GENRE: Mystery, Action, Psychological Thriller, Political Intrigue, Romance
LINK FOR THE DEMO: Hollowed Minds
TUMBLR: Shai Manahan (tumblr.com)
Basic Premise
You were one of the most promising detectives within Gaile city, bearing a reputation for exposing the crimes of influential people together with a partner.
Until one single mistake drags your name down to the ground.
A few months pass, and an attempt to rectify that same incident and fix your honor gets you involved in a suspicious probation. You find yourself entangled in webs of conspiracies and betrayal with each step you make, and you will have to make wise decisions to discover the truth about a grisly murder, especially with the enigmatic hallucinations plaguing certain people and the recurring explosions that may change everything.
Maybe you can also discover the meaning behind the detectiveās strange dreams, and āuseā them to know the secrets that linger beneath your current situation and how they connect with everything else.
Just beware of the shadows of the past lurking around as you do so.
Features:
- Play as male, female, or non-binary. (trans option and custom pronouns will eventually be available in the future)
- Create your own characterās name, appearance, sexual orientation, and motivations.
- Reclaim your reputation as the hero of the city or be viewed as a corrupt detective, while having the choice to hide your true intentions.
- Cultivate your relationships (romance, friendship, alliance, hostility).
- Let past sins be forgiven or slowly go down the path of revenge.
- Develop favored skill sets.
- Find out the secrets of the city and choose what to do with them.
- Decide whether or not to use a certain different āskillā with unknown costs.
- Choose to save or sacrifice people.
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Learn the truth about your family.
- Mysterious hallucinations, explosions, and more.
While there are skill checks present in the game, itās not necessarily a win or lose situation. There will be unique content for every skill and every stat check outcome (definitely not as simple as the prologue) plus different ways to approach them. What matters more are the decisions you will make and the relationships you will have.
Stats Explanations
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Reputation (Corruption/Valor)
This would indicate how the public views your MC. Do you want them to be seen as the heroic savior of the city? Or maybe you want them to be seen as a corrupt individual whoās willing to have their hands dirty? (more explanations below) -
Ruthlessness/Empathy
There is a very important correlation between this and the Reputation Stat that would very much matter in making choices. It wonāt always be Corruption=Ruthlessness and Valor=Empathy. You could create an MC whoās very ruthless but could appear heroic to the eyes of the public. And you can also be a good person while making the people believe that youāre a horrible human being (there will be interesting consequences to this later in the game). Either way, I think this a very interesting concept to implement, and Iām excited to show how it will work. -
Impulsive/Cautious
This pair is not only for actions, but also for the things your MC says, so thereās that to take note of.
Donāt always assume that every choice that seems to be for this opposite pair is just a tool to change the stats. Some of them are choices with actual consequences, and you might have to consider the situation. -
Conventional/Unconventional
This would depend on how you would view the law. There are instances in the story where the MC would have to do things secretly and out of the radar, but the matter of fact is how youāll approach it. Minimizing your MCās not so legal actions, and leaving some things alone for the law, would raise the conventional stat. Your MCās opinions would also matter in this stat, and how youāll execute those beliefs. - Emotional/Composed
- Arrogance/Humility
Romance Options
Iāll add more details next time when you finally get a chance to meet all of them in the story. Iād like to avoid giving too much spoilers if I can.
Finn/Faye Wesley
- Age: 24
- Appearance: Wavy light brown hair, hazel eyes, fair skin
Wesleyās a journalist who has been with you for a decade, getting into countless troubles since you were teenagers. Despite being groomed from a rich and privileged family, they chose to take on a different life dedicated on exposing crimes of influential people (including their own family). It was a partnership built on genuine trust, until it became clear that they knew more than they were letting on.
They know you wonāt easily forgive them, of course. That doesnāt stop them from hoping. And now that the city is on the verge of destruction, they will invade your life once more, whether you like it or not.
Nevertheless, your brother will be keeping his eyes on them.
