New Screenshots

The following images are a promo image for the new art style of BLAME, which will most likely serve as the title screen of the game, as well as a glimpse of the new simplified grid movement system with the new character models standing on it. By continuing below, you’ll see that this style is completely different than that of the original style. This will help reduce size of the game in order to have it be playable of the Android market and mobile devices, as well as help players focus more on the mystery of the story. Continue reading for a look at BLAME’s evolution.

New Characters

With the new style of art and grip movement, changes needed to be made to the characters. Below are four of the many characters in BLAME that have been updated. Clyde Lamm remains the protagonist and player controlled character, Jazzlyn remains the main love interest and town mechanic, Dale the salesman has been added to the cast of colorful characters, and Wesley Richards’ look has been modified to fit the crisp new style.

Jazzlyn the Mechanic	Wesley Richards
Dale the Salesman	Clyde Lamm

Original Scraped Work

Below are some screenshots as well as explanations for some of BLAME’s original style and current story. Much of the description below was written long ago when BLAME was known only as the Mystery Game. Furthermore, it’s clear that ZebraFox Games has since decided to change direction with the game’s art style, evolving from the anime inspired style you’ll see below to the more minimalist style you’ll see above in the four new character models of Clyde Lamm, Jazzlyn, Wesley Richards, and Dale the creepy salesman.We are considering a checkered grid platform for movement rather than the more complex still shots with bitmap blocks that you’ll see below. This will help keep the focus on the game’s story rather than the moving around the map.

* Temporary name for mock up purposes*

It’s time we started talking about Project Mystery, as we haven’t really said much about it at all so far.  Project Mystery is the biggest game project we’ve worked on thus far in our career at ZebraFox Games. Far bigger than Zombie Diggers, which was the most recent game  we’ve worked on and even bigger than Prime. The reason this is possible is because it’s a group project. We decided to work on this project as team because, that way, each person specializes in a certain field, making a better end product. As of now there are 3 members:

1. Programmer (Miran)
2. Artist  (David)
3. Writer (Russell)

In the near future we’re going to bring on a musical person and that will complete the team! The good news is that because of the bigger team size, we are actually developing the game in XNA, which works for Xbox 360 and PC. In the future, we might even sell the game and then split the profits 25% each or something close to that. We could even have some of it go towards future game projects, which would be really cool!

Game Synopsis

Blame (title pending) begins with the player controlling protagonist Clyde, who has just staggered off a train, startled from his sleep by the hiss of screaming brakes.  Right off the bat, Clyde is handed a deck of “Rock, Paper, Scissors… the card game” and finds that no one in the town of Middlewillow can resist a match. Soon the hero finds the strange town is run by a Mayor who is also a feline (Yes, a cat). He is told two things, one: A young girl is missing; and two: no one may leave town until she is found.

As Clyde searches around town he finds plenty of strange, suspicious characters inhabit the eerie architecture.  So with only twenty days (20+ hours) and untimed nights (extended with dungeon play) to search for clues, battle for answers and find a culprit in the disappearance, Clyde is in a race against time. And with various motives, secrets and a colorful gang going by the name of the Unicorns, twisting reality, Clyde had better hope his hours of role-playing a detective as a kid pay off.

Characters

The characters in the game are being created based on the story the writer is currently developing. The Protagonist of the story goes by the name Clyde. He arrives on a train that breaks down right as it comes to a halt on a routine town stop , leaving him stranded until it is repaired. The first thing you’ll probably notice about the character is his bandages. You’ll find out why he is injured as you play through the game and you’ll also realize the town has an unsolved disappearance on its hand.

The Card Game

The game is very unique in that it is a mystery game mixed with a strategy/puzzle game. The battle system is actually a card game using Rock, Paper, Scissors as the basis.

The following are a series of images illustrating what the current UI looks like for the Rock, paper, scissors… the card game:

The board consists of 25 empty squares in which the two players compete to win the most squares by flipping each others cards with their own set. This battle system is what we are currently working on completing at this point. It has a lot of details that take time to develop, such as this first turn selector that shows up at the start of battle. Below is a mock up of the battle timer and various icons used to promote strategy in the rock, paper, scissors card game portion of BLAME.

 

The turn selector will be randomized and can allow either character to go first. You’ll notice that there is a AP +1 on both sides. This means that not only does that player get to go first, but they also get an AP point to use during their first turn. This is beneficial as you usually have to flip your opponent’s cards to even get AP points, which takes a few turns. Starting with an AP point gives you a big advantage.

The Town

The game will take place in a small town that has had a recent disappearance take place. You’ll be able to control Clyde and run around the town talking to individuals and also finding clues. If you want, you can even challenge citizens to a match of cards. Later on in the game you’ll be able to go into dungeons that have monsters to battle. At this point, you’ll be glad you practiced on the town folk when you did.  Below is a picture of what the town square might look like in the game. These are a few early renders we’ve created for the town square, so it might not look like this in the final game. We shall see how it goes when we  get further into creating it.

The following video shows a test we made trying to animate the fountain in the square:

Here is a map used to help the coders translate the story into an interactive game. It gives an overall view of the town of Middle Willow, as well as portions of the town that are either accessible or not accessible on a given day. Flooding rivers, high winds, and other obstacles will serve as reasons for certain segments being inaccessible. As you can see, there are several sections that players will be able to explore, filled with NPC characters or enemies depending on the time of day. This is day two, where the forest is still inaccessible as well as several buildings closed for business on that particular day.

As you can see, this game is well underway, and we will be posting more updates as we go. If you want updates without having to check the site every few days, you can join our Twitter or Facebook Group. Don’t be afraid to leave a comment on this post either! You can now log in with your Facebook account for those not wanting to create a new account with this site.