Hi everyone,
Alex here (Lead Designer, Co-Writer, + misc.) with a fresh Design Bible Update hot out of the oven. 

New video and music content are above.

The real meat of this post will be in the new Design Bible Sample PDF download at the bottom of this post.

Scroll down. Hit download. Let us know your thoughts.

—–

WHERE ARE WE AT?:

Short version; around 100 pages into the DB.

That equates to approx 40 pages of the V2 Narrative Script, with artwork, the additional gameplay sections at the start, and some intro pages to come.

The art team (Omri, Joey, Norm, Adam) is currently working on a set schedule to deliver the end-game design and art tasks.

This is all taking place in tandem as I create the DB itself. I am also creating new artwork and game design elements as we go.

IMPROVEMENTS & NEW DB CONTENT:

You’ll find some new visual improvements within the new DB PDF.

Some areas are much more refined.

For example, the “Pause Screen” running tally inventory pages between chapters are now fully populated with items (and empty nooks to fill new items).

There is also an overall rework of the page aesthetic and graphic design. This is more in line with some of the UI and UX screen mockups we’ve seen recently.

New content for gameplay and mechanics have been dropped in place, with more to come.

New artwork for the earlier chapters has also been placed, and we’ll be proceeding according to our schedule to complete the bulk of the DB work this calendar year.

There are also interactive URL links that will take you to supplementary video content on American’s YouTube channel when clicked.

This is something I will be tapping into more as we go, but for now, you can see the concept in action.

—–

YOUR FEEDBACK:

Before you dive into the PDF, being a work in progress, some areas still need work.

Namely;

• Anything that says {TBC} or {To Come} regarding artwork or copywriting is self-explanatory.
• If you see gibberish in words, this is “lorem ipsum” placeholder text for the layout and word count for content to come. Do not be alarmed. Content will come.

• Some icons on the enemies and bosses/combat need to be created. Blank spaces are left for now.

So with that in mind, the big question for you, the fans, is;

How does this format look to you?

Does it read well?
Does it look good?
Are you well informed?
Can you follow the story beats and understand the game mechanics?
Is it enjoyable?

—–

For those new here, I’ll copy-paste the key goals for the Design Bible for Alice: Asylum.

This is the rationale shared with the art team on our welcome pack for the new artists.

—–

We are now focusing on creating a finished, cohesive, informative, art-packed and beautiful “design bible”. This design bible will be our biggest and best tool towards securing a potential $30 million+ USD deal to “fund and create a published videogame.”

The design bible is designed to perform the following tasks:
1. Allow all Alice: Asylum videogame narrative experiences, key art and game mechanics to be easily understood and assessed by potential financiers. (For EA Games, Amazon, Netflix etc.)

2. Allow the Alice: Asylum videogame story to be experienced, enjoyed, and easily understood by anyone who linearly reads the design bible. The audience can experience Alice’s journey in Asylum in its entirety via the Design Bible. (For Alice Fans, Patrons, etc.)

3. Allow the Alice: Asylum videogame technical aspects and mechanics to be easily understood. All core game concepts are communicated for a potential development partner to assess undertaking and build the actual video game we pitch.
(For Epic Games, EA Games etc. or any potential Development Partner)

—–

So, for this hybrid/comic book/game guide/graphic novel/game design document… I am hoping it ticks all the required boxes so far.

—–

THE STORY BEHIND THE DESIGN BIBLE:

When American and I first sat down and spoke about creating this document, we both wanted to capture that feeling we shared when we were kids, poring over a magazine, game guide or manual for a game that we loved.

I remember reading the manuals and game guides for all the games I loved as a kid, even reading the old .txt files that came with Doom and the like on MS-DOS games on the PC.

Like a huge nerd.

I took these documents to school, to the dinner table, and read them in bed.

I’d be glued to the pages as I scoured over every detail, text passage, artwork, and design, diving headfirst into that world that existed on the page, on my screen, and in my imagination.

And I loved it. They’re good memories.

I hope that a sliver (or more) of that experience is shared by you as well as you read these pages for the Alice: Asylum Design Bible.

Each day I am at my computer, crunching away here, I hope that someone with a truck-load of cash will see this work from the team and back us to make this game happen.

I wish it with all my heart, but sometimes wishes aren’t enough, so there’s work to be done. 

RESPONSE TO THE DESIGN BIBLE WIPs:

From what I’ve been told by American, every time a WIP of the DB sits on the desk of a global mega-corp, the reaction is favorable, so hopefully, one day, it’ll be enough for them to get their checkbook out.

