9 Lives (formerly known as "100 Lives")

I’m deep into developing this game, so I thought I’d make a new post regarding it. My old one was just gauging interest, but now I’m taking steps to actually make it happen.

(Note: I am still working on Switch and Burn Contract. Please do not leave any posts or messages asking me to continue those.)

Concept (short version):
The player has 9 lives through which they need to live a fulfilled life with their soulmate.

Concept (very long version):

The story begins in Kaipua, a small northern region of the island Yesh Kanto. Na’eme* lives with Mother Atwina, the village healer, and Kailani**, whom Na’eme is in a relationship with. A few days before Na’eme’s 16th birthday, an army lands on Kaipua’s shore with plans to meet the clan elders. Though the meeting is held in private, word quickly travels that the meeting was to form a treaty.

The treaty states that the empire of Djertari will aid Kaipua in the brewing war between north and south Yesh Kanto, so given that the Kaipuans will help the army find the nomadic southern clans.

The elders sign the treaty, and many Kaipuans support the movement. Kailani and Mother Atwina, however, fear that there’s more to their plans than simply helping Kaipua.

The army buys their silence with blood, and they prevent Na’eme’s retaliation through the same means.

When Na’eme reaches the afterlife, they find that no religious practice has prepared them for their circumstances. They learn that every soul was granted 100 lives through which they can attain fulfillment- and that without fulfillment at the end of those lives, they will become nothingness. Na’eme had even less to begin with, because their own soul was split in two at the beginning of this countdown. One side became Na’eme.

The other had become Kailani.

And with their souls split as they were, neither were guaranteed a fulfilling life without the other. The soulmates needed to find each other to be complete.

And so with the nine lives Na’eme is left with, they must find Kailani through the cycles of reincarnation. The task grows even more difficult when Na’eme learns that the Djertari have begun war and colonization of the entire island of Yesh Kanto, effectively throwing Na’eme’s whole world into chaos.

*the player character, whose name you will be able to change
**you will be able to choose Kailani’s gender and assigned sex

Gameplay:
Every choice you make has the potential to effect future lives in the game and even the circumstances of the setting. Will Na’eme try to bring peace back to the region, or will they let the world burn as they hunt down the promise of afterlife? Will you fall in love with many, or devote yourself entirely? Will you find forgiveness, or try to seek revenge? Most importantly, will you save yourself?

[more detailed information here: http://dashingdon.com/play/leo/9-lives/mygame/
and a blog with more minor bits and character concepts here: https://live9lives.tumblr.com/

Please bug me about this if you’re interested, since this is a big project to undertake)

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Sounds good. Love can make a wonderful tale.

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You have my interest! The concept is definitely enthralling, I can’t wait for a demo!
You have my support :+1:

Still can’t wait for that demo, man. You’ve been teasing it a long time.

Just keep on at it

Only about a month and a half! (I think?)
I’m trying to take my time. The more time I spend on each part, the more ideas I get, and I think that the storyline has improved for it. Doing the character concepts helped a great deal as well, and has actually changed some of their personalities to make them more dimensional characters.

Plus, writing doesn’t come very naturally to me, so I find myself revising old paragraphs and scenes a lot. I have pretty high aspirations for the finished product.

I’m really glad to have your support, it’s always good to see interest in the things I’m working on.

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Thanks for the support! I’ll definitely keep this updated with my progress with the demo. I hope to get the origin, or rather the part described in the concept, all into the first demo.

I’m totally looking forward to this

This actually may be one of the demos I’m looking forward to :slight_smile:

In the midst of working on the beta (demo?) at the moment. I could probably work a bit faster, but I want to make sure it’s fairly polished and has at least most of the options I want to integrate.

I need an opinion, though- I can either release the first bit as just the life described in the original post, or I can have the life and the afterlife, which will be a dialogue that explains the purpose and plot.

I think the afterlife is pretty important for understanding what the player should expect, buuuut it might be awkward to have it end just as the player is about to enter their new life. And it will definitely take a bit longer to get it to that point.

So, should I include the afterlife in my initial draft?

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Afterlife, because if I read a demo ths explained nothing, I would most likely never read it again.

Very good point. Somehow I overlooked the fact that a good amount of people playing it won’t have read the blurb at the top explaining the plans.

this sound good , i’m looking forward

I absolutely love the concept. Definitely looking forward to seeing more. I remember reading a book once, when I was a kid, about soulmates who kept meeting over time, and the concept always stuck with me. This is definitely the kind of game I’d want to play.

1 Like