The Ghostly Characters Pier-er and Constable Henry are Based On 

The story of Pei-er, Constable Henry and Haorang are partly based on a nightmare, and partly on family history. There was one night when I had a terrible dream. I dreamt that a young, pretty Chinese housemaid from the 1850s or 60s was serving me. She was giving me a massage on my shoulders, neck and head, and commenting on how stressed she could feel I was. She told me that she was good at massaging people because this was how she used to serve those in the household that she was employed in -- giving massages and serving tea. She then began telling me about her origins, and how nobody would remember her by now, because she died young and had no offsprings or family who would remember her or visit her grave. Then to my horror, her face started transforming and she demanded payment for her services. I was terrified of course, so I started praying (I am not Christian by faith but had gone to a Catholic school). It did not work on her, and it even incurred the wrath of another ghost who popped into my dream -- a British soldier from the same era who demanded to know who was calling for the angels! I somehow got out of my predicament in the dream but could not forget about it afterwards. I felt that those two ghosts who most likely would not have met in life had somehow formed a strange bond in the afterlife. 

The story involving Haorang on the other hand, that quintessential story of forbidden love between a maid and her employer's son, so often portrayed (especially in movies from the earlier half of the 20th century) that it almost feels trite, is sort of based on family history. Of course, nobody died in that story, but the struggles were real and harsh, and it was no beautiful fairytale. Old traditions and ways of thinking back then were extremely crippling to many young people in those days and created much unnecessary drama, hardships, and heartbreak. 

The Creepy Old Mansion 

This is based on a real life location, called Nam Koo Terrace, in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. Some teens did try to sneak into the mansion in the 2000s and got really spooked by their experience. I can't remember the details but I think the police were called and they had to be rescued out. I am not going to paste a picture of the mansion here because I get spooked easily 😣 but you can do a Google search for it if you are interested! 

Historical Setting of One Last Goodbye

The story is set between 1900 to 1910. The design of William's uniform is partly based on the uniform of the Royal Hong Kong Police in that era. Pei-er's uniform and hairstyle take inspiration from the way women dressed in that period as well. I did not manage to create a separate outfit for Pei-er's young master, but most likely, due to his education and modern upbringing, he would have dressed in a Western-style suit and had a modern haircut. 

Weird Experiences 

If I had more time, I would have added more elements from traditional Chinese horror stories in the game. But truth be told, I really do get spooked easily, and it was not easy for me when I coded the scary parts in the game and had to review them over and over again. Even though the game probably is not very scary compared to many others (and maybe not scary at all), but it was scary enough for me. 😰 Something weird also happened one night when I was coding the game... specifically... the scene with those little ghost children... A cold wind blew against my face (my table faced the wall and was far away from the windows) and I felt someone touching my hair!!! It could have just been my own imagination but I had to stop immediately that night! Afterwards I only coded the scary parts of the game during the day! 

Sister Agnes is another character that came from a nightmare, and Wuyapo (Baba Yaga's Southern Chinese counterpart, literally "Crow Woman") was a character that haunted me for the longest time when I was a kid. 

Why join Spooktober if horror is not my thing? 

I needed an outlet for my experience with that Chinese housemaid and the British soldier I saw in my nightmare. I felt that as scary as they were, they probably had a story to tell and wanted to be remembered somehow. I have had many weird experiences and encounters too that I wanted to express through my writing... and my way of processing them is to turn them into something fluffy and doki-doki! (Though the story did turn out a little more solemn and sad.)  

I only decided to work on the game around the 4th or 5th of September, after quite a few days of hesitation. It was also another chance for me to practise using Ren'py and to practise making a game. There was a lot I have learnt about time management in the process, and making tough decisions on what to include and what to cut out. But this will be for another post.