Pain Scale (working title) is a solo-dev visual novel about a clinical trial for a developing analgesic, but is more broadly about psychological pain, both in its making and taking.
The player will steer lead researcher Dr. Nico Morphis through a series of tests in which he must inflict a specified degree of pain onto his test subject and colleague, Dr. Theo Penton. Whether the player meets this pain threshold will determine the course of the story, unlocking more information about the two characters participating in this trial.
So far I'm still knee-deep in WIP assets and a half-finished script, but please enjoy some information on the characters involved in this story.
Dr. Nico Morphis is the lead researcher at Pentaclear, Inc. and, as such has elected to run the first clinical trial for the company's premier analgesic. Slightly run-down and overworked, Nico finds it difficult to express himself. In spite of this, he seems determined to finish this trial, no matter the obstacles it presents. Nico enjoys drinking tea and practicing amateur horticulture from his balcony.
Dr. Theo Penton is the founder and acting director of Pentaclear, Inc. In spite of this, he's volunteered to be the first test subject for the analgesic's trial run. A man with a flair for the dramatic, it's possible he's undergoing this as an elaborate stunt either for publicity or personal indulgence. But perhaps another reason for this arrangement is percolating beneath the surface. Penton takes delight in creature comforts, and will never say no to a nip of red wine after work.
While there will be no explicit sexual content in this game, content warnings for other sensitive subjects will apply. The full list of warnings will be available upon release.
I'm up against the wall to get this thing done on time, but I'm hoping that posting about it here will help boost me over the final hurdles in this last month of dev time.