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.
Jan 17, 2012
Jan 13, 2012
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...
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...
Dec 28, 2011
New Year
It's already almost January, and I'm just now starting to get back into the groove of working on my game after putting it on hold to deal with school.
This new inspiration was fueled by my experience with a Japanese visual novel called "Hakuoki," which features an amazing story and loveable characters. Playing through a bit of it and watching the anime reminded me that a visual novel is just that: a novel. It's not about the fancy features or even the gameplay, but about the story and the characters.
I realized that "feature creep" had been causing me to lose sight of what's important, and served to make an already overwhelming project seem impossible to complete. Perhaps it is impossible, but I still want to try, and to do that, I need to step back and rethink what direction I want to take this project in.
The plan, then, is to cut back on some of the features I had planned and to focus instead on serving the plot as much justice as possible. This means expanding the timeline a bit so as to fit everything in. So, the first half of the game will be as originally planned: go to the three main cities, recruit party members (just the four), and figure out who killed Osirus. But instead of it then going right into the final confrontation, the story will continue. The second half will explore the rebellion and building civil war, and this is when Zuleika must find the means and the will to overthrow the emperor/take back her throne, if she so desires. I'm in the process of fleshing everything out now, and I hope to start writing for real soon.
That being said, my backgrounds are still bugging me. I ended up scrapping the photograph background idea, but I don't have enough free resource backgrounds to do everything I want. Specifically, I plan to have Chael's and Kirile's personal quests lead to their respective homes, but that would require very specific architectural backgrounds. I'm not sure I can even find suitable placeholders. Ah well... I'll just have to make do, I guess.
Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for their patience. This monster may not be finished any time soon, but I'll keep working on it as I can.
This new inspiration was fueled by my experience with a Japanese visual novel called "Hakuoki," which features an amazing story and loveable characters. Playing through a bit of it and watching the anime reminded me that a visual novel is just that: a novel. It's not about the fancy features or even the gameplay, but about the story and the characters.
I realized that "feature creep" had been causing me to lose sight of what's important, and served to make an already overwhelming project seem impossible to complete. Perhaps it is impossible, but I still want to try, and to do that, I need to step back and rethink what direction I want to take this project in.
The plan, then, is to cut back on some of the features I had planned and to focus instead on serving the plot as much justice as possible. This means expanding the timeline a bit so as to fit everything in. So, the first half of the game will be as originally planned: go to the three main cities, recruit party members (just the four), and figure out who killed Osirus. But instead of it then going right into the final confrontation, the story will continue. The second half will explore the rebellion and building civil war, and this is when Zuleika must find the means and the will to overthrow the emperor/take back her throne, if she so desires. I'm in the process of fleshing everything out now, and I hope to start writing for real soon.
That being said, my backgrounds are still bugging me. I ended up scrapping the photograph background idea, but I don't have enough free resource backgrounds to do everything I want. Specifically, I plan to have Chael's and Kirile's personal quests lead to their respective homes, but that would require very specific architectural backgrounds. I'm not sure I can even find suitable placeholders. Ah well... I'll just have to make do, I guess.
Anyway, I would like to thank everyone for their patience. This monster may not be finished any time soon, but I'll keep working on it as I can.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)