[T] SYNOPSIS RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (game unfinished, full-length synopsis released)

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risefromtheashes
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○

Post by risefromtheashes »

Responses in orange.
Nicky Boy wrote:
Spoiler : SoC :
Hmm, some sounds don't load, apparently. Let's hope its just sound effects or my internet being bad (I've refreshed a couple of times already just to be sure)
I think I need to use a different hosting website. But yeah- all the SFX and music work fine for me personally, but for people with worse Internet, it seems they're particularly glitchy. I'll figure out what the hell to do with it.

Mental issue awareness... That's a great goal!
Thanks! :))

*cheer*
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Cancelled?.... I suspect death
What else would you think happened? hmm

Yup...

"It's almost shinier than Apollo's forehead..." I'm dying :calisto:
I love the badge.

*lobby is silent* oops... Guess I'll go on mute?
SOWWY

For a sec I confused Nina for a character in my series (random characters ftw!) and I was like "Wait a minute..."
They literally both used the line "I trust you, so I feel okay". I was shook when I played your demo. lmao

Sorry to tell you, Athena, but you're not supposed to judo throw anyone...
I mean she can step on me-- I mean, huh? I didn't hear anything..

YouVideo... Wonder what inspired that name?
A video of myself.

But that's a proposition.... A GAME proposition!
GAYME

500 bucks for an all access pass!... Wow
Real-life VidCon passes are HELLA expensive.

Oh good, Logic plays
:) I like that theme

Rule #1: DO NOT PICK UP EVIDENCE
That's Rule #2, Rule #1 is "don't pick up evidence if you're the murderer"

Nina knows too much about the crime... Could she be...
;)

Oh Athena talks psychology. Alright
Gotta get some of that KNOWLEDGE.

Oooh romance~
...but she's not gay... :(

Ooh, evidence pics! Nice!
send evidence

LMAO Nina, Athena wasn't hit :calisto:
Nina worries a lot for her friendos.

"It doesn't look like it will help much of the case" I believe this screams "you better use this somewhere"
;)

Phoenix Wright: Ace Bluffer, anyone?
Keys, anyone?

Let Nina look deep into your soul... As you slowly lose consciousness...
As you lose consciousness... and then wake up in heaven because you died...

"Generic pre-trial monologue" generic SoC response
I should be less direct about that line.

Quite the characters, indeed...
HERR FOREHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAD, WHERE ARE MY CLOTHES? DID YOU TAKE THEM AGAIN?

What do you mean you shouldn't always use your attorney ability in each game to win?
>:C they overused them

Court plays too. So I suspect it was just the lobby theme that didn't load for me. Shame.
Ahh, and the lobby theme was a fan favorite... :(

wasn't he Biblical ATHENA I SWEAR :calisto:
Yes bish, he was. Lawrence Chambers was the first judge. He judged people before Jesus did.

that said, a given name for the judge. Interesting.
To differentiate between him and the grandson he mentions in like ten lines.

Oh you know, I overthrow monarchies every day. No biggie
I overthrew my parents-- Hmm?

Yay, psychologist Athena! (But you're babbling too much and maybe Blackquil will be like Silence!)
She's been out of the States for 9 months, give her a break.

What's this? A judge that isn't him or his brother? Heresy!
His name will literally just be Law Chambers, just watch.

Wow Athena, burn :calisto:
I'M SO QUIRKY! says Widget.

OMG WIDGET
We stan and support Widget.

*Thrill music* hoh?
I'm confused about this comment. Huh?

"A web site? Is that a location where spiders go to work?" I AUDIBLY SCREECHED :calisto:
I want to hear that.

I honestly can't believe this judge still presides over cases when he's dumb like that
He's old, not dumb. Look at how he acts for the rest of the trial.

"(Maybe he showed him... Oh, he DIDN'T! That pesky Weeklymotion! Miveo...!)" I have no idea what this is LOL
Dailymotion and Vimeo are basically what are considered the "knockoff" YouTube websites, because they're so unpopular.

