Project Introduction: Solarium - A Steempunk Visual Novel

Repository

https://github.com/justatouchfey/solarium

Introduction

Solarium is an open-source visual novel in development based on the @steempunknet game, created using the Ren’py open-source game engine. This post will introduce the Solarium project, along with the goals, how to contribute, and the roadmap of the project.

Overview

Solarium will be a mystery visual novel, built using Ren'Py, that uses in-depth character studies, rich visuals, timed events, and randomization to seamlessly provide hours of entertainment and introduce players to the intricate world of the Steempunk game as well as the Steemit blockchain. It will use player-created content as the basis for its characters and a variety of mechanics such as hidden objects, branching narratives, and more to expand on and celebrate the Steempunk storyline.

The game will be playable without participation in the STEEMPUNK-NET project, but is also meant to be a way for current players to get more into the universe and enjoy more interactivity with the pre-existing game.

At the time of writing, Solarium is imagined as approximately 2-3 hours of gameplay, which on average translates to about 3-5 months of work on a visual novel, depending on the developer. It will use the Ren’py game engine and will be released on GitHub as an open-source work. The main storyline will be created by Ciel (@justatouchfey) with input from interested community members. Players of the Steempunk game will be invited to help craft the look and personality of supporting characters and events that will determine the outcome of the game.

The game will progress through player exploration of locations, questioning suspects to complete their profiles, hidden object mechanics to search for items, and randomization that will create a different outcome each playthrough.

Game Plot
Oona Neapolis, a member of a prestigious Aristocratic family and prolific inventor, has contacted you, a fellow Clockwork Fighter, as a bounty hunter to recover some of her creations that have gone missing. Neapolis is known as the brain behind the popular Clockwork Companions, new techno-organic pets that her family wishes the Ultima Corp to approve as fighting companions for their fighters in the Clockwork Arena. The Neapolis family believes that potentially a rival company has stolen the work in an attempt to beat them to the market. To gain your reward, you must investigate the crime scene, get to know the characters, and search various locations in the city for clues. Stay on your guard though. The thief may not take too kindly to you trying to track them down and as seasoned Clockwork Fighters all of your suspects have the brains and the brawn to take you out of the running for good.

What is a Visual Novel?
"A visual novel (ビジュアルノベル bijuaru noberu) is an interactive game genre, which originated in Japan, featuring mostly static graphics, most often using anime-style art or occasionally live-action stills (and sometimes video footage). As the name might suggest, they resemble mixed-media novels. " - Wikipedia

Goals of the Project

The Solarium project 2 has major goals:

• Create a fully functioning game in a popular genre that seamlessly introduces new players to blockchain technology, in this case the Steem blockchain.
• Create more indepth play experiences for current @steempunknet players.

Roadmap

The current project development roadmap is as follows:

Stage One - Determining game mechanics and length
Stage Two - creating a short introduction demo that shows off two to three basic scenes. Finalize github and introduce project.
Stage Three - Drafting structure (both narrative and gameplay) and character needs (amounts of characters, templates for player submissions of characters)
Stage Four - Determining word count goals and setting deadlines
Stage Five - First draft of script (with dev notations for game mechanics)
Stage Six - Edit draft and compare to goals, make notes for sound design and locations
Stage Seven** - Worldbuilding based on Steempunk materials and player created content, complete with final locations, characters, and mood boards.
Stage Eight - Follow-up drafts of script and editing (repeat as needed)
Stage Nine - Sourcing artwork and sound elements, using a mix of open-source work and task requests
Stage Ten - Creating Solarium demo for beta testing.
Stage Eleven - Debugging and more testing. (repeat as needed)
Stage Twelve - Releasing Solarium.

** Worldbuilding will come later on as it can be continually expanding process. Doing this work after a script has been drafted will ensure that this process can focus on only what is necessary and adds to the game, keeping production moving ahead.

At the time of writing, Stage One and Two have been completed. The introduction demo is available at the Github. Please have Ren’Py installed and follow the instructions in the README to access it.

How to Contribute

To contribute to the development of the game’s code, please familiarize yourself with Ren’Py, the STEEMPUNK-NET project, and then get in contact with me through email (thefairypark at gmail) or discord (user: ciel/justatouchfey#7548). You can also find me through the Steempunk Official Discord: https://discord.gg/DAHYPqZ

Art contributions will be accepted at a later date of development, announced through @thefairypark.

To contribute a character, please fill out the profile template in the GitHub. Once you are done filling out your character profile, please get in contact with me through email (thefairypark at gmail) or discord (user: ciel/justatouchfey#7548). You can track me down through the Steempunk Official Discord: https://discord.gg/DAHYPqZ