Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee ~ Episode 1 ~ Waltz (Demo)

Story

Play as Amadeus, a young werewolf struggling to understand his condition, as he navigates a tale woven by Witches. He is equal parts desperate and determined—how can one reclaim agency over themself, when afflicted by a curse that steals it from them every time the moon Aska draws full?

Amadeus: A Riddle for Thee is a narrative game heavily inspired by Umineko When They Cry thematically, and Professor Layton aesthetically. Gameplay is a blend of pure Visual Novel scenes + Point-and-Click Adventure scenes. The story is linear, and will be told in 5 sequential episodes.

This demo introduces the beginning of Episode 1 ~ Waltz. The full episode will release here Fall 2024. For news/updates in the interim, see the "More Info" section below.

Demo Features

• 20-40 minutes of playtime
• 7 detailed, hand-drawn backgrounds to explore
• 6 portrait expressions for Amadeus
• 6 original music tracks, including 1 track with 3 dynamic layers
• Point-and-Click controls with unique cursor icons to indicate player interactions
• Alternate Hover-and-Spacebar control scheme for players who have difficulty with mouse click
• Toggle for auto-scrolling text with adjustible appearance speed and delay time between textboxes
• Diegetic backlog of previously-read text
• Optional splash screen to fill window beyond 4:3 gameplay (may impact performance - see system requirements)

Controls

VN Scenes

• TAB Key: toggle Auto Text Progression on/off
• SPACE Key: display full text/progress text
• 1/2/3 Key: select choice
• Mouse click on the displayed buttons is supported as an alternative

Point-and-Click Scenes

• HOVER with mouse, cursor will change to indicate if object is interactible
• If cursor changes, MOUSE CLICK or SPACE to trigger...
  • Boot: Amadeus will MOVE to location
  • Eye: Amadeus will INSPECT distant objects
  • Hand: Amadeus will INTERACT WITH nearby objects
  • Arrow: Amadeus will MOVE to a new screen
• WASD and ARROW KEYS supported as alternative to MOVE Amadeus
• SPACE supported as alternative to INTERACT with nearby objects

UI

• ESC Key: pause/open Settings Menu
• N Key: pause/open Notebooks Menu
• To adjust sliders in Settings Menu, use mouse to click and drag the pencil icon left/right
• Menus can also be opened + closed by clicking on the buttons in the screen corners

Credits

• Game Design, Art, Music/Sound, C# Scripting, Implementation, Narrative - Leo ArcanaXIX
• Clarinet (Deal With a Witch) - Lucas Bere
• Marimba (Spellbound Mischief) - Jay Lee
• VO (Kain's Ghost) - Nat Ferare
• Narrative Consultant - Ashlee Scheuermann*
• Code Consultant - Dan Mellott
• Mix Consultant (Deal With a Witch, Spellbound Mischief) - Sonia Mokhtari
• Playtesting - Derek, Joanna, Luke, Aaron, Ashlee
• Playtesting (original prototype) - Alex, Lucas, Skipper, Nathalie, Taylor, Dan

*Ashlee also wished to be credited as "Made Everything Worse." Thank you Ashlee. <3

System Requirements

I have not yet tested on a machine that couldn't run it, so I will simply outline the tested builds for you to compare.

*Asterisk indicates the game runs smoothly UNLESS the optional "splash screen" setting is toggled on. If you have an older machine, outdated OS, and/or limited RAM, it is recommended to NOT activate this setting.

MacOS:

• 10.13.6 High Sierra (2015 MacBook Pro, 16GB RAM)*
• 11.4 Big Sur (2020 M1 MacBook Air, 8GB RAM)

Windows (64-bit ONLY):

• Windows 7 (Intel core i3, onboard graphics, 4GB RAM)*
• Windows 10 (Intel Core i7, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, 16GB RAM)
• If you only have a 32-bit system, but want to check out this demo, I can try to build a 32-bit version. I can't guarantee how it'll run but we can give it a go. Just comment and request.

Linux:

• Tested on Mint distro, but should run on others. Please let me know if any issues.

More Info

Blog, Steam Wishlist, Other Resources: linktr.ee/amadeusgame

Original browser-based prototype: https://arcanaxix.itch.io/amadeus-game

Contact: leo_arcanaxix@protonmail.com | www.arcanaxix.com