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[poopylord]

Visual Novel Log #9

Week #14-#17  - DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PJAnsNA

Holy shit I thought I updated this two weeks ago but I guess not omg how embarrassing HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I’M SORRY

Oh well, I did say that I had a super special exciting announcement for you guys, so I might as well TELL Y’ALL NOW;

THE FIRST DRAFT FOR THE HARDEST ROUTE IS DONE!

ISN’T THAT EXCITING?! It’s been hard and nervewracking and ugh all of the adjectives, but I’ve learned a whole darn lot that I would like to share with you guys!

So, the advice I have (so far) for writing your first visual novel:

    1) Finish the first draft ASAP and at any cost

Seriously. Finishing the first draft will make you feel sooo much freedom, cause even though you might think that what you have so far is crap and nothing at all like you pictured it, at least you have something - and that something is, believe it or not, a whole route after all!

I know I lost a whole lot of time because I was unhappy with what I wrote, and therefore took breaks way too frequently to find out what the problem was and how to fix it. In reality though, it really didn’t help at all, and I wasn’t able to pinpoint the problems in the same way that I can now that my script is done, and I can see every event in relation to the one after and before it. So even though you feel demotivated, just keep at it until you get somewhere!

    2) Don’t think about the different outcomes yet!

And I can’t stress this enough! For visual novels (especially those with a lot of choices) it’s way too hard to worry about every single choice as it presents itself. Our minds are more or less wired to think in chronological order, which means that you’ll inevitably end up thinking that your story is longer than it actually is, if you start doing the different outcomes first.

Choices can really hurt our perception of the time that’s passed, and it’s not easy to realize that your 80 page script only amounts to 10 minutes of gameplay, since a player will only get to read 10 of those 80 pages per playthrough.

It’s really important to consider this though, and I would suggest writing the “true route” or, you know, the ‘good’ choices, first, and then go back and add the other outcomes afterwards. It’ll give you a much clearer picture of how much you actually have, and a better understanding of the plot and its branches.

    3) Get someone else to read your script

When I started writing, I chose to write the hardest character’s route first - someone whose personality I’ve never touched on before in anything I’ve written in the past. It was extremely challenging, but it was really fun writing him and putting him in different scenarios.

But despite that, something kept bugging me about him when I finished the script, and although I had a foggy idea of what might be wrong, I wasn’t 100% sure of how to go about fixing it or what it was exactly. So, I sent my script to my editor who read it through and added comments throughout the whole thing, and when I read through her comments I found myself agreeing with her on practically everything! It felt amazing to finally know exactly what to change and where, and it really motivated me to keep going and change the story for the better. So please, if you ever feel like your story isn’t good enough or something’s off about a character or scene; send it to someone else and get them to read it!

    4) Use references!

Always study and learn from the masters. If your character feels wrong then go back, find a character you like that best resembles your own, and study him/her! Find out exactly what it is you like about them and start thinking about how to apply that element to your story. You might even end up deleting some scenes or adding new ones to better portray what kind of person your character is.

Oh and by the way, This doesn’t only apply to characters. It could be the art or the overall feel of the game as well! If you feel like your dialogue is unnatural or you don’t have enough choices, then maybe try replaying a visual novel that you really like to see how they did it. You could also read a good book, watch an anime, a movie... ? Anything that does __whatever you’re looking for__ well. It’ll help a bunch, so I really recommend doing this when you’re editing your first draft.

Phew, there! I hope to do a masterpost of all the advice I’ll be able to give out by the end of this adventure, but for now, have a status update:

> Overall planning: 48%

> Script: 22%

> Programming: 0%

> Art: 10%

> Music: 0%

With love from my rising Cortisol levels <3

[poopylord]

Visual Novel Log #8

Week #12 + #13  - DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PJAnsNA

Ayo whaddup piiiimpppssss (sorry, I’ve been watching h3h3productions all day hahahha)

Guys I am this close to reaching a really important milestone for the game development, which I’m SUPER HAPPY AND EXCITED ABOUT ofc, and I reeeeally thought I would be able to hit it before this week’s update, but alas... Oh well, you’ll just have to tune in next week and see what it’s all about!

What I can say though is that it’s going super well I think, and the communication between me and my proofreader + sparring partner is going smoothly as well so yeah <3 Stay tuned for next week’s update!

