On the outer reaches of the Royal Channel, far from the Mainland, the island of Valentine has seen its vast fortunes decline. While the boom of the industrial revolution propelled many of the nation's cities into new-found wealth, this great force of change drained the island of its prosperity. The young and able left long ago, seeking greater opportunities overseas. As conditions worsen, residents look for someone to blame. Amidst the unrest a great, unfathomable threat remains unseen. But hope is not yet lost... The spirit of Valentine will endure. If the community can band together, a new brighter future shall be forged...
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So I've been making a game for a while now.
To put it simply (and a little ridiculously), I would describe the mechanics of the game as a cross between Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy Tactics. These two games cater to two very distinct itches: Community Simulation and Tactical Combat. The Valentine Watch is a narrative-driven blend of these two beloved genres.
Like Animal Crossing and other community simulators, the player is free to navigate a town and interact with its residents. However, rather than gaily frolicking through a town talking to animals, you will be sharing pints in smoke-clogged bars in a dilapidated Victorian Era port town.
Explore this town as you see fit-- wandering the streets and alleys, visiting stores, talking to locals. The town is very much alive: commuters will follow their schedule and routines through morning, day, and night. Where they work, relax, and return home is unique to each inhabitant.
Just as locals have their own jobs, you too are responsible for the well-being of the town. As a member of the "Valentine Watch" it is your duty to tackle crime and unrest. Whether these jobs are handled personally or by a subordinate is at your own discretion.
So where does combat come into this?
When we look at other Tactical-RPGs, we really only see two forms of combat: swords & sorcery and military shooters. With the Valentine Watch, I want to create something much more unique, and much more scrappy.
Instead of having large armies facing-off or a crack team of commandos performing coordinated strikes, the majority of fighting in The Valentine Watch will be pub brawls, street fights and other anti-social disturbances. Your main weapon will be your baton and handcuffs. Their main weapon will be their fists and their drinks.
Expect fists to be flung, chairs to be thrown, bottles to be smashed. Unconventional melee galore.
Exploration *and* Turn-Based Combat? It sounds like you've created two separate games.
Unlike other games that use an 'overworld' for the exploration and interaction and an entirely separate system for battles, The Valentine Watch is able to shift between the two seamlessly-- no transitions, no level swaps, nothing. The game simply swaps from real-time to a turn-based structure. By entwining these two contexts together some interesting circumstances can arise: an assailant could a launch a surprise attack as you drink with friends at a bar. An empty barrel could be filled with gunpowder to create a trap for a future ambush. A pub ransacked in a brawl could be forced to close down.
Both exploration and combat have been tightly coiled together allowing for the actions in one system to greatly influence the other-- it will be necessary to leverage one context to create advantages in the other.
So what's the Story?
You play as Walter Shallot, a member of the "Valentine Watch", a proto-Police Force that operates on the isle of Valentine. The island is in disarray: its great pools of wealth evaporated after it's relevance on the global stage diminished. All the young and able have moved elsewhere, seeking brighter futures. Only the old and weak-willed remain.
The town is crumbling and its dissatisfied inhabitants are pointing fingers. There are those who are looking to modernise in a bid to return to prosperity. Others see this shift away from their roots and traditions as the cause of their fall from grace. As tensions continue to grow, intolerance and violence spread across the island.
As a member of the Valentine Watch it is your duty to keep civilians safe. You must prevent the town for tearing itself apart. Save Valentine.
What 'save' means is entirely up to you.
This all seems like a bit much for a single Indie Developer, is it not?
While this project might sound unachievable, it's broad scope and complexity too much of an undertaking, I can confidently say that the project is close to fruition. For the past five years I've been toiling away at this endeavour. Large, intimidating tasks have been whittled down, dismantled and overcome.
While it's not been completed just yet, I am hoping to release a demo within the coming months.
It will contain the first 'night' of the storyline, introducing you to Walter as well as providing a glimpse into life on Valentine. It will provide a snapshot containing all of game's components: the character interactions, the combat, the ultra-divergent plotlines. This demo isn't some 'early-access' or 'work in progress' nonsense either-- expect the same level of polish as you would expect from the final game.
