The Mansion, A Clock Tower-inspired survival-horror game Options

[Alicia Jewel]

The Mansion
Platform- RPG Maker XP
Official Website

Story:
It all started with a silly little dare.

Bobby and Nina are dared by their friends Tiffany and Billy to go into an abandoned mansion or risk being "losers for life." It all seems like fun and games at first until little Nina gets lost. As Bobby searches for his sister, he discovers a floating doll with a diabolical plot... and a taste for blood.

Will Bobby and Nina make it out of the mansion alive? What kinds of horrors await them inside? And how did this mysterious and murderous Dollie come to be? The answers lie within The Mansion... if you can survive.

Characters:

Bobby
Age: 10
The game's protagonist and playable character, Bobby is a young boy full of curiosity. He cares deeply for his younger sister, even if he doesn't always show it, and would do anything to protect her from the clutches of the crazed Dollie.


Nina
Age: 8
Bobby's younger sister. Nina is a very hyper little girl who tends to get major mood swings. She loves making friends and is easily persuaded, which makes her an easy target for Dollie.


Tiffany
Age: 11
A friend of Bobby and Nina. Tiffany is somewhat stuck-up and arrogant, and she loves making herself feel superior. She sends Bobby and Nina into the mansion on a dare.


Billy
Age: 11
Tiffany's twin brother. Billy is a fun-loving kid, which is the only reason he gets involved in Tiffany's constant dares.


Dollie
Age: Unknown
A mysterious floating doll that Bobby encounters in the mansion. Her appearance is creepy enough, and it doesn't help that she wants to kill anybody who walks into the mansion. Her origins are unknown.

Screenshots:

The title screen.


A screen from the game's opening cutscene. Tiffany's a bit of a bully, isn't she?


Exploring the dark, creepy mansion with Nina.


Meeting Dollie. She totally doesn't want to stab you in the face or anything.

Features:
Ccoa's Ultimate Message System with face graphics to make the cutscenes more engaging.

An adventure game-like experience with a few pinches of horror.

A total of six different endings to unlock.

Music and sound effects from Clock Tower: The First Fear, Rule of Rose, and Haunting Ground.

A very persistent pursuer who won't stop chasing you until you manage to throw her off.

Hold down Shift to run! Yay!

A self/partner talk system that allows you to review your objectives.

Download:

Version 1.2:
http://www.mediafire.com/?dww1zjwyd2z0qg3

Version 1.3 Beta:
http://www.mediafire.com/?bpdwdwat87ahg7w

Credits:
A HUGE thank you goes out to the following people:

Kouji Niikura and Kaori Takazoe for the Clock Tower music and sound effects.

Yutaka Minobe for the Rule of Rose music.

Seiko Kobuchi for the Haunting Ground music.

Enterbrain, for creating such a wonderful game-making system to work with.

Ccoa, for creating the Ultimate Message System (UMS) used in this game.

Eric of Mimesong, for putting together the Ultimate Tilesets.

Reone662, for the Caterpillar script that makes Nina less spastic when she follows you.

arevulopapo, for the footstep script.

Night_Runner, for the energy script that doesn't freeze the game.

D. Lord, for the window skin.

Kyo-kun, for being a huge help in several areas, including mapping the study and making the title screen.

Gozaru, for the face graphics.

... And you, for playing this!

Notes:
The menu is still your standard RPG fare even though there's nothing to equip, no status issues, etc. I'm not quite sure how to simplify this.

The couches in the lounge clip over Bobby's head when you stand under them. I could fix this, but then Bobby would be over the couch when you tried to sit down. (And yes, I've tried fixing their priority in the tileset. It doesn't work.)

The footsteps are not synched. I have no idea how to fix this.

This post has been edited by Alicia Jewel: Apr 27 2012, 03:58 PM

[Titanhex]

Sounds like a pretty interesting game. I'm sure people will play it, as you've given a great introduction with your post. It seems like it could be rather fun to try.

[Alicia Jewel]

Ah, thank you. I'm hoping this will reach out farther than just the Clock Tower demographic, and it's good to know that it looks interesting.

[RedDvl88]

I downloaded the game and i have got stuck while hiding from Dollie in the room with the Piano. I hid in the sofa now Dollie is just walking on the spot and i can't move.

[Alicia Jewel]

Thank you so much for pointing this out! I've fixed this bug (and a few others) and posted a new link. Enjoy!

[rewells]

Hello,

I found another bug. After Dollie came out of the bathroom, I ran for the door on the right and Dollie walked up beside me (left side) as I was hitting enter to open the door, and the game froze (the door didn't open). I guess when Dollie collided with me the game had to take away health at the same time I told it to open the door, so it got overwhelmed? Don't know how to fix that.

