It's my first time participating and I'm just so happy that I actually finished* this :D I was a bit worried at first because I'm fairly new to game development and I only had yesterday and this evening to work on my project since I had to go to work on Saturday and today (I totally forgot to ask for a day off). But I somehow managed to create ... something :)

(* There's tons of stuff that I wanted to add but didn't have the time for, e.g. some options for music, difficulty etc. The menu design needs some reworking, lighting is okay-ish, there's something weird going on with my ghosts' movement and worst of all I also totally messed up Miranda's face. But luckily nothing game breaking.)

(I still need to figure out how to get the Quit-Button to work in the WEBGL Build ...)

Yeah ... so, here it is: LIFE|DEATH:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/$264975/

The tools I used are Unity, Blender, BoscaCeoil and Audacity. I tried out some stuff in sfxr but in the end I didn't use any of the sound effects that I created in there.

Update:

I added an updated version to the itch.io page with the following changes:

• I fixed a weird problem where the timer would restart once it reached 60s.

• Movement should feel much better now:

  • Miranda looks at the mouse, now. That means it's no longer necessary to use A + D (or Right Arrow + Left Arrow) for turning.
  • She also walks a bit faster.

• I increased the size of the blue vacuum bar and the hearts.

• It's now possible to suck in a few more ghosts and to get hit a few more times before dying.
• I decreased the amound of ghosts that need to be caught in order to win.

I kept the original jam version for the WebGL build. As of right now, the updated version is downloadable only. I'll change this once the play+rate phase is over.

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/lifedeath

Just some (bad) gifs to show a tiny little bit of the gameplay.

Here's the original jam version:

And here's the updated one:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/49/lifedeath

... maybe. Highly depends on my work schedule and my newly sprained wrist. (And by newly sprained I mean this morning. In the dumbest way possible. It's a talent.)

Anyway, these are my suggestions:

got some ideas and an early creature design

Okay, so I'm working on a visual novel. And everything was fine. Story is almost finished. Sketched a lot. And then I started working with Ren'Py and ... it didn't work the way I wanted it to.

I don't want to use the usual menu statement for making choices. Instead, I want my creatures to hide one of the choices (it makes sense in context).

But it just wouldn't work.

I spent an absolutely embarrassing amount of time on this. And the solution is hilariously easy. No, seriously.

I want to scream.

concept art for the major scenes in my visual novel:

here's what it looks like atm when the creatures are blocking a choice:

I also worked on music and sound effects.

I still have to work on the final artwork (with creatures crawling around outside the choice screens). I also want the player's choices to affect how many creatures are blocking the next choices.

before: after:

before after:

let's see if I manage to produce consistent art for the whole vn lmao

(the hands are atrocious)

I spent most of the day on artwork, artwork and artwork. Lost myself quite a bit in the details lol.

Had to redesign my creatures to make them fit better into the aesthetic™.

Now it's finally (!!!) time to add them into the scenes.

Here's an example:

I mentioned losing myself in the details. That's exactly what I mean. Does this wonky room REALLY need a picture of a cat? (Yes! Yes, it does!)

(ignore the text at the bottom of the screen; it's outdated)

creature animation works when using my choice screen, yaaay

tiny (hehe) problem: every choice button and every critter are hand placed and I have to do this for every choice in my vn

BUT

when that's finally done then there's only adding the updated story script and working on a custom menu left

I absolutely won't get this done for the compo but getting it done for the jam should be easy

(also I'm regretting like ... every life choice lol)

(WHY did I decide to work on a visual novel???)

(and why couldn't I just work with like ... one or two backgrounds, two or three sprites and that's it?)

(noooo, I just HAVE to make my life way way harder lol)

story implemented: check

choices are working: check

endings implemented and working: check

took one of my illustrations, changed a few things so I can use it for my main menu

what's left?

continue working on the menu (do I want it to be animated or not etc)

make some changes to music and sound

polish, polish, polish

but first! sleep

I'm exhausted

A visual novel about dealing with the grief of losing a loved one.

• three endings

• original story

• original art

• original music

Play it here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening

tools I used:

• Krita for art
• BeepBox and Audacity for music and sound effects
• engine: Ren'Py

---

Aaaaand here it is. Finally.

Took way longer than expected. And there's stuff that I definitely want to change once the rating period has ended.

I wanted to add some ending illustrations, and I wanted the choices made in this game to affect how many critters are blocking the next choices. Since I have to place everything by hand and can't just save the critter animations simply as animations (nooo, I have to save and place every single frame D:), this would have taken me way longer than it already has.

Also, I need to rework one or two illustrations (I'm looking at you, wonky room).

What else is there to say?

I'm exhausted. And happy. Definitely happy. Especially since I have barely any experience using Ren'Py. (Who thought learning how to use a new engine just shortly before the beginning of a game jam would be a good idea??? lol)

Do you want to experience a story about dealing with the grief of losing a loved one?