Hmmm, I'd expect all-access holders to go through tighter security. After all, they can go mostly everywhere.
Retconning and making the organizers of the event look extra stupid is fun.

...Yet, Simon?
He wants to scare her.

Oh great, now we're exchanging threats openly
*pulls out knife* are you sure you want to do that?

I love how ignorant the judge is when it comes to technology
He calls Widget a "thingamajig" and a "whatchamacallit".

I believe there's an F-bomb somewhere in that screenshot, yes?
Nah.

Oh, it's just that.
Yeah.

Ok, is the suspense music supposed to be... screetchy and messed up? Cause I'm mildly freaking out right now...
That's the idea! :)

Ok, at least I know my computer is not messed up since all sounds play fine. Still freaking me out
;) I'm glad you like it! I was proud of the Suspense music - SuperCykes really pulled through for me, hehe.

Well, Nina sure is one heck of a speedwriter if she can write that block of text and the two follwing ones in one minute...
Well, she's certainly not the Judge.

Also, the final text is definitely not sent by him...
hmm... ;)

"If people killed for every insult that was thrown at them, we'd all be dead!" true
The original line I used for that was "...at them, our middle schools would be cemeteries!" but I realized that was EXTREMELY random, and while funny, it would've broken immersion.

Ok, small break, I think that the music is messed up because it didn't load pr-- oh, now its muted its-- no it's bac-- no it's muted again... I tried reloading again, it didn't work... Guess I'll manually mute for a bit
SOWWYYYYY

"He dared to call / HER the innocent fanatic..." seems to be disconnected from each other at the /
I put a pause there for emphasis.

I suspect her, too, tbh. (Hey, we don't always know if our client is innocent or not, right?)
;)

"Now that that fiasco is over..." sounds a bit redundant
Simon's being a bit of an a-hole, I'll admit.

A DA with an opening statement? What sorcery is this? Real court?
Just a fun little gimmick.

Multiple choices = saving time
Thank god.

B) NO opening statement:
"It will prove Ms. Phan's innocence with hard evidence. (And bluffs. And luck.)" I feel you, Athena...
That's pretty much what happens in every case, though, right?

A) A bad one:
Beseech, oh my god, such vocabulary
Remember, this *is* court.

"Nina Phan murdered two people over being called a [Censored. Please be polite]." pretty much
I mean, if she's that petty...

*screen fades back to...* erm, where's the detective?...
:)

???: "Wait, something's wrong... Huh?" yes, that's what I said
"I think I dropped something... probably my sanity..."

Oh there she is
I promise that was intentional.

"Just cause you're a regular at the geriatrics facility doesn't mean everyone under 18 is a baby!" :calisto:
"Eh?"

"(If she says Ema Skye, I'm going to scream.)" Mood
EMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"ema Skye" oh boy... here it comes...
...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

"Were you just internally screaming about how I look similar to her?" Excuse me, we want the 4th wall in place
The 4th wall, maybe, but our emotional walls, no.

Hoh, no testimony sound effect, too? Why didn't it load all the nice ones...
Oh god dammit.

Oh no, the CE music is slightly broken too... Why are you doing this to me, loader :cry: That said, the part that loads fine sounds really nice!
I'M SO SORRY.

Ooh, funky upbeat objection music! And it loaded perfectly!
I'm glad you like it!

Ooh, more funky upbeat objection music! But this one didn't load perfectly!
The way you worded this sounds like the dialogue when you run away from an enemy in EarthBound. lmao

I swear the music is so good but it got ruined by not loading properly for me...
I'M SORRY. I'M SO SORRY.

Threatening the gallery... wow
Judge has no problems with that.

Sneaky Blackquil...
Hah.

Well, I didn't call him a bastard, Athena...
Didn't she call him an ass?

