Snail Tale (working title) is an adventure puzzle game for teens and young adults who continue to linger in fantasy worlds beyond childhood. I think many of us can relate as artists. We navigate through a desnse forest while collecting useful items and information to unlock more playable areas.
The backstory is that the player is returning to their “roots”, where their family supposedly lived before moving to the city. They are ultimately searching for an old relative that might have insight into the forest’s history. That information might help them progress to another setting. I have yet to figure out what that might be but I don’t think it will be part of my playable level.
This forest is lit by warm sunlight filtering through the trees above. There will be lots of mushrooms.
https://www.instagram.com/tanaka_tatsuya/
The player character is a deermouse with a snail companion that is also a means of transportation, like a camel. Slower but more energy efficient. The player navigates with the mouse and arrow keys from a first-person perspective. They are able to click on things to interact with them. There may be times where the player can see themselves in a pool of water or reflection in dew.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peromyscus
In addition to mushrooms, the environment is full of whimsical creatures and other types of foliage. I’d like there to be shops and such to show that creatures live amongst the plants. I think it would be immersive to have non-interactable characters doing things in addition to the key interactions.
Finally, I am aiming for a soft and fuzzy-looking texture for my world. I’m not sure if I can get it to look good in the amount of the time we have, but I think it would look good against the sun rays.
https://www.turbosquid.com/3d-models/snowman-max/1081692
Wow I like your concept illustration. I’m surprised by how warm it feels, they look like squishy mushrooms. I was then surprised to see your note about fuzzy textures because your illustration looks more foggy and wet to me. Would the mushrooms be fuzzy too? Also, I relate to being in other worlds.
I’m happy to hear that they look squishy! The fuzziness is going to be a challenge so it’s more of a reach goal for me. I think either way the environment will be wet and have low reflectiveness (“matte”).
I am pleased by all the mushrooms you will have, my level will have a lot of mushrooms too! My question, will your adorable deermouse character you have drawn be in the game?
Yes, the deermouse will be the player character and/or an NPC. I’m thinking more about mushroom design after seeing your mushroom (toadstool) references!
The atmosphere and mood of this setting are very clear! I am also a fan of the abundance of mushrooms. Will there be certain bugs and animals that pose a threat via their size or predatory nature?
I haven’t really thought of threats to be honest. It might be a good tool for guiding the player’s path, like making an area really dark or adding spikes that would harm the player.
I love the deermouse riding the snail! This has such a cute and homey feel to it. You mention there being other whimsical creatures in the environment. Do you know how many other creatures you plan to make, and do you worry about that challenging your scope?
Yes I definitely worry about scope. I’m hoping to create at least 2-3 base models (such as ladybugs, butterflies, and frogs) that I can tweak as needed and place throughout the map.
This idea is so cute and totally a game I could see myself playing. Do you think that you will be actually bringing the mice family into the game and having them interactable, or is that more of implied? I think having modeled little mice in aprons and such feels so storybook and adorable 😀
I’m not really sure how I’ll convey the family-from-the-city aspect yet. I thought about having the player carry a afmily photo – that would be much more doable than interactable family members
A snail based mount is a really unique idea. And I love the cute mouse riding on top of him. Since you are exploring a forest, are you going to make the forest like a maze or a platformer while going through it? Or even both?
I’m planning for it to be more maze-like than a platformer, but my layout drawing does have a potential cave starting area. That’s a really good idea though. The player could walk onto some leaves and mushrooms to access higher areas.