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Interview with Alpheratz Games, the developer of the mystery adventure game "Connected Clue"

*This is a series of interviews with indie game developers. The photos and content used in the interviews were provided by the creators via Discord, X (Twitter), email, etc. If you are a developer who would like to participate in an interview, please contact me through various methods such as leaving a comment on my profile or a post (email, Discord, SNS address, etc.).

Interview: Q (hashiruka48) / A (Alpheratz Games)

Game Title: Connected Clue
Stove Store: https://store.onstove.com/ko/games/101087
Genre: Adventure, Puzzle
Creator: Alpheratz Games

Q. Hello. What kind of place is Alpheratz Games?

A. I think a game should have a core system that can be called an identity! I think that’s how it can be remembered by players. That’s why Alpheratz Games is trying to create unique, fun games that can be enjoyed by people of all ages! Alpheratz Games is developing, composing, graphic designing, and planning on its own, and is targeting the global market.

Q. Is the word “Alpheratz” a separate word?

A. Alpheratz is one of the star names. It is the name of a white dwarf that overlaps Pegasus and Andromeda. It is a name recommended by an acquaintance who knows a lot about astronomy!

Q. What kind of game is the detective adventure game Connected Clue? (Outsourced? Please also tell us the release target, synopsis, etc.)

A. Connected Clue is a 2D quarter-view adventure mystery game with dot graphics. Usually, mystery games focus on murder cases, but Connected Clue seems to focus more on the 'detective business'! The story begins with an incident in a port city where robbers raid a bank, and the main story of this game is the detective's struggle to find the culprit hiding among the people in a closed room where the sea route has been blocked to prevent the robbers from escaping out of town. We have outsourced some of the BGM parts and are asking CFK to publish it. We are currently receiving QA and feedback, and it is expected to be released within this year!

Q. It's scheduled to be released on Steam, but do you have any plans to release it on Stove Indie? As far as I know, the demo update plan is to be on the Stove Store.

A. Since it is a mystery game, there are many gimmicks that have to be solved by relying on subtle colors and sounds. In such cases, I thought that color blindness and hearing impairment might have difficulty clearing a mystery game like this..! That's why we included a system that displays cases where subtle sounds are included as sound wave graphs! The Stove Indie Store that was uploaded this time was created for online exhibition purposes to match the PlayX4, but it will probably be officially serviced on Stove through CFK in the future!

Q. While I was looking through SNS posts, I saw a post recruiting people to take the test. I don't know if it's color blindness or color vision deficiency, but there was a post recruiting people with disabilities. I'm looking forward to it because it seems like it will be added to the game options.

A. I think that if you make it convenient for color blind people or hearing impaired people, it becomes easier for regular people to play! It's like regular people using elevators that were made for elderly people with leg problems! So we try to eliminate as many inconvenient elements as possible in the game.

Q. It's amazing that you've prepared for both sight and hearing. Do you also provide game controller support?

A. Yes! We are also preparing the Nintendo Switch, so it will support game controllers as well.

Q. Do you develop the game with your own money? I understand that Tumblbug is finished.

A. Yes! I am developing it with my own money. Since the game has not been released yet, there is not much profit, but I am developing it with the money I earn from teaching at high school after school!

Q. How many hours of gameplay time are you aiming for?

A. When I tested the full version myself, it took about 10~11 hours! But I'm not sure how long it will take for regular players to play it.

Q. I understand that the game supports Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Were there any problems with the translation?

A. Yes! Thanks to the help of publisher CFK with the translation, the burden of translation costs was greatly reduced.

Q. Usually, when playing a detective adventure game, there are times when the gamer gets bored and gets confused because they can't find the clues and keep going around the same area or different areas repeatedly. Do you have a unique hint system?

A. For those who are not familiar with mystery games, the detective notes provide navigation guidance by setting a destination and guidance on what to do. In addition, words that may be important hints are colored in red to improve readability, and from the middle of the game, you can use a taxi to increase mobility and call the police station to get hints. And to prevent boredom while solving mysteries, we tried to liven up the atmosphere by inserting minigames here and there.

