Working title
Frederick
- RPG, 2D, quest, visual novel
- Target audience:age of 18-35, all genders
- Platform: itch.io, Steam
Video essay, machinima, colour, sound; 27 min, 2021
(Game, characters, text created by the artist)
https://youtu.be/B4bZ0Ms1I1w?t=1
letsplay (without some mechanics)
“Frederick” is made in the quest genre with an element of stealth mechanics, has a similarity to a visual novel because of the emphasis on dialogue and plot. The player is given control of a ghost cat named Frederick, who died under the wheels of a train along with his mistress. It was a premeditated murder, the cat saw the killers and now dreams of avenging their mistress's death. The problem with the ghost is its incorporeality, so Frederick decides to make a deal with the Guardian of the Hallows (Tabernacle) which can temporarily make the ghost corporeal, and thus able to inflict damage on the mistress's killers. The main task of the game is to collect the necessary objects for the deal, namely the disparate parts of Frederick's body, which were scattered by the enterprising and creepy inhabitants of Limbo after his death.
Map of the game
The 2D video game is an immersive experience that invites players to enter a world where time and space dissolve into a meditative journey. Through unhurried dialogues and a pianola soundtrack, the player is transported to a digital theatre where the roles are played by non-professional actors and the sets are universal.
The game is centered around a looping play that follows the drama of a ghost cat, who bravely accepts death with its mistress. As the player guides the ghost cat through limbo, between life and death, they must communicate with NPCs, complete tasks, and collect pieces of the ghost’s dead body to make a pact with the Guardian of the Hallows.
The game has a noir atmosphere and a touch of black humour that adds an element of unpredictability to the narrative. The dialogues and developments were crafted using an improvisational approach reminiscent of surrealist automatic writing. This method involves turning off conscious control of the text and relying on mental automatism to guide the writing process. Interestingly, automatic writing has a history in spiritualistic séances, and in this game, it is thematically linked to the plot of a play where the main character is the ghost of a cat. Needs to find the nearest cat’s head cloud’s shadow and stand for a while under it.
The game is centered around a looping play that follows the drama of a ghost cat, who bravely accepts death with its mistress. As the player guides the ghost cat through limbo, between life and death, they must communicate with NPCs, complete tasks, and collect pieces of the ghost’s dead body to make a pact with the Guardian of the Hallows.
The game has a noir atmosphere and a touch of black humour that adds an element of unpredictability to the narrative. The dialogues and developments were crafted using an improvisational approach reminiscent of surrealist automatic writing. This method involves turning off conscious control of the text and relying on mental automatism to guide the writing process. Interestingly, automatic writing has a history in spiritualistic séances, and in this game, it is thematically linked to the plot of a play where the main character is the ghost of a cat. Needs to find the nearest cat’s head cloud’s shadow and stand for a while under it.
Additional Mechanics:
There is an element of stealth mechanics in the game.
The ghost cat character occasionally launches panic attacks. There is an interface element - an indicator until the next panic attack by the ghost cat. When a panic attack approaches - the game camera starts to wobble first, then slowly spins around, and then quickly. To prevent a panic attack, the ghost should find a cat-face-shaped shadow of a cloud and stand under it (a shadow of a cloud shaped like a cat's head).
Such clouds float around the level.
Shadow of a special cloud, which helps to calm and to stop Frederick’s panic attacksCharacters and their location:
1. Frederick - a ghost of a cat
2. Frederick’s dead body - Railroad tracks (the scene of the mistress’s murder) -
Needs the Mistress thing, in exchange for it gives The lastest Memory
3 Frederick’s Evil eye - Town -
Needs three desiccated vessels, in exchange for them gives the image of the murders
4. Clown - the circus’s square;
Needs Deaf acrobat bones, in exchange for them gives Frederick’s tail tip (Clown used it as a powder puff)
5. Lila, straw doll - Temple
Needs a match, in exchange for it gives the Frederick’s Kind eye
6. Chemist - Crossroads
Needs mandrake fruits in exchange gives access to lh and flies
7. Mandrake - Death glade
Doesn’t need anything. Just gifts her fruits to Frederick
8. Guardian of the Hallows