Hotel Dusk

While this blog will touch upon the various inspirations this game had, I also kinda want to write about the game's journey.

So, as the main gamepage states, my prompt was:

Entry 52: Calling on the dead—voice or familiar sound in adjacent room.

Among the first ideas I wrote down was "Literally calling, on a phone, the dead? Calling Ghostbusters to deal with said dead?" While I might not desire to make a fan-game, I felt as if I could not avoid some amount of comedy if I went this route. Not that this was a bad idea, by any stretch of the imagination, but, this was clearly not the direction I took.

Considering more on the horror angle, I gave a science-fiction setting a few thinks. With this idea, the crew would happen upon an alien secret that would consume the sanity of said crew. In short, something that might look more in line with the works of H. P. Lovecraft that the Commonplace Book event was based on. However, as this idea progressed, there was just something about it that just didn't work for me? I'm not sure if I can properly explain it.

Another idea I had jotted down was "A story of letting go". Which is the path this game ultimately took. However, even this idea had it's own set of snags that were difficult for me to hurdle. It wasn't until later that I came up with the premise the game now has, which is based on a dream I once had. Strictly speaking, only a small portion of this game is directly inspired by that dream...



...as I added various points of player interaction to make the game more of a game. This translated to the string of fetch-quests in the hotel.

To be perfectly honest, I was initially satisfied with the game being entirely in the hotel, and only having one ending. However, as the event-clock ticked, I became worried that there might not be enough content. So, I added the world map, four more maps attached to it, the puzzle in the museum, and another possible ending.

While I'm still kinda worried that the game still doesn't have a lot of content, I don't really intent to expand, or revise, this game. Certainly, it's too late for an expansion/revision in regards to the event. However, I've been feeling, as more time passes, that the number of games I want to make, the number of stories that I want, or need to tell, are getting fewer and fewer. I know, I keep saying that, and next event, I'm there, with a something-something. Even if it's dumb. Still, there is this sense in the back of my head that I should really retire from gammak one of these days. After over ten years on RMN, and who knows how long outside RMN? It might just be that time.