The Farthest View
A downloadable game
It was supposed to be a vacation like any other...
The Farthest View is a story driven game, combining the narrative of a visual novel with interactive explorative mechanics, presented in a hand-drawn 2D graphic style.
This game contains mature themes and is targeted at an adult audience.
The Story
At the invitation of their common friend and classmate Jules, Thomas and his best friend Aaron follow him on a trip to Nightfall, a remote island somewhere in the Northern Atlantic, to celebrate their recent graduation. Soon upon arrival the trio discovers that there's more to the island than its rough landscape and equally rough inhabitants than meets the eye, and the lack of internet reception will soon be their least concern. As one after the other begins to experience inexplicable blackouts and start seeing things they can't logically explain, the local stories of strange apparitions and haunted places suddenly don't feel that far out anymore.
What starts out as a harmless summer adventure soon turns into a perilous quest for the truth as Thomas and his friends set out to uncover the island's best kept secret - a secret that might impact all life on the island, and maybe beyond...
Main Features
- A story about adventure, friendship, loss, betrayal and finding love in a world where your greatest enemy is your own fear
- Freely explorable, hand-drawn backgrounds
- Interactive Photo Mode: Take photos to examine otherwise invisible details that will reveal additional story details - or just make for a nice addition to your photo collection
- Decide to which character you talk and when, but keep in mind that sometimes time is limited
- Original Soundtrack composed specifically for the game (yet to be implemented with the next update)
Update June 2024:
After a prolonged hiatus, the game is currently undergoing a major overhaul. I'm in the process to finish reworking the opening section of the game and aim for a relaunch shortly.
I apologize for the delay.
Official Website
Artist Website
Open Discord Channel
Twitter
Merchandise
Download
Development log
- Savegame Hotfix July 2022Jul 31, 2022
- Update/Relaunch! (May 2022)May 11, 2022
- Support Options & MerchandiseAug 21, 2020
- Build 0.2.9 UpdateAug 14, 2020
- Build 0.2.8, progress update, SFW mode and original musicJun 06, 2020
- Feedback Time! - Survey & DiscussionMar 05, 2020
- Soundbug for 0.2.7 fixed (Win+Mac)Feb 14, 2020
- Title change + android versionFeb 06, 2020
Comments
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I think it's really well made and has some unique game mechanics. It was quite short however and right as I was really starting to get into it, it was over. I'm really looking forward to seeing where this story goes though. You seem to have a good mix of music, art and story, so far and I can't wait for more. So I wish you the best in this project!
A visual novel that has a lot of unnecessary feature bloat with point-clicking, doesn't let you save or load, doesn't let you go back, doesn't let you skip half the time, takes its sweet time in LITERALLY EVERY FRAME OF EVERY SINGLE CUTSCENE...
And why? Just give us the story, that's what we're here for! We don't care for your fancy time-wasting mechanics, we want to know what happened to the sexy cat boys!
In the demo, you spend more time reading tutorials and pointless exposition than actually playing through the story.
The story better be worth it, because all of those things are really not making the game better.
Well, when it comes to features, preferences differ, and it's impossible to meet everyone's tastes. I've got a lot of feedback from people who liked the break away from the classic Ren'py formula, so if you were expecting something like that, the game probably is not for you. What you perceive as time-wasting someone else might enjoy.
As for some of your main points of critique: I acknowledge the autosave feature is something that, again, might not be for anyone, but it's a design choice that also has technical reasons. You can however reload anytime, you can access the conversation log at any point in the game, which is very similar to a rollback function. You can skip almost every dialog, and the game gives you the choice to deactivate the tutorials right before starting the game (there may be one or two essential ones that will still be displayed, but it won't spam you). The "unnecessary" point&click mechanics are part of the storytelling, which you seem to be interested in. I do admit though, that some cutscene animations have a pacing issue, something that should be improved in the next update.
The download isn't working on the client...
I always been a fan of this kind of remote island setting, Looking forward for more! :)
Hi, hope all is going well with the game. Are there any plans for future releases, please?
Yo so, what's up with the game? I can't get past day one is this intentional cause it looks like theres more there. Also, is the game still being worked on?
This is still a work in progress, so yes, for the time being there is only day one (which by the way is going to continue for a while during the next updates, when they'll come up). Also yes, like I stated before, the game is still being developed, though not at a regular pace (I'm just one person, after all), so as much as I'd like to I can't give any estimates when there will be new content, for now. I'll keep this site updated, so whenever an update is going to happen, you'll find it here. Thanks for your interest!
