Your hometown that holds all of your best memories from childhood. Days where you spent all of your time with friends, exploring and playing. The most notable thing about both you and your hometown however, is what started happening in your teenage years. After you and your friends uncovered a mystery about the high school you all went to, you starting finding more odd occurrences across the county, and well, it's not like anybody else was going to solve them.
You and your friends because a team of detectives. Most your teenage years and early twenties were spent solving odd crimes across the country. You were all best friends.
That was until four years ago when...
Well, you're not sure you can remember anymore.
It doesn't matter right now. Welcome back.
'Return to Misty Cove' is a horror/mystery Interactive Fiction game that is inspired by Scooby-Doo, Soul Reaver, and the works of H.P. Lovecraft. This work will be rated 17+ for gore, violence, swearing, death, body horror, and possession that might not be suitable for everyone.
Customize your MC's appearance (gender, height, body type, ect.) develop their personality and become the linchpin of your mystery solving team.
Find out more and possibly solve the mystery that has been haunting your hometown.
Rekindle, or destroy old friendships (and maybe develop romances) with your former team, and meet others along the way.
Have an animal companion! (dog or cat)
Major Characters
Cameron "Cam" Morris (M/F) [RO]- Tech-savvy and mechanically minded, Cam is currently working as a mechanic after you and your group broke up, they are currently going to grad school for mechanical engineering, and still sends postcards and pictures to you. They are likely the sweetest person you have ever met, even if sometimes they are too kind to people who don't deserve it. Out of the four of you, Cam was always one to do what they thought was right, but their conflict aversion is always extreme, leading to more hurt feelings than if they just talked.
Ollie Cohen-Reyes (NB) [RO]- Ollie has always been interested in macabre and strange, spending hours researching in the library any and every topic they were interested in. They get along with very few people, but once they are able to get close with others it becomes easier, and they become sarcastic and witty, and feel less uncomfortable talking about their interests freely. They work as an adjunct professor in forensic anthropology.
Rose/Rory Thompson(M/F) [RO]- They are a loyal person, first and foremost. When the group broke up they somewhat lost their purpose, but they ended up settling and working as a bartender in Misty Cove. Having taken boxing and self-defense classes from a young age due to their paranoid parents, R was always the best when it came to physical confrontation with the cases you investigated, even if outside of this they never seemed like someone who had that much power. They have become far more aggressive and assertive than the person you knew as a child, now having the attitude to match their technical know-how.
Terra Clarke (F) [RO]- You originally knew her by a different name, but she started transitioning early on life, and Terra is the only name you can remember now. Normally when you say it it's followed by a nasty comment. Terra was never someone you got along with when you lived in Misty Cove. She was antagonistic towards you and your friends, but a lot has changed since the last time you saw her. She now owns her Grandpa's diner, and tries to take good care of the people of the town, especially since the mayor won't do much. She is always exhausted now, but is very happy to see a familiar face, even if your history is muddied because of both of your actions.
Randall 'Randy' Clarke - Terra's grandfather and former owner of "Randy's Diner" always very kind to you and your friends, even if you all never got along with Terra. He has been running his diner since the 60's and has faith that his granddaughter will uphold the legacy.
Ana Lloyd - (An-uh) the mayor of the town of Misty Cove. Trying to "restore the former glory of the town" as if she didn't move here less than 2 years ago, and was the only person who ran when the former mayor died while in office. She has been selling some of the old public spaces to business developers as a way to "expand the town and bring in new people".
Mrs. Ms. Emerson Talbot- Your former English teacher from high school, you never got along with her that well. She, now in her 70's has only gotten more bitter. You just hope she doesn't hold grudges.
Dorothy Giles- Your co-worker, likely the only one in your office who has a soul anymore. A woman who would go to the ends of the earth to protect the people she cares about, even if those people are just 20-somethings that she has taken under her wing.
(Things are subject to change throughout the games development)
Whatever he has planned will see you bleed out for good. Will end with you in an unmarked grave, your body decaying beneath the soil of a city you bled and killed for. It should be a comfort, to know you'll be free of the pain, of the burdens of existing as the kind of person you are in Vapolis but you're afraid still even as you surrender to it.
chapter 007.
experience The Horrors!
watch merc's mind break in real time
decide whether or not to seek revenge if you survive down the line
soft lock a romance route (or choose to remain alone)
begin to uncover what Orla & merc really do
read a different POV for a change!
general info.
the soft lock implemented changes next chapter quite a lot so choose wisely
the augmentations your merc might or might not have change the scenes heavily (hence it feeling shorter than usual)
if you kept the dog, there's quite a bit of animal cruelty happening and I've updated the warnings!
if you find any errors, please send them to me via screenshot on tumblr or in DMs!
"I haven't been home in…" He tried to work it out, but thinking about it just made him feel worse. "Too long," he said eventually. "How is it?"
"Much the same as ever," Kent said. "Still spinning."
"What --" Tim paused to compose his thoughts. "You're from Beaumonde."
Kent seemed to understand what he was asking. "I'm a reporter. I work for one of the newspapers on Daduhui."
"You --" Something clicked in Tim's mind. "You work for the Daily Planet. I knew your name was familiar."
"You read the Planet?" There was an air of bafflement in Kent's voice.
Tim shrugged. "I get alerts from the Planet and the Gazette on the Cortex. It's nice to keep up to date."
Seeing all of these tomodachi life posts are very fun but it does make me feel incredibly out of the loop because the most recent console I own is a bust3d ass V1 switch
Update Wordcount: 142,690 words
Chapter Four Wordcount: 230,389 words
Total Wordcount: 565,671 words
I never thought I'd see the day, but here we are!! Chapter Four, part 2. This update took a lot out of me; but I'm extremely pleased with where it's ended up. Chapter Four spirals into two separate branches. If there's any update I recommend trying both routes out for, it's this one!
In this update, you can:
Stick around for a bonfire. OR
Get interviewed for a radio show.
In contrast to last update, this one has a lot of updated content warnings. Please check them out here. Parts of this update are pretty intense. I attempted to update the character builder for part 2; but, as always, a full playthrough of at least the chapter will get you the most genuine results <3
As always, any bugs can be sent as asks here; or to the TLS forum thread. I'm expecting more than usual, because one of the routes is...a lot. Even after my own testing lol. Thank you as always to my delightful betas for testing. Thank you all all so much for playing, and I hope you enjoy c:
Update Wordcount: 87,699 words
Total Wordcount: 422,981 words
Howdy, everyone! Part one of Chapter 4 is (finally) here!! In a very real way this is the calm before the storm. Part 2 (which will add another. um. roughly 135k words) should be along in the coming weeks, after a short break to rest my brain from today <3 Thank you, as always, for your patience, and I hope you enjoy!
In this update, you can:
Attend a party!
Play beanbags!
Meet loads of new friends!
Talk to your (less-than-a-week-old) friends!
Sneak away for a private moment!
Very few content warning updates for this part of the chapter; but the few that have been added can be found here. There is a character builder that should be up to date, for those who don't want to replay the entire game to get to the new content.
Any bugs can be sent through asks, or to the TLS forum thread. Thank you all for playing, and have fun c:
the three most overused jobs for horror movie protags who investigate strange happenings that have nothing to do with them out of a sense of professional obligation are journalist, writer/filmmaker, and cop (which is both overused AND lame). here are some suggestions for other possibilities:
insurance claims investigator
grad student using excessive research to procrastinate writing their thesis
tradesman hired to fix the spooky house’s pipes
mafia debt collector
normal debt collector
middle aged woman who just wants to get a refund. who in this place can she to talk to who can give her a refund, she has the receipt right here
YOU'RE A REGULAR WRITER! YOU CAN CRAFT A COMPLETE SENTENCE! YOU'RE A REGULAR WRITER! YOU USE THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF COMMAS! YOU'RE A REGULAR WRITER! YOUR PROSE IS GOOD AND RIGHT! YOU'RE A REGULAR WRITER! EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS YOUR VISION!
the immigrant law centre of minnesota is providing free counsel to people who are currently detained. msp mag has a longer list of rent relief & mutual aid funds to donate to. ice violence is only going to escalate from here; if you're not in the twin cities and have the means please consider supporting from afar 💗
1. Why did you write your story as interactive fiction compared to alternative formats?
I wanted to challenge myself by learning a new skill, I've been writing for a while, but I stumbled upon Interactive Fiction around a year beforehand, and I thought that it would be interesting to write a story like this in an interactive format.
2. Where did the idea for your IF come from?
So a lot of this story is built off of my own pain and fears. Like what if this character had no friends, the worst possible relationship with their parents, going nowhere in a job they hate, and then on top of it all they're about to get murdered by Cthulhu. Then going from there was, well, how can this person, beyond the whole Cthulhu thing, make a better life for themselves. And of course, I like scooby-doo.
3. How did you come up with your story's name?
I consulted the old ones for their opinion on what the town should be named, technically it was M̵̧̛͖̏i̶̤̖͌s̷̢̰̬̿ẗ̶̠́̿̈́̿͜ẏ̷̠͖̈́͐ ̷̢̘̊͑̈̽Ć̷̢̥̰̮́͝ȏ̸̙̅̏v̶̨̙̲̣̓̃̊̂e̵̠̽̆ but translation had to be done. (In actuality it was just vibes, I knew I wanted to include the town name, and I went from there.)
4. Who was the first character you came up with?
Cameron! I mentioned once changing their character to add more depth, but it was really more "it was always there in the version of them in my head, I just struggled to represent it"
5. What was your biggest challenge early on, and how did vou overcome it?
Time management and life altering events. This one is still happening so I'll get back to you. ALSO NESTED STATEMENTS. Being an absolute beginner everything kind of assumed you knew how to make nested statements, I did not, and I was too stubborn to ask for help under any circumstances. But through trial and error I have figured it out.
6. Were there any stories that inspired you to start writing yours?
The works of H.P. Lovecraft (with focus on a couple specific stories), and Scooby Doo are the big ones. But some others that hold a lot of influence are the Legacy of Kain/Soul Reaver games, and a couple of Hellboy stories.
7. Has your IF gone through any major storyline/plot changes you first thought of it?
A lot, currently. While a lot of the bigger points have remained the same mostly, the finer details and the journey to those sticking points and plans need to be adjusted and allow for greater player choice, and just more impact from players overall, I was not thinking about this story in the terms of interactive fiction I think, but I want to change that.
I always struggle to come up with more tags so I am sorry @vapolis @thelonelyshore-if
heyyyyyyyy, happy holidays, happy new year, etc. safe to say life has been deeply hectic, with December containing 5 seperate birthdays (including my own lmao), Hanukkah, Christmas, a secret santa event I had no business signing up for, and being on the job hunt again, it's safe to say not much writing has gotten done. this project is not only kicking my ass but is also under heavy reworks.
However! The reworks will make this a far better and more coherent story. So while I do often struggle to write and get things done on this project (especially since it's creation and continued development seems to be at the worst possible time in my life) it is not being abandoned. Hopefully, there will be more to come soon.
Have a conversation with Nimue, and see if it gives you more answers than questions
Spend some time with Galahad
What happens when you push away a sweet friend to save yourself the heartache/protect him?
Note: Last demo update brought major rewrites to the Dragon Friend, fleshing them out and adding new content to chapters 1 throughout 3. This update doesn't contain any new content relating to the Dragon Friend rewrites though; those will come at a later date.