("Please"?!) Shooketh!
He protecc, he attacc, but most importantly, he cut witness some slacc

Oh noes, it's a kid!
CHILD. TODDLER. BABY. INFANT. FETUS.

"(I really feel for this kid...)" Fell what, Athena? YOU HAVE THE WIDGET HERE, TELL US!
To "feel for" someone means to empathize with them. It doesn't mean any specific feeling.

Therapy?
Yes, that's the point of this game.

Ooh, nice!Not nice that the mood matrix music is slightly broken too...
DAMN IT.

Hmm, maybe differentiate the present and press failure statements?
Didn't have time to do that, but the PyWright release will have a different way of working with MM2.0.

He's a talented artist! Nice!
Random plug, but go follow my friend @strawarakaart on Instagram, so is she.

Smart kiddo, tbh!
Yes, he is! :3

"(I had to get immersed in helping Sessler feel better!)" erm, what?
The idea is that she was trying to get rid of Sessler's discord/noise level and was too focused on the noise level to realize that she wasn't getting any pertinent information that would change the case.

oh nevermind

Forged evidence?!
YES.

Janet, what the hell?
You can't take the jail out of a crook!

That preview though...
THIS IS A TELENOVELA.
Spoiler : Final thoughts :
I have to say, this was a really exciting demo! While I'll admit my knowledge of DD and SoJ is kinda lacking so I may have missed a few more discrete nods to these, I liked how Athena was written. Nina got even more mysterious than she was, and Simon looked a bit too... worked up about this case. Like, he was forced to prove her guilt, despite dissing the gallery for making him into a bad guy at first.

The logic wasn't hard to follow, though the only thing that wasn't obvious was pressing his feeling anger about the Meet & Greet. I honestly didn't find it abnormal at first, but I guess it can be perceived that way. I also pointed out a thing or two in my SoC.

Also interesting was how you diverged from the normal AA-style court sessions!
I'm glad you enjoyed it so much! I might make the "anger" a bit more obvious (maybe a bit bigger font size), and I'm glad you noticed the issues with the characters (Nina being mysterious and Simon being worked up - especially the part where he tells the gallery not to yell at Nina but then threatens her, like- that's not the Simon we're used to, is it?)
Overall, I'm really excited for the finished product! I highly encourage people to try this demo!
The Mindcastle System
(Don't know what a system is? Play 6-4, and take a look here.)
----------
OUR CASES:
- Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (synopsis)
- May Your Memory Be a Blessing
- A Little Piece of Healing
- The Killer Turnabout (~70% complete!)
- I guess we made the Looking Back case comp ceremony with Super legenda, but that's not an actual case

----------
Check out our music & art thread here!
ItsAllAboutTheTruth
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○

Post by ItsAllAboutTheTruth »

You guys actually did a great job, i can you've been working very hard these past 16 months!

I really couldn't find any serious flaw in the case, only a few things that kinda bothered me, which where:
Spoiler : :
- I felt like Athena's "Breakdown" sprite was kinda overused, it really should be something that we see in really serious occasions.

-While playing the case, it felt like Athena was being way too aggressive for her usual self, that's kinda hard to comprehend, since she's supposedly going into the trial with more confidence than usual.

Other than that, everything felt really good, love what you guys did with the mood matrix and how the approach to therapy sessions has changed. Also, playing as a more mature Athena feels really good!

The different trial procedure also makes the game look much more like a real trial, loved it! We finally get opening statements!
I only have one question: Do you guys have plans for making trials (in this series) with characters other than Athena as main attorney? I'm only asking this because the characters are really well written in my opinion and i'd love to see a little bit of Phoenix or Apollo being written in a similar manner, specially Phoenix, because it's been a while since I've see any good writing of his character both in here or in the main games.