Anyway, let me wrap it up with the progress real quick;

> Overall planning: 47%

> Script: 22%

> Programming: 0%

> Art: 10%

> Music: 0%

With love from Papa <3

[poopylord]

Visual Novel Log #7

Week #11 - DISCORD: https://discord.gg/PJAnsNA

MaaaaAAAAAAAANNNNNN IT’S BEEN SO LONGGG since the last update! (Okay, it’s been a week, but it feels like it’s been a lot longer than that!) How are you all? Good? Great! Cause I have some pretty exciting news for y’all!

I just set up a DISCORD SERVER for the game!

EXCITING, RIGHT !!!111!!1!1!!!1!!!???? It’s brand spanking new atm so there isn’t much on there yet, but I’m hoping to announce stuff on there while working on everything, and you guys will be able to get super exclusive info about the game before anyone else! The name of the server is also the working title for the project, and it’s a huuuuge hint as to what my VN is even going to be about, which I haven’t really disclosed on here yet winkwink ;^)))))))

Anyway, I hope you’ll all want to join the server and chat with me! The link is https://discord.gg/PJAnsNA for anyone wondering, and I’m working on getting us custom emojis ASAP! 

Okay, so hahaha now for the actual update;

I did have a major setback last week where I just couldn’t do anything with my story - I couldn’t write, I couldn’t code, I couldn’t draw, and I just felt really discouraged about everything and like no one would like it.. heck, even I thought it was extremely bland! Buut without boring you with all the sad details about the existential crisis that followed and yadda yadda, I persevered through it, got some help on the lemmasoft forums (which I really recommend for anyone making a visual novel!) and got back on track, and now I’m more motivated than ever! Take that, creator’s block!

Things are still a bit rough/complicated with changing my major (the application deadline is the day after tomorrow - yikes!), and I also have a couple of other appointments this week that I can’t really postpone, but it’ll all hopefully be over and done with in two weeks’ time. Worst case scenario I’ll end up doing as much work next week as I did this week, and I still got a couple thousand words written so it’s really not that bad! But, without further ado, here’s the status as of today:

> Overall planning: 45%

> Script: 17%

> Programming: 0%

> Art: 8%

> Music: 0%

I really hope you guys will stick around for the finished product; I think you’ll really like it <3 And if you’ve gotten this far then thank you for reading this!

With love from an ocean of .rpy files <3

[poopylord]

TUMBLR 101: HOW TAGS WORK! (May 2017)

Tags vs. Search

The tumblr search function will search the tags and captions of all new (i.e. not reblogged) posts that do not contain an external link. 

EXAMPLE: www.tumblr.com/search/perioddramaedit returns posts that mention perioddramaedit, either in the body of the post or in the tags

The tumblr /tagged/ function returns all the posts in a tag in reverse-chronological order. Popular tags on tumblr may have years worth of posts in them.

EXAMPLE: www.tumblr.com/tagged/perioddramaedit returns posts tagged perioddramaedit in the first 5 tags.

Read more about Tags vs Search

The first 5 tags!

The first 5 tags are your best bet! 

Only the first 5 tags show up in tracked tags. Tracked tags are more reliable than search if you want your content to be seen and / or reblogged.

Put the important tags (ex. show name, actor name, artist name) in the first 5 tags.

Only the first 20 tags show up in search.

Only the first 20 tags will cause the post to show up in the tag on your blog (i.e. asoiafuniversity.tumblr.com/tagged/resources)

So start with the important tags for tracked tags / search, then add tags like “my edits” or “mine” for your own blog organization, and then add FEELINGS and TAG COMMENTARY at the end. 

Only new posts will show up in public tracked tags or search. Reblogs will not show up in tracked tags or search.

Avoid unnecessary punctuation. Apostrophes ’ are ok to use, but tags with a slash / or a hyphen - or a plus sign + or an equal sign = will NOT show up in tracked tags. 

External Links

Posts with external links will NOT show up in search. 

See a list of sites that tumblr no longer allows linking.

Posts with external links WILL show up in tracked tags. So use tracked tags and put the important tags in the first 5 tags!!

Tagging Etiquette

Don’t tag your hate; it’s considered rude

If you use anti tags like #ANTI SHIPNAME, everyone who is searching for SHIPNAME will see your anti post. Don’t use SHIPNAME when creating your anti tag if you don’t want people to get upset about it. 

Don’t put something that isn’t an edit in an edit tag. People are going into the edit tag to look for edits and if your post isn’t an edit, it defeats the purpose of the edit tag. 

Don’t spam the tags. 

Reblog; don’t repost

The OP (original poster) will often read your tags when you reblog a post, so if you say something nasty in the tags, the OP will (probably) see it. Say something nice instead!

