Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz
1. Title
“Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz”
2. Genre
2D Point’n’Click Graphic Adventure
3. Platform
PC, PSP
4. Age Rating
Rating Teen (12 +) according to the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
5. Gameplay overview
“Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” is a classic two-dimensional adventure game. The
production is illustrated with cartoon style drawings by a renown artist Mirosław Urbaniak,
creator of graphic stories such as ‘Western’, and author of the graphic side of Reset teenage
magazine .Its another characteristic is the kind of humor resembling the famous ‘Monty
Python’s Flying Circus’.
The average encounter in the game is supposed to be light and pleasant. Moreover, the fact
that it does not require the player to show any strenuous mental involvement is one of its
characteristics, as the ultimate goal of L’Art studio is to cerate an attracting, funny,
‘interactive’ story rather than an adventure at a high difficulty level (see the degree of puzzle
abstraction and complexity). It is our ambition to bring more satisfaction to the player through
some amusing chain of events or funny interactions between the protagonists, instead of
involving him in some complicated puzzle resulting in mental Gehenna.
The player in the game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” directs the proceedings of a duo
of two completely different heroines (as different as chalk from cheese). An elegant chick
called Ada and a gothic artist called Polifonia (Pola in short). Moving with these charismatic
heroines through the successive locations, the player solves different kinds of riddles, collects
and uses various objects, and talks to almost 60 independent characters. Above all, however,
he absorbs the story prepared by our crew. Riddles and intellectual challenges are not the
ultimate aim of “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz”. They rather become a means of serving
smaller doses of the plot of our game.
An average encounter in “Girlz Don’t Cry 2:Disaster Dollz” is served in the form similar in a
way to a classical theatrical play. Therefore the overall time of the game is divided into a
prologue, four acts and obviously a dramatic epilogue.
The roles of a master of the ceremony and a narrator at the same time are assumed by a Louis
Cyphre type (from the movie “Angel Heart”), both mysterious and demonic, a Man-with a
Beard. It is worth adding that as far as our plot is concerned the most important events are
accompanied by a vivid off-stage reaction from the audience (laughter, clapping, booing etc.).
a) Interactivity
The user communicates with the game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” by means of a
very simple point’n’click interface whereas the entire servicing of an encounter is performed
by clicking the mouse and using keyboard shortcuts included in a character’s equipment (‘I’
key) or a situational map (‘M’ key).
The player is allowed to take certain objects from the game world. They are transferred
automatically to the “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” heroines’ equipment. The player may
combine some objects from the equipment or affect some of the elements from the game with
certain objects. Moreover, the player has the ability to communicate with the independent
characters inhabiting the successive acts. During dialogue sections the user does not decide
what the exact words of the heroines will be. Yet he is able to determine the way the girls will
approach a given subject. The player may choose between a positive, neutral and negative
speech style.
Taking into consideration character diversity of the NPC inhabitants of the game virtual
world, the already presented ‘dialogue’ module serves primarily as a tool to establish the right
register (emotional tinge, syntax etc) of a conversation.
This is the only way to elicit information from the encountered characters and, consequently,
to move the action of the game forward.
b) Visual and graphics style
The visual aspect of “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” game consists of vast, hand drawn
frames as well as a gallery of cartoon-like characters, whose movements are designed by
some of the best Polish 2D animators – among others, Arleta Rogalska who has worked with
us on our previous project, “Boyz Don’t Cry” (please see www.chnp.pl for more information,
screenshots etc.). The visual side of the project is supervised by a renown cartoonist and
comic-book artist Mirosław Urbaniak, who is also the author of locations and character
designs.
The aesthetic appeal of “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” evokes the associations with
classic cartoons (see ‘Blacksad’, ‘Lanfeust’ or ‘Asterix’) or animated cartoons (see ‘Cow and
Chicken’, ‘The Simpsons’ or ‘Looney Tunes’). The reality pictured in “Girlz Don’t Cry 2:
Disaster Dollz” game has been twisted in a rather humorous and friendly way. Character
designs and locations caricature absurdity of the world around.
c) Sound style
Sound effects, similarly to our previous adventure productions, occupy an important position
in the game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz”. This element of the project has been
elaborated in cooperation with the leading Polish dubbing and sound mastery specialists such
as Miriam Aleksandrowicz, who is responsible for the Polish version of ‘Friends’ series, and
Tomasz Sikora, author of the sound rewarded at the International Warsaw Film Festival.
