Update 13 - Let Me In (announcement) and PAL voice acting

tl;dr Announcing a new short game project, and voice acting progress.

Today's picture

Okay, so I'm sorry I didn't give you a Rio pic this week like you guys voted for :/ but obviously the reason is that I felt for this small announcement I needed to include an image of the princess from Let Me In. I'll be including the Rio pic next week, along with some voice acting material for Kimiko. I hope you like the design, I think she looks good, and she'd better work since this is the main angle you'll be seeing of her in the game. I also put a less exciting teaser image on my twitter account.

I'm back!

I'm back from my short holiday, and back to work on AIF. I had fun, but it's time to get my nose to the grindstone again. And along with that I'm announcing a new game project: Let Me In. That's why I'm pushing out this update early.

Let Me In

In this new game you will play as a goblin trying to persuade a lonely princess in a tower to let you inside. Everything you type will be interpreted as dialogue directed at the princess. Things you say will affect whether she trusts you, and whether she's turned on - get her high enough in both and she'll let you in (for one of a few specific reasons). It's pretty silly and light-hearted, but also unlike anything I've ever seen done in AIF.

And that's kind of it! It's easy to sum up because it's going to be a short game, and something of an experiment. I'll be releasing a public beta of this eventually, because I am going to need a lot of feedback on it to generate good responses to all the potential things people might type. I will give the first shot at it to $10 patrons, however, and I have already recruited a couple to help me develop the first version in a live AIF process (along with EFon).

There won't be a huge number of pictures in the game (they won't be necessary, really), but there obviously will be some. I'm not planning voice acting at this stage, but I could possibly include some at a later date, because I think it could fit in well. For now I'm keeping this project simple.

When can you play Let Me In?

If you're a $10 backer, very soon! Like, possibly in a matter of hours! Although I should note it will only be an early test version, without much sexual content. For everyone else I'll be releasing a public beta version once it's been through the hands of the $10 patrons for a little while, and I've improved it based on their feedback.

PAL

Don't worry! I haven't forgotten PAL. In fact a big part of the reason I green lighted LMI is I feel it won't take much of my time to work on it, and a lot of it will consist of writing occasional short responses to commands given by live AIF players. That way I won't be too distracted, but I can still get a release out while working on the much larger PAL. Maybe by getting this game out there I can also rustle up more interest for PAL, because it always helps to have something current out there for people to talk about.

Voice acting

As far as progress goes for PAL this week, the biggest achievements have been voice acting related. I have an audition for Masami that I think will work out well - once that's sorted I will have cast every part, so let's cross our fingers! Also I have got the voice acting for Kimiko now, and next week I'll give you a little 'hello' from the actress who's played the character, she's fun :) Finally, I've also received the voice acting from Rio, so it's been a huge week for PAL VA, and it's a pity that got kind of buried by the LMI announcement above

So anyway, let me know what you think about all this. I want to be responsive to what you guys want. Do you think Let Me In sounds good? Or would you rather I focus exclusively on PAL? What do you think of the design of the princess? Don't be shy, let me know what you think in the comments below :)