But really, great job guys, you've been doing some phenomenal work out there and deserve much praise for it! I look forward to seeing how this series develops itself and any other future projects of the team!
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risefromtheashes
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○

Post by risefromtheashes »

Responses in orange!
ItsAllAboutTheTruth wrote:You guys actually did a great job, i can you've been working very hard these past 16 months!
Thank you! It's been a super hard journey for me personally (mental health stuff, coincidentally, hah), and my team has worked so incredibly hard! They've put in a lot of effort so that we could all make this happen. :) It's nice to see our effort acknowledged and validated!

I really couldn't find any serious flaw in the case, only a few things that kinda bothered me, which where:
Spoiler : :
- I felt like Athena's "Breakdown" sprite was kinda overused, it really should be something that we see in really serious occasions.
Hmm, fair point. Maybe I should only keep the second usage of it - when she realizes that she focused too much on Sessler's discord and not enough on making a breakthrough to save Nina. That's a fair one to break down at, considering that Nina's supposed to be nearly as close of a friend as Juniper. That, and here, the reason for her breakdown is supposed to be that she really does have nothing else to go off of, rather than her inexperience.

-While playing the case, it felt like Athena was being way too aggressive for her usual self, that's kinda hard to comprehend, since she's supposedly going into the trial with more confidence than usual.
It's a little difficult for me to comment on this one, because this is partly supposed to be intentional, and I don't know if your assessment of her behavior would still be excessive considering my plan with this case. Let's just say that part of her aggression is supposed to be her anger at Simon's own aggression towards Nina (makes sense, right?), and that will be touched upon in the full case. That, and it's possible that she may be *sliiiiiiiightly* defensive because Simon shut down her argument from the start with his opening statement and presenting of the screenshot.

Other than that, everything felt really good, love what you guys did with the mood matrix and how the approach to therapy sessions has changed. Also, playing as a more mature Athena feels really good!
Thank you! I really wanted to go deeper into the psychology aspect of the Mood Matrix, since "happy", "sad", "angry", and "surprised" are VERY basic assessments of all the emotions that the human brain can process. (My own mental experience being one of NUMEROUS reasons I wanted to portray that in such a way.) I feel like- especially for a game oriented around mental health- that the four emotion markers used in the official 3DS games would be extremely insufficient to convey the depth that I want to convey. I feel like this is more accurate to what real-life therapy is like, and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback on the new system. (Tangent: I kept penalties out for a reason- penalizing someone for making a mistake in reading someone's emotions is nothing but hurtful, especially considering their client is IN THE ROOM.)
I'm glad you like the new Athena! I feel like she was portrayed as... weak? In the official games. In 5-1, Phoenix had to bail her out. In 5-3, she had a full mental breakdown in court, and in my opinion, that wasn't depicted too accurately to how breakdowns happen. I personally wouldn't snap out of a full-ass "the world is ending" thought process like that over just a few sentences uttered to me. In 5-2, 5-4, 5-5, and 5-DLC, she was the aide, and while there were definitely some good Mood Matrixes (Jinxie comes to mind), her potential didn't seem to be unleashed in DD. And in SoJ, she was pretty much nonexistent, except for 6-4, where Simon saved her entire case and held her hand quite a bit, from what I remember. I see her as a much more strong and able character than the canon games made her out to be, and one who - while dealing with emotional difficulties due to her trauma and possible fears of losing more people she cares about - can do her job damn well (and by herself) when she tries.


