Procella Games
Gender: Male
Rank: Suspect
Joined: Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:20 pm
Posts: 19
Update 15/08/2017: We're updating a number of aspects of the project based on useful feedback received so far. Namely, we're going to be updating the character sprites and certain aspects of the GUI, as well as partially reworking the first episode as seen in the demo in order that it be more indicative of the sort of quality and themes of the later stories. Please do follow us on
Twitter and our dedicated subreddit
/r/AcquittalGame as our main development logs to follow the project's progress -- we'll also be setting up a simple donation system so those who supported the Kickstarter can pledge regardless of its success. We'll be looking to release the fully polished version of game on Steam/iOS/Android before Summer 2018. Thanks, and enjoy!
For starters, here's a first look at the improved evidence menu and standing bar! Capital punishment hasn't occurred in the United Kingdom since 1964, but, on the 15th March 2019, a colossal domestic terrorist attack on the state's most prestigious law school leaves the criminal legal system in chaos. With thousands of deaths, survivor Storm Sente, a mere 20-year-old law student, finds himself called to the bar to fulfil his premature duty.
But as the so-called People's Movement for the Revival of Capital Punishment grows into an ever-larger, ever-present threat, the bar is by no means a safe place to be. With even the long-standing local police corruption rearing its ugly head, there's more to fight against than the cases themselves as friends become almost indistinguishable from enemies – the very future of law and order hangs in the balance, from forces both inside and out.
Join Storm and investigate crime scenes, defend clients in court, achieve justice for the innocent and – with a bit of luck – uncover the truth of the fateful terrorist attack and the sprawling cult behind it. Acquittal: Induction™, the first instalment in a planned series, was born from inspiration from Capcom's
Ace Attorney series and is in many ways a homage. Alternating between the investigation of criminal cases at the crime scene and the defence of clients in heated courtroom trials, it inherits its basic mechanics from the classic visual novel series, while taking and running with those core concepts.
The game draws more inspiration from both British courtroom dramas and real-life cases, also adapting the genre to a format more befitting the PC/Steam platform, featuring updated, stylish graphics and new Sherlockian game mechanics (such as Testimony Analysis, Brainstorming and Concatenation) in the way of
divergent thinking. These new game modes allow for logic and puzzle-solving like never seen before, moving from pointing out simple contradictions in testimonies to deducing complex facts and theories in order to fight your case and uncover the truth.
Featuring a distinctive style, innovative gameplay mechanics and an epic story with a colourful cast of characters to match,
Acquittal: Induction is comprised of five episodes, each longer and more challenging than the last.
The 1st of these (The First Daybreak) is available to be sampled in the demo. The subsequent episodes will be released incrementally (as free updates included in the purchase) as development completes with funding.
This law-drama adventure game will be available for PC, Mac and Linux, to be released on Steam.
The first episode of
Acquittal: Induction has been completed, of which the entire first half is available for free to download as the demo. With further funding, the remaining four episodes will be completed in turn and released incrementally, as updates to the original game. Releasing episodes in this pseudo-agile way ensures security for the project, allowing players to be able to download and start playing content as soon as it's ready, rather than waiting a potentially painfully long time until the entirety of the game is completed.
In addition, we'll be launching on Steam in order to get the game released on one of the best and most powerful distribution platforms around, supporting cloud save services, achievements, and much more!
Though produced, developed, programmed and written by Procella Games, a great number of hugely talented people have already contributed to the various elements going into the game:
Not to mention the wide range of voice talent:
The graphical interfaces and sound design for the entire game have already been fully completed. The original soundtrack has been fully composed (available physically as a reward tier...!), while the tracks for the first episode have been fully mastered - funding will also complete mastering for the rest.
Here's a sample of the orchestral/electronic soundtrack as composed by Caleb Cuzner/Sherrick Wiegel and arranged by Ryuno.Acquittal: Induction's sleek GUI was designed by Juan Mojica, allowing for streamlined organisation of collected evidence and personnel profiles, with the dynamic screen animations and stylish divergent thinking interfaces being designed by Lazcht of Stellar-Ø.
As such, the majority of funding for the remainder of the game will go into producing more of the vibrant character designs and animations and stunning backgrounds. The backgrounds for the courtroom were designed based on real British Crown Courts, expertly brought to life by Badriel, with the colourful cast of characters vividly designed and realised by Daphne Robinson and fluently animated by David Fuentes.
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I've always been interested in English criminal law, and have toyed around with the idea of bringing the magnificent British courtroom dramas into a collaboration with one of my favourite game series,
Ace Attorney. I hope fans of
Phoenix Wright, Britain, criminal law, visual novels and PC gaming can all come together and hopefully enjoy this exciting project! Please do check out the demo, share your feedback and comments, follow us on social media and help share with others! :D In particular,
liking us on Facebook and/or
following us on Twitter is by far the best way to stay up-to-date with all the incoming news (we've also launched a
dedicated subreddit).
Last edited by sjgriffiths on Tue Aug 15, 2017 6:33 pm, edited 8 times in total.