Trüberblog

Meet a true challenger of crossfit frontiers and returning visitor to our lovely town of Trüberbrook: Originally, this one went by many names: Echo, Dryad, Smoky Salmon, Dumbelleriena, The True Powerwalker, Mother Bear … but the good people of Trüberbrook eventually just agreed on “the alpinist”, a fitting name for someone who just loves marching through alpine woods – or more like marching through solid wood. Obviously, there is some mystery surrounding the alpinist. A person that is always on exploration by herself, never really revealed her name and who is – for unknown reasons – suspicously drawn to the Trüberwoods. “I just like traveling. Always on the road.”

»Heyjoo, Mister Lessin’!« »PSSSSSSHHT!!! QUIET! You know that they are listening! Don’t you say my name, kid!« »But–who is listening?« Leni asked, while nervously playing with her tiny swiss army knife. »THEY! They are everywhere, kid! Don’t believe what your teachers tell you. They’re all part of –AAH THAT BIRD!! IT HAS A CAMERA!!« Lessing screetched, pressing his aluminium hat on his big head and pointing at a little sparrow with a bug in it’s beak. »THEY ARE COMING FOR ME…!!«

Everything was better in the olden days, at least according to Baron Otto-Titan of Trüberbrook-Sülz, mining engineer in the 3rd generation and generous patron of the village. When a man had to earn his honor and the youth didn’t dance so inappropriately to this horrible horrible modern beat music … There wasn’t much to keep for the old man when “those filthy communists” took over his ore mines. And after he lost the majority of his wealth and his hearing, even his cat Klaus seemed to keep an eye out for a more independent and financially secure provider. That was when their relationship grew colder. Today, only his beloved hunting trophies bring some comfort to the baron’s mind, reminding him of better times, when Kaisers and Zars were fighting over their dominions.

Trüberbrook has quite the reputation for maintaining a health standard that is well above the average. Few people get sick or remain sick for very long, and many curious minds have tried to find the secrets behind this anomaly. Maybe the sick just didn’t make it on the statistics? Maybe they just vanish? But surely, Trüberbrook’s star physicians are the ones responsible for the towns well-beeing …

Trude is the innkeeper at the Waldeslust, a family business in the seventh generation. She’s also the lone mother of Leni and the town’s unbeaten arm wrestling champion. She has the rare talent of beeing simultaneously gruffy and warm-hearted. She always has a sympathetic ear for your everyday problems, but she would never hesitate to punch you in the teeth if you fail to keep your inner drunk in check. Come in, have a drink! Be nice, though …

This is Leni, “the weird kid” in Trüberbrook Elementary. Leni is drawn to anything that is within the realm of science fiction and paranormalilty. It isn’t an unusual Trüberbrook holiday experience to find her on the streets at night, highly focused on the hunt for monsters with her stuffed animal minion and a butterknife. Advise for tourists: if you spot the girl, don’t pretend to be a monster!

Some friends dropped by for an interview! Hello, Medienboard Berlin-Brandenburg!

We did a short interview with Hans Duschl from adventure-treff.de! Only in german right now, tho.

Beware of Lazarus Taft, the reclusive inventor and enigmatic health guru. This stranger came to Trüberbrook several years ago and took an inexplicable fancy to the tranquil village. Soon after arriving in town, Tafts superior game of Doppelkopf allowed for the purchase of a costly historic mansion in the woods, therefore financed by clueless tourists. This and the rather secretive behavior of Taft aroused some suspicion amongst the local townsfolk: What is up with this Lazarus Taft?

The residents of the drowsy village are perplexed: Who are all those off-season tourists lately?

Another stranger just arrived in Downtown Trüberbrook: Gretchen Lemke hops off the bus, a somewhat overenthusiastic student of paleoanthropology. She is adventurous, outgoing and radiates more coolness and self-confidence than anyone in this hicktown can probably bear. When it comes to science, her heart beats exactly 12,56865 bpm faster. She was the fiercest kid in the sandpit; cute but brutal when someone tried to disrupt her while she was digging for twig bones and toy artefacts.

Gretchen came to Trüberbrook in pursuit of an ancient proto-germanic sanctuary she first heard about in a class. The one that got shut down because the professor was talking more about conspiracies than historical facts. She made it her mission to unravel the mysteries that may or may not surround the lovely village of Trüberbrook.

Look who finally revealed himself: Tannhauser – the american expat in his mid-twenties who just agreed to give his debut by playing the main character in our game.

Tannhauser is a physicist – very much so – and a clever one at that. An adorable little fellow who is very well-read, always curious and of a deeply friendly nature. As a man who devoted his life to science, he strongly believes in well defined systems and an indisputable order; as a man of reason however, he came to terms with a world that seems to be inherently chaotic and at times frustratingly uncontrollable. This inner conflict gives him a somewhat unconcerned and lighthearted attitude.

While working on his PhD thesis, Tannhauser visits Trüberbrook to find relieve from a mental block that bothered him for quite a while. What he does not know yet is what adventurous endeavors he will have to endure to finally … finally … finish his thesis … best … vacation … ever …

Coming later this week:

Puzzles, puzzles, puzzles. We are knee-deep in the process of designing puzzles for some time now, happening somewhat simultaneously while working on the story details. We utilize Puzzle Dependency Charts, as described in detail by Ron Gilbert on grumpygamer.com.

Gilbert writes: »A Puzzle Dependency Chart is a list of all the puzzles and steps for solving a puzzle in an adventure game. They are presented in the form of a Graph with each node connecting to the puzzle or puzzle steps that are need to get there. They do not generally include story beats unless they are critical to solving a puzzle.«

Below: An example for one of the later chapters of »Trüberbrook«. Pixelated for supersecrecy.

Finally, the narrative is taking shape! We already knew a lot about the town of Trüberbrook and what kind of story we wanted to tell, but while some features were surprisingly clear in the beginning, others still needed some finishing touches. Over the past few weeks, we tried to define all the characters and settings in detail, structuring storylines and trying to set them all in relation. Though some aspects might still be subject to change, we are close to the finish line: There will be four to five main chapters, bracketed by a prologue and an epilogue. Below, you can see an intermediate status, pixelated, however, to keep curiosity up.

Hej, hello and welcome to Trüberblog. Off we go! Things get serious! Lurk around for insights, reports, pictures and short video documentaries about the ongoing production process. We’ll try to keep you up to date on a weekly basis. That’s the plan, anyway. Since Trüberbrook will be our very first »genuine« video game, everyone here is really excited! Yay! Stay tuned.

XOXO from Trüberbrook

Our first interview with Hans Duschl (adventure-treff.de). We talked about our first game »Neo Magazin Game Royale: Raiders of the Lost Bald«, adventure games in general as well as our upcoming game »Trüberbrook«.

Read the interview (german only)