The different trial procedure also makes the game look much more like a real trial, loved it! We finally get opening statements!
Hehe. I'm trying to make the opening statements more than a fun, useless gimmick in the full game. It would be fun to have some dialogue later in each case change, depending on how the defense's opening statement is made. Or maybe even a contradiction could be missed, again depending on the opening statement...? ;)
I'm glad you're enjoying the updated system! I'm definitely going to make the jury stand out more in the full game, because the idea behind that is that the jury system would be a lot more fitting for a psychology-based game. That being because - recall 4-4 - the judge system only relies on facts, evidence, and contradictions, while the jury system additionally relies on intuition, emotions, common sense, and each juror's mental processes. Maybe I'll make a scene where (possibly even depending on previous choices) the jury's deliberation is shown, involving dialogue from all the jurors. Not even the way DGS does it - I mean even deeper than that.
I only have one question: Do you guys have plans for making trials (in this series) with characters other than Athena as main attorney? I'm only asking this because the characters are really well written in my opinion and i'd love to see a little bit of Phoenix or Apollo being written in a similar manner, specially Phoenix, because it's been a while since I've see any good writing of his character both in here or in the main games.
I'm definitely going to be including Phoenix, Apollo, and others in each case, but I don't see anyone else being the main attorney for any cases in this game. That being because: first of all, this is "Athena Cykes ~ Ace Attorney" (even though the 3DS games screw with the titles and main attorneys, I don't want to do that). Second of all, it would take away from the idea of this being Athena's story. (Refer to the OP - the synopsis should give you the idea that this game centers around Athena and her experience in chasing after the evasive serial killer.) I definitely want all of the other characters to get rather deeply involved in the plot, though. I have some ideas for Simon, Phoenix, and Apollo, and I won't say any more because they were the only characters Athena spoke to or about in the demo.
And one thing that might be slightly controversial: I enjoyed Hobo!Phoenix more than most people. I don't plan to revert Phoenix's character from his DD/SoJ persona to his AJ persona (although I wish the writers didn't change him the way they did for the 3DS games), but his character won't be the same as his 3DS appearances. To me, his 3DS personality was basically the same as in the trilogy, just in the position of mentor, and thus rather naive. Still with the whole "unequivocally" trust your client" message that I'm not a huge fan of. I plan for him to be *somewhat* cryptic and mysterious like in AJ, but overall with intentions that, while obviously for good, don't involve evidence forgery and such things. I want him to be a force of good, but with some darkness, mystery, and possibly cynicism remaining because of the events of AJ. Definitely with a soft and teasing fatherly side for Trucy, and a somber side with a piercing gaze for when things really get serious. I see him as the father who wants to protect his daughter and do the best for his co-workers while not fully opening up and trying to hold everyone's hand unless needed. I hope that intrigues you. ;)
That, and "the worst of times is when lawyers have to force their biggest smiles" is going to be interesting to work with, considering that most mental health professionals worth their salt will tell you to not be inauthentic unless absolutely necessary. It might be interesting to see Phoenix and Athena clash over this idea... ;) ;)


But really, great job guys, you've been doing some phenomenal work out there and deserve much praise for it! I look forward to seeing how this series develops itself and any other future projects of the team!
Thank you so much! I'm really grateful for your feedback, and sorry for the extremely long replies! I hope this is helpful for anyone reading this thread to understand my intentions with LotH. And hopefully you aren't disappointed by how this game progresses!
The Mindcastle System
(Don't know what a system is? Play 6-4, and take a look here.)
----------
OUR CASES:
- Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (synopsis)
- May Your Memory Be a Blessing
- A Little Piece of Healing
- The Killer Turnabout (~70% complete!)
- I guess we made the Looking Back case comp ceremony with Super legenda, but that's not an actual case

----------
Check out our music & art thread here!
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Off-the-grounder
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by Off-the-grounder »

The invite to the Discord server is down. Can you post a new one?
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risefromtheashes
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by risefromtheashes »

Off-the-grounder wrote: Tue Feb 23, 2021 9:09 pm The invite to the Discord server is down. Can you post a new one?
Oh, I never posted an official update, but the project's been on semi-permanent hiatus (i.e. pretty much cancelled, but nothing's been wiped) for almost a year now. So I deactivated the invite link.
The Mindcastle System
(Don't know what a system is? Play 6-4, and take a look here.)
----------
OUR CASES:
- Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (synopsis)
- May Your Memory Be a Blessing
- A Little Piece of Healing
- The Killer Turnabout (~70% complete!)
- I guess we made the Looking Back case comp ceremony with Super legenda, but that's not an actual case

