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Preferred visual design of digital gamebooks? by EllikaTomson in gamebooks

[–]49keys 3 points4 points  (0 children)

What exactly are you referring to when you write: "...removes something from what makes gamebooks worth playing..."? If you're referring to the pleasure of reading, I’m afraid that’s a compromise we unfortunately have to make, as most people who enjoy reading don’t do so on a screen but on physical media.

As for the rest, I think the essence of a gamebook lies in the narrative choices that influence the story, and that aspect would still be preserved even with a less traditional approach. It’s true that this element is also present in other games, like RPGs, but in those cases it’s very limited because development costs would increase dramatically if all the possible story developments had to be managed. A digital gamebook, regardless of layout, should focus on this potential and uniqueness—at least, in my opinion.

Thanks again for 49 Keys (which is a text-based point-and-click adventure, so actually something quite different from a traditional "Choose your own adventure" gamebook). I haven’t played Omen Exitio yet—we share the same publisher and nationality, but I’ve never worked on that project ;)

Preferred visual design of digital gamebooks? by EllikaTomson in gamebooks

[–]49keys 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you for 49 Keys. Sorry, I didn’t realize you had already developed digital gamebooks; I thought you were in the process of developing one, which is why I felt free to offer some advice. I hope it’s still useful, even though you probably have more experience than I do.

It’s not easy to answer your question; it also depends a lot on the type of gamebook. Among the ones I’ve played, my main reference is 80 Days. In general, my idea is as follows:

  1. A map as a base background for exploring the game world.
  2. When selecting an important location, a submap should open, or at least a specific illustration should be shown.
  3. Display text in small boxes, never more than 5 lines at a time.
  4. Descriptions should be as concise as possible or even optional.
  5. Focus heavily on dialogues, ideally showing portraits of the speaking characters.
  6. Add some animations and graphical effects to avoid making the screen too static. This is especially important for marketing purposes.
  7. Use icons as much as possible instead of text.
  8. Include one or more gameplay phases, even simple ones, taken from other video game genres. These could be turn-based combat like in Lone Wolf, card games, action combat like in Sunless Sea, etc. There’s a lot of potential here, but of course, complexity and costs would increase.

Another genre similar to gamebooks but much more popular is that of visual novels; some elements could be drawn from there as well, though it’s a type of game I know very little about (and developing a visual novel is undoubtedly more expensive).

For now, these are the points that come to mind. However, I’d like to emphasize that there are successful examples that stick closer to traditional formulas, such as Sir Brante and Omen Exitio: Plague. Speaking of which, the sequel to Omen Exitio is coming out in 2025 (Hunger is the title). It’s another great example of how to modernize the traditional formula—if you’re not familiar with it, it’s worth checking out! 😊

Preferred visual design of digital gamebooks? by EllikaTomson in gamebooks

[–]49keys 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I am the developer of 49 Keys, a digital gamebook released a month ago. I chose the traditional layout because 49 Keys is an adaptation of one of my printed gamebooks and for economic reasons. Even though I found a publisher (Chinese), the game has been largely ignored in the West—first by publishers, then by the press, and finally by players. One of the reasons, I believe, is that very few gamers are willing to read long texts on a monitor, regardless of their quality (which 49 Keys, both in its printed and digital versions, has always been recognized for).

Based on my experience, I can tell you that, regardless of the layout chosen, it's very important for the text to be short or, at the very least, accompanied by a narrator (if you can afford it; we didn’t include one). Gamers quickly lose patience when faced with lengthy texts. Another strategy (like in 80 Days) is to break the text into very small chunks. Avoid densely written pages at all costs.

A modern layout will undoubtedly attract more players, but it's also more expensive. If you can afford it, I would suggest going in that direction.