Q. What games do you think Connected Clue was most influenced by?

A. I originally liked the Legend of Heroes 6 series that came out a long time ago, so I was influenced by that when I made it. In addition, I wanted to create a cute feeling similar to the RPG Maker series. I don't mean to brag, but since I work alone, I lack marketing skills, so it was hard to put together a Steam Wishlist. So if you're interested, I'd like to ask you to add me to your Steam Wishlist.

Q. Seeing you running around the scene on foot, it seems like you can see a cute and heroic flavor, like in Legend of Heroes. It also seems like the UI is similar to Capcom's legal mystery adventure game.

A. I heard that a lot while exhibiting. But I’ve never played the Ace Attorney series, so I don’t know… The games I referenced were Western games like Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot.

Q. The characters are attractive when you watch the game trailer. Please introduce them.

A. The main character is a female detective named Diana! The setting is the 19th to early 20th century, and in most detective novels, the main character is a man. So I wanted to add a bit of a twist, so I made the main character a woman!

Q. The wardrobe system is impressive. The system of changing clothes to change your disguise is fun.

A. Games like Sherlock Holmes have more detailed disguise systems, but Connected Clue was a bit disappointing because the scale of development did not allow for such detailed disguises.

Q. When you develop a game, do you create everything by yourself, including the art, scenario (writing dialogue), and music? Or do you outsource some of it?

A. Except for some music that I outsource, I do all the artwork, scenarios, programming, and compositions by myself. When I outsource, sometimes the results don't come out according to my schedule, and it's also a bit difficult financially, so I do most of it by myself.

Q. I listened to the OST DLC and it was unique and good. It was impressive that the game music included a variety of genres.

A. That's great! Right now, some of the music I composed has been modified, so I think I'll change it to the modified version later!

Q.1 Connected Clue music is unique and impressive, with a medieval feel, similar to Egypt or India. It also has a western feel.

A. I asked the person who outsourced the music to make it feel as if it were a detective like Sherlock Holmes!

Q. When will the PC version demo be available? (Steam, Stove, Google Download, etc.)

A. A demo for demonstration purposes will be opened on May 22nd at Stove, in line with PlayX4. The play time will be around 20 minutes. In addition, we plan to provide a link to download the early access version (3-4 hours long) to those who supported Tumblbug around May or June, and for everyone else, you will probably be able to play it in the main game after the release!

Q. What age group are you targeting when making the game? I think the age rating could be higher if it's a murder case or if the game itself is similar to Sherlock Holmes.

A. Fortunately, since it's dot graphics, we don't have to depict detailed crime scenes, so I think it's probably suitable for ages 12 to 15! Rather, the restrained dots stimulate the player's imagination, which makes it feel even more horrifying.

Q. As of May 25, how much have you made and what percentage of the work do you think you've done so far?

A. I think the development started around August 22. It's been almost 3 years! Now that development is almost finished, we're in the QA and feedback phase, so I think we're about 95% done. I didn't plan on it taking this long, but rather than finishing it half-heartedly and not getting a good response, I thought it would be better to spend more time refining it, so it ended up taking this long.

Q. I saw that the game clue search is running like in 3D, so I would like to know the game specifications as well.

A. I don't know the exact specifications either... For optimization purposes and development purposes, I'm using a 15-year-old desktop, and it runs fine there, so I don't think the specifications are that high. It lags a bit on a MacBook produced in 2013, but it still runs well. Since I don't know what kind of computers players will be playing on, I'm developing on computers with as low specifications as possible.

Q. What do you expect the game to cost when it is officially released?

A. I would like to set the price myself, but since there is a publisher, I have to negotiate the price. So the exact price has not been determined yet.

Q. Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to the users who are waiting for the game?

A. I would like to apologize to our backers for making them wait longer than expected. And for those who are interested in Connected Clue, I hope this game will be a fun experience! We designed it so that even those who are weak at reasoning can enjoy it, and we are currently receiving feedback on it!

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