https://github.com/TippyToo/psychomanteum/

Created by Team Psychomanteum

You play as Polaris Ciro, a former detective turned private investigator whose specialty is investigating cases related to the spirit world of Asphodel. After her partner disappears under mysterious circumstances, it’s up to you to find the truth of what happened, all while working cases for clients.

Target Platform: PC
Target Rating: T for Teen

Look: The game is set in a 3D landscape with 2D characters, with the game being primarily a side-scroller with some limited forward and backward movement.Environmental objects may be 2D or 3D. Art style is stylized and does not mimic reality in terms of visuals. Loose inspiration pulled from Don’t Starve and similar cartoon styles, though with slightly more realistic proportions. The spirit world is largely confined to cool colors, contrasting with the player character’s warm color palette.

Genre: Mystery

Setting: The player will primarily traverse Asphodel, a realm of spirits, as they try to solve various cases. Asphodel ranges in visual style, but the main street hub that the player character visits is inspired by New York City architecture. When not in the spirit world, the player will be located in the Psychomanteum, a dark and isolated room which serves as their gateway to Asphodel

Art Style: Neo-Noir

Relevant Inspiration:

• Ace Attorney
• Night in the Woods
• Psychonauts
• Backbone/Tail Noir

The player will be able to move right, left, forward, and backward within the 3D environment. Furthermore, the game will have the player moving between various locations, which they will have free access to outside of required game events. The player will also be able to enter various buildings and access new areas.

The player will be able to collect evidence through interactions with the physical environment and NPCs within Asphodel. Physical items may be picked up with the interact button and stored in the journal. When interrogating NPCs, players have the chance to uncover valuable information, which will also be noted down in the journal. Both forms of evidence are key to building a case.

All physical clues will be fully rendered and able to be inspected by the player for further information that can be brought up with NPCs or provide guidance for environmental puzzles.

Some information/evidence may only be gathered by talking with certain NPCs. When talking with an important NPC, players will be prompted to make various dialogue choices to try and compel the NPC to reveal some important evidence. If enough correct choices are made, key clues to the case may be uncovered, which will be stored in the journal for later review.

The journal will consist of several different pages, each one with a different functionality. The player can navigate to these pages through bookmark tabs in the journal. The journal will initially open to the front page, which contains the Main Menu, Save, and Quit options on the left side, and a small polaroid of Iona on the right. The journal will always open to the last page that was open when it was closed. The settings page will contain options for adjusting game volume, text scroll speed, and more.

Clues will be split across two pages, objects picked up and notes, which will consist of observations and quotes from NPCs. The left side of the objects page will display a list of obtained objects, and the right side will have a detailed display of the currently selected item.

The notes page will be a bulleted list of short texts, one or two sentences long. The player will be able to strikethrough or bold these at will in order to mark a clue as more or less relevant. There will also be a section for players to write their own notes in the journal. Players will also be able to revisit clues from previous chapters using tabs on the right side of the journal.

After solving the case, the player has limited time within the Asphodel, due to their position as a living person within the realm of the dead. The more time spent within Asphodel, the blurrier the line between alive and dead becomes and Polaris will begin to feel adverse effects. If too much time is spent, Polaris will be sent back to the Psychomanteum. The player can also choose to return to the Psychomanteum early. There is no time limit or adverse effects imposed before the player solves the case.

The gameplay loop consists of entering the spirit world and speaking with NPCs and investigating areas and objects to solve cases. The player uses their journal to keep track of various clues found. The player can revisit previous levels’ journal entries in further levels. Once a case is completed, the player is made aware that they have a certain amount of time left in Asphodel, which they may use to explore the world more if they so desire. However, the longer the player spends in Asphodel after completing the case, the more adverse effects they will face until they either return (either of their own free will or not) to the psychomanteum. From that point on, the player then begins the next case.

The game will be divided into four cases total: a prologue, two client cases, and a final case.

Iona introduces Polaris to the world of Asphodel as they look for an old woman named Delores to ask her what her intended last words for her daughter were. They’re successful but are ambushed by mysterious figures as they’re leaving, causing Iona to become missing in the physical world.

• TV Remote (Start with this, given to the bartender to convince him to give you your next clue, the Garden Shears)
• Garden Shears (Acquired by talking to the Bartender, the owner and address is listed on the handle)
• Drill (Acquired by talking to the WW1 pilot, you give this to the construction worker nearby to convince him to let you pass the roadblock)
• VHS Tape (Acquired by returning the shears to the flower shop owner, used to acquire Delore’s “true” last words)
• Delore’s Memory Issues: (The flower shop owner will inform you about Delore’s failing memory following certain dialogue options)

The son of a famous mystery author is looking to finish his last manuscript that the author died before completing. As Polaris finds and questions the author, it becomes increasingly apparent that his books are based on actual murderers he committed.

• Lost Book (Help the bookstore clerk find a book they misplaced before they can help you with your casework.)
• Darren's Book (Given to Polaris by the bookstore clerk before she leaves)
• Archive Room Key (Find the key to the Library basement archive room that the Librarian lost)
• Darren's Early Manuscript (Found in the archive, put into shelves by Librarian though they forget exactly where)
• Darren's Final Manuscript (Given to Polaris by Darren after their conversation, the final item Polaris needs for this case)
• Darren's Writing (Bookstore Clerk mentions Darren's writing, calls it grotesque, etc.)
• Darren's other Books (Find books in the library stacks separated by author initials, triggers Librarian appearing?)
• Darren Visited Recently (Talking to the Librarian gives this, unlocks the options to question about Darren further)
• Newspaper Clippings (Newspaper pieces, covering murders that Darren "took inspiration" from)
• Librarian, mentions Iona was at the library for the archives, Polaris goes back down to the basement to find marked files the librarian said she found, finds some newspaper clippings, obituaries mostly, and a file on a "chemical spill" that got an area cordoned off by the government.

Rich man wants a potential painting purchase to be authenticated from the source, and hires Polaris to find the original artist, Monet, to confirm or deny whether or not he actually painted the work. Painting is one of his 250 water lilies.

• Polaroids of the Monet the client wishes to buy
• Train NPC mentions a gardener who knows Monet very well
• Gardener mentions Monet won’t speak with people who don’t “know what they’re talking about” and that he loves his boat
• Fanatic insulting Polaris and saying that she needs to ‘pay up’ before she gets to ‘view god’
• An expired ticket that says “Monet Viewing Experience, 12-hour pass”
• Monet autobiography where he rambles about “en plein air” and “painting on the spot” (a.k.a how to talk to Monet without pissing him off)
• Merch store NPC sharing that the Monet crowd is “impenetrable” and that the people closest to him bought “all access passes” and do not move
• A sign that says “fresh fish at pier 41 —>” that’s been halfway covered up by a Monet poster

In Progess

In Progress

GitHub Repository | Google Drive | Trello Board