Meet Crouky, a cat escaping his tyrannical home where his owner tends to… cuddle him to death. Your taxi will be his ticket to freedom.
Please save Crouky.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Night Call
Meet Crouky, one of the more 'special' passengers
Meet Crouky, a cat escaping his tyrannical home where his owner tends to… cuddle him to death. Your taxi will be his ticket to freedom.
Please save Crouky.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Meet Amelie, the adult film star
Meet Amélie, a brilliant and successful actress who loves her work in the adult film industry. She'll be sharing her opinions & fears of the future with you - with not an ounce of shame.
7 more days until Night Call releases on Steam. Add it to your wishlist today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Meet Hugo, the cosplayer
Meet Hugo, a teenager on his way to a cosplay convention, dressed up as a character of his friend’s favorite game, in the hopes that she will start to like him.
Only 8 more days until Night Call releases on Steam. Wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Introducing Lieutenant Busset
Meet Lieutenant Busset, a strong-minded and brutal cop working on the serial killer case... Help her find the information to make an arrest, or get pinned for the murders yourself.
You'll get to experience more of Busset's ice-cold pressure when Night Call launches on July 17th. Wishlist it today!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Night Call releases July 17th on Steam!
Night Call is coming to Steam on July 17th!
That's right, the emotional narrative experience by Monkey Moon and BlackMuffin Studios will be coming to your personal computer on July 17th, available on Steam and Xbox GamePass for PC!
To celebrate this news, we have another great entry in our "Creating Noir" newsletter series, this time a special Q&A interview with composer Corentin Brasart about how he pours his noir influences into Night Call's haunting soundtrack.
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1. When did you first learn to compose in this style?
I first started composing music about 9 years ago now, and I’ve always loved and thought about writing film score, video game score & trip-hop music.
2. What does the “noir” genre mean to you, and how are you capturing that in Night Call?
I used to study cinema at university, and I’ve always been very fond of noir movies, my favorite one being « Ascenseur pour l’échafaud » directed by Louis Malle, scored by Miles Davis.
With Night Call we didn’t want to stick with the classic noir instrumentation, and we needed its soundtrack to be as versatile as the vast cast written by Anthony, so I tried to transpose the noir « feel » to a more modern sound, something you could hear from today’s tv shows.
Listen to that sound in this exclusive reveal from the OST.
No Time Left - Night Call excerpt
3. How did you settle on the sound for Night Call? Was there ever a time that it was going to sound different than it does now?
We settled on the sound with Anthony after a lot of back & forth using reference materials -- thinking back on it we already had the essence at the start and were able to narrow it done pretty quickly!
The first demo tracks I’ve made had more of a jazz feel to them, but as we settled on Night Call’s sound identity, the soundtrack got more electronic.
4. What other artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc., have had the biggest impact on your work for Night Call? What inspiration did you draw?
There are many, but the most prevalent ones would be:
Jon Brion (because of his ability to make very intimate scores, with simple yet powerful motifs);
Nima Fakhrara (especially his latest work on Detroit, I knew from start I wanted to have the same approach for music, as in making a very organic analog synth electronic score while staying very far away from 80s music or current synthwave);
Akira Yamaoka (because of his trip-hop work on the Silent Hill series and Shadow of the Damned, he has a very unique atmospheric style when doing trip-hop that I was gravitating towards).
And some other names that inspired me throughout this project are : Alexandre Desplat, Olivier Derivière, Shoji Meguro, Air…
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To whet your appetite, here are a few selections from the OST.
Night Call OST playlist
Be sure to wishlist Night Call, and we look forward to sharing these wonderful melodies and more with you on July 17th.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Creating Noir, Pt. 2: Real Stories
In our previous post, we met two of the game’s artists and heard how they are taking influence from the noir genre to develop powerful characters and scenes that ooze with emotion. Now let’s hear from lead writer Anthony Jauneaud about finding inspiration in real stories from real people.
