So, about those free games...

Lately I've been spending a lot of time talking about Kansei and Winter in Fairbrook, since both of those are very near to completion. However, I'd like to dedicate this Wednesday to talking about some of the free games we're working on. Yes. We're still working on free games.

So, what's the deal with those? Well, they're all moving along and their own paces.

hanamix2: Mugen is back on board with the background images, so that's cool stuff. The sprites for two of the three main characters are complete, and the writing is about halfway done. We've also recorded some character dialogue already. Hopefully we can get the whole thing voiced. @_@

Oneiro: We have a new background artist, so that'll help speed things up. Two of the five sprites are done, but their alternate outfits haven't been completed yet. Writing is about 85% complete. The original soundtrack is done, and it sounds beautiful. I'll probably post some samples later in the summer.

Plat du Jour: Anyone remember this? XD Yes, there are still plans to finish it, but we're still sort of on a detour. Ripples was meant as a prologue, but we've decided to write a second "in between" story that fits between Ripples and PdJ before we go forward with PdJ. Plans for that story are being drawn up as we speak, but the team is currently rather busy finishing Kansei, so it'll be a few months before we start work on it.

Overall, I hope that we'll be able to finish at least one more free game of substantial length this year. I really do love releasing games for free, but it's hard to keep up, since everyone involved has other obligations.

Biweekly Poll (Also: Looking for BG Artist)

I'm looking for a new background artist for our in progress (free) otome game, hanami x 2. The previous artist, sadly, has had to drop the project due to real life issues. Above is a sample of his work. You are not require to mimic it. I don't mind 3D or 2D as long as it looks nice. The setting is Heian Era Japan. Email me at ayu@sakevisual.com with samples of your work if you're interested.

And on to the biweekly poll. Clocking in at 294 votes, this poll was a fairly simple preference one: "Which is your favorite season?"

Spring	121 (41%)
Summer	64 (21%)
Autumn	150 (51%)
Winter	113 (38%)

I was kinda expecting it to be even, but Autumn is definitely ahead of the pack. I'll admit, it's my favorite, too, because I like the weather during Autumn the most. What are your reasons for your favorite season?

--

I know these current biweekly polls feel a little random, but they're actually preference research for some stuff I'm writing. While it's not directly related to games in general, it's important for a game I'm working on in particular.

First Encounter

Guess who forgot to update last week? Ha! ::points to self:: Hello. Hopefully this gorgeous screencap from hanami x 2 will be enough to make up for it.

Heian Era in Pastel

Ha! Wednesday. I remembered. I need a better name than "Wordcount Wednesday," as this is more of a generic "Update Wednesday" instead. Unfortunately, "Update Wednesday" doesn't have the same alliterative niceness. Suggestions are welcome. XD

Above, you can see the first (mostly) finished image from hanami x 2. Those of you waiting for hx2 have been immensely patient, so here's to your patience. I say the image is mostly finished, since Teisen's sprite, the background, and the GUI are all complete. You can't see who she's talking to quite yet, though. It shall remain a mystery for now. Teisen sprite drawn by Misteen, and background image rendered by mugen.

Biweekly Poll - Nonhuman Types

Unrelated image is unrelated. Actually, it's a piece I was planning on using for hanamix2, but it clashes with the sprites, so I've got someone doing new backgrounds. The sprites are super cute, BTW. Maybe I'll post one on Wednesday?

Our latest poll covered nonhuman characters. I asked what sort of characters you like strictly in a character sense, and not necessarily as a romance option.

Elves	117 (51%)
Aliens	26 (11%)
Animal Ear Types	101 (44%)
Androids	65 (28%)
Angels	108 (47%)
Demons	138 (61%)
Deities	82 (36%)
Mermabeasts	37 (16%)
Other (Leave Comments)	16 (7%)

Tastes leaned heavily towards the ethereal unknown over sci-fi options (aliens, androids). Poor sci-fi. Comments also suggested faeries and satyrs, which are both most excellent. This poll was largely a curiosity poll for me. While this may bloom into something one day, I'd have to be crazy to start a new project now. >.>

--

The current poll is fairly relevant. Do you like lots of games coming out regularly, or would you rather wait for something longer and with more gameplay? A small game is something like [text]. A medium-length game is something like RE:A++. A long game in chapter installments would be Ripples (oops, did I just tip my hand?). As for a long game, I mean something that will be several hours on the first playthrough that might take a year or more to produce. Something akin to the Japanese releases. I know that RE:A++ is still really short by Japanese VN standards, but they have full teams to work on this stuff. So yeah. Medium length for us kids.

Wordcount Wednesday - hanami x 2

Yay, it's time for Wordcount Wednesday! Alliteration is FUN.

