Raziel: It’s He~ere!
Posted on January 4th, 2016
Yes, after all this time, I’m FINALLY done with this game. (At least until the first person informs me of a game-breaking bug. :p)
Anyway, the game is here. And as an added bonus, I’ve reposted the original Twine version of Raziel I made for the Cyberpunk Jam. It contains some slight spoilers, but it’s surprising even to me how different it is now.
Enjoy,
Raziel
Posted on January 4th, 2016
[Current Version: 1.0]
In Raziel, you help a hacker called Glitch who was called to Otherworld (a virtual realm that shines brighter than life) to slay a fallen angel. A fallen angel named Raziel who was once a human being. But if you end his suffering, what might you unleash?
This game is short and sweet: you can finish it in a few hours. Features surreal scenery, a thought-provoking story, two different endings and NO random battles. Exploration is highly encouraged.
(This game is donationware. Donations are appreciated (especially if you like the game), but they’re not required to play it.)
Promotional Video * The original Twine game (some spoilers)
Raziel: Pre-Release Trailer
Posted on January 1st, 2016
A new teaser trailer for Raziel. The game will be released on January 4th.
Raziel’s Release Date: January 4th, 2016
Posted on December 31st, 2015
This one will be short and sweet.
I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Raziel is basically done. Sure, I’ll be checking for dents and kicking the tires a few more times before I send it out on the road, from the looks of things… it’s done.
I’ll be making a pre-release video soon and posting it by Saturday. In the meantime, here’s a short teaser I put up a while ago.
Raziel Update: It’s Almost Done! +Screenshot Roundup
Posted on December 19th, 2015
Making this game has been quite a trip. It started with a very short, very simple Twine game made for my first game jam, the Cyberpunk Jam from… last year. Along the way, I’ve learned a lot: more about how RPG Maker works (and how much I’ve already learned from making She Who Fights Monsters), more about the design process (short version: I probably need one), more about myself, and definitely more about the infamous “feature creep.” I had so many BIG IDEAS for this game that, in the end, it didn’t actually need — and getting wrapped up in all that stuff only made me want to work on it less.
Technically, I could’ve stuck with my original idea of just expanding on the Twine I made. But what I have now is very, VERY different from what that would have been and I have to say I’m proud of the results. A few small details about the upcoming game:
- I am indeed on track to get this done by the end of the year. Yay!
- There is no karma system, but you can make choices sometimes. They just might not have the effect you’d expect.
- Somewhere along the way, Glitch became more than a player stand-in and developed a personality. So s/he got to keep the name Glitch.
- Veering from the original plan, Glitch’s gender affects the ending and some small things along the way. But their capabilities are identical and their personalities extremely similar.
- There isn’t much combat in the game (and no random battles), but there is some towards the end.
And finally, the screenshots!
Raziel: First Promotional Video
Posted on October 28th, 2015
My first promotional video for Raziel, hot off the… PC. It’s nothing fancy, but it does give you a taste of how the game looks and sounds.
Mysteries of Raziel: With New Screenshots!
Posted on October 13th, 2015
I know it’s been a while since I’ve written about this game. I apologize for the lack of updates; hopefully, this will help make things better.
First and most important, progress IS being made. It’s slow to the point of glacial sometimes (sometimes for lack of energy; sometimes for lack of time; sometimes for lack of having Clue One how to proceed and wishing upon wishing I had thoroughly planned this out beforehand, but this game was supposed to be soooo simple… funny how that works), but it is still progress. Optimistically, I’d like to get this done by mid-November. Realistically, I’d say “By the end of the year” at the point. But I really like how the game is shaping up, even if it’s grown into something of a hydra compared to the short, easy affair I thought it would be at first. (And it’s actually less complicated than some of the crazy stuff I’ve left on the cutting room floor. I want to get this cool-game-I-never-really-planned-on-making knocked out before the turn of the decade.)
And second… here’s some fun process type stuff on how it’s getting made.
Just to emphasize: I want this thing finished. I want it finished; I want to move on. I also want it to be good enough to meet its basic potential. So, I had to figure out how to just get it done without sacrificing stuff that was genuinely essential. The biggest essential in Raziel is what the realm of Otherworld means to the people who go there. Not the fancy gameplay whatsits I’d thought up early on: the people, plain and simple. So, the most important thing was to give these people stories.
Those stories will be kept pretty straightforward since it’s not going to be a long game. But I hope the way I tell them will get the point across. Also, Otherworld itself is a living, breathing entity — a character in its own right. I’m trying to make its identity (as well as its creepy subconscious of Etherworld) as certain as anyone else’s through its visual design and the soundtracks that I’ve chosen. I want it to be understandable why some people want to stay there forever and why they would fight for that… which is probably asking a lot from a game made by in RPG Maker by a no-name weekend designer on a budget of about $60.00. :p
Nonetheless, as much as I want to wrap up this project for good, I really like what I’ve come up with so far and I’m still enjoying the process of bringing it to life. I plan to have a short trailer(!) posted by the 28th.
Raziel Gets Upgraded (Also, Screenshots!)
Posted on January 4th, 2015
It seems like the more I work with this game, the more there is to work with. Not just for story and character, but in terms of the game world itself.
While I was sorting out the best way to set up Otherworld, I realized it needed an overworld of sorts. Unlike the Real World, it’s not a city made to scale; it’s a bunch of miniatures that, once you step inside them, take you to the real thing. In other words, it’s set up like a world map in an RPG. I think that fits what Otherworld is: a place that’s essentially fiction, despite how real it seems.
But Etherworld (a.k.a. the “junk code” world) is what’s undergone the most changes since I first imagined it. At first, it was just one thing, a single world “beneath” Otherworld with a singular set of traits. But over time, it’s turned into something more complex. There are three different layers to it, starting off with glitches and ending in nightmare fuel. The deepest realm uses parts of Etherworld’s original design concept plus a few… surprises. I’ll supply new screenshots of Etherworld when things are a bit a established.
More to come as more progress is made. In the meantime, enjoy the new screenshots. 🙂
Raziel: Glitch’s Apartment
Posted on November 24th, 2014
I think I’ve finally settled into my new day job, more or less. Enough so that I’ve been making steady progress on Raziel, even if I haven’t posted it here as often as I probably should.
I’ve basically finished designing the Real World. It’s suitable for wandering around in, though I still need to finish the interior of Raziel’s Tower. But the one thing I’ve spent the most time poking at (and probably will keep poking at until the game is near-finished) is Glitch’s apartment. Not just because it’s where the game starts, but because I want it to reveal certain things about Glitch’s character.
For comparison, here’s the current version Glitch’s apartment next to Jenny’s room from She Who Fights Monsters:
Glitch lives in a one-room apartment. So, basically, her (or his if you play as the male version) room or “space” is everywhere. Little Jenny’s room has all sorts of personal touches — flowers, a rug and general pretty things — that give it life and color. In contrast, Glitch’s place is pretty Spartan and looks a bit empty. The only rug is a bath mat and there’s not so much as a picture on the wall. Then, there are clues in the furniture: a single twin-size bed; a kitchen table with one chair. From the looks of things, she lives alone and probably doesn’t have guests.
There’s also a custom computer console that probably cost more than everything in her home put together, plus the nice laptop she keeps near her bed. Which probably says something about where she really “lives.” (There’s actually more to it than that, but I have to leave some stuff for players to sort out on their own.)
I want to have those kinds of things woven throughout game. Small details that, if you’re looking for them, can tell you a lot about the game’s world and/or the people in it.
Next step: designing Otherworld.