Much more to come as we go this year, but please drop any comments worth noting here or where I can see them, and I’ll do what I can to take reasonable feedback into account.

Thanks as always for your continued support as we try and make this happen together.

Cheers,

Alex

Dear Insane Children,

Sometimes the only way we get to new and interesting places is through a journey in which we must sacrifice a great amount. In the modern world, that might mean investing the time and money to fly halfway around the world. Or sailing for a week to a remote island. Or hiking for days to a secluded mountaintop. But what if you lived on the featureless plains and Kansas and wanted to get somewhere REALLY interesting? 

Some news illustrations from Gareth paint the picture…

Dorothy chases a tornado, clutching Toto in one arm and a bag of valuables in the other. She’s hoping to be pulled back into the Land of Oz after returning home and finding all she once loved is no more. Time passed more slowly in Oz – Dorothy barely aged a day. But all her family and friends lived decades in which they mourned and eventually said farewell to Dorothy. 

And the progress brought on by the passage of time didn’t sit well with Dorothy so… back to Oz. To the land of eternal life. To a place where time is frozen and progress isn’t measured. 

But not alone… 

Because Dorothy realized it wasn’t Kansas or “home” she missed but her Em and Uncle Henry. And though they’d perished long ago, Dorothy knew that death is no obstacle to the magic of Oz. A sprinkle of The Powder of Life and they’d be right as rain. A bit shrunken and removed from all the bits below the neck… but much easier to transport to Oz that way! Torsos and limbs could be fashioned later – even better than the meaty old bodies they had before.

So, um, yeah… Dorothy revives the shrunken heads of her aunt and uncle so she’s not alone when she gets back to Oz.  

How about some tentacles to lighten the mood? Joey did this excellent illustration of Alice mastering the tentacles as she reveals the secrets contained in Radcliffe’s Notebook. 

We are still very much in Lockdown here in Shanghai. And it’s unclear when the situation might improve. And Yan is now less than 2 weeks from the Due Date of our next child – May 8th. So it’s looking like we’re going to have a Lockdown Baby! There are extra stresses introduced by Lockdown but we’re managing things as best we can. And fingers crossed that the city comes out of this soon.

From Shanghai with Shrunken Heads, 

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Thank you, for all the great feedback on the last Crowd Design post! Omri took that feedback and created a new version of Alice’s “End Credits” dress (main image above). 

And he also delivered an illustration for the “Angela” character who appears in the end scene. 

Alex’s response to seeing the Angela illustration is worth sharing: 

Hi guys, I’m writing to say that this actually hit me in a bit of an emotional way tonight. I created the character of Angela, and she was someone who kind of came to life in my head as we wrote the story.

?Seeing her like this, is exactly how I imagined she’d look.
?Better than even.

?Alice like this with her together, holding the little rabbit is really beautiful.
?It’s very special to see them like this together.

?They’re perfect. Thank you Omri for doing such a beautiful job. I’m sure everyone will feel the same.

?In regards to your questions;

?1. Yes, Angela is written as another abused Ward “cared for” by Radcliffe.
?Perhaps from another wealthy family, it was a tie that’s never explicitly stated that Angela was “Alice’s replacement” as mentioned in the last lines by ?Bumby before he dies.

?2. Angela receives Alice’s rabbit from Radcliffe. He does steal her rabbit, and he uses it to manipulate Angela.

?3. Correct. Angela is roughly the same age as Alice at the start of the fire. 7-8 years old.

Obviously an important character and story element for him (and for us all!). 

Omri also sent over updated designs for Toto and Dorothy. These will be used to drive the production of 3D models for these characters. And those models will be brought into the Unreal Engine (work being done by Adam L.) for presentation in-scene. 

And Dorothy… 

Let us know in the comments below what you think of all these designs! 

From Shanghai (still in lockdown!),

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Here’s a fun Crowd Design for you all to work on… What sort of dress would Alice wear at the end of Asylum? Here’s the scene setup from the Narrative Outline: 

AFTER CREDITS SCENE

LONDON – HOME FOR WAYWARD CHILDREN (DAY)

After the credits roll, a secret ending scene plays out.

The scene opens to a beautiful, English countryside home. Green, lush, gorgeous and bright.

Alice Liddell, is smartly tailored and elegantly styled. She is dressed in deep, rich blue attire. Alice walks through the gates of the beautiful estate. She passes by a gorgeous, brand new bronze plaque which reads;

“Liddell’s Home For Wayward Children”

As Alice approaches the grounds, she is swarmed by happy, well-fed, content, healthy children. The downtrodden children from Bumby’s former “support” home are all here too. They have never been happier, and they are ecstatic to see her again.

As the children run through the arches into the entrance of the building, Angela Liddell is waiting for Alice, and meets Alice at the stairs. The little girl is in her Sunday best, and is still clutching onto her plush rabbit.

Alice looks down at Angela, and they both smile warmly.

The little girl asks curiously;

ANGELA

Will we have time for a tea-party today Miss Liddell?

ALICE

Always.

Alice replies with a knowing grin.

Angela excitedly beams back, and then walks on alongside Alice into the building.

Angela drops her rabbit toy to the floor absent-mindedly in her excitement as she skips along.

As Alice and Angela walk away, the rabbit is left lying still and motionless on the floor.

The sound of children and laughter fades.

The rabbit blinks.

Gets to his feet, and runs after his best friends.

–

<SCENE ENDS>

Omri provided an initial illustration (main image above) for a dress inspired by one we see Alice’s mom wearing. And he decided to go with a shorter dress design. A fact that’s caused some controversy with our design team. 

Of this design Alex says: 

My initial reaction; I think it makes sense Alice would go for something that looked more like an adventurer, but to me it feels like we’re missing out on a unique opportunity visually, and we’re seeing “more of the same” with this dress.

?It doesn’t look too different from the other dresses already in the game.

?I suppose my reasoning in suggesting a longer, formal dress is that we NEVER see Alice in one. ?Ever in the series. So, it’s a chance to do that.

And I chimed in: 

First, it sorta makes sense that we’d see Alice in a dress that indicates the adventure is over (at least the sort of exploring, fighting, jumping stuff).

BUT we’re also suggesting in this story that her adventure continues – that she uses The Book to search for and destroy the monsters who bought/sold children from Bumby and Radcliffe. So… the adventure isn’t really over. She’s still out there kicking butt.

There’s another angle to consider her… Alice isn’t going to grow up and be an exact copy of her mother. It would make sense that she brings her own twist to the fashion that her mother wore. So the shorter dress would also make sense in that context. She’s a modern lady, etc.

As much as I’d like to see her in a long, formal dress… do we think her character would go in that direction at the end of the story? ?Or that she’d be more of a rebel, a free spirit?

I’m going to say… let her live like this (Omri’s short dress)… at least for now?

I’ll post this to the fans and we can get their feedback as well.

All that being said… the vision of her for the adventures beyond the end of Asylum… she’s going to be a sort of “hunter of bad guys” ?and she’ll need costumes for that job. With that in mind, it would not hurt to see the sort of attire she’d wear to sneak into a formal event. Her version of James Bond in a tux.

But let us know in the comments below what YOU think! What sort of dress design would make the most sense for this last scene of Asylum? 

From Shanghai (STILL in Lock Down!), 

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Here’s an update to yesterday’s post where I shared details about our Dorothy character from OZ: Adventures. Omri had a look at your comments and made changes – resulting in what I think (?) is a final design for this character. 

Let us know in the comments below what you think! For my part: I love her! 

Excellent work, Omri! 

Controversy 

And a point of interest generated by some of the comments over on my Instagram in relation to this Dorothy design. Some people suggest that the “race swapping” going on here isn’t called for. Some heated exchanges (as you’d expect) around those comments.  

A couple of points I find interesting: 

First, I murder Alice’s parents and wrap the narrative of Alice: Madness Returns around child abuse and the psychological manipulation/destruction of Alice… and no one bats an eye. Or I change “Red Riding Hood” into a native islander/Japanese person in Akaneiro… and again no one says anything about it. But people don’t like a black Dorothy? What’s going on here? 

Second, among the first characters presented for OZ: Adventures was a Spanish Conquistador. And he brings with him (across the Atlantic on his trip to explore the New World) a kidnapped Aztec woman (Necahual) who is pressed into service as a guide/interpreter. And we saw a few complaints – mainly from Spanish people – who dislike the constant negative attention given to their ancestors. (There’s an entire topic here to be explored – The Black Legend or Myth of Spanish Conquest). 

What can we take from this? 

Well, first, these are obviously sensitive topics. But so is child abuse… and not once did I get an email from an actual child abuser saying, “Hey, I don’t appreciate the characterization! Leave us child abusers alone!” Because child abusers don’t have a sense of righteous indignation. They know they aren’t being falsely portrayed… they know they are what we say they are: monsters. 

