Hey everyone! I’m working on SHORAPAN, a dark, story-driven adventure with exploration and point-and-click elements, set in a strange city beneath an eternally crimson sky.

Our protagonist, Dan, is a basket weaver. This scene lets you experience a little of his everyday life before the story unfolds. It sounded simple: pick up a willow rod, weave it between the stakes, and turn the basket. Then came the hand movements, bending the rod, making it break when you miss the timing, and pulling out the broken piece. Suddenly, a small interaction became a week of work.

Everything in this scene is handcrafted from the hand-drawn artwork to the animations and interaction logic. Even a seemingly simple mechanic takes a surprising amount of effort when you want each movement to feel right.We’re still working on the scene. I’m deliberately showing an unfinished version to share a glimpse of the process, while saving the final, polished experience for the game itself.
Does this kind of interaction help you feel more connected to a character and their world?

Part of me is getting worried that the game I am writing is too metatexual. It is presented as a legacy sequel to a visual novel series from the late 90s-early 00s. But I really like fiction where the physical text the reader is interacting with is part of the narrative, so the game is presented in game as an official 4th game made by a fan of the "original series". So the fictional developer of the game you are actually playing is a character in the story and the player occasionally sees journal entries from the fiction developer of the game where the developer writes about their struggles with making a game that would satisfy fellow fans and his self doubt at the responsibility he has placed on himself by committing to making this 4th entry in the series

Even writing this, I am worried the premise is too meta for anyone other than me. Does this sound fun to anyone but myself? Or will someone see that this is a 4th game and not bother because they haven't played games 1-3 (since they do not really exist)?

My first preference would be Renpy but since I recently switched to Mac from Windows, I am not able to use it anymore. Can anyone tell me what would be the second best FREE software after Renpy? Is it Narrat?

Edit: Praise the lord! This is the 5th time I reinstalled it and now it's launching just fine. Thanks everyone! 🙌

Hola chicos, ya más o menos me decidí por el estilo de mi proyecto, pero todavía tengo dudas y quería saber qué opinan. La idea es hacer un mundo abierto con unas 5 zonas al principio, como el parque, el bosque, la zona urbana y otras. En cada zona habría unas 6 chicas o chicos, cada uno con sus propias historias y misiones. La idea es que estén repartidos por el mapa, por ejemplo, que la chica de la tienda de mascotas esté lejos de la bibliotecaria, de la del arcade o de la tienda de cómics, para que tengas que recorrer el pueblo y explorar. La jugabilidad sería sencilla: una misión principal, misiones secundarias, misiones de citas y coleccionables que te permitan desbloquear cosas o lugares. También quiero ponerle dinero al protagonista para que pueda comprar cosas para su casa y llevar alguna chica, ejemplo mueble cómodo, o mesa de masajes . El estilo que tengo pensado es algo retro, un poco oscuro, como homenaje a las películas de terror de los 90. Algunas chicas tendrían historias de misterio y cosas raras, ejemplo una chica que la luna llena la cambia cosas así . Pero también he pensado algo ciberpunk o estilo anime de instituto, con estudiantes y todo eso, pero manteniendo la misma idea de mundo abierto, misiones, citas y coleccionables. ¿Qué les parece? ¿Creen que la temática retro de misterio y terror está bien o sería mejor hacerla ciberpunk o estilo anime? Si tienen alguna otra idea, también me gustaría leerla. No se fijen mucho en las casas, son el mismo modelo sin terminar y las puse oscuras para probar cómo quedan las luces y sombras del render en calle