The game contains 591 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 5,524 words,
for an average of 9.3 words per screen.
The game contains 7 menus.

For those of you looking for something to measure that number against, that's about one fourth of the words in RE: A++. Also enjoy the pretty sketch of the heroine, Teisen, drawn by Misteen.

The Gameplan

Well, lots on the list of things to do right now, but I'm going to write out a gameplan so that I get everything finished in good time.

February:
The deadline for the two month challenge fast approaches. RE: Alistair is doing okay, but we're seriously in crunch time right now. A couple thousand more words, at least, hopefully done by the end of this week so that we can spend the last week testing and cleaning up any emergency issues.

March:
Crazy insane writing month. I intend to actually finish writing both Card Sweethearts and Moonsong this month. That's a lot, especially seeing as both have several tens of thousands of words to go, but I really want to get these done ASAP. They've both been sitting around much too long, and they'll get stale if I don't put a rush order on them.

April:
If my March plan works out, start writing three new games. Yes, three. A sequel to a game that's currently doing very well, a horror/otome game, and a personal project that I hope to be able to release commercially. @^@

In the meantime:
Ripples, Plat du Jour, and hanami x 2 will move along at whatever speed is appropriate based on the schedule and workload of the artist.

Small Update

Now that hx2's art is moving forward again, I've started writing here and there for it in my spare time.

Statistics:
The game contains 567 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 5344 words,
for an average of 9.4 words per screen.
The game contains 6 menus.

Let's Go!

Well, I've been off the blog for a week to reorganize myself, my games, and get new projects in order. And now I'm back. So what's in the queue these days?

Card Sweethearts - A poker-themed visual novel. I have practically zero poker experience, so I taught myself Texas Hold'em so I could at least learn the rankings of all the hands. I also understand why the game is so addictive. It's definitely a fun way to pass the time. Good thing I like writing more. XD I'm actually coming in late on this project, with a good chunk of the story already written. I've been spending the past week revising and editing everything so that it sounds kinda like I wrote it. That way, the whole game will have a little bit of coherency. I'm not making too many changes (there's no point in writing something that's already been written), but just a few here and there. I'll actually pick up writing sometime within the week.

Moonsong - More writing and tweaking the plot with people who know better than I. The current edition weighs in at 2,013 words. Still a lightweight, but so far I've only introduced two characters. XD I'm also doing art for this one, so character designs are being worked and reworked and then some.

Plat du Jour - The demo still isn't done being written, but I'm getting closer! It's currently at a pretty decent 10,905 words, and I've just begun to write the various "endings" that will lead into the respective branches. I also started work on a teaser site (see above) meant to act as the "official" homepage for the main character's school. The culture of the school is a large part of the game, so I think giving the school it's own website is a nice touch. It's also a nice way for me to brush up on my rusty HTML skills. Also working with the artist on designing a super cute logo for the game. ^-^

hanami x 2 - I actually found another artist for this! Finally. This is the third artist I've had on the project, and I hope this one sticks, because she's absolutely wonderful (then again, when have I not worked with an artist who is wonderful?).

And of course, there are a thousand other things being planned or sketched or plotted, but these are the ones I am currently focusing my attention on (especially the first two).

Diverging Paths

I am never making an In Progress thread again. I swear, it's like the mark of death or something. My productivity for hanami x 2 plummeted as soon as I made that thread. orz I feel like making an in progress thread gives me an illusion of completeness. I think if I ever use one again, it will be veeeery close to the release of the game and only for scouting playtesters or proofreaders. Some people might get motivated by progress threads, but apparently they cause me to lose motivation. Lots of it. That being said, I still have loads of determination and stubbornness. So hanami x 2 lives on. The trunk of the game is complete, and now it is diverging into the Yama path, the Umi path, and the "peacemaking" path.

Statistics:
The game contains 469 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 4368 words,
for an average of 9.3 words per screen.
The game contains 5 menus.

Productivity Never Takes a Break!

Interesting day today. I did a lot of work-related things like discussing work, outlining upcoming projects, and messing with code. But none of my word counts actually increased.

So, here's what's up in the hood these days:

-Heileen 2: I'm working as an editor for this. This is an active project that is moving along at a pretty nice pace. It's already looking to be deeper than the original.

-The Flower Shop: Writing this one based on a rough outline. The first two chapters are complete, and the third is about halfway complete. The third is really the real meat of the story, as the first two set up the story and the fourth is more of an extended epilogue. It's a nice, normal, slice of life story with normal romance and normal people. Shocking!

-hanami x 2: My own personal little project. Writing and coding this myself, as well as doing a bit of the artwork. My first forray into the dark and mysterious world of OTOME GAMES. The writing is about halfway complete, as it's not a long story. Everything else is...seriously lacking.

