Bleeding Moons (demo available)

[Alkorri]

Hmmm, sadly I have a deadline due in two days. I can only finish the demo then Are you sure you want to wait? I'm up to the part where the main character meets Luna. Is there much more to the demo?

 

[cabfe]

No problem, I'll release a bug-fix first then.

From where you are now in the demo, I'd say there's still half of it.

I'm in no hurry. Take your time, I hope you're enjoying the game so far. Rushing it would be a shame if you do .

 

[Matseb2611]

Hello there. I've started playing your game's demo and it's really good so far. Feels like an interactive story. I don't usually tend to get into stories like these, but it made me care for the characters already, and man some parts are already making me feel sad, so well done on that. The game has a lot of emotion to it and I can feel it's going to get a lot more dramatic in latter parts. I'm only about an hour in, but I intend to get to the end of the demo. Does the story change drastically if I pick other choices during the key dialogues? 

Only one minor issue I noticed so far. Next to the bakery, there's a tool lying on the ground in the farm. It doesn't look right because its shadow is making it look as if it's leaning against a wall. But otherwise so far I haven't come across any bugs and stuff. I'll let keep posting my thoughts as I get further in the game. 

 

[cabfe]

As a fan of your games, I am honored to get your attention.

Thank you!
 
The story is indeed a drama but at the same time I wanted to avoid the "over-the-top drama" by letting the player have more peaceful moments or even laugh (I loved writing the Ocelots stories).
But yes, Ian will have some more rough times in his life.
 
Most of the dialogues so far are similar to the way they are handled in Mass Effect: they affect your immediate dialogue, they may have an influence on some parts from time to time but only a few of them have drastic influence, which are not all visible in the demo.
 
One easily visible with River:

Spoiler

If you break with her before going to the mercenary camp, obviously she won't react the same when you'll see her again at the bakery.

As I progress on the making, I have new ideas how a previous decision can influence something else later. Unfortunately that'll mean that savegames from the demo won't be compatible with the final game.
Good catch with that tool's shadow. I wanted something different than the tool in the yard just under, but you're right, it doesn't work. Added to my To-fix list!

 

[Kyuukon]

I played your DEMO out of curiosity

I liked it. You're doing a pretty good job so far.

I'm no expert but I'll tell you the pro/con I noticed:

Pros:

- Nice mapping. Lighting effects are awesome.

- Good use of sprites.

- Entertaining missions (I lol'd at the storage building one xD)

Cons:

- Dialog feels a bit too 'robot-like'? I can understand when speaking to a duke or any other higher autority but I got the feeling it could be more natural (though it's just me maybe).

- Heroins don't have their personality well defined (they all seem like the friendly/mischievous type). I'd expect Selena (was it her name?) to behave more like a spoiled princess maybe?

- In the last mission, the professional mercenary Luna starts a drama in the same room 3 or 4 still-alive enemy soldiers are sleeping. You should leave the drama for later like: 'While in a mission, turn your emotions aside'.

But like I said, I'm no expert so don't take my word too seriously, it's just my opinion xD

I can't wait to see the full game good job! I had my fun, even if just a DEMO

 

[cabfe]

Thank you for your kind words!

I don't know if the "robot-like" feeling comes from my basic english or from the text itself.
The former can be fixed easily (hiring a native english writer or translator would do it - at a cost).
The latter would be tricky ^^

As for the heroins' personalities, I tried to make River and Luna as two sides of a coin for Ian.
Both women have a valid point in their statements, it's up to Ian to decide who's more appealing to him.
For example, killing an enemy soldier is only a matter of "kill or be killed" matter for Luna.
River would object that this soldier was still a human being who will be mourned by someone.
That's actually a dialogue that happens later, by the way.

Luna's personality will evolve the more time she spends with Ian. If you manage to get her interest, she might open much more and reveal things about herself that she never told anyone else. Especially about her past.

Sélène is only seen briefly in the demo. You'll get the occasion to meet her again (in fact, soon after the demo ends) and speak more with her. I hope to get her more interesting by then.


About your remark on the last mission: yes, that's true. I made them talk next to dead guys but there are others sleeping a few meters away. The same way I prevented Ian from dashing on this map, the idea here was that they are not talking too loud. It can be difficult to show. I tried with smaller letters but that didn't work (in my opinion).
But I'll think of something else and keep your idea in mind.

 

[Matseb2611]

Sounds cool. I've done the first mission at the mercenary camp now (the crates one) and it's been really interesting. I quite like the dialogue and all the witty conversations, and the story seems to be building up to something grand I can feel. One strange thing that happened is just before this mission when I visit Luna at her tent and have a conversation, I noticed that it goes on twice and repeats itself before it finishes.  

 

[cabfe]

Ah, yes. This bug I know... Actually the only one that remained hidden but it's already fixed.

I'm finishing some last minute tests and will upload a fixed released in the hour I think.

 

[cabfe]

Uploaded a bug-fixed version (same link).

- Updated a transition to have a smoother walking at the start of the cutscene in Valbois.
- Fixed the door appearing closed too soon when entering the bakery.
- Prevented the possibility to touch some moving events from distance when using the mouse. Left it possible when Talking as it would become tedious otherwise.
- Fixed the apparition of "Ian's room" map message to happen at the correct time.
- Changed the location of a NPC in town so it is more natural.
- Added realtime shadow effects inside the duke's castle. It should not induce too much fps drop on a computer more recent than mine. (ie. almost all)
- Fixed a bug where you could have the same dialog happen twice in Luna's tent.
- Fixed the wrong lighting in Skarsen's tent after the mission in the warehouse.
- Edited the windows as viewed from the inside of Bellec's mansion. And added transparency on the one without shutters.
- Fixed the wrong name for the map of the Infirmary.
- Added a better looking Follower movement script by Neon Black.
- Overall: added several more dialogues for Ian to better express his reluctance to kill.
- And a few typos/grammar/faces errors here and there.

Added Neon Black to the credits since I'm now using his Smarter Followers script.

Thanks to your valuable feedback, I was able to add more depth to the moral dilemma of Ian by adding more dialogues which makes the story flow more naturally.

It's really better now.

 

[Matseb2611]

Just finished the demo. Awesome stuff. You're really good at writing romance and making it believable. The missions are pretty interesting too.

Spoiler

I laughed when the 2nd guard in the mansion said 'I need to pee' and Ian commented 'By all means, help yourself'.

I didn't really come across any other bugs, though I was thinking, in the last mission of the demo, when you ask Luna to pick the lock in the cantina, it takes ages for her to get there and come back. The same thing when you call for her to go into the barracks, she takes a while to get there. But that's just my personal nitpick. Might be worth seeing what other players say.

 

[Dalph]

Oh, this is so nice cabfe, I've finally found a good RM game that I can enjoy playing.

I played it for around half an hour (until you meet Luna in the camp) and I really liked it, the writing is very good and the storyline so intriguing, I particularly love the multiple choices in the dialogues and the well made

characters. The only thing that bothers me a bit are...the different kind of facesets mixed...but it's a minor thing.

Despite this, It was great, I will probably continue it tomorrow, Ian is such an interesting character.

Good job.

 

[Stewen]

Wery nice graphic.

 

[cabfe]

Thanks Stewen.

I hope you found more than graphics to catch your interest, but that's a good start .

Already a month since last time... But I'm still alive and working on my game.

I just uploaded a slightly improved version of the demo.

This is now version 0.32 with a few modifications but no bugs to fix:

- A few grammar and spelling errors.
- Remade the nose of Sélène on her facesets.
- Added a choice when launching the game to select Full screen or Windowed, instead of forcing Full screen.
- Added an autosave feature during the mission in the mansion. If Ian get caught, it will no longer return to the title screen but automatically reload the autosave. This autosave is not accessible by the player and will not overwrite the player's manual saves.
- Added shadows in castle Valmain.
- Added animations on some maps (clocks, birds...)
- Added modifications to some dialogues (fixes, additions, actual names instead of generic names for the soldiers).
- Removed the Failed mission section from the Quest log. There is no failure. There are only your choices and their consequences. This is a story, not a punishment for making the "wrong" choice. Ian's story is your story, as much as I can make it happen.
 

I may upload another updated demo but it will most probably be to fix some english grammar mistakes that are remaining.

Unless major ones, technical updates won't be released, I'll keep them for the complete version.

That's all for the demo stuff.
I worked a lot on writing additional dialogues since last update but 99% happen after the demo, so there's not much to see for you.
I also merged some of the upcoming missions to allow for a faster pace while maintaining intensity.

Having started a new job recently, I no longer have the same amount of free time to work on the game but I'm definitely not canceling. No matter how long it will take, this will be done.
ETA is still within year 2014.

 

[Kyuukon]

huh can I ask what generator do you use for your female characters?

 

[cabfe]

huh can I ask what generator do you use for your female characters?

I suppose you mean for the busts?

I used Erangot's Character machine.

 

[cabfe]

I'm weak.
 
I've fallen into the trap, again.
I'm talking about the "redo as you learn" trap.
 
Since I started working on edits to better suit my vision, I gradually learned some drawing techniques and wanted to use them, "just for show".
 
Now I wonder if I'd better start redrawing all my facesets to make them all "bust type".
It will be more consistent, but my drawing skill is nowhere as good as the current facesets parts I use.

Here is an example of what I'm talking about:
The faceset as can be seen in the actual demo:

Spoiler

and here is my WIP: (need to redo the neck part, especially)

Spoiler

Should I continue on the All busts road?

I've also worked on a shirt:

Spoiler

 

[Matseb2611]

I personally wouldn't mind either way. I think most people would want the style to be consistent, so either all this or all that. Though having said that, I didn't mind that the key female characters had the bust type dialogue pic in the demo whilst everyone else just had a face pic, because it felt as though these important female characters were actually facing you as you were speaking to them. It gave it more immersion. I suppose yeah, it wouldn't hurt to have all characters done like that, providing this art style fits with the style everything else is done in the game. 

 

[cabfe]

Thanks for your feedback.

I'll try to draw all the clothes I need and if I succeed, I'll remake all the facesets and emosets to be Busts only.

I didn't do it at first because I wasn't confident enough in my drawing skill. Although I'm nowhere near an artist, now I should be able to get something look not too bad.

And, well, people love custom art. So why not?

 

[Matseb2611]

Yeah, people do certainly love custom art. I think it's a good idea. Go for it.

Perhaps a few screenshots with those busts being used in-game could be helpful to give an idea of what they're like in action. 

 

[cabfe]

I made a quick&dirty integration:

Spoiler

(by the way, this is one new scene I'm working on for the next improved demo).
I certainly need to polish the bust since it's just a WIP but it looks good enough for a start.