Hey eyeballs!
COCOA has officially entered serious development for the demo version! The demo will cover Level 1, showcasing both the chocolate factory and the child labor section—about a third of the full game’s content. Besides gameplay, one of our main focuses is on creating intricate cutscenes. These cutscenes are highly detailed and made up of numerous still frames within a single sequence. While the full version will feature around 20 cutscenes, the demo will contain about 7.
Our goal is to convey the characters’ emotions in a way that enhances the story. Since the in-game graphics are fairly simple and innocent-looking, we want the cutscenes to serve as a sort of “zoom in,” capturing the serious themes of the game in a meaningful way.
In this blog, we’re excited to share Nic’s initial storyboard sketches for the cutscenes! He’s sketched everything by hand, focusing on the characters’ actions and expressions rather than polish, so please keep in mind that these are rough drafts.
Intro
The intro is extremely long and one of the emotional hooks when you starting up the game, so we would only show a few handful of them. There’s 105 frames in total :’)
Chocolate Factory – Level 1 Ending
This cutscene is much shorter, 24 frames in total. But we’ll still show only a few handful of them as this would be a crucial scene in the game.
How’s Actual Development?
As we mentioned, we’re currently focused on building in-game content. This includes creating quests, NPCs, dialogues, cutscenes, and everything else needed to make COCOA a cohesive and engaging experience. We’ve also completed the map design for the demo version after multiple iterations. COCOA’s map is designed to be challenging, but fair. Rather than making it excessively large and disorienting, we’ve opted for a medium-sized map that creates a feeling of mystery without overwhelming the player. To help players navigate, we’ve added environmental markers—like scattered papers, lamps, rocks, and unique layouts—so they can connect different areas and build a mental map of their surroundings.
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