We are approaching the one year anniversary of Ariane in Paradise. To celebrate I will be releasing a new version 1.10 for PC, Mac, Linux, and Android soon.

In the mean time, I thought I’d write a new post with more insider information. There is a lot on the wiki here, but I’d thought I’d expand with some secrets now that the game has been out a while.

I’d like to start out with a comparison of the opening of Ariane in Paradise with the opening of Miranda by Chaotic. Above is a 26 picture top to bottom comparison of the opening of the two games. The bottom section comes from a port ot Renpy I created that is not available, but it is functionally identical to the HTML.

After both games reach the hotel lobby they greatly diverge: Ariane goes shopping, Miranda goes to a volleyball game. This is not the only thing inspired by Miranda, the day 2 visit to a coral reef, and the day 3 volleyball game also were remakes of Miranda puzzles.

So why Miranda? It isn’t that great of a game? I agree, and I’m pretty sure Chaotic would agree as well. The thing is (and this is true in all media), great games are untouchable. You can’t remake a great game, just like great movie and TV shows that people attempt to remake, tend to fail miserably (I’m looking at you Disney!). Bad games/movies/TV shows aren’t worth remaking either because they are bad.

No, the best media to remake or reimagine is the mediocre stuff, the flawed media with potential: Like Battlestar Galactica and Wonder Woman.

Miranda is mediocre. It has a fun setting, a free spirited main character, and lots of interesting puzzles. On the bad side are the pre-iray Daz Studio graphics with untextured props, lack of realistic shadows, glass, or decent hair except for the main character. The pathing to get to the four endings needs work, too. My appreciation of the plot, settings, and main character was undermined by the poor graphics, and that is what drove me to try and remake it. A true remake would require replicating the Miranda model, which is difficult, so I decided to use Ariane instead, and that is how Ariane in Paradise began.

Day 1 goal: The unused props in my Poser library

Pretty much all the stuff that happens in Day 1 was inspired by leftover props I bought for other projects, didn’t use, and decided to get my money’s worth.

Take for example the Geminii Lingerie Store set that I originally bought to improve Rebecca’s Lingerie store in Date Ariane, then never used it. Now it is a swimsuit shop. Ditto this Swimming Lake Scene was bought to replace the lake in Date Ariane, but it was ultimately too small. Now it is the water supply of the island. The Shop Building interior was used to put stuff in the convenience store in Date Ariane, but the exterior didn’t get used until AiP.

The La Piazza set I purchased while making Something’s In The Air, but never found a use for it until it became my island village. A few years ago, I went crazy on a half off sale and bought a pirate village and western village bundles, that became my “Pirate’s Cove” amusement park. The Luxury Yacht was also a spur of the moment sale item purchase because I needed a boat prop, then found out it was way too big for what I needed. Now it is the “Danielle”.

Day 2 inspiration: Hang Son Doong

Day 2 needed a beach trip, after all why does anyone travel to a tropical island if not for the beaches? A coral reef was also a requirement because of Miranda. Miranda also had a hike to ancient ruins, but I wanted to do something much different after seeing this video on You Tube:

Day 2 inspiration: Things you probably though I made up but are real.

1. Cave preservation does sometimes require swimming naked in cave water. While the water in the “waterfall cave” is rain water, and therefore not as pure as natural cave pools, swimming naked in caves to preserve purity is a thing.
2. Projects to bring back extinct birds is actually happening. Passenger Pigeons is indeed the low hanging fruit. It is also theoretically possible to bring back Dodos. It is much easier to preserve the nearly extinct birds like Spix Macaw.

Day 3 French: What are they saying in French?

In scenes where characters are speaking French, I just wrote lines in English then Google Translated them. Hopefully they are not horrible for fluent French speakers. There is nothing super important in the dialogue, but if you are curious:

Chateau scene:
Christine on intercom: Hello, what do you want?

Police scene
Inspector: I believe this couple is the one in photo four. If so, they aren’t telling us everything they know. Show them the photo.
Officer: Yes, Inspector.

(They show you and Ariane the photo then later say…)

Inspector: So the woman we have in custody doesn’t have a real alibi, I have to talk to that Rachel, did she say she was in Pirate’s Cove?
Officer: Yes, Inspector.

Rental scene
Attendant: Hello, beautiful naked woman.
Yes, there are two left.

Pop Culture References

One of the fun things about inventing a fictional place is filling it with silly little details. The map of Duquesne is is filled with a lot of puns, but here are some other references you may or may not be aware of: