[BETA RELEASED] DUÆL [VN/RPG Hybrid] [SciFi/Fantasy] [BxB]

[Obscura]

Mole-chan wrote:
Thank you so much! >3< I'm not very good at marketing, and have been..really failing at marketing this project so far. But hopefully I can find something.

I'm sure that all those places packed with BL fans will be good starting points.

You know, for all of those making BL games, I think it would be great if we could share some ideas where to announce/promote our games. I have a couple of suggestions. Maybe I should start a thread in the Creator's section to toss around ideas.

[Mole-chan]

Mole-chan wrote:
Thank you so much! >3< I'm not very good at marketing, and have been..really failing at marketing this project so far. But hopefully I can find something.

I'm sure that all those places packed with BL fans will be good starting points.

You know, for all of those making BL games, I think it would be great if we could share some ideas where to announce/promote our games. I have a couple of suggestions. Maybe I should start a thread in the Creator's section to toss around ideas.

Ah, that's a good idea! You totally should. I'm sure everyone making similar games would appreciate the resources.

[Mole-chan]

Really? I assume you mean the monologue scene at the end. I can't remember what other scene used a black screen off the top of my head. I thought this was kind of standard, but I can definitely look into making some sort of dedicated monologue screen if you think this is going to be an issue.

Please don't do that, I like the classic feel of it. I was talking about two real black screens, no text, purely black screens. After playing it in both auto and skip, and going to back to manual I can see that those screens took longer to fade, but they did eventually

e.g. when fading to Cadfael lying on the floor.

Oh! That one. I'll see what fade I'm using. The game uses two fade types, a short one for regular transition, and another long one to indicate the passing of time. Perhaps just using the short fade would be sufficient here.

XD You're not slow. I did my best to make the undertones gradual and entirely optional. Plus, at first, there is a bit of vagueness as to whether Cad is really into him, or it's just his manner of speech coming off as flirty. There is a scene in chapter 2 where Walter inquires about Cadfael's age, and responds that Cadfael is "only a few years older than him", despite looking much older, so this should clear up that there isn't any huge age difference. I may have to consider dropping earlier hints, though, if the subtext is coming off as early as chapter 1.

I'm glad that I'm not the problem here. I didn't think of Walter as a sexual being, let alone like a MC from a BL game, until I read that.

I hope you can make it suitable for non-BL fans too like planned, I can't tell much from the demo but I think you have all the tools necessary right there.

XD Yeah, I can understand that. Between my art style (cutesy as it is), and choice of VA's, Walter is both kind of young looking, and far from typical MC material. It'd be easy for someone used to typical BL to be confused coming in with the usual mentality. But it's kind of important to his character, ya know?

I'm pretty sure it should be suitable as is. Much of the BL material is entirely optional and based on player choice. The most definitive moments require the player to make a very obvious choice, and they build on eachother. so if the player

Does not confess to Cadfael at the appropriate scene

, none of the other BL content appears. If the player can tell where the game branches (and it's fairly obvious), it can play like, at worst, a mildly suggestive regular VN.

Yes, this is unintentional, but something I'm aware of and it's on my list of things to do. Basically, the VA got very excited about the project and we ended up recording a substantial amount of his lines before the script was returned from my editor. So there are some bits of dialogue that are a tad off. I'm going to try to get him to re-record those lines. c: Thanks for pointing it out, though~

So that's why! You don't really have to re-record them. Several games have shorter audio clips that don't match the text, usually because some words sound good when writing but come off as unnecessary when speaking. So, do as your heart tells you to do.

XD True. I've received a lot of comments about it, though, so I'd rather fix it than have it jarring the experience.

Thank you so much! >3< I'm not very good at marketing, and have been..really failing at marketing this project so far. But hopefully I can find something.

I'm sure that all those places packed with BL fans will be good starting points.

XD True true. I don't think I'm a member of the site I mentioned, and it's for..well..webcomics. But the general idea of marketing directly to BL fans is sound.

[Obscura]

Ah, that's a good idea! You totally should. I'm sure everyone making similar games would appreciate the resources.

Here's my list. Hopefully it can help you out!

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =4&t=15786

[Mole-chan]

Ah, that's a good idea! You totally should. I'm sure everyone making similar games would appreciate the resources.

