Monsters of New Haven High - last update 4/02

Shawnheatherly · 2015-01-23T15:08:06.295Z

This sounds interesting, particularly the choice of supporting your own species, other types of monsters, or humans. I assume humans don’t attend the school?

Sashira · 2015-01-23T15:38:01.244Z

Your school is a fairly regular high school, except for some of the students being monsters. All monsters have a human form they assume for the sake of school (it’s easier for some than others.) There is a reason why there are so many monsters in an otherwise human town, but it remains a mystery for most of the game.

Raulin · 2015-01-23T16:20:19.789Z

i agree that the all the characters sucked and the story was incredibly bad. However it is still a valid point to connect two high schools for monsters

Reaper_General · 2015-01-23T16:54:34.294Z

In that case can you choose the appearance of your human form then

SpaceLesbian · 2015-01-23T23:10:40.456Z

You had me at polyamorous demon babes. I’ve been hoping someone would do something like this for a while now! I’ve always wanted to, but all of my stuff tends to devolve into super serious drama instead of the cute fluff implied by this kind of thing. Good luck writing it! I can’t wait for a demo!!

anyhelpbob · 2015-01-24T01:14:18.498Z

This sounds like it could be very interesting. I’m really looking forward to seeing how you handle the wendigo’s culinary preferences. seems like it would make it rather difficult to interact with human society, even compared to vampire’s since I don’t think that many people are willing to donate their flesh. Can’t wait to see how this works all works out later on.

Sashira · 2015-01-24T01:24:21.594Z

As of now, the werewolf, vampire, and wendigo (who look human when not shapeshifted/vamping out with bloodlust) are stuck with the same basic appearance they were born with. The goblin has a sort of glamour spell that makes humans perceive them as human, but they can’t choose how they’re seen - their face and body are translated into the nearest human equivalent.

Only the demon, who has the power of looking like anyone, can choose the appearance of their human form (they can also change their appearance throughout the game, they just have to return to whatever they originally chose if they want to be recognized as “themself” at school.)

Like I said, I might code in more appearance options for everyone. It’s not a priority right now, but there’s plenty more to do.

Sashira · 2015-01-24T02:13:12.466Z

A reply to a question from another thread:
@Deathwriter

when will be seeing a demo.

I’m actually entirely finished with the character creation scene. I wanted to throw more than one scene into the demo - maybe character creation, a sample date, and one of the main action/quest storyline sequences. I think it’ll be ready for an initial demo in a week, maybe less (I’ve been coding like crazy.) Any thoughts on what exactly you’d like to see in the demo, or does that sound like a good sampling?

Of course, there are about two months of work left on it after that, so it’ll be awhile before I have a full beta version for play testing.

Razgriz · 2015-01-24T02:21:35.700Z

Hmm interesting. I’m a little surprised you didn’t add a human option. One who snuck into the school or enrolled on accident. Would certainly make wendigos more threatening.

Edit: admittedly yes I did think Rosario + Vampire when I saw the name.

Sashira · 2015-01-24T02:27:43.952Z

There are tons of humans at the school (the majority of students there are human) and one is also a potential love interest. I thought there were enough games about being a human interacting with monsters, so the only protagonists in this one will be the monsters.

Sashira · 2015-01-24T02:31:53.809Z

Haha, this does keep coming up. Maybe I should add a disclaimer somewhere - “Nothing like Rosario + Vampire except monsters”. I am also still considering the final title. This game isn’t focused on dating monsters, it’s focused on being one. Dating is just one part of their high school experience.

Though I do think it’s fun that at various points you might be warring between whether to go on a date, study for a test, hang out with your friends, or work on exposing The Lurking Sinister Evil Thing. Priorities!

Razgriz · 2015-01-24T02:32:37.621Z

Interesting. Definitely unique. Do the humans know that the monsters exist at their schools or do students just disappear at random intervals either never to be seen again or found dead later?

I mean other than the goblin you’ll be knocking off classmates and bystanders left and right. The incubus/succubus…In high school they may very well be the most successful hunters.

Sashira · 2015-01-24T02:41:44.145Z

The demon is definitely well-suited to feeding while surrounded by hormonal 18-year-olds with poor judgment. The demon is the only character who is older than 18 (not counting the wendigo, who sort of lost a few centuries while running feral in the woods.)

EDIT: This is also why they are all in high school - three of them are seniors (or their species equivalent, goblins age quickly), the wendigo is about 200 but became a wendigo at 18 and has just re-entered human society, and the demon is there for easy pickings.

