Kel Leda (Adventure Jam 2017) [Simon]

First topic message reminder :

You probably know that soon there will be the Adventure Jam 2017.
http://jams.gamejolt.io/advjam2017

I am registered as Simon Says Play. The Jam begins tomorrow, May 5th, but I am busy with Boïnihi and will not start working before May 8th (monday) at best.

In the meantime I would like to try to find ideas, in order to be ready to start working as soon as possible. And I was wondering if you would like to help me with the story? Roger? Juanjo, others? I don't force anyone, I can find the ideas on my own, but it's more fun to involve you

Project
My project for the jam will be in the Black Cube series because it is easier for me in a limited time (I know the world very well, I can use some existing assets such as the astronaut, textures, CSE spaceships...)

Characters
I would like to do something that creates a strong relationship between the hero and his AI (in a good or bad way).
The AI would be named DIAM (an anagram of MAID, the AI of ASA) and would be a unique custom version created by a scientist (the hero) in order to make his creation as close as possible to a human being. So DIAM can theorically be downloaded in various modules and places, in order to interact with them (it can drive a small spaceship, interact with the environment, etc). So we can say that DIAM has a body somehow, and it has the hability to talk with the hero.

World
The heros would start in a spaceship heading for Catyph. For a reson (yet to find) they become interested in one of its moons (not Tytaah again! Enough of it!). This moon is Kel Leda, and is inspired by the real moon of Saturn, Enceladus. It is a moon made of ice outside, but under the ice there is a vast ocean. This ocean is liquid and has a warm temperature thanks to a magmatic activity. As a result it can potentially shelter life!



Gameplay
The hero astronaut cannot visit Kel Leda himself, because his spacesuit is not prepared for underwater exploration, so he sends DIAM in a module (small submarine/spaceship), under the icy surface through a tunnel in a geyser. DIAM follows your orders (or not) in order to visit a small part of the ocean. You see the progress of DIAM on your monitor in the spaceship, thanks to a camera on its module.
I want this game to be short of course, but on the other hand I think there is a good potential for an interesting game. The gameplay could be something a little like J.U.L.I.A. Among The Stars. A simple point and click, with narrative elements and simple puzzles.

Writing the story
The above is all I have so far, and I need to find more ideas to write the scenario. Why were they going to Catyph? What catched their attention on Kel Leda? What will happen i the ocean? Where will they find the Black Cube of this game, and what will happen? Is there life on Kel Leda? Microscopic, or humanoid, or monsters? And is it affected by the Cube? How, why, etc...


Please share your ideas during the weekend!

I have never used Mixamo, because I think that it is better to always create things myself. Even if the result is less good, it is more personal. Mixamo is a bit like Poser somehow, it's just more modern. What I mean is that it is not as flexible as it seems. It is the kind of software that, I think, is useful in societies of architecture and design, who want to quickly place characters in their scenes to create a quick convincing view of their projects, but they are not suited for "art" (including games and short films, and much more). The best choice is still to begin with box modeling and learn to create detailed characters, or to use Zbrush and similar programs to create impressively detailed characters. It takes a lot and a lot of time unfortunately (both to learn the softs and then to create the models).
For many reasons, including the above, I have never been at ease with characters in 3D, and it might be one of the reasons why I create 1st person adventure games?

Simoooon, how's the project going?

Ahhh! One day left for the end of the jam!!

I will not finish the game in time, but I will do my best to post something working. Maybe 10 or 20% of the original project. I lost a lot of time because of issues in Visionaire Studio 5 (the new version - I am still not used to it).
Anyway I have added new screenshots in the devlog.
http://gamejolt.com/games/kel_leda/255257/devlog/first-in-game-screenshots-sgcscerm

Great screenshots!

Don't worry, I think the same... I don't think I can finish in time...

I have finished a demo, but I have internet upload issues. I hope I can send the file in time.... 7 hours left!!

Guys.
Congrats on what you have achieved.
I have an exam tomorrow, and I am less prepared than what you have both done. Total Respect!

Thanks Roger, your presence on the forums and your words of encouragement are always very helpful!

Finally the game can be downloaded here:
http://gamejolt.com/games/kel_leda/255257

You'll need maybe 15 ot 30 minutes to finish it. It's not difficult, there is only one "puzzle" (guessing a password), and the rest is only some blah blah in French voice over and English subtitles with lots of mistakes

The game is short, I had plans for much more than that, but I did it: I released a demo!
It asked a lot of efforts and work. Don't miss the video making of included (bonus) to see all that I did during the past 10~15 days (don't remember exactly when I started the jam, but it was not on day 1).

Congrats!!

I will play the game this weekend, I'm very tired right now xD

let's go !

For people who don't have the courage to try the demo, this video summarizes (spoils) most aspects of the game:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Z5cdxov9s&feature=youtu.be

Also the game soundtrack is available in streaming on the game page:
http://gamejolt.com/games/kel_leda/255257
(or download here)

As I wrote in the devlog:

My favorite track is MainMenu, but there are other interesting ones, such as CalmeStation.

It was the very first time that I was creating the music for one of my games. Well I did not really compose these tracks in the usual way (I am not a music composer after all), and my basis of work was samples generated by scripts. Then I simply modified, assembled and improved these samples, in order to create more complete tracks.

I don’t know if the result sounds fine or awful, I have no idea what a pro would say, but for a game jam that was fun and convenient! It is more likely that I will use the same technique again in the future.

Tell me what you think

Soon I will add a walkthrough on the devlog. There is no real need of such a thing, but I guess that the only puzzle included in kel Leda (the password) could be difficult to find for some people, so it might well be welcome.

Just got in from my exam. I still have some assignments to do, but from Thursday I can take some time off, so have downloaded and will have a try!

From what I have seen, brilliant work!

I just played the demo and I can only say one thing: BRAVO!

You've even made a video of the making off! That's crazy!

Simon, your effort has been incredible... my congratulations, the demo is short but amazing.

Yeah! Thanks Juanjo! It's been a lot of efforts yes, but I'm happy that I could make it in time!
Game Jams are stimulating. Now I don't care if people like the game or not, because that was fun to participate

I have to finish Boïnihi next!

Yeah! Now it's time to focus in other projects... great things are coming!

Yeah, the jam is finished for real, I don't realize it yet!
On Monday I will make a summary article about this Jam, on the Icehouse blog.

very good demo ! i like that =)
congratulation !
it's funny and i like return to your Catyph style ! ahah

short of course, but good !
thank =)

Thanks Denis for playing the game!

Kel Leda now has a website and a walkthrough!

Website:
www.theblackcube.fr/kelleda

Walkthrough:
http://gamejolt.com/games/kel_leda/255257/devlog/kel-leda-demo-walkthrough-pwcidqmy

Yeah!

I have added The World of Pah and Kel Leda on the Icehouse site:
http://www.theicehouse.fr/released-projects.html

Soon I will write the news article.

Perfect, thanks Simon!

Wow Simon! I really enjoyed it I am amazed you were able to do all that in just 10 days! Also thanks for the making of video, very cool to see how you worked the project! Congrats and great work!

I wish I could have done more, but I'm glad you liked Josiah! Thanks also for your words about the making of video.