Oh, I also thought the music when you deliver a package really reminded me of Obra Dinn. I’m guessing it was an inspiration? Definitely not a bad thing.
Viewing post in Delivery to Valerian Isle jam comments
I am very happy that you enjoyed Valerian Isle, and you're absolutely right! It draws heavy inspiration from Return of the Obra Dinn. In Valerian Isle, the ship is named the Aubergine, which sounds similar to Obra Dinn. I also borrowed the 'well done' interface from Obra Dinn and incorporated satisfying music reminiscent of it.
Valerian Isle has become a side project, and I'm still actively working on it. I'm curious to know your thoughts on approaching the package deliveries in a similar way to identify the dead in Obra Dinn. The objective would be to find each package's owner and where they live , turning the deliveries into puzzles rather than simple fetch quests.
I was also considering adding an immersive sim layer inspired by games like Dishonored, Prey, and Deus Ex. This would provide multiple solutions for each package or obstacle, making the delivery missions more articulated. The difficulty level would be based on the number of solutions available for a particular problem. the city would react to your actions, and branching events would occur based on who you choose to help, and I was aiming to do it all through gameplay rather than relying on text boxes.
I have no intention of incorporating any combat mechanics.
If there is any form of violence, it will be strongly portrayed as negative, and the entire small city will be impacted in some way.
In essence, my goal is to create an Obra Dinn-like game with a dense, believable, and intricately designed world that provides subtle clues, rewards exploration, and encourages creative thinking.
it sounds ambitious, but if this test is any good, I will pitch it to my team and upload it on Itch.
let me know what you think!
I think that sounds great! Making the deliveries into puzzles would definitely make the game even more interesting in my opinion. I haven’t played the three other games you mentioned so I can’t comment on that, but it sounds intriguing, and I agree that combat would probably not be a good fit for this game. I will definitely be looking out for any updates. Good luck!