Week 7: "And just as the children go rushing out to greet the rider, she has the dark feeling she should call them back."

Greetings, partners-in-crime! During the last four days, I was in Pittsburgh to visit my sister and I didn’t bring my laptop, so I’m terribly sorry for the late update. As promised last week, I plan to answer a couple of questions and show you the finished assets and backgrounds for Themedior’s side scroller today.

I. Side Scroller Components

First things first, here are the finished backgrounds:

Area 1: Strolling down Frier St. (in Rivetton territories)

Full view:

Detailed screenshots:

Area 2: Inside the Abbatoir

Full view (only background):

Full view (background + assets):

Assets include:

• – flashing lights
• – meat hook
• – carcass #1 and carcass #2
• – bucket
• – sink
• – table

Once again, I apologize for the blurriness of the images. Nevertheless, I hope you still gained a general understanding of the contrasting retrofuturistic and grungy moods I attempted to convey between the two side scroller parts. Additionally, as a side note or spoiler, the assets for Area 2 are going to be used as either obstacles or animated features!

II. Q&A + A Very, Very Short Conclusion

Finally, it’s time for some questions which I combined into one response.

Q: What does it mean to be Themedior? Where does the title come from?

A: That’s a great question (especially since it’s the game’s namesake)! When Catherine and I originally planned to create Themedior last fall, we actually had a completely different vision for what our project would be about. First, we initially intended for Themedior to be a game that took place in a futuristic dystopia with zero mention of a murder mystery and a huge emphasis on mental disorders and the development of psychological therapies throughout history. The Themedior was supposed to be the official in charge of determining whether or not an individual is “fit” and “perfect” enough to remain in Prospera. In fact, the word “Themedior” was a portmanteau of Themis, the personification of justice in Greek mythology, and medicina, the Latin word for medicine. However, since we (and our advisors) feared we were reaching beyond our current expertise as high school students, we decided to shift our focus aside and changed most of our original plans. In the present stage of Themedior’s development, we instead interpret Themedior as more of a bureaucratic role – the official head of the Prosperan city guards. In a sense, Cynefin can now be described as both a combination between justice and medicine (a sort of cure to the centuries of crime and corruption caused by the Triad) similar to before and literally “the medior” or mediator/middle ground between the opposing forces of the Prosperan Council (Solari) and the three noble families.

Thanks for reading guys and be on the look out for new, dialogue illustrations next week!