Ambition: A Minuet in Power

Publishers, Steam Pages, and Wealthy Widows!
over 4 years ago – Fri, Sep 06, 2019 at 11:25:06 PM

Mesdames et Messieurs,

We have quite a few updates for your today, including one that we are especially excited about!

In this update, we’d like to introduce your to our next romanceable character, Madam Honorade Gazel.

Despite her significant wealth and elegant dress, Honorade is currently in a precarious social position. 

While the traditional mourning period was often no more than two months, the widowed Honorade has been in mourning for over two years. This, and her more secretive tendencies have rendered her a subject of suspicion among certain members of Paris’ high society. However, those that romance Honorade will find a vicious wit, intense passion, and certain… domineering tendencies.

We’re also executed to announce that after over a year of searching, we have found a publisher…

Yes, we are partnered with the publishing division of Humble Bundle to release Ambition: A Minuet in Power! What does this mean for Ambition? In addition to marketing, localization and marketplace support (more details forthcoming), it means we get additional funding for more art assets, and it also means that we’ll be able to have the game’s music recorded with real musicians playing real instruments. As you can imagine, we’re extremely excited.. 

What’s changing about Ambition because of this? Absolutely nothing! Humble Bundle Publishing has asked us to change nothing about the game, and are committed to letting us execute the vision of Ambition: A Minuet in Power that we think is best. 

We’ve launched the Steam Page for Ambition!

Click here to head to our Steam Page and add us to your wishlist. While we know that you folks are already excited for Ambition, every person who wishlists the game increases our visibility and helps support us in our effort to introduce as many people to the revolutionary romance of Ambition as possible.

Thanks for reading our update, please add Ambition to your Wishlist on Steam, and please give us your thoughts on Honorade in the comments section below!

All the best,  

- Luther

Game Designer 

Joy Manufacturing Co.

Meet Father Ludovico Sidotti!
over 4 years ago – Sat, Aug 10, 2019 at 01:41:43 AM

Mesdames et Messieurs, 

We thought that now would be a perfect time to start introducing you to some of the romance-able characters in Ambition, and what better place to start than with a personal favorite, Father Ludovico Sidotti?

Alright, I love all of our romance-able characters, but Ludovico is still really great.

Your main contact with the Church faction, Father Sidotti was recently sent to Paris by his superiors in Rome to observe the events unfolding in France, and to give his assessment on what the Church should do next. Bookish and shy, Ludovico is nevertheless charming, and cunning. While a relationship with Ludovico would have certain scandals and dangers attached to it, the right kind of adventurous woman might find him eager to break the rules and experience a fuller life than his vows to God would allow.

With the Prologue and Chapter One's story complete, along with three of the five romance arcs written out, Ambition's core story is well under way! Honestly, it's still quite daunting to look at the scope of the task ahead of us. However, like with any great project, one can only break it into smaller tasks and take care of them one at a time. Nothing beats steady progress!

Thanks for reading our update, and please give us your thoughts on Ludovico in the comments section below!

All the best,  

- Luther
Game Designer
Joy Manufacturing Co.

Summer Play Game Expo - Recap
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Jul 12, 2019 at 12:58:01 AM

Mesdames et Messieurs,

We presented our latest build of 'Ambition: A Minuet in Power' at the Summer Play Game Expo, and it was our best one yet! Not only did we get to meet some of our lovely Kickstarter Backers, the audience response to the game was better than ever. This was, of course, a serious concern for us, given the changes we've made to the game's core systems.

While the playable demo of the game we had at the game expo proceeds all the way through the Ambition's prologue, it's still in too rough a state to send out to a general audience. As much as we know that folks want to be able to to try the game out as soon as possible, we still want to make sure that everyone's first impression of the game is a highly polished one. 

As for the actual story of the game, two of the game's main romance paths have been completed! While they will be edited throughout the game's entire production cycle, it feels really nice to have milestones like that completed. Speaking of which, with our next update, we'll start introducing some of those most intriguing romance options, for your consideration.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

All the best,

- Luther
Game Designer
Joy Manufacturing Co.

July 10th, 2019 - Ambition is at Playcrafting San Francisco's, Summer Play Game Expo!
almost 5 years ago – Mon, Jul 08, 2019 at 03:31:42 PM

Mesdames et Messieurs,

I'm happy to let you know that Ambition: A Minuet in Power will be one of the playable games at Playcrafting San Francisco's, Summer Play Game Expo!

On July 10th, from 6:00PM to 9:00PM PST, you'll be able to play Ambition, along with a whole host of other independent games from local teams. If you're in the area, we'd love to see you and get your feedback on the current state of the game. You can get your free tickets here.

That's all we have for now, but hopefully we'll have some very exciting news coming up soon!

All the best,

- Luther
Game Designer
Joy Manufacturing Co.

Reworking Mechanics, and Romance Writing
almost 5 years ago – Mon, May 20, 2019 at 07:41:31 PM

Mesdames et Messieurs,

Welcome back to another progress update on Ambition: A Minuet in Power! Right now, our team is mostly focused on revamping our existing systems in order to make the core of the game feel better. Our previous Kickstarter update covers the specific problems we've been working on in greater detail.

Let's dive in, shall we?

The main changes to the core mechanics have been focused on the credibility and peril systems, as well as changes to how the parties play out. Below, you can see an updated version of the Incidents Screen, where the player handles their conversations with the various characters they meet throughout the game. 

In the top left, next to the player's portrait, you can see the white credibility meter, and the red peril meter. These are the stats that we've included in the game, to better represent where the player's status at a given time.

In the dialogue box at the bottom of the screen, you can see some icons next to some of the dialogue choices. The white icon shows the player that a particular choice will involve a credibility check, and the red icon shows that a particular choice will add some peril to the player's peril meter. If that peril meter fills up, then something terrible will happen to the player. However, certain perilous options will have very useful rewards at the end of them, so choose wisely!

Below, is our current mock up of the party map. As you can see, there are four different conversations one could engage in at the party right now. While you won't know the contents of any of these conversations while going into them, by looking at who is involved in the conversation, you might get a good idea of what's going to be discussed.

Please keep in mind that none of these images are showing complete art assets or UI. The more final versions will be hammered out once we're satisfied with how these mechanics feel.

As for the actual story of the game, I've graphed out all of the different romance paths available in the game, and I'm now digging in on writing the moment to moment dialogue that the player will have with their paramours. It's been an interesting challenge to make sure that every character has a distinctive voice, while also making sure that they all feel like they belong in the setting. Hopefully, we'll be able to get you all a rundown of the romance options that will be available in the game soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

All the best,

- Luther
Game Designer
Joy Manufacturing Co.