Then you might want to check out my visual novel

featuring an original story with three endings, original artwork and music.

You can find it right here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening

Here's a quick look at the beginning of my visual novel "Are you listening?":

And here are the different art stages from when I was working on the scene:

Want to see the rest of my game? You can check it out right here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening

~~sometimes, I feel like my art process is such a mess haha~~

You can check out the game right here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening

Before working on the final look of my visual novel, I focused on getting my choice system to work. Which means there was a time during the making of my game where I just threw all my concept art as placeholders into the game.

This is what it looked like:

Notice how I wanted there to be some kind of animation although I knew that this was just ... concept art. Priorities, am I right? ^^°

Now, this is what it looks like in the final version:

Quite the improvement, wouldn't you agree? The vibes are just different.

---

If you want to check out "Are you listening?" you can find it right here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening

And a heartfelt thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who already played it. Your kind words mean so much to me <3

In my last "Behind the Scenes" posts I talked about the art side of my visual novel "Are you listening?"

Today, I want to talk about some story stuff, mainly how story and gameplay mechanics intersect and my thought process regarding the decisions I made for the three endings and how to reach them. There's also some design stuff that I'll probably mention as well.

Since my game is a visual novel and therefore story driven, this post will contain spoilers. If you haven't already played "Are you listening?" and want to experience the story spoiler-free I'd advise you not to read any further.

You can check out the game right here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening

You can always come back later to this post if you're interested in the making of this stuff.

~~(Although I do believe that spoilers don't affect the enjoyment of a story. But that's just my opinion.)~~

---

Okay. Spoiler time. Please be warned!

"Are you listening?" is a story about dealing with the grief of losing a loved one. Early on I made the decision that I wanted to use this event's theme "Tiny Creatures" to represent depression.

That means these cute little critters

are everywhere Leah - the game's protagonist - goes. They are the dark thoughts clouding her mind. The weight clinging to her limbs. You get the picture.

Now why did I go with something cute? Why not chose something with a sinister look?

Simply put: Because I don't want to demonize depression.

Now, since this is a visual novel, there are choices to be made by the player. But depression can make it hard for someone to make a choice. Especially the "good" ones. Simply knowing what would help you with taking care of yourself isn't enough. It often requires effort.

Which is why (most of) the choices in this game look like this:

The "good" choice is buried under depression critters. They have to be removed in order to make the "good" choice available.

Initially, I wanted the player's previous decisions to influence the number of critters that would appear on the next choices. I had to cut this mechanic. It would have required a bit more time to implement ~~(and I lost an embarrassing amount of time getting my choice system to work)~~ and I would have to find a balance between placing too few or too many of the critters. (It's something I'll probably look into some time later.)

So I kind of took a story first, gameplay second approach to this. There was a story I wanted to tell. A story that I wanted the player to experience in full. It wouldn't do to annoy the player too much or they would stop playing the game. A tiny effort has to be made, yes. But it shouldn't be a chore.

Now, let's talk about the endings.

"Are you listening?" has three endings.

One that is obviously the "good" one.

One that is obviously the "bad" one.

And one that I wouldn't exactly call "neutral" but one that's also ending on a hopeful note.

Since not every player will play this game multiple times and since I really wanted to stress that depression is not the end I made the decision that the "good" ending would be the one that most players would reach on their first try. It's the story I was the most interested in telling.

Again story first, gameplay second.

I was thinking hard about the amount of "good" choices that would have to be made in order to get to this ending. I thought about it a long time tbh. And then I said to myself: As long as Leah makes one good decision, there's still hope. That means, as long as the player engages with the main gameplay mechanic at least once they would get the "good" ending.

What about the other two endings? Well, if the player only makes "bad" choices this leads to Leah having a breakdown in her bathroom. ~~(It also leads to one of my favourite illustrations I worked on. But that's irrelevant.)~~

A breakdown that is interrupted by a phone call. This last decision determines which one of the last two endings the player would get. Is Leah lost and sees no way out or does she recognise that she needs help and is able to gather the strength to reach out?

So, yeah. That was my thought process. ~~I hope I didn't bore you with my ramblings haha~~

Thanks for your attention! And sending positive vibes to everyone <3

Thank you, thank you, thank you all sooo much for your amazing feedback!

While working on this project, I was so worried because the combination of visual novel + a heavy and very sensitive subject matter coupled with the fact that I usually write my short stories etc in German instead of English (I was writing and rewriting and rewriting bc I wanted to get it right) could have easily turned this whole project into a disaster.

But I really wanted to do this and I am so glad I did.

Again, thank you so much. Your kind words mean the world to me.

If you haven't already played "Are you listening?" and are in the mood for a visual novel, you can find it right here:

https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/56/are-you-listening