Here's my list. Hopefully it can help you out!

http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... =4&t=15786

Thanks for the link! Sorry it took so long to get back to you. ^^

In other news, another demo for ch2, just to show off the RPG mechanics.
As mentioned before, the game utilizes Jake's battle engine. I'm just doing my best to code around it.

There probably won't be another demo after this.

There are bits and pieces missing still. Ch1 is fully voiced, but Chapter 2 has none of Cadfael's clips yet. The store feature isn't quite fully programmed yet, and as such can cause crashes if you don't know what is missing. As such, it is not included in this demo. Everything else has full functionality.

Windows
Mac
Linux

[Mole-chan]

A quick post to bump up the topic (it's been lagging since I haven't had much to report on. xDDD)

We're pretty far along!

The RPG portions/logic have been polished to a mirror shine. Pretty much everything is done there! I may end up making minor cosmetic tweaks, but the core of those portions is very streamlined and works well.

All the scripting is complete up to chapter 6, and I'd say 75-80% of the core art assets are complete. The percent would be even higher if Chapter 6 wasn't so CG heavy. TAT;;;

Don't forget, we've had a second demo out for a while! This one actually shows off the battle system, so it's a much better indication of gameplay. Links are in the original post! c:

[Obscura]

Yay! I still can't believe the amount of work a game like yours takes. Awaiting the release!

[Mole-chan]

Yay! I still can't believe the amount of work a game like yours takes. Awaiting the release!

XD Thank you~
and you and me both. I hadn't imagined such a relatively small game taking so much time. :'D

I can't wait for release, either! Though there's probably going to be a significant wait while our voice cast/composer catch up with the rest of production. xDD Hopefully not too bad though.

[try10]

I love BxB games and this one really caught my attention because of its original plot.

Good luck!

[Alopex]

Oh, this is super nifty! I love all the characters so far, and Walter's a very real sorta dude.

The game part's not as intuitive as I'd like, though. I can't figure out how the Gym works; whether there's limits or hidden costs or what have you. And it'd be nice to know that the inn's gonna suck up all my money before it actually does that.

Also, the music from the gym practice won't stop; it keeps being in scenes even where it doesn't fit.

[Mole-chan]

Oh, this is super nifty! I love all the characters so far, and Walter's a very real sorta dude.

The game part's not as intuitive as I'd like, though. I can't figure out how the Gym works; whether there's limits or hidden costs or what have you. And it'd be nice to know that the inn's gonna suck up all my money before it actually does that.

Also, the music from the gym practice won't stop; it keeps being in scenes even where it doesn't fit.

The gym is free. The money displaying is a holdover from when it wasn't, that I still need to go back and disable. Sorry if it's making you think there are costs when there aren't. ^^; There are limits, however the gym SHOULD stop you before you hit them. However, this demo is rather old and several bugs have been spotted/fixed regarding the gym since then. So there is a chance this one might not. I'll consider adding something that displays the level/stat limits.

As for the inn, I have considered rearranging the order, since telling you the price after you agree admittedly isn't very intuitive at all. I'll put that on my to-do list.


It does? I think I fixed this in my build, but it might be an issue in the demo I don't remember. Thanks, either way. I'll make sure this bug isn't present in the future.

Thanks for the feedback c:

[Mole-chan]

Another quick update. As far as my part of development goes (anything that isn't music or voice acting), we're on the homestretch!

Just one chapter left!

It's a short one, but very CG heavy, so it might take some time.

But after that, it's all just waiting for other assets to come in.

We have a new composer, Lemmasoft's own very talented Korochi, so you should be able to expect some quality BGM!

In the meantime, here's some art to show what I've been making.

[Mole-chan]

Quick update, all CG's are done! Still some character ports and battle sprites left, as you can see. But pretty minor, all things considered. We're still a ways off from release, since I'm waiting on voice and music assets. But we're getting that much closer to a finished product!

[Mole-chan]

Minor yet not so minor update, that probably isn't going to catch any attention. XD

But the core game is done!!

Just waiting on voice assets now. c8 It still may be a significant wait, at this rate. But we're super close now!

[Hijiri]

Minor yet not so minor update, that probably isn't going to catch any attention. XD

But the core game is done!!

Just waiting on voice assets now. c8 It still may be a significant wait, at this rate. But we're super close now!

*waits warmly*