Don't get too excited about the screencap. It's a mockup using an old Kansei sprite. BUT. If you've been following facebook or twitter, you'll know that we've been half joking/half serious about a Jisei/Fairbrook crossover. Talking about it has certainly garnered an enthusiastic response, so I've been drumming up ideas. Will we actually go through with it? I don't know. There's stuff to be done, like Yousei, Every Sunrise, Oneiro, and Swan Song. On top of that, Winter Wolves definitely has a full docket, too. And of course, there are the merging difficulties. Will it be a murder mystery? Probably not. No one in Fairbrook would kill someone. Will it be a dating sim? Probably not. The relationships in the Jisei series already have their own directions. Who would you play as? Kangai? Natalie? Steve? Susana? Some new character? It's going to take a while to solidify a good idea for a crossover game, but be assured that we are definitely thinking about it. Just don't expect it to be something that pops up terribly soon.
I definitely won't be working on it until Yousei has made it's gloriously late debut. There's a balance somewhere between making a game longer and getting it out faster. Most mobile apps swing in the "get it out soon!" direction, which leads to a lot of lifeless apps. AAA games try not to sacrifice either, but often sacrifice the workers instead. So where does that leave us? Players want a game long enough that it's worth the money they spent. They also don't want to wait forever to read the next chapter. Kansei was longer than Jisei, but it took longer to get out. Yousei is longer than Kansei. Actually, it's got more words than Flower Shop/Winter in Fairbrook. But as you may have noticed, it's taking even longer to release. I think at our current price point, the length of Yousei will be indicative of the length of further games in the series. As for when it's coming out, we really are at the tail end of it. Pre-orders with beta testing should be up super super soon, and I've already had a couple people come in to record voices for the final version. The cast is NOT complete as of yet, but I will announce it as soon as all the lines have been recorded. I've been keeping some of my choices under wraps just in case last minute changes have to be made.
This week, the wordcount is for Winter in Fairbrook, a visual novel not being made by sakevisual. It's a Winter Wolves project. I'm just the writer, but I really like this project, and I think a lot of you guys are looking forward to it as well. So yey! The current count is 11,759 words full of cute boys and flowers. Yey!Sketch was filched from project artist, Deji-chan. As usual. >.>
I lifted the above image from Deji's twitter. >.> This is Natalie, the heroine of Winter in Fairbrook (name subject to change), a spinoff of The Flower Shop. For those not familiar with the game, it's a dating/farming simulation I wrote for Winter Wolves. The game received a lot of good feedback, but there were also a lot of requests for a "girl's side" version of the game. The good (and kinda old by now...) news is that Winter Wolves has indeed started production of an otome spinoff. The same team will be back, with Deji doing art, and Jack Norton programming some fun mini-games. There are going to be some interesting new things related to the mini-games that I'm looking forward to seeing.The heroine, Natalie, is a college freshman who desperately needs a job for winter break. Thankfully, her roommate, Clara, knows a certain flower shop that could really use an extra pair of hands. And so Natalie heads off to Fairbrook to help with the holiday rush of orders that are pouring in. Unfortunately, she's kinda lazy, completely scatterbrained, and this is her first job ever. Not really the best combination. Maybe the residents of Fairbrook can help her figure things out.You can find plenty of images and production sketches at Deji's blog, and some teaser info at the Winter Wolves blog. Although this game has a certain amount of continuity, I wanted to make a standalone story so that anyone could leap into the game without needing to play the original. The writing so far makes a few references to the original game, but you don't actually need to play it to figure out what's going on. I'm having a lot of fun working on this project. Fairbrook is an interesting place, and I think Trent and Jacob deserve a lot more attention and story than they got in The Flower Shop. I'm looking forward to being able to flesh them out. And yes, Steve, is also a datable character, so if you liked Steve by the end of The Flower Shop, here's your chance to chase after him. Oh! There's also a new guy named Ryan. Fun for the whole family. I'll blog my thoughts on the guys as I work on their respective arcs.