----------
Check out our music & art thread here!
User avatar
Off-the-grounder
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Spoken languages: English

Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by Off-the-grounder »

Ah.
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Darwn
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by Darwn »

Athena Cykes ~Locks on the Heart Demo Review by Darwn

Before going on a review of your case, I would like to make some remarks about myself. I am a big fan of the franchise and it is just recently that I decided to be more active on AAO. This is the second case I play entirely so my criticism is not that of an expert :lol:. However, I myself am in the middle of creating a case and authors like you inspire me really much. Now, let's talk about the case. (Note: Excuse my poor English, as it is not my native language)


Review:
Spoiler : :
Graphics
I know it is sometimes hard to find sprites or have to create some for AAO and your trials, but you did pretty well. The sprites of Athena and Blackquill were great in 2D, and the sprites of Nina were also interesting. One thing to note however is that I found like the "depression" sprite of Athena was used to much. It would be better to see it in time of total crisis. The footage of the camera was well drawn, but I couldn't see well the time lapse on the top right because the colors were practically identical.

Gameplay
Good job on that, there's only good thing to say about that. The first testimony was pretty short and the contradiction was easy to spot. However, I first thought that knife contradicted the detective's statement because there no inch fingerprints :lol:. The second testimony was a bit more harder because I rapidly forgot the fact that the bigger the text was, the harder the emotion was felt. I was stuck on that during a long time. I like the Mood Matrix 2.0, it felt a bit like the new gameplay in SoJ.

Story
First of all, I love the fact that we are playing Athena (she finally has a case for herself) and that you were inspired by mental issues/problems. I personally am fascinated by psychology and that's what makes me love it. In addition, having two victims is pretty surprising (in a good way) for a first case and they make things more interesting with greater possibilities. The case was a bit hard to understand at first because we had too much information all of a sudden. There was a lot of suspense, especially at the end where Nina accuses Blackquill of forged evidence! I was chocked when I read that :shock:. I can't wait to continue playing.

Music and others
Great choice of music! :nod: I liked every track. About Athena/Blackquill/Nina's objection voices, they sometime didn't work and I was hearing them *after* the objection bubble. The same goes for the "slam desk" sound too. Maybe it is my computer?
Overall, I *loved* this demo case and I hope I'll be able to play the next chapters! You got my interest on that one, honestly.
Thank you for the great time,
- Darwn
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by applekitty »

I love just going through the forums to see what I can play. Though I know this project is on indefinite hiatus, I thought I should play the demo anyways, regardless. Here's my liveblog! Read from left to right, then down.
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by risefromtheashes »

ChingKittyCat wrote: Tue Aug 10, 2021 2:17 am I love just going through the forums to see what I can play. Though I know this project is on indefinite hiatus, I thought I should play the demo anyways, regardless. Here's my liveblog! Read from left to right, then down.
So, I don't check this forum super often, but SuperAj3 mentioned to me that you replied with this and I read it and OH MY GOD I WAS FREAKING ROFLING.

"captain sparkles is DEAD"
"NOOOWAH CAPTAIN SPARKLES"
"saphic detectvded"
"franscica"
"YOU NEED TO LEARN TRIGINOMITRY GIRL!!!!"
"'ever since dual destinies proved you were some p**sy ass b*tch and not a murderer i have never been scared of you since. maybe kill someone and i'll think about it :middle_finger:"
"THEY THINK BLACKQUILL FORGED A SCREENSHOT GIRL THE TWITTER DRAMA IS SO INTENSE :heart_eyes:"

^ those were my favorite comments.

Also, the Mood Matrix 2.0 thing was actually more because I feel like the DD/SoJ Mood Matrix is a bit simplistic, as opposed to being because of AAO/asset limitations (there is actually an AAO Mood Matrix thing that someone created). I probably would've made further modifications to it, but given that I was like 15 when I started this project and 16 when I released the demo, [insert comment about how my brain didn't work well enough to think of something a little better].