Demons don’t kill their victims, if they’re careful; neither do vampires. Goblins, as you observed, have it easy feeding-wise - they mainly eat mushrooms. Werewolves are forced to shapeshift on the full moon but can choose who/what they attack - like regular wolves, they’re much happier eating rabbits than scaring people. (The pack also has a rule against stealing people’s chickens or eating their pets, which is admittedly broken sometimes.) The wendigo has the hardest time of it, but has a part-time job cleaning up at the local mortuary, which is how they find enough scraps to live on. (I’m studying mortuary science and think I can write it plausibly.)

The reason the monsters try to keep their forms under wraps, and their feeding controlled, is that exposing what they are would mean a massive cover-up and/or having to leave town and go on the run. They want to be able to keep their identities and stay in town. There are an unusual numbers of monsters per capita in this town, most of whom cooperate if they have common goals, which makes it a great place for monsters to live. The odd rogue monster who kills is assumed by the authorities to be the human variety of murderer/kidnapper (the police have a frustratingly high cold case rate.)

Some humans know about the monsters, but only a few. Your human friend/acquaintance/rival will start out knowing your secret (plus whatever servants, etc. are appropriate for your species) and from there it will be up to you who finds out, and how you deal with the fallout.

Razgriz · 2015-01-24T02:46:47.402Z

Hmm I’d imagine there’d be a Department 19 sort of organization that would put down monsters if they are found. After all area 51 would be the perfect place for the bases location.

As for being careful, you mean protection right? Lol

If you need any help with the science behind any of these I can come up with something.

Sashira · 2015-01-24T02:58:20.504Z

Thanks! I’ll let you know if I run into any snags. I read a lot, but God knows I don’t know everything. Science is a weak point for me.

Monster Rules Of Being Careful:

Don’t kill anyone.
Don’t reveal your real species to any humans who might use it against you.
If rules 1 and 2 contradict each other, and no cover-up is possible, break #1. And hide your bodies really well.
If all else fails, run really fast and hide. Or else pitchforks.

…I didn’t realize until after I wrote this that it looks almost exactly like Choicescript logic. Maybe it’s time for a break.

Razgriz · 2015-01-24T03:02:48.106Z

Nah, no need for breaks. When you’re in that writing mindset is when you’re at your best. When things start getting blurry is when it’s time for a break.

I’ve actually never heard of a Wendigo before. Though from what it sounds like if they continuously need the flesh of humans is that they have a cell abnormality. Their cells will replicate for a time but eventually they’ll stop replicating. To fix this they devour parts of humans. The old human cells are used as a reference almost as how to make new cells.

This likely would result in the shedding of skin every time they’d feed they’d have something similar to when a snake sheds its skin. They wouldn’t turn into the person that they ate they just share certain similarities until they ate again.

Bloodhawkereaper · 2015-01-24T03:06:37.802Z

I have a question about the succubus/incubus. are they going to be the stereotypical seduction demon and care only about sex? or will there be different ways to go about it playing as one?

Bloodhawkereaper · 2015-01-24T03:08:36.324Z

They are pretty terrifying I would rather take any monster to the face then run into one of them in real life lol

en.wikipedia.org

Wendigo

The wendigo (/ˈwɛndɪɡoʊ/)(also wetiko) is a mythological creature or evil spirit from the folklore of the First Nations Algonquian tribes based in the northern forests of Nova Scotia, the East Coast of Canada, and Great Lakes Region of Canada and the United States. The wendigo is described as a monster with some characteristics of a human or as a spirit who has possessed a human being and made them become monstrous. Its influence is said to invoke acts of murder, insatiable greed, cannibalism and...

Razgriz · 2015-01-24T03:16:59.966Z

I imagine this would be close to what you’d imagine a wendigo to be @Bloodhawkereaper

Sashira · 2015-01-24T03:23:22.612Z

The demon is the one character class that currently cannot play as totally asexual. I think it would make things way too difficult to try to play as one, though I suppose I could work in an asexual but romantic option as a difficult playthrough, with an associated achievement. (At this point, a demon can effectively be an aromantic interested in only sex, or a romantic Casanova type.)

Your demon can survive without sex, if they indulge in enough romance (kissing, hand-holding, etc.) or are loved/lusted after/admired by enough people. They feed off of the emotions and attachments they inspire in humans; lust is just their favorite. To them, sex is like a cross between chocolate and cocaine without the downsides - but if you want to be a teetotaler on a diet, that’s up to you. You’ll also gain humanity by doing so, since self-control is more of a human virtue.

By the way, a vampire will leave its victim alive if they don’t drink much blood from any single person, which is pretty easy for them. A demon has to distribute its feeding or their prey will weaken and die - which they may or may not care about. Demons have had more time to learn how to get rid of bodies.