Call of the Wisps

Call of the Wisps is a visual novel features Solana, an accomplished potion brewer and plant expert, and Aywen, a mischievous and adventurous soul, who find more than what they bargained for on their quest through the Forest of Spirits.  Along their journey, choices will either lead them to realise truths hidden from themselves or hinder their journey and set them on a path to darkness.

Gameplay

Press spacebar to continue text.

Use arrow keys when making a choice in the dialogue text.

Use the mouse when making a critical choice.

There are four possible endings.

Tools of the Trade

Game Engine - Construct 3

Art - Handmade using art software by Nia and Katie

Music - Purchased and licensed for use or credited below

Credits

Nia - Writer, Background Artist

Katie - Character Artist

Sailing Ocelot - Programming, Itch Page

With thanks to...

Viridino Studios  - For initial VN template

Klankbleed for forest sound ambience - https://freesound.org/people/klankbeeld/

The Team

Three members of Island of Tellus decided that it would be quite fun to join a game jam!

Nia is on her journey to transition from writing to game development. Her studies took her through various fields from translation to education and games. She's interested in fantasy, psychology and gamification while she dabbles in art and other creative projects.

Youtube

KatieMayWrite (usually shortened to KatieMay or Katie) specialises in coding in renpy, drawing sprites and the mystery genre. When she isn't writing or working on her game "Supernatural Case", she's taking part in visual novel game jams like Nanoreno and Spooktober. She's also a massive anime fan and a sweet tooth.

Itch | Twitch 

Sailing Ocelot specialises in narrative games and game design theory. They teach game design while creating their major project code-named 'Sea Hears' in Ren'py. Sailing Ocelot loves to write and shares poetry in their spare time. 

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Dev Log

Sailing Ocelot

My goal for this project was to step out of my comfort zone which was narrative story design and to work on the programming side of things! I was delighted when Nia wanted to focus on her writing and art, and Katie her character designs. I feel incredibly lucky to be part of this team.

I began the first week by experimenting with Unity. I have previously worked on a Unity visual novel with a friend, and I hoped to make the most of my skills I have been developing towards mini games that could go alongside the game.

Unfortunately, life and time got a little in the way, and I jumped ship to Construct 3. While I am confident in delivering a visual novel in Ren'py, I still wanted to push myself in learning something new. I had attempted to develop my own visual novel in Construct 3 before which had moderate success. This time however, I made use of a template by Viridino Studios and adapted it to our needs to save time.

Is Construct 3 a good engine for a visual novel?

In short, no, not really! It is definitely more suitable for quirky platformers and 2D adventures.

But I was hoping to add some mini games into the visual novel if I had time. Alas, again, life and time got a little in the way.

Yet I am delighted to have had the opportunity to collaborate with Nia and Katie. This visual novel feels extra special because all three of us had specific goals we wanted to achieve (and from my perspective, we got there!). I also thoroughly enjoyed working on Call of the Wisps - and I know not everyone comes out of a game jam with a grin on their face.

Thank you for taking a look at our efforts. We would love to know your feedback.

SO~