I see, take all the time you need! I'm super excited for the next update and I'm sure it'll be amazing.
So I can't even get past day one...?
Hi, is the game still going?
Hey, thanks for asking. Yes, as long as it doesn't say otherwisehere on the page, it is still going. Next update is still going to take a while longer, though. Maybe I can manage a short one at some point early next year.
Good to hear!
I was trying to play this on joiplay cuz my laptop is being held together by duct tape I assumed it was ren'py boy was I mistaken I'm genuinely impressed on how THE FUCK you were able to make a VN with FUCKING ADOBE PHOTO SHOP AND UNITY HOW THE FUCK DID THIS MANS/WOMANS MAKE A DAMN VN WITH UUUNNIITTTYY AND PHHOTTOOOSHOOP sir/ma'am/them I applaud your ability to make two separate programs that are completely unrelated and incompatible to make a damn vn
Edit there was an android version genuine question where tf did it go
I'm nobody important, but this made me chuckle. Have a like!
Its been awhile, looks like I've missed some updates as you are revising the story for the third? fourth? time, as well as what I had thought was the initial premise for the end has changed, still mysterious, but perhaps not as dark. Once you get back to day 5 (the initial Demo) I am still willing to give a Donation for continued support for further development. There is still not much to be seen, but there is still that same captivating feeling of wonder. That feeling of being drawn to the character and their story is what I live for, to see into other worlds.
Is there a version for Mac?
Not for now, but I'd consider adding a macOS version at some later point, likely with the next update.
YAY!
You can run the game with crossover. It runs without a hiccup.
HoW do I download the Android version 💀
Unfortunately there is no Android version of the game, since it didn't perform well on most phones and would have taken a lot of extra work and reduced features to make it run reasonably. So for the time being there's only the desktop version.
I love the atmosphere and the dynamics of story telling! Very well done! Keep it up!
looks great.
This is a very nice start; I would say that I did experience the same bug as RealityBender, though, where Thomas at the boat rail would be visible over the loaded save game.
The new version (v0.3.2) should fix that problem, sorry for the inconvenience.
Thanks! Good luck with the game.
Yeah this has amazing potential
I finished the game and loaded the auto save and this happened:
As of v0.3.2 this should be fixed. Sorry it took a while.
ahhhh no mac version crying was just about to download
With Crossover, it runs fine on Mac. However, there are bugs when running with DXVK and Wine. It gets stuck at the scene where the three arrive on the island. I am using the windows 10 64bit config.
Pleas erelease a new Update soon. I'm really interested in the Story of this. Also i love the Art Style and the Idea of animals being like humans. Keep on with the Work Please.
It's look really promising. Happy to see new update! :D
Recently found this project a few weeks ago and wasn't dissapointed before the change, hope to see more in the future.
Oh I thought this was a new vn lmao.
Well, in a way it is, since before it was just a preview, now it's the first update of the actual game. But I admit it can be a bit misleading with the changed title. ;3
Yea, there's no update though, but I'l look forward to the next update!
I'm not sure what you mean with no update. There's the old prototype demo that won't be updated anymore and, newly added, the starting chapter of the actual game, which is the most recent update.
Oops, I didn't see the DL my bad, I meant was there's no update on the demo. XD
Woo it's back!
And with new title it looks like
Yes! Yes! It's alive!
Thank you!
Played the beta version and found it pretty interesting. It'll be great if one day a full chapter will be released or something like that. If there is anything we fans can help with, please do ask.
yeah this game is fucking dead
I can assure you, the game is not dead until officially stated so. Like I have repeatedly mentioned before, I'm just one person working on this project alone in my spare time beside my day job. While I spend as much time as I can working on it, creating a game like this takes time, and I can do only so much. I can only ask for your patience, once I have enough new material worth an update, this will be the first place to find it.
Just played this, looks like it has amazing potential! Thanks for working on it!
I have some feedback.
First of all, stellar production, very promising VN!
I love the characters. Maybe put one of them on the cover, since they're so attractive? It might help draw people in, I know it would apply to me.
The graphics are so nice! I love the art style, and the moving backgrounds.
There's a audio loop of moving water, and it's very obvious when the loop restarts, as there's a cut or an abrupt sound at the end.
I encountered some bugs as well, but I guess it's to be expected when building a game from the ground up.
Unity is certainly capable than much more than the still image game play that Ren Py can offer.