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Finding the voice of a character is the hardest part. You can spend days and weeks going through their past, their tastes, their back stories, their astrological sign if you’re into that kind of thing… But when you start your writing software and your character has to open their mouth, you’re usually left dumbfounded.
Many characters of Night Call came out of reading about people, listening to their stories in podcasts, on YouTube, on blogs… or even meeting and interviewing them.
Six years ago, a friend of mine was a medical student and one night, during his shift, one of his patients died. At the time, he said to me that it was a terrifying experience. He never felt so awful, and down. Now, years later, he forgot everything about that terrible event. As if it never happened.
Djena is one of our 75 characters. She is a doctor and just lost her first patient when she meets the Driver. She is shaken.
When I started writing Djena’s scenes, I had in mind a very specific idea: Djena was going to get over it. She’s that strong. And that’s how I found her voice: she cared in a way that allowed her to go beyond a mistake … an error … a death.
Funnily enough, her name comes from another friend of mine – someone who is tough and strong. She breaks sometimes, but her final goal is so clear in her mind that … nothing will stop her.
She inspires me. And I hope Night Call’s Djena will inspire you when you meet her in a few weeks.
A.
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In our next post in the series, we’ll take a closer look (or listen?) at how composer & sound designer Corentin Brasart is creating noir through dark ambient tones and haunting melodies. Be sure to wishlist Night Call in the meantime!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Creating Noir: Inside the Art of Night Call
Night Call is a Parisian neo-noir murder mystery. We’re no strangers to the noir genre, and what excites us about this game is the loving attention to detail to capture the atmosphere so well.
Let’s reflect on what it takes to make one, in a small post series we’ll call “Creating Noir”.
Together, artists Sandra Fesquet and Mathieu Collangettes make BlackMuffin Studio, the duo who are bringing Night Call’s visual style to life. They set out to represent the “real” Paris, the dark one with secrets and consequences, in contrast to the glamorous City of Lights sold by tourism agencies.
A black & white look became the foundation for this, as has been a staple in noir film for decades, creating emotion through the removal of color. “The ‘black and white’ vibe was our first idea. It’s interesting because it creates a unique visual style allowing the game to ‘pop’ among other games,” says Sandra.
“Of course, our influences come from many classical noir movies, but our main inspiration comes from the French movie La Haine, a contemporary black and white movie with a great vision of Paris suburbs," says Mathieu. "In that film, Paris is also a character; that’s what we’re trying to do in Night Call."
For the environment, Mathieu has experience from his first game Void & Meddler. He aims to create a world with realistic details subdued, allowing players to fill in the details in their minds.
For the characters, Sandra spent a lot of time practicing drawing people in dark shades of black and grey, contrasting with her prior experience of drawing in color but finding now that the Night Call minimalist style has truly become a part of her style.
In our next post, we’ll be hearing from lead writer Anthony Jauneaud on how he is creating noir by capturing raw human emotion through real experiences. Be sure to wishlist Night Call in the meantime!
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/
Whispers of a Machine coming April 17th!
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Matching Data: Release Date!
On April 17th, the latest game from developers Joel Staaf Hästö (Kathy Rain) and Petter Ljungqvist (The Samaritan Paradox) is launching right here on Steam, iOS and Android.
Check it out below:
https://store.steampowered.com/app/631570/Whispers_of_a_Machine/
Cruise the Darker Side of Paris in Night Call
The night is your time. You know these streets like the back of your hand – you should, you’ve been driving them for long enough. Tonight happens to be particularly quiet, with the fares sparse. A shame; you really could have used the extra cash. Guess it’s time to decide between a lotto ticket and smokes — no way you can afford both now.
