LemmaTV Writers' Thread

[Gear]

This is the thread for the module (chill) writers of the LSF Group Project, LemmaTV. For the moment, it will contain the rules of writing the modules. It will include updates as we continue.

Rules:

1. Modules are written from the POV of the assigned characters, not the MC. The MC is off limits to everyone except the Core Writers.
2. The basics you need to know: each of your characters has been sucked into the TV from their own universes. Therefore, they should probably be rather dazed and confused in the beginning.
3. Modules should be like a woman's skirt or a man's kilt: long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep it interesting.
4. Characters should accomplish some kind of goal by the end of the module.
5. Neither your 'kept' character, nor your 'assigned' character can be killed at any point in your module.
6. Deadline for writing is end of the day of February 29th.
7. If you program while you write, you will have to use your assigned number as a part of all your backgrounds and sprites. For example, if we give you "01" then you must write "show ehappy01 with dissolve" or "scene bg01 forest" etc. Character names have this rule as well.

Keep your eyes on your inboxes.

Codes
The following is a list of transition and effect codes currently being used by other writers. Since everything falls under one game, we can share these codes. Check this list periodically for updates before creating a new transition or other specialty code that someone else may be using. If you do develop a new one, post it here so others can take advantage of it.

Transitions:

Code: Select all

define flashbulb = Fade(0.2, 0.0, 0.8, color='#FFFFFF')
define fastdissolve = Dissolve(0.15)
define slowdissolve = Dissolve(3.0)

EDIT: The following is a list of all the character matchups. Find your character's name and your username on the left side of the page. The corresponding row on the right side indicates the character you've inherited, and their owner. Contact their owner if you have questions about the characters' use.

[Gear]

Remember: both characters have been sucked into a television show. Write from this perspective. Also, in the universe they've entered, there is no production crew, director, camera workers, etc. It's as if the fictional aspects of the show have become a reality. Feel free to go all meta with it, but you're not on a set, you're in a different world.

[Gear]

Use the above list to determine your designation. If you're first on the list, for instance, then your number is 01. If you're twelfth, then your designation is 12. This must go in front of all your sprite, bg, cg, and char names (for instance, 01ehappy or 01F "Hi!")

[Gear]

Designations:

01. AzurexTwilight
02. CheeryMoya
03. Chushiki Maho
04. Corynth
05. DragoonHP
06. Enigma
07. Gear
08. HigurashiKira
09. Killionaire
10. Kirroha
11. Maltagliati
12. Omnificent
13. Redeyesblackpanda
14. Ris
15. SilverxBlue
16. SvenThe Viking
17. WeakJournin
18. Dark Spartan
19. Silvere
20. Kaleidofish
21. Orochiwolf
22. Kaiyume
23. Cassie Holloway

[Gear]

Writers, please submit synopses to me prior to starting the full writing process. We need to make sure everyone's on the same page (writing joke).

[redeyesblackpanda]

01F "Hi!"

There's a problem with this. When I use 13r, for example, there is an error. In order to get the game to read, I have to use r13. I'm not sure we can put numbers in front of a letter for the character names...

[Gear]

So it would seem. I amend then: put the number SOMEWHERE in your character/file names, so they can be identified, and they don't overlap names.

[SvenTheViking]

In an attempt at data aggregation, I have begun compiling a list of possible questions, and subsequently the answers to those questions. This post is a work in progress, and will be updated as I finish digging through the information. Also, there is a chance that this post will be moved to another thread, at which time a link will be provided in its place.

!!!~IMPORTANT NOTICE~!!!
Any plot-relevant spoilers have been hidden within the spoiler tags, and these are the ONLY things in spoiler tags in this thread, so don't - DO NOT - read them if you don't want to know what's going on with the overall plot of the game, or if you even THINK you MIGHT NOT want to know.

1) "Who's the MC?", "What are they doing?", and other MC questions (spoiler'd due to the nature of the question; do not read if you do not want spoilers about the game):

The MC (the term being used to describe the person watching the television programming into which all of our characters have been pulled) will have limited customization, allowing the player to give them a name and select the gender. Other than that, the player will be given a stock male or female character. This should not damage the gameplay too terribly much, as for the vast majority of the game, the player experiences the game from the POV of one of the characters within each show, rather than from the perspective of the MC.

2) What's the main menu going to look like?
As of where I have reached in my log slog, as I call it, this will be the main menu (courtesy of Weak): http://youtu.be/xD8LhPTYT7I

3) Is there going to be any voice acting?
Due to numerous factors (keeping the size of the final project somewhere below gigantic being one of them), only the cutscenes are currently slated to be voice acted.

4) What size images should we have made?
Backgrounds for the game should be made at a size of 1280x800 (giving an aspect ratio of 16:10). However, due to clipping which will occur if you run a game sized at 1280x800 in windowed mode at a resolution of 1280x800, there may or may not be the ability to resize the game to fit lower resolutions (if this does occur, it will likely be with pre-processed images designed to work at 1024x600 (to keep the same rough aspect ratio), so just create the requested 1280x800 images and they will be converted to another size if and when it is necessary).

