Post by Ras Alaghe in And now, time to study comments

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Hey, how are you? Thanks for your kind comment; I also appreciate that you people take the time to write me some words, it really shows that the game is appreciated, and of course, criticized in its right measure.

It’s true that the characters don’t look as good and versatile as in other visual novels, since they’re produced with non-artistic means. I’m a writer and am not working with any other people, artists or whatever, so the result is not the best, but at least a bit decent I hope. Not sure if you meant that, but indeed, I’m concentrating on endowing my characters with unique personalities story-wise, since that’s my forte as a writer, and hope to be succeeding in doing so.

The concept of the game design is a bit different from many out there, meaning that it’s just a hobby of mine with no commercial intent as of now. Also, this isn’t the only project I’m involved in. All this, obviously, has its consequences, mainly in the form of a very slow development. I apologize for that. I chose to focus on making an “artisan” VN following my passion, without the pressures of deadlines, etc., that come with commercial projects. This way, I can concentrate more on polishing the most fine details to produce a really worth and deep plot. More or less like how Katawa Shoujo was created. This is my idea, at least.

Anyway, now and then, I post small updates. If your last time here was about a year ago, you probably have at least one new English version to check (1.25), with one more day in-game. I’m currently waiting for news from a collaborator who is helping with translation for a new portion of the game, but I don’t really know how long this will take. Right now, I’m focusing on the writing of another portion of Act 3 in the Spanish version.

Anyway, thanks for trying my game, and hope to be able to make it advance slowly but surely, acquiring valuable experience along the way. See you!

applelord684 years ago

I see you are a man of culture as well Katana Shoujo was the second VN I play after Everlasting Summer (give it a shot if you haven't oh and patch the game first). I you liked it another VN you should try is Fruit of Grisaia though I should warn you instead of physical problems they have mental problems. What I meant is that although the characters are not the most visually appealing they have their own charms as you can tell that effort went into them as many people would just grab someone else's sprite and use that instead. As for the slow development time thats totally fine in my book as you are making this for fun and aren't like some people on patreon who do little work for lots of money from their supporters. Good luck on your endeavor and remember it's better to work slow (but not too slow I want to play the finished product before I grow old 😉) and deliver a quality product that you can be proud of than to rush and make something that no one is happy about.

Ras Alaghe4 years ago

That's exactly it. I prioritize quality, depth, and overall, the feeling of achieving the true essence of the story I want to tell, over rushing and producing jammed, mediocre games while snatching people's money (even without a tangible warranty that this money will translate into a complete game some day, like it happens in quite some cases). What I can guarantee is that I'll strive slowly but surely to craft the story I have in mind into its optimal form, taking feedback of people along the way, and doing my best to answer those expectations. And just like Katawa Shoujo was completed after years, I hope to eventually complete my game in the future, be this a far away future or not.

Also, thank you very much for your suggestions. I know Fruit of Grisaia, watched the anime to some extent and heard that the game has a good story as well, but I didn't play it yet mainly because it's not exactly a VN per se, meaning that choices (a key aspect to call a game "visual novel") seem to be practically absent. This, precisely, is another example of the motivations that move me to create "And now, time to study": endow a visual novel with plenty of choices, and moreover, meaningful choices correctly placed within the story (something that, alas, is becoming less and less present in visual novels nowadays, or even games that pretend to call themselves "visual novels" but actually are little more than plain kinetic novels).

The key is just what you mentioned: making something you'll be happy with, something that means pleasure to the creator and enjoyment to the players. Doesn't mean that money can't come later in any form (or not), but in my book, something is clear as day: without these fundamental ingredients, there's no room for any project.

Greetings, and see you around!

applelord684 years ago

Well I can't wait I love having plenty of choices! Yeah I felt that was lacking in Fruit of Grasaia especially because it was mostly a slice of life VN so you could add in pointless choices to flesh out the character (but that has its own problems of the player not feeling rewarded for their actions). Another reason they might have for little choices is they don't want a complex web of choices leading to the endings. Just a question what would determine what sort of ending you get I know most VNs just put you on the bad end or neutral path unless you talk exactly one very specific path which I really hate. PS you should really play Fruit of Grasaia the anime does not do it justice at all imagine cramming 8+ hours with a character to just three episodes the connection just isn't as good.

Ras Alaghe4 years ago

Again right on the nail, my friend: nowadays, more and more, visual novels have a really lazy or downright bad conception regarding choices. Few, randomly scattered, and even worse, choices with totally illogical results that nonsensically spit you into a neutral, bad or simply disconcerting route. That’s another one of the things I want to “correct” with “And now, time to study”. It’s true that an author’s subjectivity plays inevitably a big role in the design of choices, but even being so, I observe a growing and really worrying laziness and lack of true depth in most cases. The richness of a well designed web of choices is another key to have a truly fulfilling experience with a visual novel. This helps to avoid that sense of lack of freedom you talk about, when you mention the issue of “having to take exactly the specific path” that the author envisioned in their mind. This is yet another sample of the lack of creativity that, more and more, players stumble upon out there: a good visual novel should be VERSATILE, it should give some level of freedom and the possibility of reaching a good route following more than just one strict path. Again, something I’m trying to achieve in “And now, time to study”.

Once more, I mention your own words: a player should feel truly rewarded when making a series of good (or correct) choices which lead them to a good ending… not disconcerted and asking themselves: “what the heck?!”. And this, as an author, means keeping yourself away from two extremes: either making choices ridiculously easy (or meaningless whatsoever), or making them terribly hard (or downright nonsensical).

But of course, all this demands a thorough and long work… something that less and less people (and companies) feel bothered to go through nowadays. As anything else in the business scenario and life itself, they want the greatest profit with the minimum effort, and this ends up showing in the generally poor quality of the most recent visual novels. Katawa Shoujo, for example, was able to avoid this detrimental tendency because it was nourished with the enthusiasm of fan creators instead of the cold business of companies, and so, it flourished in an excellent visual novel. That’s one of the most important models I want to follow for “And now, time to study”.

And yeah, of course, I know that Fruit of Grisaia’s anime isn’t at all a good reference for the game (which happens in many other examples). I didn’t exactly play the VN, but I also watched some gameplays of a certain youtuber which gave me a rough idea of its structure as a game. Even when the lack of choices (for whatever reason) doesn’t exactly answer my tastes, I’m aware that the story is certainly worth enough as inspiration material at least.

Well, again a wall of text (this really shows my writer's soul), but I hope to have made myself more or less clear. With all this in mind, I’ll keep trying my best regarding my own visual novels. Cheers!

itch.io

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