Also, also, how the hell did you make the text box white and the text black? That looks SO COOL.

Final comments: Given this project's state of indefinite hiatus, I may one day release a thing detailing what would've happened in the story, but no guarantees.
The Mindcastle System
(Don't know what a system is? Play 6-4, and take a look here.)
----------
OUR CASES:
- Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (synopsis)
- May Your Memory Be a Blessing
- A Little Piece of Healing
- The Killer Turnabout (~70% complete!)
- I guess we made the Looking Back case comp ceremony with Super legenda, but that's not an actual case

----------
Check out our music & art thread here!
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applekitty
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by applekitty »

risefromtheashes wrote: Thu Aug 12, 2021 12:17 am
So, I don't check this forum super often, but SuperAj3 mentioned to me that you replied with this and I read it and OH MY GOD I WAS FREAKING ROFLING.

"captain sparkles is DEAD"
"NOOOWAH CAPTAIN SPARKLES"
"saphic detectvded"
"franscica"
"YOU NEED TO LEARN TRIGINOMITRY GIRL!!!!"
"'ever since dual destinies proved you were some p**sy ass b*tch and not a murderer i have never been scared of you since. maybe kill someone and i'll think about it :middle_finger:"
"THEY THINK BLACKQUILL FORGED A SCREENSHOT GIRL THE TWITTER DRAMA IS SO INTENSE :heart_eyes:"

^ those were my favorite comments.

Also, the Mood Matrix 2.0 thing was actually more because I feel like the DD/SoJ Mood Matrix is a bit simplistic, as opposed to being because of AAO/asset limitations (there is actually an AAO Mood Matrix thing that someone created). I probably would've made further modifications to it, but given that I was like 15 when I started this project and 16 when I released the demo, [insert comment about how my brain didn't work well enough to think of something a little better].

Also, also, how the hell did you make the text box white and the text black? That looks SO COOL.

Final comments: Given this project's state of indefinite hiatus, I may one day release a thing detailing what would've happened in the story, but no guarantees.
Aah, gotcha. I've seen a few mood matrix things floating around, yeah. It's given me some insight into how the system would work, and for sure yours is a lot more indepth and specific than the one we see in Dual Destinies. Like, with yours, you can pinpoint the exact word for specific emotions, while in Dual Destinies / SOJ, it is a little more basic and leaves stuff open for extrapolation. Both have their upsides, though, for sure.

The white textbox with black text is a side effect of my google chrome extension, Dark Reader, which inverts value-inverts the colors on all the websites I visit. I use Chrome, but it works for Firefox too. It's been a real help for my eyes, since the black backgrounds don't strain them as much when I'm playing stuff late at night.

I'd love to know the full story, to be honest! Even if it were just summaries. Though, of course, if you're not as invested about the project's story anymore it'd be totally understandable if you wouldn't want to share it. :P

Glad you liked my liveblog, though! I try to do them frequently so that way people feel motivated by them. I know there's nothing better than seeing someone's immediate reactions to something you've made, in full detail, with screenshots.
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risefromtheashes
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Re: [T] DEMO RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart ○○○○○○○

Post by risefromtheashes »

SURPRISE!!!
(Ashley, she/they)
Now, we did 100% cancel this project, but... we couldn't let go of it for all these years. Not without giving you all a proper summary of what it would've been like. This project is special to us, and I had to put some form of it out there, in its entirety.

This is 90 pages long.

All the trigger warnings for abuse, violence, and trauma. Naturally.

Please leave feedback. We put 3+ years into this in total, before and after we announced the project's hiatus.

