The Jenni Project Thread
Jennifer
Moderator
I wasn't going to reveal this until I had at least one fully playable scene to show, but I want this thread to be linear and since only existing threads will be linear in the new forum I guess I'll make this thread a developer's diary completely from the beginning of development instead. 
I'm working on an adventure game based on my Jenni webcomic. It's based on the inter-dimensional portal created by the character Mary in this comic and the laws of inter-dimensional travel started in this comic. The laws introduced in that comic are that each alternate universe comes with its own unique style, and any character traveling through the portal into that universe adopts the style of that universe.
I actually planned on starting on it before the portal arc of my webcomic, but decided to work the story I originally had planned for the game into the comic instead. But now I've begun working on the adventure game because I figured out a story that would work with the already established webcomic storyline (and I actually like this story better than the old one, so it worked out
).
I'm using the Wintermute Engine to create it and I'll be using ScummVM to run it, since I'd like it to be available on as many systems as possible. The game will be 1280x720 resolution, and it will be commercial. Since I'm creating this all on my own, and this is my first adventure game (not including the adventure game I made with Klik 'n' Play in high school), I don't want to burn myself out. It will be about the size of a Telltale Sam & Max episode. It will have 2 universes (plus the Jenni universe), each with their own unique art and music styles. It will only cost $5 USD, and will be available DRM-free for Windows, Linux, and MacOS.
I'll keep this thread updated as game development progresses.
I'm working on an adventure game based on my Jenni webcomic. It's based on the inter-dimensional portal created by the character Mary in this comic and the laws of inter-dimensional travel started in this comic. The laws introduced in that comic are that each alternate universe comes with its own unique style, and any character traveling through the portal into that universe adopts the style of that universe.
I actually planned on starting on it before the portal arc of my webcomic, but decided to work the story I originally had planned for the game into the comic instead. But now I've begun working on the adventure game because I figured out a story that would work with the already established webcomic storyline (and I actually like this story better than the old one, so it worked out
).I'm using the Wintermute Engine to create it and I'll be using ScummVM to run it, since I'd like it to be available on as many systems as possible.
The game will be 1280x720 resolution, and it will be commercial. Since I'm creating this all on my own, and this is my first adventure game (not including the adventure game I made with Klik 'n' Play in high school), I don't want to burn myself out. It will be about the size of a Telltale Sam & Max episode. It will have 2 universes (plus the Jenni universe), each with their own unique art and music styles. It will only cost $5 USD, and will be available DRM-free for Windows, Linux, and MacOS.I'll keep this thread updated as game development progresses.
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Thanks.
Wow, it's been almost a half a year since I last updated it. I'll put another comic up in a few days. There's one comic I want to do that will tie the webcomic into the slight change in art style for the Jenni comic dimension in the game.
Below this point is stuff I'd already posted, but I'd forgotten that the new forum shows the first post on the top of the thread, even in classic style. I really don't want my first steps with the Wintermute engine being shown first all the time once the game gets further along.
It's still very early days (like I said, I've just started). But so far I've begun the walk cycle for the beginning of the game in the Jenni webcomic style.
I like it, I am interested.
I put in a bunch of jokes (including a bunch of in-jokes for LucasArts and Telltale games) for pretty much every interaction (it has a verb coin, which can be selected by holding down the right mouse button, the left mouse button toggles the inventory). This is the first adventure game I've created since 1997, so even though it's short (as was the aforementioned game), I'm proud to be able to release it into the wild. Enjoy!
wow. this is very interesting. I can see why they made you a moderator what with your technichal knowledge.
I'm impressed by your skills! I think I will check these out
Thanks y'all.
This is my first time ever using Moai, so if you do try it out, I'd appreciate knowing any issues you might have (outside of the two issues I mentioned here), and I'll look into fixing them ASAP. And thanks in advance for playing. 
If you're interested, I uploaded the soundtrack to bandcamp too.
Hi there! I downloaded your game, however I'm not sure how to launch it. I'm not exceptional with computers, being the 'let's click and see what happens' type, so after extracting the files from the zip and trying the 'moai-untz' application and a few other things to no avail I'm at a bit of a loss. Could you point me in the right direction?
I had to cancel my Kickstarter because my sister's fiance and my childhood friend died in the middle of the Kickstarter, and I didn't feel that it would be right to continue, as if it succeeded, I knew that I wouldn't be able to start on it for a while, as my family was in the middle of grieving. I'm glad I cancelled it also because a girl that I used to eat lunch with in high school was murdered last year. Even though I hadn't seen her for over a decade, it hit me pretty hard to think that someone who cared about me is gone (I didn't have a lot of friends in high school, and was abused pretty much every day (people who beat me up would claim that I started it - and since I didn't have any friends to back me up, the vice principal would always believe them - but in school and out of school suspension were nice times for me as it allowed me to get away from my abusers, so those who did allow me to hang out with them are definitely high on my list of fond memories). So, knowing that she's not around anymore, and that she died in a brutal way, and had children that now no longer have a mom (and that her husband was the one who was accused of killing her), is pretty tough to comprehend.
All of this is still tough, and I'm still grieving over it (it really never does as my father died sixteen years ago, and it still hits me like it was yesterday sometimes). But, I decided that since is such a personal project to me that I'd start it back up and take it back to Kickstarter, with lessons learned from the first time.
