RMMV Light in the Dark (IGMC 2017 Entry)

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SYNOPSIS

Light In The Dark is a short game about a girl who lives in a small house with her abusive mother. The girl's name is Perdita. Her feelings have been suppressed because her mother won't allow her to do anything fun. No laughter can be heard in the house but neither crying. She doesn't have real feelings... It's all just emptiness. She just feels cold. All these years she's been afraid of her. Afraid of mother. The only place where Perdita doesn't feel cold or afraid is by the fireplace in the cellar. Her only light in the dark.

The game was made in two weeks for the IGMC 2017.

Download: https://skyforger007.itch.io/light-in-the-dark

Music in the game is made by Myuu http://www.thedarkpiano.com/

SCREENSHOTS

Spoiler

CHARACTERS

Spoiler

• Perdita
  
  A beautiful young girl who has some mental problems because of her mother. She doesn't know how to feel anything. The name Perdita has a meaning, Latin for "lost"
  
  
• Mother
  
  Abusive, harsh, cruel. She demands a lot and gives nothing back. Plays a lot of piano. Doesn't seem to care about Perdita that much really. She might actually hate her. Who knows?
  

PLOT

Spoiler

Perdita is stuck with her mother in a small house. The objective in the game is to get out of the house without Mother noticing. The game is mostly black and white, while important and interactable items have color and popup icon notifications. Some color hints are very subtle so inspect everything thoroughly! You can find some items to help your escape in the house and when picked up, they appear in the slots on the bottom of the screen. When used correctly, the icons turn gray.

You have to wait for the right moment to escape. In the beginning you can investigate some interesting stuff but you must bide your time and pass the time by going back to your room in the cellar and stare at the dancing flames in the fireplace. That passes time to the next part of the story and you'll get some opportunities to investigate the house further.

Some dark secrets will be revealed about Mother and Perdita has to escape quickly or she might be in grave danger. Mother is not a very kind person indeed... Try not to make her mad, and make sure not to disturb her while she's playing the piano. Mark my words.

If you play my game, I'd very much appreciate all constructive criticism and feedback about the game. Thank you for taking the time to read this far and have fun with my game if you happen to try it!

 

Light in the dark has gotten a lot of mostly positive feedback! We also broke 500 downloads! Woo! That's amazing!

Here's some Youtubers who made a let's play of my game! Such cool people!

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ManlyBadassHero

TheRPGMinx

Neco The Sergal

Famed Killjoy

JdotPlay

Spectral Blood

 

Almost... 600... Downloads... Thanks to everyone who has tried out my game!

Now thinking back, I would change couple things about the game, things that seemed odd or funny or just out of place for many people. Spoilers ahead.

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I think I would change Adalie's ghost to not actually appear but you'd have to find her journal hidden somewhere in her room that would tell the same things she told Perdita in current version. Returning the teddy could be optional or have some other effect.

I could also place some ways to get a game over while still in the house. Like taking some of the items too early and mother noticing that.

The chase outside the house I would change in a way that mother wouldn't turn into a "teleporting ninja" but maybe there would be some wolves that attack mother or something like that. Just to make things seem more realistic. Current version of mother appearing everywhere was intended to show what Perdita herself was feeling at the time, mother really didn't teleport but she did make Perdita panic and make her see things etc.

Now the thing about Perdita getting to the police and them starting an investigation made some people laugh. I was thinking about it being an realistic thing, a little girl runs crying to the police telling that her mother had stolen her and now attacked her and she had to run away.

The quote from Avatar was funny and out of place to some. It was just a very powerful quote to me personally and I think it fits the theme. But then again it's more of a personal thing so I think I would take it out of the game.

Now I think that was all I think about changing, I don't know if I forgot something but there you go.

 

Light in the dark went through some minor fixes and other changes especially in the ending.

- A couple collision errors got fixed.

- Removed slow text plugin.

- Changed the ending a bit.

- Some other minor changes.