Hey guys!

Wanted to tell you about my 1st PC game called That Little Star. It's a narrative-driven point and click adventure. It tells the story of a 12 year old boy called Edward who becomes part of a murder and decides to investigate it while fighting his Asperger's.

We have finally managed to create some art for the game and I would love to get your feedback on our art style and colors used.

I really like the art itself.

The coloring is amazing.

Why is the middle one "just" black and white? Is there a specific reason?

Is the middle one handrawn?

I really like the art itself.

The coloring is amazing.

Why is the middle one "just" black and white? Is there a specific reason?

Is the middle one handrawn?

Thanks for the feedback! Though I don't understand what you mean by the middle part?

The picture in the middle stands out from the others, because it's just black and white :)

The picture in the middle stands out from the others, because it's just black and white :)

Oh, that's just a rough sketch. The image below it is based on that sketch!

Sharing this week's work on the game. Spent a long time getting the lighting right!

Hi !

As far as I'm concerned, whoever worked on this art made an amazing job : the colors are soulful, vibrant and mellow and light just seems to ooze out of the scenery ! It reminds me of atmospheres in games like Zenge and Dustforce, except much mellower~

I'd like to ask you a somewhat serious question, which may (or may not !) delve into personal territory - if it happens to be the case, please feel free to ignore it, of course !

Representation of autism (and neurodivergency in general - for those unfamiliar with that term, it refers to all kinds of disabilities and disorders that make someone "differ" from what's considered the mental, behavioral and/or emotional norm, ranging from depression to bi-polar disorder and including things such as autism, PTSD and schizophrenia to name a few) in games and other media is an important topic to me (if you couldn't tell by the lecture lmao), and I wondered what made you pick it among the variety of plot ideas existing.

Not that it's a bad thing, quite the contrary ! I think it's great for autism to be represented in games, and I also wondered what kind of sources you have at your disposal to tackle this rather delicate, complex matter.

Best regards !

(Trivia : I've actually created this account for the purpose of sending you this reply !)

Hi !

As far as I'm concerned, whoever worked on this art made an amazing job : the colors are soulful, vibrant and mellow and light just seems to ooze out of the scenery ! It reminds me of atmospheres in games like Zenge and Dustforce, except much mellower~

I'd like to ask you a somewhat serious question, which may (or may not !) delve into personal territory - if it happens to be the case, please feel free to ignore it, of course !

Representation of autism (and neurodivergency in general - for those unfamiliar with that term, it refers to all kinds of disabilities and disorders that make someone "differ" from what's considered the mental, behavioral and/or emotional norm, ranging from depression to bi-polar disorder and including things such as autism, PTSD and schizophrenia to name a few) in games and other media is an important topic to me (if you couldn't tell by the lecture lmao), and I wondered what made you pick it among the variety of plot ideas existing.

Not that it's a bad thing, quite the contrary ! I think it's great for autism to be represented in games, and I also wondered what kind of sources you have at your disposal to tackle this rather delicate, complex matter.

Best regards !

(Trivia : I've actually created this account for the purpose of sending you this reply !)

Hello!
First of all, thank you for the kind words about the game and creating an account especially to provide feedback, it means a lot to us!

Now, about your question, it all started after I had watched multiple movies such as Fly Away, I am Me, A Brilliant Young Mind, to name a few and I was very much interested in learning about the disability. After reading about it on the internet, I developed this idea of creating a game where the protagonist had such problems but he lived a normal life like everyone else. On top of that, involving him into a murder case would make it more interesting and convey the fact that they are not disabled people but more like specially-abled.
After working on it more, I consulted with a couple of Psychologists and they were happy to refine the idea and helped me on how to present the narrative in a better way, keeping our goals in mind.
If you ask me, I think there are a lot of taboos attached to the whole Autism and Asperger's thing, especially in my country and a lot of people don't even know what exactly this disorder mean. I also got the opportunity to meet a couple of Autistic children (thanks to one of the Psychologists) and to be honest, I think they were one of the smartest kids I've ever known. And that made me even more motivated to show their smart side to the world and bust few of the myths around them.

I hope that answers your question. If you really like the project and can help on the topic, we'd be really happy!

You're welcome ! I'm glad if sharing my perspective was of any help.

I think going out of your way to put any kind of disability or disorder in the spotlight is a great thing to do. Autistic people (like other neurodivergent people) do experience love, drama, action and any hardship or adventure you'd enjoy seeing in a game or movie...with the additional parameter of having to struggling with difference, incomprehension and hatred related to their disability : there however is no reason they wouldn't make great characters !

Conveying the fact that your main character achieves to live "normally" without washing away the specificities related to, well, being an Aspie, and enforcing the fact that a difference isn't the same as a problem is a very wonderful goal to set for your game in my opinion :) (granted i understood you right !)

I'm very happy and impressed to see you took the time to not only look it up, but go to psychologists and (most importantly) take the opportunity to spend time with actual Autistic persons. That's like...the ONE thing someone looking to include disabilities in a story should do, that is, make it a priority to listen to the people that actually live with it. The vast majority of content creators don't bother to do half as much, which is why most existing medias featuring disabilities are a complete disaster.

To be honest, I'd be glad to give you a hand, as I do have some understanding of the matter, but the best way to go would still be to look for blogs and articles written by actual Autistic persons and advocates : I'm only ever sharing what I learned from them, as, considering I'm a 100% neurotypical (that is, the opposite of neurodivergent !) person, I wouldn't be qualified to speak in their behalf. However, if I can answer questions you may have with the knowledge at my disposal, I'd be happy to do so and discuss the matter with you, as well as linking you to good, reliable sources !

(I assume you were only asking me if I wanted to help about that ? I do have skills as a music composer and writer, but considering we folks jump on projects like pigs in sh**, I assume you got that covered already at this stage of the game's development lmao)

Hello!

It's been a while since my last post, we were really busy working on the narrative and crafting next shots for the game.
Wanted to share a new shot we've been working on. The game's coming out well, thanks to our artist!