And that's about all I can say for now. If you are interested in this project please follow me @ValentineWatch for frequent updates, this blog for longer-form analysis, and valentine.watch for the incoming demo release.
Speak to you soon.
- J. Akorah
To put it simply (and a little ridiculously), I would describe the mechanics of the game as a cross between Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy Tactics. These two games cater to two very distinct itches: Community Simulation and Tactical Combat. The Valentine Watch is a narrative-driven blend of these two beloved genres.
Like Animal Crossing and other community simulators, the player is free to navigate a town and interact with its residents. However, rather than gaily frolicking through a town talking to animals, you will be sharing pints in smoke-clogged bars in a dilapidated Victorian Era port town.
Explore this town as you see fit-- wandering the streets and alleys, visiting stores, talking to locals. The town is very much alive: commuters will follow their schedule and routines through morning, day, and night. Where they work, relax, and return home is unique to each inhabitant.
Just as locals have their own jobs, you too are responsible for the well-being of the town. As a member of the "Valentine Watch" it is your duty to tackle crime and unrest. Whether these jobs are handled personally or by a subordinate is at your own discretion.
So where does combat come into this?
When we look at other Tactical-RPGs, we really only see two forms of combat: swords & sorcery and military shooters. With the Valentine Watch, I want to create something much more unique, and much more scrappy.
Instead of having large armies facing-off or a crack team of commandos performing coordinated strikes, the majority of fighting in The Valentine Watch will be pub brawls, street fights and other anti-social disturbances. Your main weapon will be your baton and handcuffs. Their main weapon will be their fists and their drinks.
Expect fists to be flung, chairs to be thrown, bottles to be smashed. Unconventional melee galore.
Exploration *and* Turn-Based Combat? It sounds like you've created two separate games.
Unlike other games that use an 'overworld' for the exploration and interaction and an entirely separate system for battles, The Valentine Watch is able to shift between the two seamlessly-- no transitions, no level swaps, nothing. The game simply swaps from real-time to a turn-based structure. By entwining these two contexts together some interesting circumstances can arise: an assailant could a launch a surprise attack as you drink with friends at a bar. An empty barrel could be filled with gunpowder to create a trap for a future ambush. A pub ransacked in a brawl could be forced to close down.
Both exploration and combat have been tightly coiled together allowing for the actions in one system to greatly influence the other-- it will be necessary to leverage one context to create advantages in the other.
So what's the Story?
You play as Walter Shallot, a member of the "Valentine Watch", a proto-Police Force that operates on the isle of Valentine. The island is in disarray: its great pools of wealth evaporated after it's relevance on the global stage diminished. All the young and able have moved elsewhere, seeking brighter futures. Only the old and weak-willed remain.
The town is crumbling and its dissatisfied inhabitants are pointing fingers. There are those who are looking to modernise in a bid to return to prosperity. Others see this shift away from their roots and traditions as the cause of their fall from grace. As tensions continue to grow, intolerance and violence spread across the island.
As a member of the Valentine Watch it is your duty to keep civilians safe. You must prevent the town for tearing itself apart. Save Valentine.
What 'save' means is entirely up to you.
This all seems like a bit much for a single Indie Developer, is it not?
While this project might sound unachievable, it's broad scope and complexity too much of an undertaking, I can confidently say that the project is close to fruition. For the past five years I've been toiling away at this endeavour. Large, intimidating tasks have been whittled down, dismantled and overcome.
While it's not been completed just yet, I am hoping to release a demo within the coming months.
It will contain the first 'night' of the storyline, introducing you to Walter as well as providing a glimpse into life on Valentine. It will provide a snapshot containing all of game's components: the character interactions, the combat, the ultra-divergent plotlines. This demo isn't some 'early-access' or 'work in progress' nonsense either-- expect the same level of polish as you would expect from the final game.
◇◆◇
And that's about all I can say for now. If you are interested in this project please follow me @ValentineWatch for frequent updates, this blog for longer-form analysis, and valentine.watch for the incoming demo release.
Speak to you soon.
- J. Akorah