The game stages about 60 characters – the roles we plan to distribute amongst 30 actors As to
their versatility, our requirements are very high because the inhabitants of “Girlz Don’t Cry 2:
Disaster Dollz” not only use different voices but also speak local dialects and social jargons.
They can sing, rap, talk on the exhale only, communicate with various European languages,
and finally yodel and use youth slang.
The experimental jazz music in the game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” derives the
inspiration primarily from the work of Tzadik Records as well as from the achievements of
The Residents group. However, we would not like to confine ourselves to only one musical
stream. Depending on the requirements of a situation, the game echoes with musical motifs
originating from gangster movies, music associated with battle movies or with hip-hop and
folk music.
d) Game modes
Single-player game. - “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” is designed to suit the needs of a
single player. Once an adventure has been completed, the player gets access to a hidden
artwork gallery containing pictures and films connected to the game.
6. Main features
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An intriguing and hilarious plot. The rationale behind “Girlz Don’t Cry 2:
Disaster Dollz” project’s creation is to prime the players with a cool and
inspiring story, the discovery of which will be a pleasurable experience.
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Diverse puzzles.. Challenges the players respond to are as diversified as
possible because our intention is to maintain carefully the elements of surprise
and intrigue at every step the player takes. Funny and absurd-borne puzzles are
not terribly heavy. They, however, require a certain dose of creative thinking
and improvisation.
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Two charismatic heroines. Ada and Pola. The players assume the roles of two
radically different girls, who pass different comments about the reality. For
75% of game time the players lead the actions of Ada whereas in all the other
moments Polifonia takes over.
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The gallery of /unusual characters. The game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster
Dollz” features about 60 different and invariably unusual characters, who
represent all conceivable (and inconceivable) social classes of the middle and
eastern European countries.
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The graphic side has been created by the hand of man. Locations as well as
other animations are not created with the use of 3D graphic programs. They
emerge to life by means of a pencil and some paper, in the hands of qualified
artists.
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A daring soundtrack. The soundtrack which reverberates with the tunes of
urban hip-hop, folk music, orchestral pieces, experimental jazz, vocalization as
well as the electronic output of artists from the gothic scene.
7. Story
Ada and Pola, in the middle of their holidays at the French Riviera, wonder where to get the
money for the next round of pinkish drinks with colorful paper umbrellas from. A waiter
dressed up like an Aztec warrior brings in an envelope for one of them. It is addressed to Pola.
It says that Pola’s great-grandmother’s friend’s sister’s grandmother’s brother’s second
cousin’s cousin from her uncle’s side, Countess von Nagelkopf, whom Pola has last seen
during her own baptism ceremony, being on the verge of passing away from this vale of tears
bequeathed a grim castle in the north of Moldavia to one of our heroines. Although in the
beginning the girls take it as a strange joke, they quickly change their mind and come to a
conclusion that checking what this is all about is worth interrupting their holidays. What’s
more, according to the last will/letter of the deceased, Pola has only 48 hours to collect the
keys to the castle. If she does not make it on time or if a certain Augusto, who is vaguely
mentioned in the letter, forestalls her the Nagelkopf grim castle together with its legendary
treasures will disappear right under her nose.
Throughout the prologue and the first act of the game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” the
players direct Ada and Pola’s proceedings on their way to France, through Austria and
Moldavia. The second act focuses on the heroines’ arrival to Moldavia and their stay in a
village full of superstitions, at the foot of the castle hill. The third act pictures the grim castle
of von Nagelkopf and a surprising twist of the action. Augusto turns out to be a bad guy, a
madman who threatens the well-being of the world. Therefore someone has to stop him. The
fourth act of the game “Girlz Don’t Cry 2: Disaster Dollz” takes place in an island, where the
heroines are kidnapped to by Augusto.
The Epilogue tells the story on the girls’ final victory over the bad Augusto. The events move
smoothly to a happy end when the girls take over the castle together with its legendary riches.
8. Similar Games
- “Boyz Don’t Cry” (2004 – L’Art / Dobra Gra)
- „Broken Sword: The Smoking Mirror” (1999 – Revolution Soft. / Virgin Int.)
- “The Curse of Monkey Island” (1997 – LucasArts)
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