When I interacted with Francisco González last summer, Lamplight City was at most a regular weekend-find on my map.
With the premise of a dead partner woven into the seams of alternate-history detective saga, the man was on the hunt for a publisher. By December Application Systems Heidelberg had picked up the reins granting the game a Steam spot and continued progress for González.
A fresh batch of Lamplight City screenshots for #screenshotsaturday If you like what you see, consider adding it to your Steam wishlist! https://t.co/AEBrVeypzR #indiedev #gamedev #pixelart pic.twitter.com/jt8GhqzWse
— Francisco González @ GDC (@GrundislavGames) March 10, 2018
This has very meticulously entailed now-finished New Bretagne backdrops, placeholder-eliminating character assets with more-than-sufficient facial hair and a booth at GDC Play this week.
If reasons to explore Lamplight City beside the complementary post cards are what you’re looking for –
America is Vespuccia and New York? New Bretagne
ICYMI: Lamplight City now has both a teaser trailer and a Steam page! https://t.co/AEBrVeypzR #LamplightCity #gamedev #indiedev #pointandclick pic.twitter.com/i4RsfCxxfp
— Francisco González @ GDC (@GrundislavGames) December 20, 2017
A commonwealth of 8 states that although González claims allows for narrative flexibility, has his love for New Orleans and a pedigree of period drama narratives backing its design. Of course, with added contemplation of the social ills incurred by a steam-driven era.
He’s notably handled a prohibition-era Florida, paranormal renditions of the Everglades, California, Scotland, Japan, Greece, Rome and even post-apocalyptic Aristocracy with great interest.
Your Partner is Dead
Bang at the start of the game. Besides him playing possible-narrator to brooding Miles Fordham, this also means there’s no forcing how the latter conducts his crime-solving business.
Sure Lamplight City has up to five standalone cases with individual repercussions. But thanks to multiple endings and a core overarching plot it doesn’t matter if you play good cop, bad cop or horrible cop.
Players may abandon/fare badly on either, Lamplight City lets Fordham bear the consequences and the plot thickens.
The Interface is Single-Click
It wouldn't truly be a detective game without a puzzle involving guessing someone's combination. #LamplightCity pic.twitter.com/kv8RrornD2
— Francisco González @ GDC (@GrundislavGames) February 12, 2018
Point n’ Click often suggests daunting visions of an uninviting inventory system but a half-deluded Fordham really has no time for any of that. Pick up items, view them, use them but only in context; need to pick a lock for instance?
Find the tool and get it over with minus the junk management.
All very simple yet bundled into an enticing cop-drama that González intends to have out in a couple of months. Wishing I was trying it alongside Blazing Legion: Ignition and Dead Static Drive at San Francisco this week.