Character images should be created at a size fitting with the overall game size of 1280x800, and will be updated with an "official" size to use as a guideline as one becomes available (this will not be a required size, but one that artists can use as a rough base to make things look somewhat in scale).

5) What's the storyline (again, spoiler'd because of the nature of the question; do not read if you do not want spoilers about the game)?
I'm going to let Gear speak for himself on this one.

Each modular channel has a mini-storyline. It starts with the two characters (knowingly or unwittingly) being sucked into a TV show. The MC (if you can call him/her that) must travel to each show to get them and take them to the final channel, where the boss waits. At the end of each module, the characters that were trapped inside will be awarded with a 'tear' of a pirate gentlewoman which powers the magical remote that allows the MC to travel around. Once the MC has collected all the tears, he can take everyone to the final battle. Then the villain who trapped them in the channels appears, and there's a final epic battle.

6) What about villains (contains spoilers, duh)?
Each module will have its own villains, as done by the writers of those modules. The primary villain's name is Kumiko Ogawa. The villain's sidekick's name is Savon Mochehomme.

The nature of the villain is still somewhat in discussion, but what has been tentativiely estabilished is that the villain is a magical girl whose show was canceled and is now old and vengeful. And she wears a schoolgirl outfit.

The jury's still out on whether or not she's going to be an ugly hag; the idea isn't terribly appealing to many, except for the opportunity to use these lines:
Omnificent: "I WILL CREATE A WORLD WHERE EVERYTHING IS SAGGY AND/OR FLACCID"
Omnificent: "ALL WILL WORSHIP MY WARTS AND THE HAIRS UPON SAID WARTS"

Savon is a nerd who may or may not have built a machine to suck everyone into their televisions.

7) User interface design?
Each module's team will be responsible for creating their own user interface. If you do not wish to create your own UI, you can re-use another module's. There will be a list of UIs available at some point, so you can either ask to borrow one or make sure yours is not too similar (if either of those are concerns of yours).

8) How does the module story affect the overall story?
The plot of the individual modules will have little bearing on the overall story of the game; regardless of the actions taken within the module, the characters will ultimately reach the same fate.

They're all rescued by the MC and brought to the final chapter.

Changes to characters, however, will stay, as they are in-universe changes.

9) What about the male MC? What's his name? What's he like?
His name is Kyle Hawk. As to his personality? Well, that's still being decided. You can see the status and weigh in in this thread.

10) Wait, male MC? Does that mean there will be a female MC, too? What about her info?
Yes, there is also a female MC, but nothing has really been decided about her yet. In the same thread (a bit farther back), there's voting on her hair style, but her image is still in the works. After that's done, voting will open on her personality.

EDIT: 9:12 29/1/2012 - Fixed Gear's synopsis and added the villain's name.
EDIT: 10:09 29/1/2012 - Added villain's sidekick's name and short bio.
EDIT: 10:04 15/2/2012 - Added male MC's info and updated the game's resolution.

[Gear]

A more updated synopsis, as the one listed is old:

Each modular channel has a mini-storyline. It starts with the two characters (knowingly or unwittingly) being sucked into a TV show. The MC (if you can call him/her that) must travel to each show to get them and take them to the final channel, where the boss waits. At the end of each module, the characters that were trapped inside will be awarded with a 'tear' of a pirate gentlewoman which powers the magical remote that allows the MC to travel around. Once the MC has collected all the tears, he can take everyone to the final battle. Then the villain who trapped them in the channels appears, and there's a final epic battle.

[Reikun]

WRITERS:
Here is the list of writers who have announced the themes for their modules. If you are not on that list, PM me your theme or just post it on the thread.

If you're marked as artist-less, PM me about the general feel/mood you'll be going for in your module and we'll work something out.

[CheeryMoya]

Removed for irrelevancy.

[SvenTheViking]

We now have our own forum for discussing LemmaTV. If you're involved in the project, head over to http://www.lemmatv.com/forums and make yourself an account. This will make it much easier for us to communicate with each other, particularly with those who do not use Skype.

[Coren]

I'm just popping in to ask if I can write in prose form, or should I write in line-by-line Ren'py form?

Also, my donated character is now Lee Shuang, since I swapped with Dragoon.

[CheeryMoya]

I'm just popping in to ask if I can write in prose form, or should I write in line-by-line Ren'py form?

Asked Dark Spartan, and he said "Whatever will work better for [you]." As long as it works in Ren'Py, go ahead.

[Gear]

I'm just popping in to ask if I can write in prose form, or should I write in line-by-line Ren'py form?

Also, my donated character is now Lee Shuang, since I swapped with Dragoon.

I suppose you COULD do prose form, but that's going to be a major pain for the programmers, because it will, one way or another, end up in Ren'Py line form, so you'd only be forcing a programmer to do extra work for no reason.