Ethan/Elyse Alonzo
- Age: 30
- Appearance: Short black straight hair with small curls on its ends, dark brown eyes, brown skin
They despise you, and you have no idea why. All you know is that they wouldnāt take their eyes off youā¦and not for a pleasant reason (at least at first). But beneath all the hostility and resentment, there are certain times where you could see them giving you a semblance of respect. Itās faint and deeply buried, but itās there.
Alonzo wonāt hesitate to kill for justice, as if theyāre chasing something youāre not aware of. Maybe itās all connected. Maybe you can either find out the truth on your own or break through their shields to know what theyāre looking for. And what you did to make them loathe you.
And maybe - just maybe - it will be the start of a meaningful relationship.
Owen Russell (m)
- Age: 26
- Appearance: Short curly black hair, blue eyes, dark skin
Owen is a resident doctor at the hospital your father built. Unlike most of the people living within the city, he chose to be there. He chose to do his job at the worst possible place, and he doesnāt even regret it (for now). Selfless, responsive, family-oriented. Heās a man of integrity, and he would place saving lives above all else.
But of course, no one could ever be spared from the cruelty that the city brings upon its dwellers. As Owen gets entangled in the vicious cycle of crimes, his ideals will be tested and you can either stay beside him to help him remain the way he is, or push him toward the abyss.
Jade Stein (f)
- Age: 23
- Appearance: Long wavy auburn hair, brown eyes, brown skin
Even with the same background and struggles, Jade couldnāt be any more different wih her brother Richard. Sheās a reporter, and while she didnāt have reservations targeting powerful criminals, she did so by planting rumors and evidence of her own.
Jadeās a blunt woman. Sheāll always tell you how she feels about your every action. No hesitation. But that doesnāt mean she has no secrets of her own. Despite the strained relationship she has with Richard and the things he has done, sheāll never leave him to die, and sheāll do anything to ensure that.
Update Log
1/11/2021
- 27,000+ words
3/19/2021
Total Word Count w/o commands: 73,632 words
- Chapter 1 uploaded (44,633 words w/o commands)
- Romance Options and family introduced
- Choose appearance, sexual orientation, and motivations
- Feedback for Prologue applied (additional choices and scenes)
- More lore about the city
- Choose your characterās cover
- Confront Bale. Again.
- Peek into the MCās past.
Feedback Needed
GENERAL FEEDBACK
- choices that put you off or make you uncomfortable
- inconsistencies in the plot or in the dialogue
- grammatical errors or weird lines/ text - Iām a stickler for accuracy in this area and English wasnāt my first language, so this would be very helpful
- lengthy and boring blocks of texts - I would prefer it if the readers would be able to pick up on the most important details, so if a segmentās long enough that it makes you skip some paragraphs, it would help me to know.
- Are there scenes where youād prefer to have more detailed descriptions?
- Other feedbacks you could think of that arenāt specified here
PROLOGUE
- Thereās a larger chance that there would be awkward choices here since it was literally my first attempt, so donāt hesitate to say if you ever encountered some!
- Was the car chase enough for you? Or would you prefer for it to be longer? I let it be for now because there is another car chase scene (sort of) in the future chapters that would be longer and more intense, and I didnāt want to put all the ideas in here. But if yāall think that the scene here is sufficient, then there would be no need for me to go back and make it longer.
- Are the skill-picking scenes good enough for you?
CHAPTER 1
- The conversation with MCās mother - it had a lot of variations in dialogue so there could be portions that may not have made sense or felt odd.
- For people who have tried both Owen and Jadeās routes, do you think one of them had longer content compared to the other, or did they feel like they had the same length?
Content Warnings
- Violence and gore
- Alcohol use (depending on the MCās choice)
- Hallucinations
- Nightmares
- Panic attacks
- Character death
- Fire/ Explosions
Please donāt hold back on giving feedback and suggestions, especially if you spot inconsistencies. Iām also entertaining questions, if you have some. This would be the first book in a series, but Iāll make sure that every part will still be able to stand on its own, each with its own secrets to unfold.
This will be a journey full of sadness, betrayal, clash of ideals, and reconciliations with the past. So brace yourself and enjoy the game!
Iāll take note of that and include it for the next update.