I can't figure out how to get any ending other than E. I got the mansion key and got rid of Dollie but the key doesn't open any of the many locked doors. Can you PM and let me know what to do? I don't want to comment on any puzzles until I've played through everything.

Some things weren't intuitive - for example, I didn't realize that energy allowed me to run, or that the bars at the top represented health and energy. Consequently, I didn't know I was losing health when Dollie touched me. Maybe add a little more tutorial at the beginning? Considering how slow the character moves, I'd consider making the foyers and halls smaller, since the player has to do a lot of going back a forth.

Good use of sound effects to create an atmosphere! I'd suggest adding a fog/mist effect to the mansion, but that's just me.

[bulmabriefs144]

I love clock tower! I'll check this out.

[Alicia Jewel]

Yay, a fellow Clock Tower fan! I hope you enjoy the game.

Version 1.1 is now up for download! It includes bug fixes, a slightly expanded tutorial, and a new system that temporarily stops Dollie from chasing you when you examine certain objects.

[Pal88]

Good game so far have been playing for ages but have now just found a huge mistake in the game.

[Show/Hide] Contains plots of the game

After getting Nina out from Dollie's room, you can go back to Robert the owner of the mansion. I did this but as soon as you enter the room Nina disappears and now she is nowhere to be found meaning I cant get the good ending now

EDIT: Actually she is still there, stuck in the doorway but she doesn't follow me around anymore. I can still talk to her, but according to Robert and myself I haven't found her at all.

NEXT EDIT: Nina seems to be in two places at once, one minute she was with me and then stuck by the door when I tried to go to Robert, Next thing she is still with me (kind of) but locked away in the basement. I have now unlocked her from the basement gone back to Robert and now the game is continuing like it is supposed to, finally I have to get rid of Dollie.)

ANOTHER EDIT: If you return to the basement at any time, Nina is still stood there even though she is now with Robert. You can't speak to her though.

Am still playing the game though to see what else can happen as I loved Clock Tower and this game isn't all that bad

Will edit this post if I find anymore mistakes, etc.

FINAL EDIT: Just completed the game in just under 1hour and got ending A, apparently there is a better ending lol

Great game.

This post has been edited by Pal88: Apr 5 2012, 07:54 AM

[Alicia Jewel]

And to think everything was working so PERFECTLY in play-testing, too...

[Show/Hide] Plot stuffs

Nina being locked in the basement a second time is something I probably should have noticed a long time ago but didn't because I'm derp. Should be fixed in the next release.

I get the strongest feeling that the problem you had with Nina and Robert was because you went to Robert earlier than the game intended. My fault. xD Working on a way to prevent that from happening again.

And, yes, there IS a better ending. Take another look around the mansion and see if there's anything there that wasn't there before...

This post has been edited by Alicia Jewel: Apr 6 2012, 10:34 AM

[Pal88]

And to think everything was working so PERFECTLY in play-testing, too...

[Show/Hide] Plot stuffs

Nina being locked in the basement a second time is something I probably should have noticed a long time ago but didn't because I'm derp. Should be fixed in the next release.

I get the strongest feeling that the problem you had with Nina and Robert was because you went to Robert earlier than the game intended. My fault. xD Working on a way to prevent that from happening again.

And, yes, there IS a better ending. Take another look around the mansion and see if there's anything there that wasn't there before...

And I thought I had done so well lol.

[Show/Hide] Spoilers

Yes when I went to see Robert it was much earlier in the game and Nina was stuck at the bottom of the door, wouldn't move and you could only see her head.

To be honest it didn't really affect the gameplay like I thought it may have done at first, was able to carry on the game and complete it still.

Not played an RPG Maker game for ages and thought this one would be quite fitting, its pretty much one of few i've played to the end. Good game, just need sort those few things out and it'll be even better. Also glad you can accept the fact the game has a couple of flaws and that you didn't get angry. The sign of a good game maker

[Alicia Jewel]

xD I knew this game would have flaws from the moment I put it up, and I'm glad when people point them out. (Especially when they do things I never would have thought to have done in play testing.) I always want to improve, and even though the thought of criticism makes me nervous, it's always good to learn from your mistakes, right?

Anyway, thank you for your bug reports and your interest in the game! I'll have the next release out as soon as I get confirmation on what is possibly ANOTHER bug. (Note to self: get more play testers for the future. T///T)

[Pal88]

xD I knew this game would have flaws from the moment I put it up, and I'm glad when people point them out. (Especially when they do things I never would have thought to have done in play testing.) I always want to improve, and even though the thought of criticism makes me nervous, it's always good to learn from your mistakes, right?