Other useful tips:

Install new-xkit-extension to improve your tumblr experience

How to go to a specific date/time in any tag

More info on tumblr’s search and discovery

Popular ASOIAF fandom edit tags

Inspired by this post

[poopylord]

woah this looks so good!

(it would be nice~)

Hello everybirdie :3

I think it’s time for one more masterpost about Virgo, maybe the last one before launching the demo, if everything runs smoothly until then!

I’ll show you some more about the Zodiac Realms system and more in depth info on battle system! I’ll also talk a little about my considerations in regards of a crowdfunding campaign in the near future for Virgo!

In Virgo you will travel through multiple worlds with vastly different enviroments to explore, each owned by a different Zodiac Sign. Each realm will be themed by the characteristics of their ruling sign. The main quest of Virgo is very clear: You have to dethrone all of the other Zodiacs, but as you go along the areas, Virgo will see herself amidst different paths and side quests, that will somewhat change her vision of this world around her, since she never really had a direct connection with (almost) any of the Zodiacs as she’s experiencing now by visiting their realms.

You can interact with almost anything on the game, except for trees - they aren’t friendly. Sometimes interactions may present you with choices for different actions that may change your path as you go.

Stat points can also be earned through interaction with the enviroment and characters. There will be plenty of situations in which the player must make a choice that not only will impact the story, but also Virgo’s statistic growth. Maybe forcing your way into a roadblock will raise your Ambition while waiting for it to be cleared will raise Patience. Several stat-checks will also be present, enabling some secret areas and rewards for different player builds~

This will affect the whole playthrough. Items received can be different and even the responses to the environment, as you may trigger specific events.

Players will progress from world to world, all connected to a Hub area, which will often be filled with NPCs you’ve encountered in the areas previously visited, so it’s possible to find Salarygoats there, for example.

Zodiac Realms may be revisited once they’re completed and each will feature its specific Black Hole Zone - the only places where Heretics respawn endlessly for optional bonus experience, currency and special rewards. The game will be perfectly winnable without spending time on these arena-like zones, though, so if you absurdly despise grinding, you don’t have to go there.

Virgo’s combat system is designed around making every turn very significant. From guarding when enemies will most probably strike you with all they’ve got to removing their buffs at the right time to not get countered and abusing their weakness through skill combos, the core philosophy is to give meaning to every single action and mechanic.

Buffs should be drastically noticeable, enemies will fight with their own varied intelligence so that players won’t ever find a single optimal strategy for the whole game.

Virgo will be the only playable character, but think of it as a plus, as the story and every enemy will be personally designed for her, giving a lot more meaning to all of your actions throughout the game.

(Look, it’s Musashi!)

Every single fight is made to test the player’s skills and tactical thinking, with a focus on in-conflict demands and results, as opposed to having dungeons with dozens of easy battles that just matter to wear down the characters slowly so they must manage their resources over time.

In Virgo, Purity (the resource used to cast abilities) regenerates naturally in battle and outside of it and items are significantly powerful, but can only be carried in very limited amounts, to assure a per-conflict danger.

A battle against a very tough foe can’t just be brute-forced through by spamming Attack 35 times and using 56 Potions, but a smart use of skills available as well as taking advantage of special items to inflict status effects on foes.

Skills and abilities are earned through equipment; items will often give Virgo a new ability in addition to stats and passive effects. Players are encouraged to mix and match pieces of equipment to create various skill combos, such as combining a Shield’s risky Block-chance Buff (that works at the cost of armor) to a Ribbon’s Blinding Spell to minimize the downsides of the first buff.

I think the development of the game untill now is doing really great! Now I’m in a critical moment where I find bugs that weren’t supposed to be there, so setting a date for the release of the demo is hard, but saying it will certainly be around this month or early march is certain!

I also am going to release a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo (kickstarter doesn’t accept my country unfortunatelly), so I can pay my musician, buy some new equipment (still using a decade-old computer for this) and maybe feed myself with lots of cupcakes to fuel development directly (through unhealthy amounts of sugar). I plan on launching the campaign on Virgo season (august/september), so please keep up with me until then~!