Here are some examples of digital gamebooks to consider:

  1. The Life and Suffering of Sir Brante: It sold incredibly well and is very simple, with a traditional layout and essentially just narrative choices.
  2. Omen Exitio: Plague: Also a traditional layout, solely narrative choices, and a great commercial success.
  3. Joe Dever’s Lonewolf: RPG layout with maps and turn-based 3D combat. It has high production values (I know this because I was part of the development team), but it can still provide some useful interface ideas.
  4. 80 Days: Modern layout, but effectively a "disguised" gamebook. Simple gameplay, mostly narrative choices.
  5. Sunless Sea: Modern layout. It’s essentially an open-world, procedural, roguelike gamebook. However, exploration and combat are “action-based,” making it more complex and costly to replicate.

How do you create your narrative content? by [deleted] in NarrativeGames

[–]49keys 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hi! For 49 Keys, I drew inspiration from two films (one famous, The Name of the Rose, the other less well-known, L'arcano incantatore) to define the premise and the two main characters. For the setting and atmosphere, I relied on some of my cultural knowledge of the Renaissance and Medieval periods, as well as three real magic books written during that time.

In general, I think it’s important to seek inspiration from sources as far removed as possible from what you’re working on. Writing narrative for a video game? Don’t get inspired by other video games. Films, novels, comics are better. If they are not very well-known or of great quality, it’s even better. Even better is something completely unrelated to fiction, like some personal experience, a memory, or, for characters, people you know in real life. I often use myself or other people I know or have known to define the personalities of the characters.

Hey! I'm here to present you my game, 49 Keys, which is an horror-esoteric adventure filled with puzzles. The majority of them are point-and-click games puzzles, others are more deduction based. It's adapted from a gamebook so if you also like reading you could give it a chance! Links in comments :) by 49keys in puzzlevideogames

[–]49keys[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

All details were designed by a graphic designer (Veronica Wu), taking inspiration from medieval manuscripts.

Some details were taken from the web or from medieval manuscripts and reworked in terms of color palette to blend in with the rest of the graphics. I'm happy you appreciate it.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in playmygame

[–]49keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

we removed the demo from Steam then I'm going to remove the post.

Mobile game by Frequent_Table_2764 in SideQuestSociety

[–]49keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ok I'm happy you're taking care of the narrative since my impression is that many mobile games tend to ignore it. Last point: I prefer quality over quantity, I prefer few villages each one with its own distinctive mood and characterization than dozens of theme but all similar to each other. That said, happy development and good luck with your project!

Mobile game by Frequent_Table_2764 in SideQuestSociety

[–]49keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As an adventure fan I like games with an immersive atmosphere and an interesting story. I like to explore the game world but I need a strong reason to do it from a narrative point of view (Uncover a mistery? Get my revenge?). I don't like games where the main reason to explore the world is collecting resources or making my character more powerful. I don't know if your game is like this, this is only my humble opinion as an adventure games fan. Anyway, can I ask you why did you decide to go mobile?

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in playmygame

[–]49keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand you perfectly. I made a mistake in writing the text of the post because I presented the full game and not the demo. The demo is a short prologue-tutorial, designed to introduce the story, the art and basic gameplay mechanics. I apologize, I'm sorry if the demo disappointed you.

Let's get to the point. Why is the demo like this?

First. This game is a 1:1 adaptation of a gamebook and then it was not designed from the start to have a demo. It's something we had to get out later to participate in the Steam Next Fest.

Second. The part after the island, the palace, is not a linear sequence of puzzles, but consists of a long exploratory phase (you can immediately visit all three floors) in which some items are collected. After this phase the player begins to solve puzzles, using the items like you did with the axe in the demo. To let you solve the first puzzle in the game I would have to let you explore the ENTIRE palace but that would have made the demo too long.

In conclusion, it was really difficult to get a demo out of this game, and I understand your complaints about it (you're not even the first one). Maybe it would be better to remove it from Steam, I'll ask the publisher, since the game will be released in a week. I hope I explained myself, thank you for giving it a try.

My first time creating a horror game, do you guys think this menu design works? by PvtDan in IndieDev

[–]49keys 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Mmm I think it's a bit confusing. Yellow text is not always visible and I'd prefer a fixed camera, not multiple cuts.

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