Around the equally sensitive topics of race and slavery – the situation has been made much more immediate and personal for everyone alive today (esp. in certain countries). 

But I want to make clear that my goal here isn’t to paint a simple picture of “Spanish bad” and “Americans racist” because I believe there’s more to these issues than the end results of slavery and/or racism. 

As I asked in my comments over on Instagram: Who benefits? (Cui bono)

Because I do not believe that we – human beings – are predisposed to racism. Nor do I think we’re all sitting around thinking, “Man, I’d really like to enslave some people today!” 

People make excuses for these behaviors. And more often than not those excuses are manufactured by others and fed into a population to attain particular goals. 

Look at the author of “The Wizard of Oz” – he infamously wrote anti-native-American screeds calling for war and genocide against native people. His motivation appears to be fear – fear of violence from “the other” and fear that if settlers don’t “strike first” they won’t live to regret it. Along the way, he “othered” or dehumanized the native population (literally called “savages” in those days). 

There’s a history to this business of “othering” and it points to powerful money interests who used American settlers on the frontier as the “tip of the spear” against native Americans. They pushed those native Americans further and further west (like my ancestors, Choctaw Indians, who ended up near Texas/Oklahoma via the Trail of Tears) – while simultaneously incentivizing settlers to push further west into those same territories. To no one’s surprise, conflict and violence followed.

The fear and hatred were manufactured. And it was enforced via laws that forbid association between blacks, natives, and settlers. Division, fear, and hatred were used to control those populations – who generally outnumbered the ruling elites back in the big cities. The greatest fear for the ruling class was that those populations might band together and rise up as one.

Well, I don’t know if you are aware… but those same tactics of “othering” and control by fear and division are still very much in use today. The difference is that the methods have been turned into a science – and huge amounts of money have been invested in perfecting the ways in which we are all convinced that other people (those, over there!) are less than human. 

We are made to feel righteous in our beliefs. Our morality is hijacked. Our sense of empathy is turned against us so that we think hating The Other is justified on the grounds that they deserve it for X, Y, Z reasons. What’s more, they need a good bombing! 

And that brings us back to the indignation that people feel when we bring up American racism or Spanish conquest. Because we – the people of today – want other people to know… we’re not like that. We’re good people!

So…

How far would we go in our desire to prove that we’re good people? 

That brings me to one of the core issues I’m exploring in Oz:

• How far would Dorothy go to protect Oz from the sorts of harm she’s endured? 
• How far would the Spanish Captain go to prove to his Aztec captive that he’s only trying to protect her? 
• How far would our WW2 pilot go to get back to his superiors with the information he thinks will win the war against the monstrous enemy? 
• How far would our scientist from the future go to prove his theories right and save Earth from destruction? 

And at what point do they cross a line – forfeiting their humanity for the sake of a distorted ideal? 

Curious to hear your thoughts on this theme. Let me know in the comments below!

From Shanghai in Semi-Lockdown,

-American 

PS: Yesterday, they lifted the lockdown for our local area. But it’s a sort of bittersweet event – since if we do leave our micro-community, we’re only allowed to do so on foot. And there’s nothing to do outside… the shops are all closed, etc. So… we’ll basically remain inside anyway! 

Dear Insane Children, 

The story I’m writing for Oz: Adventures features an ensemble cast. Sorta like the TV show “Game of Thrones” – there’s not (at least initially) a “main” character. There are many characters each with their own unique backstories. And over time, we’ll explore each of them against the backdrop of challenges provided by the Land of Oz. 

So… Dorothy Hale is in Oz: Adventures and she’s one of the main characters but not THE Main Character. Omri sent over an updated sketch for her (main image, above). And she’s obviously not exactly the Dorothy you know from the books. 

And here are my character notes for her (a little discombobulated but you’ll get a general idea): 

Dorothy – The witch seen sprinkling Powder of Life on dead Munchkins. We eventually discover this is Dorothy. She returned to Oz after becoming disenchanted with the reality of life on Earth. Her experiences left her bitter about the notion of “progress” so that she wanted to return to the wilderness of Oz. She wants to escape from progress and exploration and change. She wants stasis – especially the part about never growing old and never dying. 

