Mothmen 1966 - A Pixel Pulp Visual Novel With 80s Home Computer Graphics

[cyborgboy95]

Spoiler

Mothmen 1966 is set during the Leonid meteor shower of ‘66.

Mothmen 1966 is set during the Leonid meteor shower of ‘66.

November, 1966. The Leonid Meteor Shower.

A young couple, a gas station owner, and a paranormal investigator get caught up in a terrifying conspiracy taking place at the edge of their reality, where nightmare creatures lurk, and the mysterious men in black lie in wait...

Mothmen 1966 is the first in a new series of interactive adventures: Pixel Pulps. Created by novelist Nico Saraintaris and artist Fernando Martinez Ruppel, Pixel Pulps are a fusion of exceptional writing and stunning illustration, inspired by mid-20th century pulp fiction and 80s home computer graphics. The first volume comprises three games: Mothmen 1966, Varney Lake, and Bahnsen Knights.

Mothmen 1966, like all the Pixel Pulps, is made to be played by anyone who enjoys fine storytelling:

• Unfurl the dark wings of the rich, branching narrative
  
• Immerse yourself in the story with its rich, evocative illustrations
  
• Decide the fate of Mothmen 1966’s characters in ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ style gameplay
  
• Solve accessible brain-tickling puzzles throughout the story

November, 1966. The Leonid Meteor Shower.

A young couple, a gas station owner, and a paranormal investigator get caught up in a terrifying conspiracy taking place at the edge of their reality, where nightmare creatures lurk, and the mysterious men in black lie in wait...

Mothmen 1966 is the first in a new series of interactive adventures: Pixel Pulps. Created by novelist Nico Saraintaris and artist Fernando Martinez Ruppel, Pixel Pulps are a fusion of exceptional writing and stunning illustration, inspired by mid-20th century pulp fiction and 80s home computer graphics. The first volume comprises three games: Mothmen 1966, Varney Lake, and Bahnsen Knights.

Mothmen 1966, like all the Pixel Pulps, is made to be played by anyone who enjoys fine storytelling:

• Unfurl the dark wings of the rich, branching narrative
  
• Immerse yourself in the story with its rich, evocative illustrations
  
• Decide the fate of Mothmen 1966’s characters in ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ style gameplay
  
• Solve accessible brain-tickling puzzles throughout the story

 

[JamesDixon]

Wow that's not a color palette I've ever seen from the 4 bit, 8 bit era, and 16 bit era. These people actually chose the worst color palette available. The art really detracts from the overall presentation and would hinder the writing.

The pixel art isn't half bad since it appears to be mimicking 320x200 display.

 

[JarlFrank]

Wow that's not a color palette I've ever seen from the 4 bit, 8 bit era, and 16 bit era. These people actually chose the worst color palette available. The art really detracts from the overall presentation and would hinder the writing.

The pixel art isn't half bad since it appears to be mimicking 320x200 display.

I mean it's basically CGA but they replaced the garish pink with green. Not a bad change.

 

[JamesDixon]

Wow that's not a color palette I've ever seen from the 4 bit, 8 bit era, and 16 bit era. These people actually chose the worst color palette available. The art really detracts from the overall presentation and would hinder the writing.

The pixel art isn't half bad since it appears to be mimicking 320x200 display.

I mean it's basically CGA but they replaced the garish pink with green. Not a bad change.

I've never seen CGA using that color palette or that combination I should say. Also, CGA doesn't have pink.

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/cga.htm

 

[JarlFrank]

Also, CGA doesn't have pink.

Magenta, then.

Still looks pink to me.

 

[JamesDixon]

Wow that's not a color palette I've ever seen from the 4 bit, 8 bit era, and 16 bit era. These people actually chose the worst color palette available. The art really detracts from the overall presentation and would hinder the writing.

The pixel art isn't half bad since it appears to be mimicking 320x200 display.

I mean it's basically CGA but they replaced the garish pink with green. Not a bad change.

I've never seen CGA using that color palette or that combination I should say. Also, CGA doesn't have pink.

https://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/cga.htm

Let me add to my prior statement. Due to the pinouts for the video card to the monitor using CGA it's impossible to get multiple shades of the same basic color. Here's the pinout for CGA which is 16 colors.

It's possible for EGA though since it's 64 colors.

The color palette they're using is CGA 16 color, but they're not using it correctly due to the specific hardware limitations of the card and connectors. Also, CGA/EGA cards and their opposing monitors were only partially compatible.

 

[Catacombs]

The art looks great. Would love access to all the avatars and assets.

 

[grimace]

I'm interested.

It's a visual novel. So it's like a comic book presented as a video game?

Are there choices to make? Is it completely linear?

 

[WallaceChambers]

I'm interested.

It's a visual novel. So it's like a comic book presented as a video game?

Are there choices to make? Is it completely linear?

Steam page says there's choices with branching and puzzles.

Mothmen 1966, like all the Pixel Pulps, is made to be played by anyone who enjoys fine storytelling:

• Unfurl the dark wings of the rich, branching narrative
  
• Immerse yourself in the story with its rich, evocative illustrations
  
• Decide the fate of Mothmen 1966’s characters in ‘Choose Your Own Adventure’ style gameplay
  
• Solve accessible brain-tickling puzzles throughout the story

 

[agris]

Not looking derivative is enough to get a follow.

 

[MRY]

These guys are really nice people, and the visual style is extremely striking -- I think the tornado one that they were doing before looked even cooler, blanking on its name.

That said, I tried playing the shark rider one they released and couldn't really get into it. There are two kinds of CYOA text structures -- one that is much more like standard RPG dialogue tree where you simply exhaust all the options to advance, and one that is more like the old game books where it's constantly propelling you forward at a rapid clip. The latter I enjoy (whether in AOD or Lone Wolf or whatever), but the former, which seems to dominate the visual novel genre, I find kind of tedious.

FWIW, I think the complaints on the art are misplaced. This is not an "ugly by design" indie game; the actual pixel work is phenomenal and the garish, limited palette seems driven more by Frank Miller Sin City mentality than retro for retros sake (as was noted above, this doesn't really look like any old school game, it's something strikingly new).

 

[wishbonetail]

Ahh, it feels good to have a saturation slider in video drivers.

 

[Morpheus Kitami]

Reminds me of some of the late C64 and CPC titles, especially the European titles. I like the palette, still has that 8-bit computer charm, but is done in such a way that doesn't tie it into any specific computer.

 

[Alex]

I'm interested.

It's a visual novel. So it's like a comic book presented as a video game?(snip...)

And, more importantly, if so, why is this in the adventure gaming section of the site? Visual novels aren't even games, much less adventure ones.

 

[cyborgboy95]

 

[agris]

codexers are brofisiting op post into heaven

fake excidium is kinda boring and low energy, no?

 

[Modron]

I'd be more interested in this if it was an actual game instead of a VN.

 

[Modron]

These guys have been pumping out games they have a demo for their third game now: