The Cast of Memoirs -- Exposed!

To start off, it looks like updates will only be able to happen on the weekends from here out. My schedule for school this semester is really intense, so I doubt I'll have much time to work on my game during the week.

That being said, I had another productive weekend. :) Well... I think it was productive, but others may disagree with my definition of what that means. What I did this week/weekend was start planning out the - for lack of a better phrase - "sex scenes." It's not really sex so much as an "intense romantic encounter" with sex kind of implied, but not described or shown. Although the act won't be shown, the scene leading up to it will be, as it is essentially the culmination of the romance; this scene for each couple will be the only CG that couple has together (due to rising prices and lack of funds), so that should emphasize how important it is.

Of course, while planning the scenes, I thought about how to put them together visually, and realized it would be weird if they were having a conversation with their clothes on and then suddenly had them off (or mostly off) in the CG. So I went and made "undressed" sprites for the whole crew, and had waaaay more fun than I should have while tracing those delicate contours... xP

Here are the characters' new sprites, arranged in a "reimagining" of this cast line-up from my LemmaSoft thread:

I wish I could say that there's something for everybody, but... that's probably not true. I'm well aware that the cast isn't ethnically diverse, but it's a little too late to change that now. I'm also aware that there isn't a wide range of body types there; they're all pretty buff and model-esque in their physique, which isn't particularly realistic, but it is nicer to look at. Let's be honest: this story and these characters are based on my own personal preferences. While it would be nice if I could cater to everyone, that would be impossible to do, so I go with what I like and hope that others who play my game like the same thing (or could at least live with it).

Now, on that same note, I know that the issue of sex and/or nearly naked guys in otome games is a hot debate (no pun intended), but personally, I believe it makes sense in some situations to have more "adult" scenes. These characters are adults (at least by that time period's standards) and are, by the end, seriously risking their lives; if nothing else, in situations like that, emotions are intense and (I would guess) there's an instinct to grab on to what you hold most dear, which would typically be the person you love. I'm not going to ignore the natural progression of a relationship in that type of situation just because it may make some people uncomfortable, and that's an aesthetic choice I made as the "artist" behind the story. The shirtless guys are also aesthetic choices, since...well...I think they're hot.

That doesn't mean that there will be "porn" in this game or anything that could be remotely classified as such. As you can see from the sprites above, nothing is/will be shown, and most of the guys don't even take their pants off (except Ahzi 'cause he's a stud). The focus will be on the emotional connection between the two parties in question, not on the physical aspects of the encounter.

...Alright, I'm done ranting for now. Enjoy the half-naked guys (and gal). ;D

P.S.: After posting this, I discovered that, despite having spent a great deal of time designing each boy's bottom half, the textbox covers it all up...so the result is that they look like they're naked even though they're not. Oops. Ah well...

Progress!

Guess what? I WROTE STUFFS!
Seriously, it's a freakin' miracle.

More specifically, I wrote a little less than a third of the Jarconia plot arc. If the original game rushed through the plot, then this one moves through it at a snail's pace in comparison. I'm not sure whether that's good or bad... I guess it really just depends on preference. Personally, I don't mind a lot of dialogue since...well...that's kind of what visual novels are all about. In this case, it was really important to me to provide some sort of background on the important secondary characters (Ustyz and Lilah) and the area itself, since it has a history that plays into the main plot quest of that area.

I also wrote the flashback scene (or...series of scenes) which explains exactly how she was framed, which will be important for solving the murder later on. I was going to make this into a separate thing as the 'demo,' but it's important enough that I felt it needed to be included in the main game. To adapt it from 'separate thing' to 'part of the game,' I had to shorten it and cut out the originally planned free-roaming around the castle, so now there are five options of places to go, each with its own clue of sorts. However, you can only choose three of these places to search. So... the places you choose will determine what clues you find, which will impact how events unfold later down the road, though I'm not sure how much yet.

As of now, the flashback scene will come up sometime during your first major plot arc, regardless of which one you choose. I may move it somewhere else depending on how well it fits in, and how much it screws up the pacing (since it's still rather long). In general, I'll probably have to adjust the pacing a bit based on opinions from testers later down the road.

In addition to all that awesomeness, I also re-did my battle GUI so it looks a bit more...professional (or as 'professional' as graphics made in MS Word can get). Here's a preview:

You'll notice that I rearranged some things, added some color and texture, redesigned the portrait frames so they look a little less blocky, and took out the movement order (because I'm lame and I don't know how I would code that, har har). The icons under "Other actions" aren't final or anything (I obviously won't use the old Twitter icon in the final version), but they're examples to show the kind of basic look I'm going for. I may end up creating actual icons with color and everything, but for now, I'm going to go for the simple black-and-white icon design.

Anyway, there's my progress report for today. Good stuff, yes? I just hope I'll have some time this week to keep the ball rolling.

Very Small Update

School started today, but I found a bit of time to fix up my menus.

Hopefully, they won't seem so dark now with lighter font and more contrast. With that, the navigation bar got an upgrade, too... but I wonder if I should include buttons for other parts of the interface, like Inventory, Characters, etc. I haven't made those screens yet, but it may be good to go ahead and have the framework in place. I can only do that if I figure out how to clear my damn cache, though...*grumbles*

On another note, I'm really happy to have received such positive comments and encouragement on my LemmaSoft thread. Knowing that I'm doing a good job and that people are interested in my work really helps to inspire me, so thanks guys. :) I just hope I can live up to your expectations and make a good game in the end.

Bleeeeeeh

It's already the middle of January?! What happened to all that free time I was supposed to have for winter break? Oh....right... I wasted it playing Mass Effect and watching perverted anime. Damn.

Well, anyway, school is starting up in a few days. That means less free time, but getting back into the routine will make it easier to work, both for school and for my game. Over the break, I played some official Japanese visual novels which helped give me a better idea of what kind of effect I want to achieve. Granted, my game won't be quite the same since there are more RPG elements involved and more "do your own thing" time. It'll be more like Dragon Age or ME in that regard.

I know, that doesn't really count as progress. Here IS some progress (kind of):

These circles/windows/shiny things (based on the "awakening" circles from the Kingdom Hearts series) represent the different (romantic) endings of the game and will be used during the epilogue. I think they're a big step up from the watercolor versions I had before but didn't know what to do with. I re-lined and re-colored them myself, both the portraits in the back and the art in front, and the solo versions I drew using references and trying to copy the same style as the others. All in all, they took a very long time to do (a week of working 8-9 hours straight each day), but I'm really proud of them.
...Yes, I know Ahzi is missing. Poor guy doesn't get one. ):

I've also started writing again... a little bit, anyway. I'm honestly not that good at writing stories (I'm better at writing things like reports and essays... I blame school for that), so I keep putting it off, but I know that this project will never get anywhere if I don't write. After all, there is no game without the story. So... I just need to force myself to sit down and write, write, write. Like I am now. :)

I'll finish this monster some day, I swear...