Smiles Are Dead (WIP)

Smiles Are Dead (WIP)

Demo up as soon as I can!

"Where have all the smiles gone? Everything seems so…dull these days. There is no excitement in people’s eyes, no fun in the lives of the humans.

Everyone seems so…SAD.

But that will change soon. You will make sure of that. After all, you’ve always been good at helping to bring smiles to those soft, tender faces once more.

So don’t be sad, the smiles will soon be dead."

~

The bells have rung.

Viska, Father of the Demons, has summoned up his children; demons of all types and ages. In the underworld, reputation is everything. You live by your fame, and are treated by such too. The ultimate reward is to be recognised by Dekra himself, as he only cares for the greatest of his children. And what better way for Dekra to host a challenge than to offer up a place at his side as the reward? All he wants in return are souls.

He wants all of the mortal souls of those above…

You, a young Demon already on the road to fortune, simply cannot resist such a life changing reward. And so, with your brethren, you unleash yourself upon the world above. But as you begin to harvest souls and learn more of Dekra’s plans, will you end up too connected to the Mortal World, ready to defy your father, or simply not care enough to stop your actions?

~

I’ve talked about this game before, as some already know, and I feel like I have planned enough to actually start writing it! I have not got a link yet, simply because I have decided last moment to change up a few things, but I will when I am ready to. Besides, you can edit posts on this forum now anyway.

More about the game:

So, as you probably guessed, in this game you play as a Demon. I hope to have multiple to choose from (Because you know how much I love a character selection xD) and have a good starting selection already. Each demon will have different demonic abilities, as well as different routes in the story that they can go down.

Taking ‘souls’ is simple: Make them smile.

Upon entering the Mortal Realm above you will be open to the first town. The story will progress further on into the game as you reap in the souls of the mortals for your ‘fathers’ bidding. What you do from then on will influence the story! You will meet others, mortal or demon, along the way, but a word of advise: Try not to make your friends smile.

For clarification, a simple grin isn’t what allows you to steal souls. You will need to open up their hearts to you before you harvest them.

I have a lot planned already, I’m just terrible at posting introductory threads. Ask me anything about the types of demons, ways of taking souls, ect. and I will try to give you a sufficient answer!

~Blaze.

48 Likes

So does smiling just open up the possibility for you to take the sou at your leisure, or is it automatic and beyond your control?

Woohoo! Clinical depression finally has a use. Immune to having your stole soulen… er soul stolen I mean. Awesome. :smile:

It’s an intriguing premise.

1 Like

@Shoelip I’m glad you’ve raised that question. That is one thing I am unsure of what to do. I wouldn’t want the player making a mistake into stealing the soul of someone they didn’t want to, but at the same time I feel like if you had total control over who was harvested or not then you would have no need not to make everyone smile. Do you get what I mean? I do in my head

@FairyGodfeather I’m glad you think so! Depression has an upside for once!

Can I steal demon souls?

@Dark_Stalker Yes. A much harder task to accomplish, as the demon would most likely be aware of soul taking, but if you can manage to outsmart one then the possibility is there

No one is safe then…
(Orders up 5 tons of joker toxin)

3 Likes

@Dark_Stalker You made me chuckle! But don’t forget, just because they’re laughing and smiling doesn’t mean they have opened their hearts and souls!

Also, what are your thoughts on some ambient music for a game such as this? I have quite a few in mind that I might try out too

Slow horror, deep notes
And did you open your heart and soul during that chuckle?

@BlazedStorm In that case why not just make it so they can only take the souls of those they’ve made smile, but don’t necessarily have to? Also, what exactly does having one’s soul stolen do to a person in this game? I mean, biologically a person doesn’t need a soul to be alive. At least IRL. It’s easy to just say that losing one’s soul kills a person, but you could go for something a little different.

@Dark_Stalker Don’t steal Demon’s Souls. Dark Souls is pretty much the same game but better! :stuck_out_tongue:

We all know bloodborne will top them all.

So what happens when you take a demon soul daz that mean there your slave

Plz let it mean we take their powers…

Yeh or that because that would be cool to

This sounds fun. I take it then that there will be an ending where we try to make the world better, and forget our demonic duties?

And what happens to the human souls
but I wanted to say maybe it can be a stat like control and un in control when deciding whether to take the soul or not. But if you take a demon soul you can chose whether you take his powers or make him a slave but that also go’s into a stat

From the game’s view, a demon is, in essence, the dark soul of a corrupted spirit. If you was to consume a demon soul, you are consuming them completely. This would mean you would be granted their powers and strengths. When consuming a demon soul, you are bonding it with your own as you are a demon yourself. If that demon was to be ‘unstable’ or too powerful when bonded to you, it could lead to conflicting personalities.

Humans on the other hand, would survive without their souls just as Shoelip said. Their souls are like their own spirit and conscience. What would be left would be a working mortal body stuck in a coma, as its spirit of mind has been extracted by you. There will be a ‘collection’ that you can explore deep within your own private dimension. This will be accessible whenever you wish and will be where all of the mortals souls are kept. There, it would be like a separate reality where these people live whilst their real bodies are trapped within the coma. You can see them as a spirit if you like.

And, like they demons, they can be corrupted. If you can manage to corrupt a mortal soul, you are essentially turning them into a demon which you can further consume for its strengths or keep them as your own slaves.
The other thing that you’ll be inclined to do with mortal souls is send them to your father. This will increase the amount of souls you have reaped for Viska and also your reputation in the underworld. Hope that covered it all!

@Shoelip Yes, I see what you are saying there. I suppose it was me being dumb not to realise that giving the option to do so wouldn’t make the claimed difference.

@Shawnheatherly There will be an end. What it will be would rely on your decisions…

Would you get to to talk to the human souls in your dimension and could you mess with them

Can you restore a soul to a body? Would be interesting if you could do that but still maintain some control over the soul, then use your human puppet towards your own ends. Of course I suppose you could just use your demonic powers of persuasion for the same effect, without needing to take the soul in the first place. Would be interesting if you could put a captured demon’s soul a mortal body.

  1. I love the idea of a powerful demon’s mind still existing and fighting for control. I can imagine a scenario where, if you had previously consumed a demon stronger than yourself, it would make a choice on its own, while if you had spared said demon, then the player would make the choice. Of course, new options would also be opened by consuming said demon…
  2. If there is a collection of souls inside your mind, does that mean you could interact with a human you had grown fond of but still decided to consume? If you corrupt a person and keep them as a slave, is it possible to end up creating a demon stronger than yourself, leading to conflicting personalities? If you keep too many souls or corrupted slaves in your, could they possible overpower you, like a demonic slave revolt? “We are Legion, for we are many.”
  3. Sorry for the massive drop of questions, but that post has beyond peaked my interest. This game sounds incredible. Any possibility to donate towards seeing it done faster, or at least aid the process?