Summer's Dew - Development Post #4
- Akash Oak
- Mar 18, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 9, 2019
This week, I'd like to give some insights into the art development of the game as well as let the readers know how the story combats sensitive topics of sexual orientation as well as teen pregnancy. The whole game is coming up nicely, and I am confident the story is getting well-structured thanks to my supervisor, Hope Caton.
Anyways, onto the post!
Story
The main protagonist of the story is Summer Mckinley, a girl who's just growing up really. Her parents are David and Delilah Mckinley, happily married couple and good parents. They are loving towards Summer and have always given plenty of love and affection to her. Summer herself is a reserved and quiet person.
Summer's shoes will be filled by the players and they'll play through her life. The game takes place in the fictional town of Middlesworth, a quaint and peaceful settlement.
Sections
The story is divided into three stages of Summer's life - Childhood, Teenage and Adulthood.
Every stage of her life will bring something bigger on the table.
Her childhood will bring her affection and her love towards her parents as well as how she reciprocates to it.
Teenage will be full of chaos and confusion as Summer will become closer and close with her best friend.
Adulthood will is completely based on making adult decisions, the weight of each choice can mean that Summer's life can turn on its head.
Certain parts of the game have choices which might turn people against Summer but might also bring them closer. It'll be up to the players how they navigate through Summer's life.
Love Interests
Summer is just another normal person growing up, of course, there'll be love interests.
Madalene :
The first love interest we'll talk about is Madalene, Summer's best friend and one who has stuck by her side since childhood. Madalene is a rebel, a girl who will do whatever she like without thinking about the consequences. Madalene brings chaos to the calm which is Summer. Madalene also has immense affection for Summer and will do whatever to try to protect her. They fall in love while being good friends.
Mark :
Mark will meet Summer in her teenage days and Summer has the option to date Mark as well. Mark is a decorated athlete and son of the richest person in Middlesworth, Max and Maya Bellowstone. He is the favorite person of everyone in his school, yet is attracted towards Summer. Mark gets nervous around Summer, as he can't figure out what to say to her. Always biting on his nails when Summer is around, her shyness is what keeps him interested in Summer. He eventually musters up enough courage to ask Summer out, but to go out with him or not, is up to Summer (The Player).
That's the base of the story and what the player can do in the game.
Art
The game follows the beloved 2D Pixel art style of visuals and each character is supposed to show his/her personality clearly in a few pixels. It's a challenge to make it because I have never done something of this sort before. Yet it's still fun when you get into it, as making visuals is a nice break from all the text I have to deal with while writing the script.
The art is supposed to be easy on the eyes and hence, colors used aren't very vibrant but bright enough to let players immerse themselves in.
Anyways, the characters as you see above have the same shape, yet different colors to let players know of there personality.
Props and Set
In order to make the levels feel authentic and part of something complete, I have started making props and set pieces for the level design purpose. More are on the way, so stay tuned!
That's all for this blog post! Next week, I'll detail the progress in the engine and what's the process behind the story implementation of the game in Unity. Also if possible I'll publish a small snippet of the story in text format which the you can play in order to get a taste of what the game is about.
Cheers!
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