Death on the Nile - Visual Development

This visual development project is meant to serve as a proof of concept for a hypothetical game based on the Agatha Christie novel titled 'Death on the Nile'. It is a murder mystery story featuring Hercule Poirot, in which he must solve a deadly tragedy that takes place on board a cruise in Egypt.

The art direction taken was a nod to the Professor Layton series, which was a puzzle-solving mystery game. Alongside that, other visual novel series like Phoenix Wright and Danganronpa also provided inspiration for the development.

Character Design

Above are five most prominent characters within the story. The setting of the story is during the early 1900s, so their outfits have been designed to match that aesthetic while still appearing individually unique.

From left to right: Hercule Poirot, Colonel Race, Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle, Jacqueline de Bellefort, Simon Doyle.

Custom character sprites designed for the main characters.

Array of side characters that appear throughout the story

Environment Design

The story takes place on board the S. S. Karnak, a small luxury steamship that sails down the Nile River. It is considered to be one of, if not the best cruise on the river. Therefore, it was important to design the location to reflect that fact, whilst making it both appealing and functional for a video game format.

The S. S. Karnak is a luxury steamship with four different decks. There is the lower deck where the regular cabins are, then there's the upper deck where the deluxe and premium cabins are. There is also the rooftop deck, where passengers can relax and have a drink at the local bar. The last deck would be the bottom deck, where only staff are allowed to enter.

The premium cabin where Linnet and Simon Doyle are staying on the Karnak. This room is a crucial element in the story as it becomes the scene of Mrs. Doyle's murder.