Back on Earth, she discovers that time has passed more quickly than in Oz. Her aunt and uncle have died of old age and everyone assumed she was killed in that tornado. The farm is now owned by a different family but Dorothy is welcome to stay if she’s got nowhere to go… Weeks pass then months but Dorothy finds she can’t get over the complete loss of her family. So she packs up a few of her most valuable things, wedges Toto lightly under her arm, and runs directly into the biggest tornado Kansas has ever seen.

When she comes out the other side… she’s in Oz. But she’s also in pieces. The twisted tore her and Toto into chunks of barely recognizable meat. But the Flying Monkeys collect the pieces and, with help from The Powder of Life, put them together again. Once she’s settled into her new role as Witch of the West… she opens up her bag of valuables and pulls out the shrunken, decayed heads of her aunt and uncle. Reanimates them with the Power of Life and never feels lonely again.

Is she wicked or is she good? She lets us know she can be a bit of both. 

who is it about – dorothy from the Oz books. she’s returned to Oz to escape progress and death. 

what do they want – she wants to maintain Oz in relative stasis, avoiding progress and fighting to return travelers to their homes as quickly as possible so they are unable to cause too much damage in Oz. she fights to protect Oz from their influence and predations. in most cases, she allows the people of Oz to deal with visitors on their own – as this is the natural way, the way it has always been. But when visitors threaten to upset the balance, she gets involved. and whenever there are injuries – she repairs them. over time, she even starts reanimating the dead. 

why can’t they get it – because a type of enemy she’s never confronted arrives, she is unable to defeat him on her own. They (first Richard Umbra, then Necahual) threaten to upset the balance with promises of progress abd modernization. and he’s extracting all the Powder of Life from Oz. 

what do they do about that? dorothy fights him – physically, with magic, and via politics. 

why doesn’t that work – the dark wizard is too powerful and defeats her. 

how does it end – she trains necahual to fight on her side; trains her in magic and the power politics of Oz. but necahual betrays her (kills her?) and steals dorothy’s power for herself. 

What is the thing she’s never done? The thing she does not want to do? Accepted the inevitability of aging, death, and change. 

Further notes: She is an immigrant to a strange land. And she’s decided to abandon her old ways (politics, philosophies, religion) to defend the Oz way of life. The Oz way of life is traditional, it’s communal, it’s based on ritual, natural law, conservation, equal portions and divisions, … ignorance is bliss vs. the wonders of science and progress 

Would you rather be poor and dumb and alive? Or rich and smart and dead? Oz is the place where they did not eat from the tree of knowledge. It’s Eden before the fall. 

So what does Dorothy NOT want to do? That she’ll be forced to do in order to save Oz (and/or Earth)?

Is she forced to decide between saving Oz OR Earth? If only one can survive – which should it be? Her original home? Or the place she now calls home? She doesn’t want to return to Earth. But she also doesn’t want to see it destroyed. 

When she went back home, she found her entire family had been wiped out by the tornado. She’d already seen her mother and father die as a result of (?) so the death of her aunt and uncle (and remaining family) hits her particularly hard. Now it’s just her and Toto. So she longs to return to Oz – at least she has friends there. And in Oz, no one dies. 

Dorothy becomes addicted to The Powder of Life. At first, she only uses it to heal people. But over time, she begins using it for more and more questionable purposes… reviving the dead. Eventually, we discover she even reanimated Toto. And she went back and recovered her aunt and uncle and reanimated them. She’s making zombies. 

Now… what I’ve not included in there and am still working on… is mention of Dorothy’s life prior to Oz on a plantation as a slave. And how when she returns to earth from Oz, she discovers that slavery is no longer legal but that the legacy of that dark era still looms heavily. 

That goes to a general theme I’m working to weave into the Oz narrative… and that is that I’m taking dark elements of the past from various nations around the world and using them as the backdrop for the characters we see pulled into this adventure. 

Since Oz is a distinctly American fairytale, a great resource for the darker side of American history is the Howard Zinn tome, “A People’s History of the United States”

I also plan to delve into geopolitical issues related to WW2. And to include a character from the future who can help illustrate some issues unique to our modern world. 

Let me know in the comments below what you think of Dorothy – her story, her art. 

PS: In about 15 minutes we’re driving out into the wastelands of Shanghai. The city is still under a full lockdown. But we have a special pass that will allow me to drive Yan to a hospital appointment 50km south of our home (in the center of the city). She’s got a baby check to do – and we’re only 4~3 weeks away from delivery! Woo. Wish us luck! And, yeah, I’ll try to record some pictures/video of the adventure. 

From Shanghai, 

-American