself. Having Ian as a friend and maybe as a lover is a blessing for her. Unless this will actually be her curse.

Sélène de Thorem. After the suicide of the duke's only son and his wife gone mad, there is only his daughter Sélène to carry the burden of inheriting. Like Ian, she wasn't destined to this and never asked for it. Being the heir of the most powerful territory of the Corwick kingdom weighs heavily on this young woman, secluded in her castle with no friends but servants. But politics and fate may make her not be alone for long.

Luna. She first appears to Ian as a woman who doesn't make other people want to have interest in her. Being the only woman among the Black Foxes mercenaries, she knows the effect she has on men and has to quickly place barriers. Nevertheless, she also perfectly knows how to take advantage of her feminine attributes to get what she wants...

All of them have a scar in their hearts that keep on bleeding. Not everyone can be healed, including Ian. Ultimately, the choice will be his.

Screenshots

Spoiler

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Demo download

A free demo is available on Steam and GOG.

No RTP required.


Publisher

Bleeding Moons is published by Phoenix Online Publishing and available on their official store as well as on Steam and GOG.


Official websites

http://www.postudios.com/company/games/bleedingmoons/index.php
http://bleedingmoons.com/


Release date

September 3rd, 2020.

 

[Alkorri]

Congrats on your demo! I don't speak French but I like the fact you made a game in two languages. Good on you

I'm an editor irl so I would be happy to offer any grammar checking and proofreading if you're not in a hurry.

Will try the demo soon! I have a deadline this weekend

 

[cabfe]

I know France is the center of the world but I felt obliged to translate for the few english speakers that might go around here .

As for your offer, I only have the demo-length text written in english so far. So, if the demo is okay I won't have to bother you.

There's a long way until I complete making the game but might need you when release will be near.

Only bad thing about proofreading is that it is a major spoiler for the proofreader...

Hope you'll enjoy the demo!

 

[Alkorri]

Hee. I can play the demo first and then proofread? And it's no bother. I like giving back to the community.

I've been to Paris by the way. Walked from the Lourve to La Madeleine. Beautiful place

 

[Dandydan]

I got a game breaking bug. I got to the point where he meets River outside the bakery to help her with the sacks of flour. She says she'll go ahead of him to open the door. She enters, the door opens, but he cannot follow her into the building.

BTW, I do not know what the proper etiquette is for such a request but I would dearly love to know some of the scripts you are using for the game. It looks and interacts well. 

Edit: I tried to upload a save game file but apparently I do not have permission for that.

 

[cabfe]

Strange bug. I did a playtest before uploading and it went well...

I tried quickly with my test version by setting the switch for the scene and I could enter the bakery...

I'd love to have your savegame some way.

Meanwhile, if you haven't tried already, does it work with another controller (using keyboard instead of mouse or the contrary) ?

Do you have the correct icon (Exit) when hovering your cursor above the door?

 

[Dandydan]

The mouse works, the keyboard does not.

 

[cabfe]

OK, I got it. Thanks for the feedback.
I'll upload a new version even if it is not really a game breaker.

Edit : uploaded a new version with the keyboard problem fixed.

 

[♥SOURCE♥]

I have finnished the demo and I really enjoyed it. I like the faces of River, Luna, Selene and the ones that use that bust shot style. There were a few glitches (once, inside Ian's room at the start of the game, he walked over his wall close to the entrance of the room), also the stories of the trio at the cantina were well told and pretty funny.

Any estimated date for the full game?

 

[cabfe]

Thank you Lemony!

I'm glad that you enjoyed it. That was a lot of work but also a lot of fun.

This is my first game ever (not only RPG Maker) and I didn't know how many things you actually have to do to get a decent result. But overall it's a great experience and if people like the result, it's all the most satisfying.

About the issue of Ian walking over the wall: you're not the first to mention it yet I couldn't replicate it. If you have a savegame and/or the exact location of the bug, I'll see what might cause it.

The game already has its story and endings written but I still have to create the maps and add fun things to the missions (I only have the objectives right now).

Depending on how much time I can spend on it, I'd say that the full game could be done after the summer. But if my next job takes me far during the week, it'll be later...

Edit: I was finally able to replicate the wall bug. Working on it.

Edit 2: Found and fixed it. Now I'll check why it happens only on certain maps.

Edit 3: Talk about a weird bug. It looks like one of my tilesets is buggy. When I apply another on the concerned maps, it goes well. The weird thing is, if I make a copy/paste of the buggy Tileset in the database and apply the copy to the map (with no editing to the tileset whatsoever) it works too... The exact same tileset... At least this 'bug' is not copied.

Edit 4(!): Updated the demo link with a fixed version and added some dialogue lines to let the player know better what to do.

@Dandydan:

Sorry I skipped your question about the scripts I use.

There are a few of them and I had to tweak some to make them work together. What in particular do you have in mind?

 

[plaisirsonnet]

Great demo, i love it ! Can't wait to play the entire game

 

[cabfe]

Thank you !

I'm doing a little more polishing and bug chasing before uploading a (slightly) better demo.

All this thanks to your feedback: you're all great!

 

[Dandydan]

@Dandydan:

Sorry I skipped your question about the scripts I use.

There are a few of them and I had to tweak some to make them work together. What in particular do you have in mind?

My mind has been on other things. The only one I remember off the top of my head was the mouse script. I thought it behaved well and I liked the various icons.

 

[cabfe]

I use Shaz's mouse script in its latest version (1.09 as of today).

Very simple to use yet efficient.

Some of my icons are from the default iconset and some are edited to look better, like the magnifying glass or the grabbing hand.

 

[Chaos17]

I played the game, I enjoyed the writing and the cutscenes.

I liked to be able to voice my opinions often with choices.

My favorite part is the childhood, but I liked to see Ian grow and becoming a teenager.

Though, I'd have liked to be able to do something with his family ^^

I wonder how "my Ian" is going to become, I hope I would be able to see River more in the future.

Good luck and I look forward to see the rest of the game.

 

[cabfe]

Thank you Chaos17!

Considering this is a mix between a visual novel and an adventure game, I had to work a lot on the writing.

I wasn't sure how the "childhood age" would be perceived. Either interesting or dull... Guess I found the balance.

It allowed me to present some characters and the background without being too boring.

The beginning of a game is harder than I thought. I know the story, what cool things are about to happen, but the player doesn't... and might quit too soon.

So far I'm getting good reviews and that warms my heart.

I'll do my best to give you an even better finished game!

 

[Alkorri]

Still playing through your demo, cabfe! ;D I have a list of notes. Are you interested in grammatical edits, or shall I just comment on the gameplay?

 

[cabfe]

If you can, please give me everything!

I know my english isn't Shakepeare-like and I want my game to be the best it can, including english texts.

 

[Alkorri]

Actually considering that French is your first language(?), the English is quite impressive with only minor edits needed. I've seen much worse. So bravo

 

[cabfe]

Thanks!

Although I'm French, I did learn english by playing games since the age of 10. Nothing beats "learn through play" but I'm nowhere near bilingual.

I've put effort into having a good english version. I'm lucky to have the internet to check for idioms and words I've never used before

I'm making small corrections and bug fixes to the demo now, I'll wait for your feedback before releasing so I can include your recommendations.