Everyone else is doing it...>.> (I stole this cute picture from Deji.)Anyway, in case you don't know yet, The Flower Shop is out! Check it out. ^o^ And since I'm the writer, let's talk writing!When I came onto this project, a lot of the sprites were already complete, but the story only had a rough outline with character descriptions of the main cast, so it was up to me to flesh them out and make them run around and do what they did. From the beginning, I had two specific goals. The first was to give Steve a distinct personality. To this end, I gave Steve some honest and sometimes unpleasant inner thoughts because really...we all have them. I actually based a lot of his initial personality and thoughts on things that I overheard during my life on campus. It helps to pay attention to people around you. You can develop more realistic characters if you draw from real life experience.My second goal was to make things difficult when it came to decision making (because I'm mean). I dislike obvious choices like "tell her she's beautiful/shoot her dog," and I dislike trivial choices like "red is your favorite color/orange is your favorite color." Obvious choices make the game too easy, and they dehumanize the characters a bit. It becomes more of a game where you choose the results that get you the "good end," rather than the choices that you personally prefer. But the preference choices should still lead to distinctly different results. If you get a similar reaction no matter what you say, then it becomes a guessing game. Choices should (ideally) lead to distinct and immediate results. This doesn't have to happen all the time. Sometimes a choice you make won't really make a difference until much later on, but it's wildly frustrating to lose a girl only because you ate a bologna sandwich for lunch two weeks ago instead of spaghetti. I tried to make the decisions lead to logical and different results, and I included some similar decisions for different girls. However, each girl reacts differently, so you can't spam the "right" choice. You have to try to understand her personality instead, which I think makes the game a little more interesting.Anyway, those were my two goals. I'm not sure if I met them, but that's at least what I had in my mind when I wrote it.
Some writers use their work to make political or religious statements. I spread...other opinions. I actually worked in a library for a bit once, and I've read a decent amount. I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, but I know enough to pretend to be. All the books mentioned in The Flower Shop are ones that I've read, although I tried to pick fairly common ones for ease of accessibility's sake.
New BFF? Romantic rival? All-around cute kid? WHO COULD HE BE? (Hint: His name is Jacob). There are rumors, whispers, and possibilities on the wind of The Flower Shop: Girl's Side. Wouldn't you like the option of pursing this adorable boy, or the handsome fellow he's speaking with? YES YOU WOULD. And that means that you should promote The Flower Shop like crazy and make sure that it's really popular. That way, it'll be much more likely for a Girl's Side to be made. No promises. But popularity doesn't lie. >.>
Welp, I finished all the writing for The Flower Shop today. This pleases me. Of course, there's still plenty of testing and proofreading to be done, and there's still a good amount left to be done in terms of the mini-game, artwork, and voices. But the writing is done. That is a big yay for me. ^-^Statistics:The game contains 3972 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 38388 words,for an average of 9.7 words per screen.The game contains 48 menus.
Three out of five epilogues for The Flower Shop are done, but don't think that means there are only five endings. There are many more than that. But...well, you'll see. One ending involves Steve being alone, which isn't too bad. It's just a little gloomy because it's sad when you don't get a girl. I've played Star Ocean: Till the End of Time at least four times, and every time I play I get the same Fayt alone ending. It's kinda discouraging because I keep thinking I'm being friendly with my party members, but apparently, I'm not. I guess it's just my fate to be alone (Haha, get it? Fate? Fayt? Yeah...).Statistics:The game contains 3856 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 37039 words,for an average of 9.6 words per screen.The game contains 45 menus.
There's something slightly mind-numbing about writing the same scene four times over in slightly different contexts. But at least it's done now! So HA. The Flower Shop is nearly complete. The bulk of the writing is done with only epilogues left to go. Then it's time for a nice spit and polish on the text and all the other wonderful stuff that makes it come alive (art, mini-game, voices, and so on).Statistics:The game contains 3715 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 35344 words,for an average of 9.5 words per screen.The game contains 45 menus.
Blah. So my car has been having trouble lately, so I took it in to the shop today. They said that a part needed to be replaced, so that wasn't too bad. Near the end of the day, I was informed that they replaced the part and now a different part doesn't work and they'll have to replace that too. So...it's still in the shop. I was really intending to get a lot more work done today. Unlike my other ramblings, this really isn't related to what I just wrote. I just figured I'd share my day with you.Susana's arc for Flower Shop is done. That leaves Jill. She's the hardest, because most of your time with her is only on the phone, so you don't get many actions you can do. It's all up to your words to win her over.Statistics:The game contains 3245 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 31525 words,for an average of 9.7 words per screen.The game contains 43 menus.
