Longdue has released a new gameplay teaser for their in-development RPG Hopetown. The studio is also announcing that Olga Moskvina, a key writer and editor on Disco Elysium, is part of the team working on Hopetown.
As well as writing Ruby, Bird’s Nest Roy, and other well-known Disco Elysium characters, Olga is credited with delivering the final language polish across the entire title.
“I am thrilled to have such a talented professional join the team. Her proficiencies as both a writer and editor are likely to get us to a level of polish befitting our audience, as evidenced by her undeniable contributions to Disco Elysium,” said narrative lead on Hopetown, ZA/UM co-founder and Disco Elysium writer Martin Luiga, in a press release.
Olga joins a team of new voice talent and industry veterans, including ex-ZA/UM founder Martin Luiga, Veljo Hagu, Disco Elysium’s first software developer, and renowned art director Astri Lohne. Sci-fi/western novelist Stark Holborn, lead writer on indie detective hit Shadows of Doubt and writer on Nivalis, has also been confirmed as part of the development team.
Hopetown takes place in the fictional mining town of New Greenwich, decades after “The Flare,” a coronal mass ejection that fried all electronics and communication devices across the globe. It was here that the De Luna Corporation unearthed Quicksilver, a substance capable of reconnecting a fractured world.
Until now. In the wake of a devastating aurora storm, there are whispers of disappearing miners and the flow of Quicksilver halting. The official narrative of the De Luna Corporation is being brought into question.
The people want The Truth. As a journalist, players step into the role of witness and investigator, chasing stories as they unfold across the island of Entre. Players will delve into the island’s seedy underbelly and scale the caustic ivory towers of corporate surveillance as one of three distinct journalism classes:
- Correspondent: the investigative journalist – eyes like a camera, hands like a clock.
- Columnist: the voice of culture and taste who decides what’s in and what’s out.
- Gonzo: the clickbait mouthpiece, willing to say anything to keep eyes on the page.
Players will get to shape their character’s background and gender to compose a narrative uniquely their own while utilizing distinct journo mechanics during their investigations, each designed to interweave and produce multiple outcomes.
To mark the release of the gameplay teaser, a time and number limited ‘Newsflash’ edition of the game is available for pre-order on Kickstarter until 29th May. Backers that purchase this copy will have their name featured in an in-game readable newspaper, plus unlock an exclusive Discord tier option that features additional access to the developers, as well as updates on its development and testing.