♪ Outline pt.3 + Design ✔

I finished the outline! (๑˃ᴗ˂)ﻭ The new version is shorter, but the routes are more focused and have stronger character development. I focused on the boy's stories and the romantic moments. I'm relieved to have finished the plot, but now the hardest part comes...actually writing it. Scenario writing gets boring quickly for me. 

What's not boring is character designs! I've had designs for the love interests for ~4 years, so they're kinda old. They need a remake. I started with Viro. He's always had purple hair with a middle part, but I completely changed his haircut and outfit. I drew two designs, but decided to combine them for the final version. I loved the pants with the buttons on the inside. They're so funky! (¯▿¯) I didn't bother to design the shoes because you won't see them in the game anyway. Nothing past the waist will be visible. 

He grew up in a lower-class, rural area (?), so my first thought was to put him in this tattered robe outfit with a bandana, since it looks like someone who's outside a lot. But it doesn't suit him well.

Viro is really good at magic. He's the one who's most familiar with it. That's why he's wearing a sort of cloak (I don't want to spoil too much). He meddles with some dark things...so I tried to make him look spooky. Viro uses a forbidden type of magic that's dangerous and taxing on the body (°□°;) He's the genki guy, but I think he's more complex than that label allows for. Yes, he's cheerful and playful, but he carries a lot of sorrow from his past, which led him to make harmful choices for himself. 

His story leans into the motherly aspects, so the player might swoon at being able to care for him when he's vulnerable. Since he's controlled by his enemies and is physically weak, he depends on the main character to get him out of trouble sometimes. 

You might see this become a pattern with these characters. Most of them are disabled in some way, whether that be from disease, injury, or mental illness. I guess I like to write about physical struggles, since they are easier for me to depict than mental ones. I find it charming when someone is at a disadvantage physically, but they manage to overcome their challenges. Something like Okita from Hakuoki, or Fuko from Clannad, or Arcueid from Tsukihime, or Takuto from Full Moon, or...I could go on. If you know my favorite oc...yes, he follows this pattern (Masao).

> Try not to mention Masao for ONE post challenge: failed (￣ ￣|||)

Outline pt.2 ☘︎

So, I've completely rebranded...and I'm rewriting the outline. I don't like my previous games, and I'd like to distance myself from them and have a more "put-together" appearance online. I've never had a studio name or anything because I'm just one person, but whatever. We are now Puru-Soft, and I am open to collaborating with anyone interested (Music, BGs, GUI, Writing, etc.) I can't pay you, though...(つω`｡) It would be fun to work in a small group for my future games (like a circle). I wish we had Comiket and doujin culture here in America...*cries*

Anyway!!! Why am I rewriting the outline? After thinking about it more, I realized the whole thing needed to be thrown out. Basically, it was too bogged down by events and was all over the place. An unclear timeline and scope, events randomly shoved everywhere for the sake of length, and too many side characters. Why don't we cut this down a bit? I'm still trying to make it a lengthy novel, but something that is actually coherent and doesn't jump between locations as much as the last one. The goal is to limit the materials needed this time around. 

Limits I'm placing on myself (subject to change):
- 10 Character sprites
- 25 BGs
- 25 CGs

I'll try to keep the assets as minimal as possible. I was overwhelmed by the amount needed for Emit Glass, so they ended up looking bad because I rushed. The CGs suffered in that area...

I'll show some concept art in the next blog! I have rough designs for all the characters, but they need to be changed because they aren't very appealing right now. I already drew Sija (Love interest) as a chibi! Sija is the poster boy of Flux Cross, you could say. He's one of two knight characters. He's similar to Hijikata from Hakuoki because he's serious and disciplined, always working hard and very loyal to his cause. I hate drawing armor, so I will try to avoid it. 

‧₊˚♪ 𝄞₊˚⊹Outline

I took a long break from this game, but I'm back! ( ´ ▽ ` )/

This week I worked on completing the story outline. This is ~30 pages of bullet points for every scene in the game. I prefer to write things out as a list instead of a flowchart because it's easier for me to understand. I really tried this time to make the routes less linear. Early on, there are huge deviations, a few pinch points, and routes branch off at different points in the story. It's sorta like a tree shape!

The plot has been reworked multiple times, but I'm still not sure about it. I started writing this story almost 4 years ago, so it was very rough around the edges. I fixed it up a bit when I first outlined it for the VN at the beginning of the year, but coming back to it let me see all the flaws. I was too attached to the original version, so I had to cut a lot of things to improve the story.

Buttons~!!

A few weeks ago, I spent an entire day coding GUI for the game. I usually hate doing this, but since I (kinda) know what I'm doing now, it's actually really fun. I made some button designs, and I put image buttons in the game for navigation. The buttons remind me of a scrapbook, and so does the logo. I love that logo design...(´ ε ` )♡

I changed all of the default screens, like preferences, history, save/load, and I got rid of a bunch of useless features. Some people might hate me, but I always remove quick saves from my games. I have never used them when playing a visual novel, and I don't see the point. I also coded all of the extra mechanics I'm adding to the game.

Features Flux Cross currently has (That Emit Glass didn't!):
- Image gallery
- Unlockable scene gallery
- Music player
- Map
- Letters/Mail system

The image/scene/music gallery was very simple because I took code from LemmaSoft and then slightly customized it to match my game and the layout I wanted. Here is the code in case you're interested. I also modified the scene gallery to play new, unlocked scenes instead of replays. The scenes work similarly to how After Story does in Clannad, where a new piece of the story is unlocked after you clear a route. It was fun to look at other people's code and learn from it. I understand Ren'Py a lot better than I did before! ^^

I'm not going to go into too much detail about mechanics yet. Hopefully I can finesse this thing enough so it doesn't look like the Ren'Py default (ノ_<。) I think that was a big flaw in my last games. Most people don't like to play games made in Ren'Py because it's a sign that the VN is low quality. 

New project Σ(°ロ°)!!!

Woah!! This is the announcement of a new visual novel in development. It's an Otome game, and this is my silly little dev log or whatever you want to call it. The game is called Flux Cross. I've been secretly working on the concept and story for it over the past few years, so I am finally ready to start making it.

Flux Cross is a fantasy Otome game with four love interests. It takes place in a flooded world, where three countries coexist on a single landmass. On the first day of the new millennium, the protagonist finds the murdered prince and a magical relic called the flux cross which appears in their world. The cross brings magic into their world and causes panic, so the protagonist and a royal knight set out on a journey to destroy it. The story has mystery, battles, and adventure, but it is romance-focused.

If you like knights, butlers, elves, and suspicious mages, this one is for you! The romanceable cast is slightly more limited compared to other games, but I promise that these guys are fun and full of personality (￣▽￣*)ゞ