(And frankly, even though we had the general outline for case 2 and major ideas for cases 3-5 written out, we improvised 80% of everything we wrote for those. And even one character thing in case 1. We put a ton of work into this synopsis this last week/month to really make it feel complete -- and frankly. 50 of the 90 pages were written in the last 72 hours. But it feels right.)
The Mindcastle System
(Don't know what a system is? Play 6-4, and take a look here.)
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OUR CASES:
- Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (synopsis)
- May Your Memory Be a Blessing
- A Little Piece of Healing
- The Killer Turnabout (~70% complete!)
- I guess we made the Looking Back case comp ceremony with Super legenda, but that's not an actual case

----------
Check out our music & art thread here!
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ikuzonos
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Re: [T] SYNOPSIS RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (game unfinished, full-length synopsis released)

Post by ikuzonos »

LoTH is kino and if you haven't read the synopsis yet, you're a fool missing out on a brilliant story. Spoilerific thoughts below.
Spoiler : :
I think LoTH is a story about healing, but also about disempowerment. Recovery is a core focus in the story. You have people who make sincere mistakes trying to learn from them and do better. People in bad places trying to climb back out. And Athena's role as a psychologist facilitates this perfectly; it's the necessary lens for understanding the themes. You get to see all the interconnected threads coming together and the consequences of everyone's actions (Athena's included).

Simultaneously, none of the cases end cleanly. You have to struggle with a kind of realism you rarely see in canon Ace Attorney; there's no maniacal laughing killer with a wild breakdown.
Case 1? Actually, it was this abused and neglected kid.
Case 2? Actually, it was a suicide and his friends just wanted to prevent religious guilt from tainting his memory.
Case 3? You caught the killer...! But he killed himself on the stand....? And he didn't even do it......?
Case 4? Your client that you just saved from murder charges is a serial killer.
Case 5? After gently and carefully talking her down from suicide, Eleanor kills herself anyways.
You don't get a happy ending, not really. Because a perfect happy ending isn't realistic. You face the consequences of your actions. The disempowerment is wonderful, and it works so brilliantly for LoTH.
Read the synopsis. Stan Ashe and the rest of Mindcastle. Do it. That's an order.
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Re: [T] SYNOPSIS RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (game unfinished, full-length synopsis released)

Post by TheDeadMan »

JavierwithaJ wrote: Mon Dec 11, 2023 4:33 pm It really just feels like you added whatever mental disorders you could think of and because of that the story is just WAY too heavy.
Well, can you really expect anything else from an Athena Cykes: Ace Attorney fangame named "Locks on the Heart"? Her entire gimmick is that she's a therapist and a lawyer (massive generalization, but you get what I mean).
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Re: [T] SYNOPSIS RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (game unfinished, full-length synopsis released)

Post by casewriter »

Quote of now-deleted post removed by moderation.
Spoiler : :
I can agree with the prosecutor part. She was a bit of disappointment. She didn't really do much at the end.
Last edited by Enthalpy on Thu Dec 14, 2023 4:06 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: Removing deleted post.
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GuardianDreamer
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Re: [T] SYNOPSIS RELEASED! Athena Cykes ~ Locks on the Heart (game unfinished, full-length synopsis released)

Post by GuardianDreamer »

I appreciate being able to get all these brain thoughts out there. Some neat ideas in here, particularly with case 2 which was the standout for me in terms of how it was described. While this project may have been canceled, I wish you the best of luck in future projects and using all that you've learned and what you've reflected on within these notes to keep going growing as a creator. Thank you for making.
Hosted The Year of Luigi competition (and here's the awards ceremony).
Current AAO projects (to be completed eventually, probably, hopefully): A Silly Little Dream (hopefully 2024), My Dearest Direst Disgrace (hopefully 2025)
Stuff I've made on here: QotU
Make My Life Worse
Malleus Maleficarum: The Witch of San Ignacio
The Six Transgender Lesbian Goddesses of Love Are Having A Petty Argument, So They Try To Settle Things Alongside The Three Transgender Gay Gods of Flavor
Defend Him, Not Me!
The Guardian and the Dreamer
I was a guest judge and did a bit of writing for the TICKING TIME BOMB competition.
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