We Happy Few - Kickstarter

We Happy Few

Après nous avoir proposé l'excellent Contrast, Compulsion Games est de retour avec We Happy Few. Afin de sécuriser le financement pour sortir le jeu, une campagne Kickstarter vient d'être lancée.

Au menu, on retrouve un budget de 250 000 $ CAD avec pas mal de possibilités de contributions avec des budgets variables. On notera surtout le Tier à 60$ CAD (43€) qui vous permettra d'obtenir la version Pré-alpha dès la fin de la campagne Kickstarter ce qui vous permettra d'influer à la fois financièrement mais aussi de l'intérieur sur le développement du jeu. Bien entendu, il faut que le financement passe mais il y a fort à parier que ce soit le cas vu le potentiel du jeu ainsi qu'en regardant de plus près l'univers et l'ambiance de ce petit monde parfait.

Je vous invite à lire le descriptif complet du jeu et de la vision des développeurs concernant l'univers si particulier de We Happy Few.

Kickstarter:

We Happy Few is the tale of a plucky bunch of slightly terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful delusion. Set in a drug-fuelled, retro-futuristic city in an alternative history 1964 England, you’ll have to blend in with its other citizens, who don’t take kindly to people who don’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.

It’s a first-person game, set in a procedurally generated, fully 3D city that you must escape before society collapses around you. But, like any good roguelike, you’re probably going to die a few times before you figure out how it all works.

You will need to learn how to conform and avoid suspicion. You will need to hunt for supplies, and craft the devices and weapons that enable you to make it out of town alive. What do the Wellies approve of you doing? What makes them suspicious? What turns them into a homicidal mob? And is there anyone here who can help you?

Welcome, my friends. It’s another fabulous day in Wellington Wells.

In We Happy Few, your main minute-to-minute need is to avoid suspicion. The Wellies really hate Downers, and are very touchy if they think you might be one. But, if you don’t draw too much suspicion, they’ll just wish you a “Lovely day for it!”, and go about their day. Do as the Wellies do, and you should be fine. However, if you act like a naughty Downer and, say, break into a house in front of them, they’ll desperately want to make sure you take your Joy, with extreme violence if necessary, and all their friends will help them. Ha ha ha, what fun!

This isn’t stealth - this is hiding in plain sight. We Happy Few is a game about blending in, while you look for a way to escape.

Everything is perfectly fine - Concept
Everything is perfectly fine - Concept
Once they start coming after you, you’re going to have to fight, run, or hide. Combat isn’t easy - you’re not a superhero who can reload a saved game, you’re just a normal person trying to survive in a crazy world. Alternatively, you could craft an escape mechanism or take Joy to blend in… but every option comes with some sort of disadvantage. And usually, because you have one life, you’ll want to be very, very careful about what you’re doing.

If you die, or win, you’ll start a new game, in a brand new Wellington Wells. The world will change, so only through understanding the systems inside the game and how they work will you be able to win. Winning the game requires getting good at stealth, conformity or combat (hopefully all three), while learning what you can and can’t get away with.

It’s another harsh, but fabulous day in Wellington Wells.

In We Happy Few, you play as a Downer - someone off their happy pills. We have three Downers for you to unlock and play:

Our playable characters are not typical video game heroes - they are flawed and not particularly heroic, warped by the trauma their world has been through. They are haunted by terrible things they’ve done in the past, and they each have something they urgently need to accomplish.
Each one has a story to play through. Their stories all interweave, so by playing one character, you can unlock new ones. And, each character has his or her own strengths and weaknesses, which change how you play the game.

Our stories are definitely Not Appropriate For Children, unless your children are already reading Neil Gaiman novels, in which case, good on you. But don’t worry, it’s not all frowns and sadness! It’s also laced with dark humour, hope, and even a spot of redemption.

Of course, you’re not alone in Wellington Wells - you’re surrounded by its people, the Wellies - regular lads and lasses just wandering about their day. They are enthusiastically happy and friendly, at least until they suspect you haven’t taken your Joy. Then they tend to get a little bit violent. They’re like that friend of yours that just won’t shut up about that thing they’re into, except that the Wellies get quite a bit more violent if you dare challenge their world view.

We also have a bunch of special NPC types, who’ll make your life a tad more difficult:

Think you’re tough? Try fighting a Bobby.
Think you’re sneaky? There’s a kindly, Nosey Old Lady who is always sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong.
Think you’ll pretend you’re on Joy? The Doctor can practically sniff you out.
Depending on how you like to play, some of these will be more dangerous than others.

Finally, we can’t complete this section without Uncle Jack, the proud, smiling face of Wellington Wells. Everywhere you go, he’s there to say good morning and he’s there to say good night. He is there to make you laugh, to make you smile, and to remind you that things really aren’t all that bad, and sawdust really is a very filling substitute for bread. Always so happy. So, so happy.

It’s just another fabulous day in Wellington Wells.

We began building prototypes for We Happy Few in January 2014, and built the team throughout 2014/early 2015 to get us to where we are today. We’ve embraced open development, by showing the game really early on, posting consistent updates, and getting feedback from friends and family. We spent a few whirlwind days at PAX East in March, where we got insightful and challenging input from hundreds of gamers on a very early build. Afterwards, we invited a small gang of contest-winners to continue playing We Happy Few throughout development, and we’re just starting to get their feedback now.

As a whole, this community feedback has been awesome and has hugely helped us shape the development of We Happy Few. Which is why we’d like to work with you and hear your feedback all the way to our release. Plus, right after the end of the campaign, we’ll be offering backers who pledge CA$60 or more immediate access to the game, letting you provide hands-on feedback with every update.

Community-focused development will take more time and money than just keeping our heads down and getting a game out. But it will help us to make sure that we’re not missing any serious flaws — or great opportunities — and that we deliver on our ambitions.

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