AI Confidential Demo

A note from the devs (Critical Wit and Revanche Studio):

“We're incredibly excited to share this demo for AI Confidential!

AIC is about “helping” purpose-built robots, using high-tech tools and good old-fashioned empathy to mend everything from broken parts, to broken hearts.

In this “prologue,” AI Repair Technician Makenzy Turner has been dispatched to the home of vacationing “MeScreen” streamer, Augustus Wu.

The job? To fix Mr. Padbury… Augie’s robot dog-sitter with a broken nanny-cam. However, it quickly becomes clear the busted camera is just a symptom of a larger problem. If you can’t make both the customer and your boss happy, will you let empathy or ambition inform your choices?

Once you start playing, it won’t take long to notice that AIC’s conversation system is a little 🤪. 

AIC is trying something new… shifting the conversational role of the player from “instigator” to “active listener.” When talking to other characters, you're asked to consider the context and tone of what's being said to you, and then select an emoji that best expresses how you'd prefer that Makenzy's react and respond.

Given the game’s title and premise, it’s also probably worth mentioning that no AI’s were harmed (or used) in the creation of AI Confidential. We believe that creativity and artistic expression are best handled by actual artists, and are committed to NOT using generative AI tools in the creation of this game.

The demo isn’t feature-complete - and has the requisite rough edges - but we feel it effectively conveys the tone and essence of the “dystopian utopia” we’re hoping to create. We hope you’ll tell us what you liked (and what you didn’t). And, please consider wishlisting and spreading the word; your support means the world to us!

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Demo Build Notes V.1.2.0 

The demo represents ~7 months of active development time, with a core team of four (two creative/narrative leads, one engineer, and one artist/animator), and additional support from 3D artists, audio specialists and VO actors. 

The demo was built entirely from scratch over roughly seven months, and is approximately 75% complete in terms of gameplay, systems, and general polish. It features a full-length, introductory ‘case’ (level) - a “prologue,” of sorts.

Features planned for the full release (but not currently in the demo) include:

• Interactive gameplay systems for:

  • washing/painting robots

  • removing and replacing parts

  • decommissioning robots

  • assembling items from spare parts in inventory

(Note: The above instances are all currently handled via a fade in/out, and/or automatically.)

• Additional polish and improvements will include:

  • Streamlining of narrative/audio system to further improved cadence/pacing of voiced dialog/dialog skipping

  • Toggle to display emoji definitions

  • Improved object targeting

  • UX and UI improvements

Known issues: 

• On rare occasions, subtitles may display incorrect/outdated text.

• BUG: Saving the game while Padbury is moving around may result in soft-locks when reloading.

• BUG: Objective text may not update properly after the case has been resolved.

• BUG: When in SAVING or LOADING a game, gamepad input may not function properly. In this case, use the Mouse and click to save or load the game.