It’s been over two weeks since our last devlog.
We spent almost the entire first week wrestling with the script. The director, writers, artists, and programmers pulled several all-nighters in a row, going through the plot scene by scene and tweaking the dialogue line by line.
We won't bother counting exactly how many sleepless nights that took. The good news is that the new script is officially finalized!
The story is divided into six chapters; Chapter 1 is currently about 80% complete, and the film has officially entered the mass production phase. The project is finally transforming from scripts, sketches, and storyboards back into actual, visible moving images.
At the very least, for the first time, we have a clear feeling: we are incredibly confident in this story!
We’ve included a short clip from the new version at the end of this post. It’s really brief—only a few seconds long.
(A few seconds still counts as progress. Yep...)
Playing a game within the game
Beyond the interactive cinematic gameplay, LIMINAL: Within*features a second gameplay mode: a pixel-art RPG adventure!
Once the story reaches a certain point, players enter a pixelated world they can freely explore. The visuals and controls are reminiscent of the GBA RPG era—*Pokémon Sapphire* is a reference we often cite internally.
Players can control their character to explore environments, interact with NPCs and objects, and enter different levels; some areas even feature combat encounters.
Simply put, within LIMINAL: Within, you get to personally play the mysterious game that the protagonist, Shuichi Hirata, encounters.
To unravel the mysteries that crop up in the cinematic story, you’ll need to use your wits to find key clues within this pixelated world. Don't underestimate any story sequence—a crucial clue might be hidden in a scene that looks completely innocent, so keep a sharp eye out!
As for what this "game-within-a-game" is actually about, or how it connects to the real-world case—well, we’re going to keep that a secret for now.
We’ll write a dedicated post about it once this section is ready to be shown off. Stay tuned!
Our biggest challenge right now is crafting a high-quality "movie" that lasts three to four hours.
Many game development teams spend a vast amount of time polishing stats, game systems, and controls. The challenge we face at this stage is akin to filmmaking: how do we keep players engaged enough to follow a mystery story for three to four hours straight?
To truly captivate players, we are polishing this game with the same mindset used to craft a film. The script, dialogue, art style, and cinematic sequences all serve a single purpose: making the story compelling, maintaining momentum, and ensuring that after one scene ends, the player is eager to see what happens next.
That is precisely why we decided to start over from scratch last month.
We haven't neglected the gameplay mechanics, either. Branching choices, investigation systems, and QTEs are being fine-tuned in tandem; players will need to make judgments at critical moments and witness the consequences of their decisions.
We took the old demo to a playtest event.
Last week, we brought the closed-beta demo of *Thriller Paradise: LIMINAL: Within to an on-site playtest event hosted by OUTPUT.
As mentioned in our previous update, the currently public Steam page and this demo both stem from an earlier stage of development. The script and art have since undergone significant changes, so the final release will look and feel quite different.
Nevertheless, the playtest gave us a huge confidence boost.
Attendees included players, fellow developers, and friends from the industry. Some engaged in serious discussions about the plot, others eagerly asked about the consequences of specific choices, and some sat down and played through every available section. The overall feedback was far better than we had anticipated.
During development, we mostly see problems day in and day out: the pacing is too slow here, a character's motivation isn't clear enough there, a cinematic sequence needs a redo, a feature has broken down again...
But seeing someone encounter the game for the first time and *want* to keep playing fills us with an indescribable sense of emotion! (⌇ຶД⌇ຶ) It makes all the hard work... totally worth it!
Here is a quick invitation to playtest:
If you are interested in the current demo, feel free to message us directly to get access. We love positive feedback, of course, but constructive criticism is also welcome—we value genuine experiences and suggestions.
Just a heads-up: this is still a version from an earlier development stage. If you’re curious to see what the project looked like initially, you are more than welcome to give it a try.
Development is tough, and publishing is a massive headache.
Lately, alongside overseeing development, I’ve been spending a lot of time studying game publishing. How do we get the game noticed? How do we find players who will truly love it? How do we clearly explain what we’re doing to people encountering the project for the first time?
Communication is even more complex given that this is a game created with the help of AI. We don’t have a guaranteed "right answer" on exactly how to handle this just yet.
Our plan is to focus on making the game great first, then gradually showcase its highlights. If we can earn even a little bit of recognition from you all, it would be a tremendous honor (sending love!)...
As for the publishing side of things—maybe I’ll write a separate post about that later.
That is, assuming the process doesn't drive me completely mad first...
Finally, I want to talk about *Hirata's World*.
We absolutely love the *Hirata's World* scenario from the original work. The interplay between multiple personalities and the twists across layered realities offer fantastic potential for adaptation!
The new version adds quite a few original cases, character relationships, and narrative elements. We hope to preserve the aspects of the scenario that captivated us in the first place, while bringing it to you anew through modern AIGC technology and the interactive medium of gaming.
Production on the new version has now officially begun.
It spans six chapters; the first chapter is about 80% complete, and development on both the interactive movie storyline and the pixel-art RPG elements is moving forward simultaneously.
ヾ(≧▽≦*)o *Thriller Paradise: Hirata's World* is confirmed to launch on Steam on October 28th.