Anyway, thank you for your bug reports and your interest in the game! I'll have the next release out as soon as I get confirmation on what is possibly ANOTHER bug. (Note to self: get more play testers for the future. T///T)

Yes I do believe critism is always a good thing depending on how it is received, if people just abuse you for it then thats not acceptable at all but so long as you just tell them then you can always learn from the mistakes.
Every game has a bug in it even after general release, its hard to find everything in a game.
Like I said I loved clock tower though sadly I only ever played the ps1 game and sold it though I did fully complete it, wanted to play the other but its so hard to find nowadays.

Anyways, keep up the good work and maybe once your more used to rpg maker make a sequel just a thought

[Alicia Jewel]

I actually do have an idea for a sequel in mind! (Even though I told myself a thousand times I wasn't going to make one...) It would probably require me to use custom graphics, so I'd have to find someone to do that, and then I have to figure out how the game will actually play out... But the basic plot I have so far goes like this:

[Show/Hide] Spoilers!

Eight years after Bobby and Nina escaped from the mansion, Nina is still haunted by her memories of being controlled by Dollie while Bobby seems to have outright forgotten what happened that night. The two have been visiting Robert at his home every weekend for the past several years, but Bobby receives a phone call saying that he has passed away.

Surprisingly (or maybe not), he has left a considerable portion of his wealth to the teenagers. Days after the funeral and the reading of the will, Nina begins to have strange visions of an even more twisted version of Dollie as well as other abominations trying to kill her. Eventually, she is admitted to a mental institution, where the strange creatures continue to come after her... and everyone else around her, too.

[Pal88]

I actually do have an idea for a sequel in mind! (Even though I told myself a thousand times I wasn't going to make one...) It would probably require me to use custom graphics, so I'd have to find someone to do that, and then I have to figure out how the game will actually play out... But the basic plot I have so far goes like this:

[Show/Hide] Spoilers!

Eight years after Bobby and Nina escaped from the mansion, Nina is still haunted by her memories of being controlled by Dollie while Bobby seems to have outright forgotten what happened that night. The two have been visiting Robert at his home every weekend for the past several years, but Bobby receives a phone call saying that he has passed away.

Surprisingly (or maybe not), he has left a considerable portion of his wealth to the teenagers. Days after the funeral and the reading of the will, Nina begins to have strange visions of an even more twisted version of Dollie as well as other abominations trying to kill her. Eventually, she is admitted to a mental institution, where the strange creatures continue to come after her... and everyone else around her, too.

Can definently tell your a writer, sounds good to me but i'm guessing the sequel is far away in the works for now. Should use custom graphics and give it a more spookier feeling to it all. Sounds great.
You made any other games by the way or is this your first one?

[Alicia Jewel]

I'm definitely a writer! In fact, the main reason I made this game (and probably the main reason I'll make games in the future) was to have a different outlet for my storytelling. The only other games I've made in the past were horribly done pieces of crud that have all the signs of an inexperienced n00b in them. If I've posted any of them, they've been lost to the void. (Hopefully, at least. o.o)

Anyway, I haven't heard anything from the person who reported the other bug (he said one of the hiding places broke and that his keys froze up while playing), so I might post the fixed version of this game up after one last play test.

[Pal88]

I tried to redo what the other person reported but it didn't happen for me, maybe I was just a split second to early but I tried a few times and it didnt happen. Maybe I did something a bit different but in all I couldn't find a single bug that stopped the game from working. Will wait for the latest version and try it all again and this time try and get the better ending

[Alicia Jewel]

*clears her throat and puts on her official announcing voice*

The Mansion 1.2 is now available for download! This was a pretty big update, so here's a list of everything that got fixed/changed:

Game Breakers:

• The Old Photo is no longer consumable

Major Bugs:

• You can no longer go to the third floor before you're supposed to
• Nina should no longer teleport around the mansion

Minor Bugs:

• The mansion theme should not start playing again when you enter the foyer
• Fixed the "Where is Nina?" objective not disappearing

Other Changes:

• Removed the stack of books by the closet in the study--it was easy to get trapped there
• The screen now flashes red when you get stabbed
• Fixed Dollie's movement so that you have a bit more time to get away after being stabbed

[ozer]

*clears her throat and puts on her official announcing voice*

The Mansion 1.2 is now available for download! This was a pretty big update, so here's a list of everything that got fixed/changed:

Game Breakers:

• The Old Photo is no longer consumable

Major Bugs:

• You can no longer go to the third floor before you're supposed to
• Nina should no longer teleport around the mansion

Minor Bugs:

• The mansion theme should not start playing again when you enter the foyer
• Fixed the "Where is Nina?" objective not disappearing

Other Changes:

• Removed the stack of books by the closet in the study--it was easy to get trapped there
• The screen now flashes red when you get stabbed
• Fixed Dollie's movement so that you have a bit more time to get away after being stabbed

Nice little game you've got here, i will give it a download and try it

[Alicia Jewel]

No need to quote the whole update list. xD Let me know what you think of the game when you're done!