Movies rock. Especially movies about Japanese dudes slicing up zombies. Finished Clara's arc today. She's definitely the most aggressive of all the girls. ^-^Statistics:The game contains 2977 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 29151 words,for an average of 9.8 words per screen.The game contains 42 menus.
I am a big fan of rain. I spent most of my life living in a rainy climate south of Seattle, so I find rain to be something very beautiful and soothing. Marian's arc is nearing completeness.Statistics:The game contains 2740 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 27122 words,for an average of 9.9 words per screen.The game contains 41 menus.
Forgot to update yesterday. These days my only real updates are updated word counts, though. Flower Shop update.Statistics:The game contains 2623 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 25799 words,for an average of 9.8 words per screen.The game contains 40 menus.--Also:-Working on character designs and started writing Moonsong.-Started character designs for a test RPG that I've had brewing in my mind for a while.
Giving flowers to girls makes them happy. Unless they have hayfever. Like me. Then it makes them sneeze.Statistics:The game contains 2451 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 24276 words,for an average of 9.9 words per screen.The game contains 37 menus.
::yawn:: Long day. More writing. Not much else to mention here.Statistics:The game contains 2356 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 23387 words,for an average of 9.9 words per screen.The game contains 36 menus.
Well, with H2 edits out of the way, it's time to move on to other projects. I've started writing Moonsong as well as sketching out another storyline for something really cool in the future. But that's a secret for now. ^_-The Flower Shop is probably 2/3 done in terms of writing. Not sure where everything else stands, but writing at least is moving along pretty quickly. I wager the writing portion will be done within a month at the most. Lots of cute romantic things are happening now (or terrible un-romantic things if you make the wrong decisions.)Statistics:The game contains 2238 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 22310 words,for an average of 10.0 words per screen.The game contains 34 menus.
I used to write poetry when I was in high school, but that sorta stopped as I lost interest. I recently dug up some of my old poems. They weren't that good. The thing about writing characters who have some sort of talent (in this case, Marian) is that you actually have to demonstrate said talent. And when the talent in question is poetry...I may be a writer, but poetry is a very different arena for me. What I think is good today I will look upon in a few years and find to be quite terrible. My favorite poet was always e e cumings, but it's a little hard to really write the way he does for a visual novel. I also like Carl Sandburg, who is providing a better inspiration for the poems in this. Oh, and Edgar Allan Poe is another great inspiration, but his works are already providing a good deal of source material for another project currently brewing. ^_- Marian's favorite poet is Walt Whitman. I should probably brush up on his works so that I can draw some inspiration from there.Statistics:The game contains 1988 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 20038 words,for an average of 10.1 words per screen.The game contains 30 menus.
After a week of catching up, doing other work, and pounding out edits for H2...finally I return to The Flower Shop. I almost don't recognize my characters! (Okay, I really do...)Everyone's stories are all beginning to weave together now. Let's see how everything works out, shall we?Statistics:The game contains 1787 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 17968 words,for an average of 10.1 words per screen.The game contains 27 menus.
Well, today was one of those days where I did a lot of important work, but very little writing. There aren't really any increased word counts, but I got a lot done. I updated the code for The Flower Shop, inserting all of Jill's expressions into the Jill events. Worked on some plot outlines and character designs for something shiny and new - more on that later.
An event scheduler allows events to pop up at various times based on your stats, which means if you wanted to, you could spam the correct stats and completely ignore the other events. However, in this case, some events will trigger other events, so you'll want to explore your options rather than just spam the same stat builder over and over. If you do that, you'll miss out on a lot and you won't be able to reach the best ending.Statistics:The game contains 1634 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 16146 words,for an average of 9.9 words per screen.The game contains 25 menus.
Because a good romance story isn't good without romantic rivals or other obstacles to get in your way of wooing the girl of your choice. The Flower Shop update.Statistics:The game contains 1550 screens of dialogue.These screens contain a total of 15356 words,for an average of 9.9 words per screen.The game contains 24 menus.
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