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View Full Version : Carmilla - Research for an 1870s Historical Lesbian Vampire Game (demo available)



Rosstin
2015-03-14, 12:19 PM
EDIT:
Bam, demo.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y237/AsterAzul/download_demo_button_CARMILLA.png (http://rosstin.itch.io/carmilla)


Hello, this is Rosstin, the producer of Queen At Arms (https://www.facebook.com/QueenAtArms).

Me and my lead artist, Meagan, are considering producing Carmilla as a visual novel.

Queen At Arms is a huge game, and as a result of its size I don't think we'll ever be able to quite get the level of "polish" to what I desire. Carmilla is going to be a 10-minute-long vertical slice of only our very best work, trying to elevate our visual novel format to something closer to a point-and-click or Telltale-style game.

Anyway, this thread is for us to brainstorm and get advice. Brother Oni and Mr. Mask were particularly instrumental in helping us get the battle sequences in Queen up to par, and making them realistic to the level of technology in our fantasy world. For Carmilla, we want to have similarly high standards with regards to historical accuracy.

Our game is set in the 1870s. The entire game takes place in the course of one night, in the bedroom of Laura (the protagonist). At a barest sketch, the plot:
• Laura hears a tapping at her window
• She finds an injured Carmilla who entreats Laura to help her
• Laura dies, Carmilla dies, or both survive

Meagan and I have a million questions here. We're taking the characters and setting and world of the book, but we're changing things up a bit too. Laura will be a bit smarter than her book counterpart. Rather than a shy, bookish girl, Laura is an intelligent young woman with an active interest in modern science of the 1870s. Her room, for instance, is full of curios from far-off lands and bits of tech from the time period.

The character of Carmilla is something we've been struggling with. We want to avoid pulling a Twilight. Meagan and I decided that, to be true to the original story, Carmilla has to be a vampire who kills humans to survive. At the same time, she has to be an attractive, alluring, seductive, and compelling character.

Rosstin
2015-03-14, 12:23 PM
Right now, I'm working on writing the first couple scenes of the game, and I've already hit on the first big question I have about historical accuracy.

Laura lives in a picturesque Styrian castle in the 1870s. Her room is full of gadgets and curios. She likes to read in bed.

Now, if you're a science geek reading in bed in the 1870s, what are you using to light your room? I want to do a part in the scene where she pulls the covers up over her head and reads under them... could she do that without setting herself on fire?

http://www.featurepics.com/FI/Thumb300/20090301/Reading-Under-Covers-1096164.jpg

Rosstin
2015-03-14, 12:47 PM
Etymology of "shut up": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shut_up

Rosstin
2015-03-15, 01:36 PM
I need a historical description of a "Kukri"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kukri

Preferably one that could have made its way to 1870s Austria.

Kukri were used against the East India Company in the Gurkha war in the early 1800s.

Rosstin
2015-03-15, 01:47 PM
OK, now I need popular and famous women who were talked about between 1840-1880.... and would be known in Austria....

a decent resource:
http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1551.html#1800s

Rosstin
2015-03-15, 02:30 PM
OK, now I need a reference for someone snapping a Kukri Knife's blade in two with their hands.