[Kinetic] the song of stars - Lovecraftian horror piece

[unknown5]

the song of stars: A Lovecraftian Kinetic Short Story (KiSS??? heh, i like the acronym and the philosophy)
Art: un5 & Aka-kami
Story: un5
Character Design/Sprites: Aka-kami
Music/Sound fx: un5

dl links (35-40mb dl)
linux: http://www.mediafire.com/?w15rhizjck6u1wa
win: http://www.mediafire.com/?lyv4bmlj98a4tg6
mac: http://www.mediafire.com/?lwn2y75b2g965qc

- been a while since i had a chance to work on something.
- the language is a bit frilly, not my usual thing, but hey ... it's lovecraft.
- tnx to Aka-kami for her help! =)
- i feel like i'm forgetting to write something. oh well, can't be that important then ... have fun.
edit: (oh right, now i remember. a plot summary and stoof like that. i suck at writing those. it's a lovecraftian horror type thingy. the end.)

images (meh, i should do thumbnails ... i'm too lazy)

[Aleema]

YAY! I'm going to download now. :3

[azureXtwilight]

Downloading now~

[MaiMai]

Another KN to add to my list to read yay!

[Mink]

the language is a bit frilly, not my usual thing, but hey ... it's lovecraft

Eh...I actually dislike Lovecraft's writing style, but I'm still willing to try this out, because I do like his mythos. Lovecraft, you loveable racist~

...I'll download this as soon as my connection stops being stupid.

[Lovely Explosions]

Just finished reading this. I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks for making it!

I haven't read much Lovecraft, I've been more into Poe, but I keep reminding myself I have to pick him up again. Reading this reminded me to do so once again.
This was a great read. The story was great,

I loved the idea of singing dead angels in a necropolis

, and the writing was fluid and struck the right tone for the genre.
I loved all the animation and the creepy sounds, they added a great layer of atmosphere and depth to the story.
The art was amazing as well. The character sprites threw me off for a little bit, they were anime-ish and most of the story was very gothic and dark, but I got over it rather quickly after I got immersed in the story. The sounds ground on my nerves for a bit, but I know they were meant to, and it did add to the story. The sound effects did did their job.
I also enjoyed all the technical aspects of the story. I appreciate how you went into detail about the lunar alignments and such, they added a touch of realism and credibility to the story.
I can see how hard you worked on this piece, it was very entertaining and worth the time it took to read it. Very nice, keep up the good work!

[unknown5]

yeah, i went out on a limb a couple times with the mix of sounds, music, art, language, pacing, etc.
i kinda expect a lot of hit-and-miss with this one.
i should really get around to making something closer to normal for a change, but i'm still tinkering around a bit and whatnot, heh.

[DaFool]

Hey, you're pretty good. Shame it wasn't longer.
Another writer for me to stalk. (Oh Aka-kami's blinking sprites were gorgeous as well).
The different styles and stock art were all over the place, but they somehow meshed together.

[MiSi]

Downloading right now! Yay!
(I'm so much into scary stories... )

[papillon]

Bit late to the party, but I wanted to say this is quite cool. It does the Lovecraftian vibe nicely, and the visual/sound effects are fun.

Obviously the art is quite mismatched, and while sometimes that adds to atmosphere and sometimes that detracts, on the whole it tends to balance out.

The one thing I would suggest adding for atsmophere purposes early on is at least a glimpse of Howard during the passage in which the nurse first brings him back to his room, passing us. We probably *don't* want to look at him too closely at that point, but it's a little distracting that the text is describing interesting details (the bag mask) and we can't see him at all.

Perhaps if the protagonist views him briefly (and we see a blurry image) and then feels compelled to look away? I don't know.

[purple_pockets]

Looks very interesting. I noticed in the screenshots that you named the doctor Dr.Edgars. That seems like a perfect name for a doctor in the horror genre. Did you name him after Edgar Allen Poe?

I'll download it now and tell you what I think. This looks great!

EDIT: I just finished playing this game, and it was very good! I liked the broad vocabulary that your main character had. The art was great, the real world being drawn differently than the world of the crazy man. I liked how the static sound changed often too. Very good, one of the few games that I won't mind reading again sometime!

[Arkon]

That was very cool game. Just wrote fulll review for my blog and it's one of the higher graded kinetic novels there. Nice use of graphic and animations.

[unknown5]

hey, sry 'bout the late reply ... been in hibernation mode ...

@ DaFool

Shame it wasn't longer.

yeah, it was all done in less than a month. kinda rushed it. i like to let stories/ideas mellow out for a while (few months ... years, lolol), but that's just not a viable option.

@ papillon

Obviously the art is quite mismatched, and while sometimes that adds to atmosphere and sometimes that detracts, on the whole it tends to balance out.

... We probably *don't* want to look at him too closely at that point, but it's a little distracting that the text is describing interesting details (the bag mask) and we can't see him at all.

hahah, yeah, playing around with things/people/ideas/etc. not fitting in with their reality. just wanted to try the idea as it evolved. shell within a shell within a shell. also, i definitely agree with you about howard ... i kinda had some ideas in my head but ... i didn't put enough thought into it (i suck) ... hmm ... if i did it over, he would probably be obscured/obstructed by the door frame/shadows with eyes peering out. the door frame acts like a wooden picture frame, nurse off to the side, etc. so that the two realities/art styles can co-exist in the image, since howard is boxed inside his little confine/painting unable to spill out/contaminate reality or something ... dunno ... might look alright ... or awful ... hehe ... just babbling ideas ...

@ purple_pockets

Did you name him after Edgar Allen Poe?

heheh, couldn't come up with names. also bradley reyes -> ray bradbury. weird tales deal, i suppose. like the title font. messing around with vn/kn modern day pulp fiction/sci-fi/horror thingy ... actually, dunno much about pulp fiction, etc. so could be way off on that ...

@ Arkon
thank you for taking the time to review it. =)

anyhoo, time to stop kicking myself in the head (very flexible, yah?) and move on to the next one ...

[D'd'D]

This VN made me read it more than three times. Nicely done, I love this one!

Pardon my bad English

[unknown5]

tnx D'd'D
sry for the late reply. my father passed away from cancer. he was the person i cared about most in this world.
i'll probably start working on vn's again in the future.
i don't log in much, so i prolly won't reply for a while.