I'd like to share today the story of how Door To Door came to be. Where did the idea begin?
It all began in early 2014 when I was writing my 10th book titled "Please Hold For The Processor Man"; A story about an office worker named Benjamin Gallery whom was selected to work one of the most prestigious jobs going, set in an alternate, but parallel reality. This was of course just one of the examples the 1985 film 'Brazil' had influenced my work.
Within this story there is a part where Benjamin Gallery realizes what luxuries he has to his disposal. One of these luxuries would be a private movie theater. In this scene, Gallery would be watching a comedy oriented detective movie. The script is here:
Detective: “Well it seems, Mr. Banks, that Mary Summers was actually made of cantaloupe.”
Mr. Banks: “What am I gonna tell my kids!? Mary was our favorite nanny!”
Detective: “Well you won't tell them anything, because they're dead too.”
Mr. Banks: “My kids!”
Detective: “Now now, Mr. Banks, they weren't your kids, you see they never were... Hm, this is gonna be hard to say.”
Mr. Banks: “What- what, tell me, I can take it!”
Detective: “Your son and daughter, were part of the same gang you see?”
Mr. Banks: “Gang?”
Detective: “Yes... I'm afraid that your daughter Emily was actually made of strawberry jelly.”
Mr. Banks: “Heavens, no...”
Detective: “And your son, Tommy.”
Mr. Banks: “Tommy... Let me guess, his favorite fruit.”
Detective: “No, see they aren't cannibals Mr. Banks, they won't eat their own kind.”
Mr. Banks: “Then what, huh? What did my son become?”
Detective: “I'm afraid it's much worse... A vegetable.”
Mr. Banks: “Ah! Vegetable!”
Detective: “That's correct, Tommy was a sweet potato.”
That was it, just that. However, during writing of this scene, I had written in fact several of these detective scripts. I had a ton of fun writing them, laughing while I did it. The series was eventually named "Detective Whiskey Bingo In Risky City".
Eventually I began writing a game idea inspired by Please Hold For The Processor Man. It was originally tall, bland, black and white, etc. You would play an Agent from a mirror world trying to deliver a briefcase that would sabotage some big clock. Your character were to work for Ministry Of Time. It was planned strictly as a very linear exploration game.
The more I wrote it, the more I didn't like it. Although at this point I already began production on modular assets and initial level design, there felt to be so much missing. So what if I reversed the themes? Why not have the color in the foreground and the mystery in the background instead of vice-versa? Let's see where that goes. Let's see what happens when I introduce secrecy, conspiracy, comedy, etc.
I began adding more and more ingredients as the months went on and threw out several more. Detective Whiskey Bingo himself then became the glue to hold it all together. "Bingo" became "Bixby" one could say.
Door To Door began as a very drab, straight-forward world that is now fused with Jazz and neon. It was most certainly a development experience I'll never forget. I'm not gonna lie, a big part of it was listening to Nat King Cole with enough reverb to convey the atmosphere.
Let me know if you'd be interested in reading the other detective scripts. Who knows, maybe I'll release them publicly one day.