The Kickstarter was named "Mr. Mac's Rainbow Greenhouse", and it was dedicated to my father, who was a teacher who emphasized celebrating differences. My father donated his greenhouse to the school where he taught (and where he was a substitute principal, as he was going for his degree to become a principal when he contracted cancer). Teaching was his life (he was a landscaper before that, and he was never fulfilled while doing that, as even though he got to own his own business he always wanted to teach. Once he did that, he loved it (and he especially loved teaching emotionally disabled kids (while in Greene, New York he even taught physically violent children with emotional disorders, which I really admire as very few people would want to do that, and even fewer still would still be caring and compassionate after that - especially since he had to drive two hours every morning to get to work - usually three as he'd get caught in early morning traffic).
I decided to retool it a bit and combine two of my planned projects into one. In the game I was making for the topic of this thread (the Jenni Project), I had always intended to have Jenni (my semi-fictionalized comic version of myself) visit Gus and Rob which were two anthropomorphic animals that I created in high school. You can see them in the sketch about the game on the second page of the version of this topic at the Double Fine forums (I didn't realize that I didn't post the sketches here - I'll include them when I have some new sketches to show, as this thread deserves as much love as the one at Double Fine - but this post is much too large to include images in it). Mr. Mac's Rainbow Greenhouse had an adventure game that had anthropomorhic animals in my evolved drawing style. I already drew Rob in this new style and was intending to use Gus and Rob in the game - extending the adventure game I made in high school with Klik n Play back in the late 1990s.
I've since added many more anthropomorphic animals other than Gus and Rob to the roster (as you can see in the original Kickstarter link), so that Universe definitely deserves another name than simply Gus and Rob. So, I've decided to call it Adventuresome. The television show portion that I mentioned in the Kickstarter will now also be named Adventuresome, and will be inspired by Animaniacs in setup, although not quite as zany as that - in that it will have several short cartoons that each make up a 22 minute episode (and there will be musical numbers that are entertaining yet educational). This way, I can use the short cartoons that I already made by remaking them in high definition and with improvements in animation that I've learned over the years. I especially got feedback for [url=
Cupcake Topper[/url] that the chef should get angrier than she did by the end - as I ended her expression change as a smirk, and I agree that she should look exasperated by the time she uses the net on the bird.
This way, even though I'll have to remake the cartoons I already made - it will be an easier process than having to start from scratch. I'll also have to create several longer brand new short cartoons and a title and closing sequence in order to reach the 22 minute mark and make it feel like a television show. However, this process should allow me to make a pilot for the show by the time the Kickstarter goes live again - which should hopefully help its chances this time around.
For the adventure game portion of the game, I decided to use the idea I had of having the game based on my webcomic, with my webcomic version of myself traveling to different dimensions, each with a unique graphical style. The anthropomorphic world of Adventuresome will be one of them, which will work as even in my original game there were human characters (like Sam and Max, which inspired the original adventure game) and the fictionalized version of my Dad will also live in that world, as shown in the original Kickstarter pitch.
One of my other friends recently found the original Gus and Rob adventure game on a floppy disk when he was looking through his old stuff. I go to support groups now that have computers so old that they still have floppy drives (which isn't a surprise, really, as government provided programs in the United States always have outdated equipment). So, hopefully the disk is still readable after all these years, and I'll be able to access the original game. Then I should be able to recreate it using Wintermute. If I can do this, I'll include it on a computer in the game like Day of The Tentacle provided Maniac Mansion.
I might also include Doug's Moai Adventure, which is discussed on the earlier in this topic and is also based on my webcomic. I plan on converting this game to Wintermute anyway, so I should be able to include that too (I'll probably include Doug the Ogre in my Jenni Project game, so Doug's Moai Adventure will be a relevant inclusion, if that does happen).
As for Mr. Mac's Rainbow Greenhouse, I plan on using the name for any project that upholds the beliefs of supporting diversity that my dad stood for, so both the game and the television show will begin with "Mr. Mac's Rainbow Greenhouse Presents". I might create a company with this name (and possibly a non-profit organization, but I'm not familiar at all with setting one of those up or how to incorporate commercial products with the non-profit. It is possible as it's been done many times, but I'd have to look into it, and probably get legal advice, if and when I decide to do that.
So, with my Kickstarter I plan on learning from my first experience and starting the Kickstarter with much more substance. I'll have the pilot of the television show, and I'll also include a demo of the adventure game (probably the Adventuresome universe, as it's the most relevant universe to the original pitch of the first Kickstarter. Since most (if not all) of the people here have contributed to at least one crowd-funding effort, and some of you have also had experience with your own crowdfunded project, does anyone have any other advice on what I should do when I put the project back up on Kickstarter? I'd appreciate any advice, and I really appreciate all the support that you all have given me for this and all my other crazy ideas.
Wow. I am really interested (even though I don't know anything about your "Jenni" webcomic). I see you're sort of going for the "scripted/interactive" gameplay style. Seems like a great, ambitious project for you, keep up the good work!
Thanks. I'm planning on making it like Telltale's early games. I'm influenced a lot by them actually, as I'm aiming this at all audiences, so I like the idea of the sliding difficulty meter and the hints given by characters themselves if you get stuck for a certain amount of time (frequently if the hint level is high, or not at all if it is at the lowest setting). I'm also influenced by the Humongous Entertainment games, so pretty much all of the background objects allow the ability to interact with them, and will lead to humorous animations and sometimes funny comments by the characters. My earlier adventure game, Doug's Moai adventure had the ability to use every verb and every object with every other object, which often gave funny comments. This game will only have a single action as it will be controlled by a single mouse click, but the ability to use every item with every other item (whether in the inventory or just background items) will be retained in this game.