A passenger flags you down. He gets in the backseat and tells you to take him to the hospital. He’s shaking. Maybe it’s the cold, or an addiction. Or nervousness. Everybody has something to hide, but some people’s skeletons are worse than others. Should you talk to him? You’re not really sure, but there’s something familiar about him… About his eyes…
He finally speaks. He tells a chilling tale, about a cold dark night just like this one. A tale about a father and son. A tale of cruelty you’d rather forget than repeat, but with all those vivid details, there’s no way you could. A story like that cuts right to the heart — you can only imagine what the memory must feel like. It might change a man…
He pays his fare (a meager tip) and gets out. You notice a piece of paper left on the seat, and before you can call out, you notice something else. It’s a newspaper clipping, dated back to that night. The first night the body was found. The one that started the spree. The one that put your life on borrowed time, between a serial killer who’s evading capture and an officer desperate to blame somebody, even you if she has to.
Was that…? No… but just maybe… Those eyes…
This is Night Call.
MURDER MYSTERY NOIRE
Night Call is a murder mystery noire game set in Paris. You are a taxi driver, working to earn enough to pay your bills while aiding the investigation by doing what you do best: getting people to talk while you have their attention.
From the talented teams at Monkey Moon and BlackMuffin Studio comes a game of mystery, drama, and suspense, as beautifully styled as it is viscerally human. It takes inspiration from a wide range of games, movies, books, and TV series, resulting in a dark noire experience that evokes its French roots while hitting you deep in the feels; a sense of frisson, if you will.
DARK NIGHTS BRING DARK TALES
Each character that you meet has something on their mind. Some are willing to share, while others may take a bit of prodding. As a cabbie, you drive people around, but you also listen to those who might need a priest, a confidant, or a friend. You will hear tales of love. Sadness. Redemption. Resignation. Depression. Superiority. Envy. Violence.
Then there’s the killer. They will absolutely be a passenger at some point — but will you know who it is? It could be one person on one playthrough, and somebody else entirely the next. A person might be innocent in one, and guilty in another.
And then there are passengers who are… ahem… unique.
TIME IS MONEY
You only win the game if you identify the killer correctly in time — but your bills are also a priority. You only make so much money per shift, and rent must be paid, gas purchased, cab fees deducted. So many hands dipping into your pay; fail to keep up, and it’s game over.
You’re also a smoker, so habits need tending or there may be side-effects. We all know how some people can be when they don’t get their fix. Those lotto tickets could help prop you up — or be just another drain on your limited pay.
The challenge will be in your keen senses of social deduction. Listen closely, use the right tone, and get the information you need to catch the killer.
A PEEK AT SOME WIP ARTWORK
We’ve got some really cool concept art to show you as well, shared by one of the lead illustrators at BlackMuffin Studio. Here’s a time-lapse GIF that shows a little insight into the design process for the character art, with individual details and layers adding style and emotion to the overall composition of the game.
A NOTE FROM THE COMPOSER/SOUND DESIGNER
Hey, I’m Corentin Brasart, composer & sound designer for Night Call !
In Night Call, our inspirations for sound started by looking at old noir movies and modern thrillers, the main idea was to get the very atmospheric noir sound from the fifties, but done in a more modern and dynamic way, like what you can hear in recent tv shows (The Knick, Mindhunter, House of Cards…).
The way I approach cues for the game is : « if this track was to be scored to picture, how would I compose it », then I try to transpose it into different looping and transition parts — the vast majority of tracks are responding dynamically to the dialog and how the player advance or interact with some parts of the game.
Finally, the general mood I’m trying to focus on while writing music for Night Call is how we can feel when being awake in late or sleepless nights : as the game is (almost) always taking place at night, I’m trying to articulate the feeling of stillness and contemplation that it brings to me.
Her Clues - Nict Call excerpt 03
Looking For Respite - Night Call excerpt 04
IT’S COMING SUMMER 2019 TO PC AND CONSOLE
We can’t wait to show you more about Night Call over the coming months, so be sure to wishlist the game, follow us on social media, and then come hang out with us and our devs in our Discord! It’s safer than the streets at night.
More info at
nightcall-game.com
https://store.steampowered.com/app/680380/Night_Call/