"Black Pine Peninsula"

"Black Pine Peninsula", soon to be in playable alpha stage (hopefully), is an exploration / survival / trade game with a Victorian flavor. The player - looking resplendent in an ugly top hat - arrives at the Royal colony town of Black Pine Peninsula on the edge of the wilderness to seek his fortune. Explore the wilderness on foot or by boat, haul goods by boat from one port to the next, or buy farmland or a local business.

Here are a few screenshots:

Below: view of one portion of the waterfront, including part of the peninsula from which the town derives its name: (Not complete yet)





Below: When heading into the dangerous, uncharted wilderness, the sign on the edge of town gives good advice (bring tea and an umbrella just in case):




Below: A small steam-powered boat (suitable for either exploration or small-scale trade) docked at the Trading Post in Black Pine Peninsula:




Below: after a hard and hungry day exploring the wilderness, Chauncey Scribble's Fish & Chips Shop may be a welcome sight (although otherwise it's a hideous eyesore, and so is Chauncey Scribbles himself). Speaking of hideous eyesores, the player's black top hat can be seen in the lower-lefthand corner:




Below: municipal sign near the Fish & Chips shop, where seagulls used to freely congregate to sponge food off of customers until the town's government cracked down:

 

Screenshot: player exploring the wilderness:

 

Screenshot: Waterfall in the wilderness:

 

Screenshot: pasture on a farm, if you prefer raising livestock or crops rather than exploring:

 

Looks nice!

 

Thank you.

 

Screenshot: one of the ancient stone heads which famed archaeologist Dr. Quincy M. Sneezer described as "the lost relics of an ancient tribe of goggle-eyed fellows with really large noses, wide flapping ears, and bald heads. These monuments were probably erected in order to mark territorial boundaries by scaring the pants off their enemies with the sheer size of the schnoz."

 

Maybe I should sell plushies of this guy? Think that would work as a marketing gimmick?

 

"Black Pine Peninsula" screenshot: exploration via a very small steam-powered boat :

 

The entrance to the town's Trading Post, where the player can automatically unload and sell cargo from a boat, or buy and sell individual items:

 

The inside of the Trading Post, showing the owner's gaudy green and red top hat, the gas lights, wooden bear sculpture, and some of the items for purchase (sausages, cheeses, canned pickles, etc). Other commodities include Old Doctor Fezzywig's Snail Bile Magnesia and other wondrous products of modern medicine:

 

The ever-popular restaurant "Mudge's Jellied Eels, Meat Pies & Mash House" (an actual type of restaurant in England, believe it or not, called an "Eel, Pie and Mash House", which served traditional Cockney fare during the Victorian era. There are still some such places left today; but I'll bet their eels aren't as slippery as Mudge's, because no one makes 'em quite like Mudge's).




At first, I was discouraged by the uneven windows, but then I figured that's exactly the type of seedy, rundown look that a place like that should have.

Here's an actual Eel, Pie & Mash restaurant in London, for those who don't believe me: https://www.facebook.com/pieandeelhouse/

 

For those few who dislike Jellied Eels (and you know who you are and where you are hiding your shame), this bakery sells cakes, doughnuts, cookies, etc instead:

 

Added a sign offering diet advice:

 

These screenshots remind me of first Myst game for some reason.

 

Maybe it's the misty pines on a tan rocky coastline?
But the first Myst game didn't have Jellied Eels....