V.A.M.Productions

The Person

Hi, I'm V and I'm a solo indie based in London.
My favourite temperature is 12C, I like pasta with melted cheese and pesto, I really liked every sarsaparilla drink I've had so far, and my favourite fruit is mango.

The Project: Absolution Society

Novo Corvo, a bustling port city on the island of Amorina, only 30 years after its emergence from the the ether and the destruction of the Northmost Azores Islands has been ravaged by industry.
The Volcano does little to deter mining operations, the corporations have bought the island in its entirety, and the refineries pump smoke into the skies that darken the city to near-perpetual night.

Its emergence from the ether has corporations pulling in cheap labour, clawing at the land for rare earth elements and the old structures are all but picked clean by museums and scavengers. Now people are going missing. The mines aren't collapsing as often, the security has increased, but each time the ferry arrives there's another fresh faced family coming in and another slew of black heavy bags heading back. 

What could possibly be getting people to rush to fill their spots (it's the mortgage rates from the mortality I guess) and why is no one asking questions about what's getting them?

That's where you come in.
Armed with an unlimited 5G plan, your dad's old muscle car, and a phone that doesn't lose its whole charge in eight minutes, you're getting on the ferry, you're booking a motel, and you're finding answers.

The Plans

• Cooperative Gameplay:
  Take the lead as the head of a small group of investigators and build your way up to a real force against the darkness with friends at your side, or take on newer players as interns to really show them what they're up against if they'll accept the risk. (red shirt included)
• Civilian presence that matters:
  Listen to the people that hire you, listen to the neighbours, listen to the walls. Not everyone is telling the truth, for better or worse, and discerning truth from fiction is what separates teams from being on the front page for debunking great claims, or in the obituaries for walking into them unprepared. 
• Urban Exploration:
  From humble beginnings with just a phone and your wits, push forward to explore the city streets and take on the dens and nests of all manner of beasts with your expanding arsenal of finely researched (see also: things that looked cool when they worked once) weapons and tools.
• Debunking and Combat:
  Use your brains first, and your brawn second. Not every call to action will be Qo'gsh'theth the Unfunky One smacking his lips and getting into mischief. Some people are just scared. If they're right to be, well, that's for you to figure out.
• Arsenal and Attention:
  As you push back against the night, you may stumble upon better ways to identify, dispatch, or dispel the paranormal goings on, but being good at ending a horror's time on this earth might attract some attention. With great power comes great need to padlock your doors five times and salt all the entrances to your office.

The Push

This project has been on my mind in some capacity for over a decade now. I've flirted with the gameplay mechanics, I've had impostor syndrome episodes that wiped entire hard drives, and frankly, I've seen games do things better than I had thought of and felt defeated.

However

If I don't start, if I don't let myself try, if I keep worrying that I'm not going to do as good a job as the other devs in the world, then I'm never going to do anything at all.
I want to get this out there, to get my vision at least a little bit built, and I'm happy to welcome anyone along the way that cares to join me on the journey.

The Process

I'm going to be streaming my work on this on Wednesdays, sometimes it'll be progress, sometimes I'll just appear to be faffing about for a few hours because I need all my folders to be a certain structure or I'll go mental.
Be patient with me, and by all means help me understand where I'm going wrong, and maybe we can end up with a game that goes hard. (an MVP that goes mild first, perhaps, or some vertical slices that go a little wild with it from time to time (what the hell am I talking about))

Keep in touch!

• Twitch: Villicent
• YouTube: vam.productions
• Discord: Coming Soon!
• Patreon: VAMProductions