-Idem et Idem: Although I call it active, I've really finished the majority of my role in this. The entire first draft is complete, so revisions and edits will come as the programmer or artist requires.

-Plat du Jour: One of my really old stories that I'm finally dragging up from the depths of who knows where to bring back to life. I'm working on the outline of the entire thing, but now that the main writing for Idem is done, I'll be leaping into this one with vigor.

There's definitely more I'm up to like planning out another (otome) game, editing some other up and coming things, and such. But the ones listed above are my current active projects. Faito on!

Wandering Monk

Just finished coloring this. His name is Umi.

Out of Date

Lots of work done today for various games, but none of it was writing. So have some outdated character designs instead.

Edo Style

Test run of a background in hanami x 2. I'm actually quite pleased with it, but I'm worried that it will clash with the sprites. Still, I've found a quick and effective way to make backgrounds and this style really lends to a sort of ancient Japanese atmosphere. Too bad I can't use the same style for all my backgrounds. That would make life so much easier...

Layout Fun

Yesterday was spent working on the aesthetic portion of hanami x 2. It was fun playing around with graphics for once, since I've been doing so much writing lately (I also did writing, but that's for another post). The artist in me is pleased. I'm still not done with all of the customization yet. The text is still kinda hard to read, and I have yet to design all the custom pages. But at least you can get a look at the nvl box and the in game menu options as well as the super cute pink cursor. ^-^

In case you missed it, yes this is an otome game.

@_@

I keep forgetting to update, but I really am doing work...D:

Edited chapter 05 of The Stolen Diamond Ring, as well as found a couple things I missed in the first few chapters. Second revision, yay!

I also revived hanami x 2. Lack of an artist made this little project flounder, but I have found a new one and I am excited to be doing this again. I spent a lot of time customizing the interface and the layout of the game. It's really nice to be working on this again. I think it's ironic that I haven't done a game for girls yet, especially as they seem to be gaining a good amount of popularity these days. But once this is done, I will finally have released an otome game. Wooo~

Network

Urgh...I haven't eaten all day. But I finally finished Idem Ch. 14. Finally. Now to catch up on everything else. Thankfully, hanami x 2 is now on a hiatus as the artist is currently swamped with working on a manga with her group.

Statistics:
The game contains 1266 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 13014 words,
for an average of 10.3 words per screen.
The game contains 0 menus.

Otome Games

So the genre poll is closed. Not too many votes, but it seems like otome games are popular. I'm working on hanami x 2 with yu_eriyama right now, which is, in fact, an otome game (see her design sketches above). However, it's really nothing groundbreaking. Two chaseable characters and a rather straightforward storyline. Is that the sort of thing that people like in otome games? I really haven't played very many, so I'm not to knowledgeable in the area.

What's more important, plot or characters? Is the game more appealling for chasing after the guys, or for a good plot where the protagonist happens to be a heroine this time around? Is it weird that I'm more accustomed to writing stories with a male lead when I am, in fact, female? Anyway, I've had a much more ambitious otome game brewing in the back of my mind. Once I Finish hanami x 2, perhaps I will work on that.

Pre Tri-Day Festivities

I'm really hoping to get a lot more done this weekend. This week has been terrible in terms of getting any writing done. =_=

Finished up a couple more endings for Bionic Heart. It's looking more and more interesting by the minute - the release is sometime this summer, so please look forward to it.

Started on chapter 10 of Idem.
Statistics:
The game contains 849 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 8688 words,
for an average of 10.2 words per screen.
The game contains 0 menus.
HA. Hardly an advancement...

And added a little bit to hanami x 2.
Statistics:
The game contains 258 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 2570 words,
for an average of 10.0 words per screen.
The game contains 4 menus.
Enthralling, I'm sure.

Tri-day

Worked on three projects today. Because Friday is Tri-day. Yes, I'm very clever.

Bionic Heart:
Finished up editing a couple endings for Bionic Heart. Most of them required only minor touch-ups, but I gave one of them quite a makeover.

Idem et Idem:
Started chapter 09 of Idem. It didn't move as quickly as I wanted to because I wound up spending a lot of time researching psychology. Blrr. This project is really stretching my knowledge. XD But man, it's so much fun. I'm pretty happy with where it's going, and I hope that people who play it will be drawn in.
Statistics:
The game contains 779 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 7990 words,
for an average of 10.3 words per screen.
The game contains 0 menus.

hanami x 2:
Wrote a liiiittle bit more for hx2. I want to put more time into it, but it's not a priority right now, and the artist is still in the sketching and design stage, so there's no huge rush to get the writing done and polished right now.
Statistics:
The game contains 244 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 2392 words,
for an average of 9.8 words per screen.
The game contains 4 menus.