[BUG]
After I took a picture of the little figurine, and the daydream/nightmare occurred, the screen goes white. The first time, the screen stayed white and I had to kill the game.
Next time, the dialogue sort of bunched up, multiple textboxes superimposed on each other, as I remember. I did get to move on though.
[FEEDBACK ON THE TUTORIAL SECTION]
This is subjective, take it with a grain of salt.
I admit I skipped through the tutorial, since it kept bugging me. I prefer to find things out by myself, and not be forced to read a bunch of messages, when I want to advance the story instead. I was getting increasingly impatient about it, and just skipped through it after a while, since it felt like control was taken from me, and I was put through school. Again, I much prefer less hand holding, so this is subjective.
[MUSIC]
Lastly, I've been enjoying various VN's posted on this site for the last year or so. I've been thinking of offering to produce music for a VN. I noticed you already have some music. If you'd like, I'm offering to produce some more. Free of charge for now, I'm only looking to contribute for the joy of it.
I have a soundcloud that admittedly I haven't been posting much on for years, but there are a couple of new minor projects on there;
https://soundcloud.com/hardts
I'm mostly on Youtube these days, but that's a different style of music less suited for a visual novel. Anyway that was just an offer, you mayb already have what you need in that department.
I wish you all the best with the project!
Hey sorry to bother you again but I'm curious about when we can expect any form of update to this game. I dont mean to be rude, I just really look forward to exploring this VN some more when its possible
at this point, sounds more like it is a failed project, which is a shame, showed some real potential.
Just to prevent any misinformation being spread: The project is still alive and work on the actual game is still ongoing. Since I'm just a single person with a dayjob creating this game in my free time, development is naturally going at a slow pace, and I can't make even a rough estimate how long it is going to be until the next update, much less when the full game is going to completed (the latter might take years, no illusion there). It will be done, when it's done. ;3
That doesn't mean however that the project is dead.
that at least is very good news to hear. thank you
By demo, do you mean it's not finished? And that the finished version will be available later, or that there is a finished version somewhere else, and this is a taste of it
Yes, it's still very much work in progress, so the finished version will be available at some later point. I'm working on the game in my freetime beside my dayjob, so unfortunately I can't give an estimated release date. I will post any new update here on this site, once there is one, so you won't have to search anywhere else.
No trouble uwu you aren't some robot, you got a life to live outside of your hobbies and the people that enjoy your work uwu
I'm glad you came back. Really. Please finish this masterpiece for us. ♡
Accidently my browser brang up your main page, it wasn't even opened, so i decided to check on here and i found a miracle. ♡
is this the only game, just a demo an no regular game of this game? Like no actual full game of this?
Currently, yes. The full game is still in the works and it's still going to take some time until the actual first chapter is finished. So in the meantime there's only the demo available.
ok, thank you for letting me know
I'm confused, is this game cancelled?
This might be a somewhat late reply, but hopefully will be still of interest. The game is not cancelled and is actually still in the works, so there is going to be more, eventually. In any case, thanks for your interest. :3
No worries, just glad to hear this game is still alive and kicking
it's the only news i got from the dev xd
Gosh i really enjoy visual novels. I hope it get continue and we get a final game. Well, i can't wait for it!
oh also one more thing, do you have a realse date/ date for more content?
I want to know that too. I'm dying, really. I want to play that. I want to reborn in a world like that. T-T
i love this VN so far, even with it being fairly short. some of the fetures involved are def unique compared to other VNs and i love them aswell. however the demo only took 5 mins to run through fully, nothing wrong with that im just checking to see if thats correct or am i being an idiot and missing something?
Who exactly can I romance?
love this vn and i really want to play more but it's so short hope for we can start the first chapter soon and you do a great job (sorry for my bad english)
Wow, I really love this VN so much! It's so cute❤️❤️!! But I have questions, will you release the 18+ content in android? How many love interest? Is this game free?
I'm sorry if I keep asking questions of this game😅, and sorry if my grammar it's not good. It's a good story though, I'm so excited for the full game! I hope you have a good health there!
Thank you so much for liking the game. ^^
As for your questions, of course 18+ content will be on Android too, once there is any; there won't be a difference in content between platforms. Though I most likely will have to focus on the desktop versions first, since the Android port still causes some trouble and will have to get optimized properly.
There are going to be four love interests, if verything goes as planned. ;3
Since a release date is still some time away, I can't say yet if it's going to be free at completion. The next updates will be though. :3
Oh, I see. It was beautiful though.