Also, I’ll probably have to launch a greenlight campaign soon for Virgo because of the new Steam direct policy (with its potentially absurd fees), so if you could help me with the greenlight it would mean the world to me~! Thank you all for your support until now reblogging and spreading the love on Virgo, it makes me constantly glad to have this community helping me with my little gaimu T____T~

<3

[poopylord]

Visual Novel Log #6

WEEK #10

Woah it’s already been 10 weeks - that’s like 2 and a half months where did the time go????? Anyway, still just writingerino and editingerino the first routerino so imma just post the percentage-update thing:

> Overall planning: 45%

> Script: 14%

> Programming: 0%

> Art: 8%

> Music: 0%

I did look a bit into the start page of the game but I’m just hjbsdjnks I CAN’T CHOOOSEEEEEE WHAT DESIGN I WANTTT I do have like three different sketches tho so we good - apart from that I’ve just been reading up on some python programming and background design so there’s really not much to say lol orz

Oh! But if any VN devs are reading this then plzdon’tmakethesamemistakesIdid and PLEASE remember to put in choices like... everywhere (that makes sense ofc) - one thing I’ve learnt through this experience is that the players love dem choices man so the more (relevant) choices the better! Not that uhhh I’ve been adding choices the past couple of days cause I forgot to do that the first time round or anything... *cough*

ANYWAY YEAH SEE YOU NEXT TIME!

With love from google docs (which has started lagging on me please send help)

[poopylord]

Visual Novel Log #5

WEEK #9

HEY EVERYBODY! I hope you’re all doing well and ENJOYING YOUR SUMMER VACATION DARNIT! Excuse my French, but maaaaannnnnn am I happy to be off from school or WHAT? Anyway, I’m still sort of stressed out because I might be changing my major soon and yadda yadda, but I AM FEELING SOOOO MUUUUUCH BETTER and I hope you guys are all doing GREAT too!

So, about the game; I’m still having a bit of trouble trying to get the script to make sense with the different choices (some have proved to be quite a mouthful tbh), but it’s really fun to write and I’ve managed to jot down another couple thousand words since last time, so that’s good! I’ve also been thinking a LOT about how I want the video trailer (possibly the kickstarter video? wink wink) to look, and I think I’ve got some pretty important key elements down of that, so that’s exciting! As of right now I think it’ll be a terribly animated anime opening parody, but I’m also sort of thinking about just doing a “normal” video for it? It doesn’t seem that hard to do a basic video with panoramic shots of the characters and the backgrounds, although I’m sure it’ll prove to be a lot harder than I think it is, but that’s all in the far future for now so I’m not too concerned with it - feel free to leave me suggestions though cause I would love to hear from you guys!

I’ve also been working on the character design aspect of the characters and ohmygosh guys I think they’re DONE! I have such a clear image of how all the characters are going to look and I’ve tried sketching them and imagining them in the different CGs, and everything just seems so silly and perfect for what I have in mind, so I just hope it works out! Again though, I really want to hone my drawing skills before I start drawing the characters digitally, so I think that the character art is going to be the last thing that I’ll do for the game. If you’re interested, you can keep up with my art journey on my instagram page:

https://www.instagram.com/poopylord/

In other news, I’ve also been reading up a lot on backgrounds and how they work since I’ve never really done intricate backgrounds before, but I feel like I have a pretty good understanding of them now, and I’m actually excited to draw the first couple of backgrounds (which, trust me, is a HUGE step for me).

I do have some semi-bad news though; I’ve been keeping track of my progress with the script by comparing it to a script of 90k words, but now that I’m really getting into it I feel like my game might end up being much longer than that orz so idk if the percentages make much sense anymore... BUT I’M STILL GOING TO GIVE THEM TO YOU just cause they’re a great indicator of how far along I am! So, here goes:

> Overall planning: 45%

> Script: 11%

> Programming: 0%

> Art: 8%

> Music: 0%

The next step is going to be looking some more at GUIs, programming, and, as always, writing the script. We’ll see how far I get by next week

With love from the top of the hill of motivation! <3

[poopylord]

i’m ded.

[poopylord]

Dat joke

[poopylord]

I was feelin ok until I realized what tomorrow is

[poopylord]

people: any guy would be lucky to have you

me: who is this any guy you speak of, bring him forth

[poopylord]

The year is 2540, a student in history class notices something off about his textbook. “How come these textbooks skip the years 1990 through 1999?” The teacher puts his air-marker down on the table, lowers his head, and sighs. “Because…” he lifts his head, a single tear rolls down his cheek, “… only 90’s kids remember the 90’s”

[poopylord]

[poopylord]

“what was your key motivation for this piece”

oh idk the due date

[poopylord]

undefined

how to tell someone nicely to stop flirting with your crush lololol

[poopylord]

moves so fresh you revive the dead comics

[poopylord]