Who else is making a game set in the modern world?

[Helen1701]

I'm quite enjoying the process of making the tilesets. I've done the flooring and walls, stairs...etc. Now I get to make modern furniture and appliances, everything from a bathroom suite to a vaccum cleaner. I'm even going to do an animated screen for the TV so it looks more realistic, and a blank screen for when the player switches the TV off. The TV is going to be important because some of the TV events are going to give the player clues or hints on where to go next. Not sure yet if I will bother with cars or just put a bus stop in each town. I'm definitely going to add a bus to the list of vehicles.

It did get me wondering though, how many of you guys are making games with a modern feel? Also, why did you choose a modern setting?

In my case, I decided on modern for two main reasons:

The character I intend to add to my party (and fairly early in the game) is an alien from another dimension... kind of wouldn't work in a setting set in the distant past.

The main villain of the story is also an alien trying to take over the universe (basically the alien has stolen the 'crown jewels' from the castle, which are actually keys to interplanetary portals that most of the NPC don't even know exists, the NPCs believe that the crown jewels are nothing more than oversized ordinary gemstones that happen to belong to the King). You get to see the portal room early on, but because the jewels are missing none of the portals are active. You activate them one at a time by retrieving them from hidden dungeons. There will also be dungeons to do in the various alien worlds you get to visit. Again, if this was set in medieval times, it just wouldn't seem right.

Just my opinions, what about you guys?

 

[AeroPergold]

Well at one point I was making a game set in modern suburban America called "Vtubers vs MOTHER". As you can tell its about a group of four Vtubers who have to collect eight parts of a song to sing to an evil alien and its set in the EarthBound/MOTHER universe.

 

[alice_gristle]

I'm usually knee-deep in castles and knights to even think about dat modern stuff, but I do have this idea:

So this game has a detective, who corrects compound noun problems. Like... somebody had a shop front with reeeeelly egregious grammar mistakes, so this detective goes in and BAM WHAM, they solve the issue. Mebbe with violence.

Reasons why this would be in a modern setting is, waalll, I dun think people in medieval anyplace would relly care about compound nouns. Or grammar. (Well ya, maybe in a monastery, but they don't have shop fronts there. Or big neon signs and such.)

Also yeah, compound nouns probably make no sense unless ya Finnish, buuuut... it's a bit like getting angry at greengrocers' apostrophes... ya know?

 

[Cloak]

Ah, my horror game will be set in modern day suburban America. I feel like it's either that or another idea I have of a game taking place during WW1, but with a bit of fantasy mixed in.

 

[BK-tdm]

Mine is on modern day too, since its a shooter with giant tanks, mechs, modern weaponry and genetically enhanced people between many other stuff so the theme is pretty much the why.

As for the resouces part i make my own stuff and even though i can make fantasy sprites whitout any hassle i can make better looking modern props and machines with ease maybe its the practice with my own project

 

[Sullien]

It certainly would be refreshing; Many action RPG's(particularly fantasy-themed ones) tend to prefer medieval era or, when modern, incorporate too many middle-ages elements(Futuristic city but the castle interiors look straight out of Final Fantasy I).

The idea seems nice and definitely has potential.

 

[bgillisp]

My last game (link in signature) was set in an alternate future (2043), and has both our world and a fantasy world that you transfer between.

 

[Ami]

how many of you guys are making games with a modern feel? Also, why did you choose a modern setting?

i was mixing the Common Medieval Style of Bar with Modern Tileset,like Refrigerator & Vending Machine

Idk why,but i enjoy to mix & creating it. it's endless creativity

 

[Helen1701]

i was mixing the Common Medieval Style of Bar with Modern Tileset,like Refrigerator & Vending Machine

Idk why,but i enjoy to mix & creating it. it's endless creativity

That's the beauty of making your own tilsets, you can add anything you want. I have my normal houses tilset, but also an alternative one which includes bamboo houses and log cabins. So like, even though it's a modern world, there are going to be some throwbacks appropriate for the storyline (e.g. a hermit who lives in the woods in a cabin because he hates busy town centers). The bamboo houses are for a tribe of primitive people who live on an isolated Island, they just haven't developed any further than iron age technologies.

My main character (the player, naturally) is from a large modern town. In intend there to be a town center where you find the main shopping area, and a couple of pubs, and four suberbs, three with houses and one with high rises.

 

[CraneSoft]

My game is a cliche urban fantasy where demons and malevolent beings lurk within the void and causing reality-altering distortions, trapping and devouring people and the player as a demon hunter has to stop them. Naturally normal people cannot perceive them and their existence are hidden from the general public, and such a setting wouldn't work in your standard medieval fantasy.

 

[VegaKotes]

Monsters hiding in Masquerade is one of my favorite genres. There's just something really fascinating about the idea of an entire supernatural world hiding adjacent to our own, only able to see glimpses here and there.

Also I don't know if Post Apocalpytic counts as modern day. >.> But that's the setting for the project I'm working on.

 

[arsMori]

My current game is more fantasy since the main cast consists of angels and demons, but it technically takes place in the modern era since the angels and demons have adapted modern human technology like trains and electricity, as well as some of them wearing more modern clothes like suits.

Personally, I prefer more fantastical settings, like the whole kingdoms and dragons, but I wanted to experiment a little bit. Some of my non-human characters have a fascination with human culture, despite some of them never interacting with humans, so it kind of adds to my lore.

Also, the concept of a demon salaryman was funny to me at the time.

(Edit: fixed some grammar)

 

[ophidic]

I'm quite enjoying the process of making the tilesets. I've done the flooring and walls, stairs...etc. Now I get to make modern furniture and appliances, everything from a bathroom suite to a vaccum cleaner. I'm even going to do an animated screen for the TV so it looks more realistic, and a blank screen for when the player switches the TV off. The TV is going to be important because some of the TV events are going to give the player clues or hints on where to go next. Not sure yet if I will bother with cars or just put a bus stop in each town. I'm definitely going to add a bus to the list of vehicles.

It did get me wondering though, how many of you guys are making games with a modern feel? Also, why did you choose a modern setting?

In my case, I decided on modern for two main reasons:

The character I intend to add to my party (and fairly early in the game) is an alien from another dimension... kind of wouldn't work in a setting set in the distant past.

The main villain of the story is also an alien trying to take over the universe (basically the alien has stolen the 'crown jewels' from the castle, which are actually keys to interplanetary portals that most of the NPC don't even know exists, the NPCs believe that the crown jewels are nothing more than oversized ordinary gemstones that happen to belong to the King). You get to see the portal room early on, but because the jewels are missing none of the portals are active. You activate them one at a time by retrieving them from hidden dungeons. There will also be dungeons to do in the various alien worlds you get to visit. Again, if this was set in medieval times, it just wouldn't seem right.

Just my opinions, what about you guys?

oh snap. i just finished drawing a tv and doing some channels with some stuff to kill time, practice doing cutscenes and advance plot. I've since used the screen for an ATM and an arcade where I made a pac man kinda game.

Project: https://ophidic.itch.io/spoopy-stuff

Minigame: https://ophidic.itch.io/spoopy-stuff/devlog/320906/pac-rat-minigame

I also have a recent video of 17ish minutes worth of game:
Im using MalibuDarby's assets, but I've been doing a bunch of edits and new stuff in the same style, like that ice box outside the bar and some of the signs and sprite based windows for day/night stuff.

 

[alice_gristle]

@ophidic, looks totally hot, sweetie! I love that attention to detail! It's got that retro adventure game feel, I'm in awe. That kid in the store is hella depressing tho...

 

[ophidic]

Hahhahahhahaha yeah i dunno why I thought it would be funny to have a depressing kid. I think part of it was how her ridiculous positivity and naivety contrasted with how unfortunate her statements were. It started with the pack of smokes joke and went from there.

 

[ophidic]

what y'all using for graphics editing?

I'm a big photoshop dork but I never bothered intalling it on my new computer, and now I've found I prefer Aesprite for the asset editing.

Specifically because MalibuDarby's stuff is at a 3:1 px ratio, and I find working in aesprite a bit quicker, and i don't think photoshop samples the opacity when you use the eyedropper, so that's nice too.

 

[Helen1701]

what y'all using for graphics editing?

I'm a big photoshop dork but I never bothered intalling it on my new computer, and now I've found I prefer Aesprite for the asset editing.

Specifically because MalibuDarby's stuff is at a 3:1 px ratio, and I find working in aesprite a bit quicker, and i don't think photoshop samples the opacity when you use the eyedropper, so that's nice too.

Krita, I don't have enough money to buy photoshop, and even if I did, I wouldn't because why pay for something when you can get very similar for free. For the purposes of Pixel art, Krita has everything I need to make my tilesets as beautiful as possible.

I have to modify some of my existing ones though, because I changed the grass (I wasn't happy with it, it looked too tiled), so some of the tilesets I created have to be edited, the water and lava animated tiles for a start.

 

[Mr. Detective]

I used to work on a fan game that was set in the future, using a mixture of modern and futuristic tileset. I had a similar idea. I put picture of anime on computers and TVs, but they weren't animated.

Modern setting is a little more difficult to do, but can also be fun. Mapping is difficult, either way...

 

[RCXGaming]

I thrive in a modern fantasy setting. Most of my games revolve around it and I really go in on the concept, ranging from thinking about how entertainment is like, how technology advances (which has the nice side-effect of having tangible limits as to what mortal tech can't and can do), how people are like in different countries and so on.

The fantasy bit comes in with magic being a daily part of life in the world my stories takes place in. It shows up in how technology is often powered by the unique ways the people of the world utilize their elemental powers, as well as fantastical races like fairies and animal humanoids just hanging around since they're pretty much your neighbors down the street.

My current game is more fantasy since the main cast consists of angels and demons, but it technically takes place in the modern era since the angels and demons have adapted modern human technology like trains and electricity, as well as some of them wearing more modern clothes like suits.

Personally, I prefer more fantastical settings, like the whole kingdoms and dragons, but I wanted to experiment a little bit. Some of my non-human characters have a fascination with human culture, despite some of them never interacting with humans, so it kind of adds to my lore.

Also, the concept of a demon salaryman was funny to me at the time.

(Edit: fixed some grammar)

I like your style. I love it when people explore angel-demon stuff in fiction, though we kind of have the opposite take on the same idea.

Angels and demons serve as the invisible, eldritch guiding hand for mortalkind - in the galaxy beyond this world, magic is pretty much nonexistant beyond people interested in the occult. Sometimes they're distant, sometimes they're right next to you as a magical girl's cute little fluffy mascot. That's how they keep tabs on mortals.

I won't detail more since it would be quite spoiler-ish for my stuff, but it's fascinating designing stuff like this. Medieval is nice and all, but it doesn't offer as much unless you get really creative.

 

[Ninjakillzu]

Mine is in a cyberpunk setting, so technically it's "modern" in the sense that it's not a fantasy setting.

Of course, that doesn't stop people from adding fantasy elements to modern/futuristic settings like Shadowrun.