Lord of Lies
Lord of Lies Devlog #10
Lord of Lies Devlog #10
November, 11th
Hey guys it’s Joy, and I’m totally not bothered by the fact that this isn’t the 11th devlog on November 11th…
Oh well! Let’s talk about…
Visual and Audio Inspiration
‘Princess Poison’ and by extension ‘Lord of Lies’ feels like the exact type of story I would have wanted to make when I was in middle school, and most definitely tried.
Princess Poison was essentially, what if Snow White was badass? Then forgoed all Snow White and the Seven Dwarves story telling in favor of the aesthetics alone.
I have worked hard to reintegrate many references, allusions, and themes from as many fairy tales as I could for Lord of Lies.
Let’s talk about the title screen inspiration! Here are the reference images I gathered for Gisselle to make the gorgeous title screen!
I wanted this feeling of stepping into something you aren’t entirely prepared for-
Chess is intimidating, you can win, but only if you know the rules and make the right moves.
It works on so many levels honestly! As this is a turn based rpg, there are many strategies to learn, and you have to use all the tools at your disposal to slay your enemies! You have several party members and you move them around like chess pieces!
It’s a bit meta with the ‘main cast is in a game’.
Since Lawrence has lie detecting as one of his tools to navigate this dangerous adventure with, he is best fit to lead his companions to victory!
In chess there are also pawns that go under the names of ‘King and Queen’ calling back to the code names the Witch Hunters use.
You may notice as well that the chess board is not only massive, but in these dreary landscapes, with fog, greenery/hedges, and ominous lighting.
Lord of Lies is in fact a dark fantasy, but it’s also a grim fairytale, and to me one of the grimmest fairy tales is: “Alice in Wonderland”- there is something so terrifying about being sucked into this world somewhere between fiction and reality with creepy and wacky characters.
The most prominent piece of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ that always stuck with me was the ‘Queen of Hearts’ this insanely evil Queen who is trying to decapitate anyone she can. I’m not saying this isn’t related to Lord of Lies in some way, but I’m also- not saying it is.
I did take the loosest inspiration from Harry Potter where they play the giant deadly game of chess. Something about oversized chess pieces is just very off putting for me personally, but also cool as hell.
Next in terms of theme and aesthetic is the music!
I just got back the theme/title/main menu song for Lord of Lies that you can listen to in FULL here right now! Please give it a listen! It’s done by the talented Eric and is inspired by Dragon Age Origins, The Witcher (1st game), and some fantasy/medieval tracks with angelic female vocalists.
Follow Eric on Twitter! He’s incredible truly. Eric Jeffrey Tan (@ejtanmusic) / X
In addition to the original music there is what started it all, the playlist.
If you know anything about me you know that music is one of the BIGGEST sources of inspiration for me. I have huge playlists for everything I’ve ever written from one shot fanfics, to full scale multi hour rpg’s like this one!
The playlist really reflects the kind of music I enjoyed back in middle school (and now ofc) but mostly in my preteen’s.
The soundtrack mainly consists of Hard Rock, Metal, and Alternative tracks by artist such as: Breaking Benjamin (whom I once considered my favorite band lmfaooo) Sick Puppies, Disturbed, Lifehouse, Linkin Park, Slipknot, etc…
There’s also some curve balls like: Taylor Swift, Beyonce’, Kendrick Lamar, and Glee covers???
Fun fact- Lawrence in addition to being a musical savant, who is pitch perfect, he’s an incredible singer (though he doesn’t do it often due to stage fright) his canonical singing voice is Darren Criss’ voice, especially in the songs: ‘Somewhere Only We Know’- Glee Cover, and ‘Come What May’ also Glee Cover. (explains the glee tracks, yes I was a humongous Glee fan, and no I will not be taking any questions at this time.)
Progress
I’ve been working like a dog, both at my dayjob and deving, it’s a lot but it ain’t over till it’s over.
While I took a break I made a cute little meme video for Lord of Lies that you can check out here ⬇️
https://www.tumblr.com/meant2beestudios/733657723893350400/siblings?source=share
The progress has been steady, which I am thankful for. I am surprised by myself that I get multiple hours of work in daily everyday after work despite being exhausted most days. (and currently lol)
Not everyday am I super inspired and fired up to create, but if there is one thing this project has taught me, it’s that consistency and routine is more valuable than fleeting motivation/inspiration.
As long as it exists, I can go back and fix it ez pz.
Can’t do that if I never did the legwork to begin with. 😎
Also have this cutie patootie Zahir!
Zahir is an entirely original character for Lord of Lies, he was not in any of the other Princess Poison iterations and he’s a very special guy to me.
His name actually means ‘Blossoming’ in Arabic origin.
Zahir is not a playable party member, however, he is a character that stays at your campsite as a personal shop on your travels. He also has a more important role to play in relation to some other characters but…you know the drill. Don’t want to spoil.
Next Week’s Devlog Sneak Peak
I’m going to be real, I have no clue what I will talk about next week. I’ll let future Joy sort that out lol. It’s been a busy and kind of crazy week for me so I just want to give myself some leeway on this devlog.
Thank you for reading! I have been blown away by people telling me they read these devlogs or they find them inspiring and that is one of the most motivating and flattering things ever!
I actually love sharing all these little things about the game, but it also pushes me to keep going so I can show you guys all this stuff I’ve been yapping about for 10+ weeks.
Anyway…Until next week y’all! (listen to the theme song if you haven’t already PLEASE)
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