For game number four, we're currently in the plot development stage, writing out concepts and details in what we call the Plot Document, which is usually a pitch sheet with cast information, a broad overview of the world, and ideas we want to explore. Often, we list influences or benchmarks of moods or visual styles we wanted to take as influence. For reference, The Interim Domain listed both Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne and El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron as benchmarks.
Since we're floating two vastly different ideas, we wanted to run this by our fanbase to get a feel for which might be a better investment in time and resources, especially before we get into serious development of character assets and location scouting. Likely, we'll still do both, eventually. I'm excited for both stories, which is usually a good sign as the last time we tried to develop something that didn't work, we killed the project before 0.01.0 was released.
With that said, here's a breakdown of both. Be aware that these aren't final and stories are often subject to change as they're fleshed out. Mostly, this is just a building block to start from. Also, these are listed by code names for convenience.
Concept Pitch:TANLU - Modern-day psychological horror. Influences of Silent Hill, Session 9, and Jacob's Ladder. There are touches of disassociation, alternative reality, time slipping, and even "palace of the mind", like found in The Cell and Hannibal.
PERF - Dystopian sci-fi with elements of cyberpunk. Visually, we're looking at a dirty, run-down future, like Blade Runner, Children of Men, or Strange Days. This is a world nearing its end, and things are starting to fall apart. As a fan of older school sci-fi, including Phillip K. Dick and William Gibson, this would let us explore a genre we haven't touched yet.
Main Character:Unlike our previous tales, neither story features a main character who's broken or noticeably flawed. They have lives, histories, and past relationships that act as the background to their personas. We were looking to shy away from the damaged MC archetype we've heavily relied on for a while now. In TANLU, he's just a guy in his mid 20s who recently got out of a relationship, and his reactions are purely based on the strangeness he's experiencing. For PERF, he's a professional, and his focus is on doing his jobs, even though he will see that there is more to his life than just meeting the needs of clients.
Cast size:Having learned our lesson from TID, we'll not be doing a massive cast of love interests again.
For side characters, PERF would shy away from love interests who are dealing with personal issues that you need to act as a therapist for. That's been a core element of most of our stories, so this would be a distinct shift in direction. Most of your relationships are with people in similar lines of work or who need the MC to work for them. Any feelings would develop from continued association and how you interact with one another.
As for TANLU, the main cast (outside of the MC) all have secrets in their lives, which leads to the psychological horror aspect of the story. There won't be characters in already existing relationships, and any love interest will be available, though in varying degrees of emotional connection. Some will be strangers, and others will be people he already knows, likewise dragged into the fray.
World-building: PERF will involve a lot more time in internal monologue, establishing the rules and structure of society off in the future, nearing an imminent collapse. The MC will know about the world he lives in, and mostly why things are the way they are.
TANLU is a modern day setting, and the world building revolves around the why and the where of the story's stage and the reason for the madness which surrounds the main character's tale.
Narrative Style:PERF is planned to be a straight narrative, with a main story and some side content based on where you are with people, stat-wise. Think of it like Mira/Allison's side story in TID, where you can choose to progress her story as the game goes along. We won't be doing it on a larger scale. That got way out of hand in TID, but anything that can be self-contained and doesn't impact the main story will be available by choice/stats.
TANLU, though, would be more complex. Its core is like N&T and TOX, with a focus on driving the story to it's conclusion, but it's not always going to feel linear. We want to have scenes blend from the present to the past to moments that the main character won't understand until later in the story.
Music:I like to think we focus on music as a way to build mood while presenting a story as a part of our development efforts. We see it like movie-making, where a soundtrack can make or break an experience. It's early yet but we do have some music influences and styles we'd want to focus on. PERF would involve a lot of lo-fi techno and moody industrial. TANLU would probably take cues from the likes of Akira Yamaoka (Silent Hill) or Trent Reznor (NIN, Se7en, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo).
Content Warnings:Both games will contain content that may be uncomfortable for some users. This is meant to give the worlds a more fleshed-out and layered feel to the conflicts within.
TANLU will have stories from side characters that touch on mental illness, abusive relationships, and self-harm. This won't be a major feature of the game, but more as backstory in conversation and motivations from some of the role players.
To the same degree, PERF would narrow in on socioeconomic disparities usually found in cyberpunk-style stories. Also planned are stories of human trafficking and drug abuse.
So, with that laid out, think about what you might want to see and vote. We'll try to answer questions in the comments. The Poll will close on 4/24/26.
-Kinderfeld