#hdsl

Dante and Violet, respectively. Dante resurrects ~a day after dying (a boy aged 16-20+ dies frequently these days) and Violet is, physically speaking, near-immortal, both for plot reasons that I wont elaborate on here

The whole game would take place across 4-10 years, starting junior year of highschool and continuing until reaching some kind of end point. 4 years is still Very Ambitious but more realistic in terms of scope, though I do like the idea of following these characters out of collage and into adulthood proper... We'll see as development continues.

Anyways, the vertical slice Im currently working on would be about a month in the middle of one of Dante and Violet's highschool years. The prototype would focus on a fairly self contained story, showing off a few important mechanics, including the three different management mechanics (Emotions, Skills, and Relationships AKA Body, Mind, and Soul, listed in order from most clear to most opaque to the player) The game itself is being made in RPG maker, with a ton of visual novel stuff especially regarding character interactions.

MIND/BODY/SOUL MECHANICS:

BODY/Emotions

Are you angered by something? You might only be able to yell at people or shut down. Are you lonely? You might be more needy, and more hesitant to end conversations. Are you calm? You'll be able to better think through what you're saying, and make either more empathetic or cutting remarks, based on your goals. emotions mostly color the things you think and therefor the things you could potentially say.

MIND/Skills

Do you know about a past event that'd be relevant to an angry ghost? Maybe you can use that knowledge to better relate with them, calming them without violence. Or perhaps you've been reading up on the supernatural, and know exactly where to stab a vampire to end its rampage forever (Though, of course, you'd also need to know how to actually wield that stake). Skills represent Knowledge and Abilities, though the exact skill and skill number needed wouldn't be communicated directly.

SOUL/Relationships

Relationships are complicated and any numbers representing how people feel about you wouldn't be given to the player. See This bc scarlet hollow rules and im obsessed w how it handles character relationships. shouts out tony+abby your games fucking rule

The part thats unique about HDSL in this aspect is that Dante and Violet are different people, and while you are controlling them I want their personalities and thought processes to be real and tangible. You can choose to be a particularly Mean Dante or a Quiet Dante or a Brave Dante, but you're limited by who this person is and what he's capable of even wanting to do. (same goes for Violet) That balance of player vs character agency fascinates me and I'm really excited to explore it!!!

Some Other Mechanic Ideas That I aught to bring up but im too tired to put as much effort into talking about so its more ramble-y and messy

"hacking minigame" but instead of the minigame being about hacking its about not getting caught somewhere you shouldn't. unfortunately it'd just be fnaf basically but thats. its fine. :(

RPG BATTLE SYSTEM god I need to put real work into this so its fun to interact with things. stay tuned. this would include some first aid mechanics and probably conversation-as-combat stuff too. encounters would b fairly scripted for the plot instead of anything random. Drew something quick to get the idea down

DIALOGUE TREES ok I know i mentioned the relationship aspect earlier BUT alot of the story is about various mysteries going on, and I ADORE how jank pathologic classic's dialogue trees are. basically in that game you can easily say the wrong thing to someone and unknowingly lock yourself out of information. it sucks and thats why its great.

INFORMATION GATHERING: Dante can spy on people when dead as a ghost, and Violet can interrogate people as a nosy and charismatic human being with an interest in journalism. this is important for collecting information people might not otherwise share with you.

Raising Sim Mechanics: You choose what skills to raise either day by day or week by week, with some skills being easier to gain than others. the meat of the gameplay outside of Big Events is helping Dante and Violet succeed in their personal and academic lives, even as things around them get worse and harder to control.