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The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 5:40 am
by Ran08
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Lumina Duval and her 10-year-old brother Vince are left alone for Christmas week when their parents go on a business related out of town trip. Lumi, who thinks Christmas is the best time of the year, is ecstatic at this. However, several disappearances that have been happening lately dampen the Christmas spirits of their town. Lumina doesn't care though, until Vince disappears and she's forced to solve the mystery and find her missing brother.

CHARACTERS
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Lumina Duval
- 18, loves Christmas, mistletoes, and snowglobes.

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Vincent Duval
- 10, videogames and cookies rule his world.

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Clarissa Davis
- 19, enjoys shopping and going out.

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Landice Rosenfeld
- 18, easily surprised, loves flowers and sweets among anything else.

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Daniel and Gabriel Laurent
- 18-year-old twins, mischievous and careless.

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Jake Buckley
- 19, neighborhood heartthrob, actually not the badboy he seems.

STATS
The game contains 8,652 dialogue blocks, containing 60,906 words and 326,952 characters,
for an average of 7.0 words and 38 characters per block.
The game contains 17 menus, 124 images, and 13 screens.images, and 13 screens.[/i]

TEAM
Story and Programming: Ran
Sprite and CG Art: Hapuki
Idea-bouncers: Ivy, Broodelin
Logo Artist: Hijiri
Android Port: Godline

DOWNLOAD for Mac / Win / Linux
DOWNLOAD for Android


Thanks to everyone who waited for this game, haha.
It took us a while, but it's finally done, yay!
So don't you ever give up on your own projects too, alright?!
Cheers, everyone!

xoxo,
Ran

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2014 1:42 pm
by SilverSnow
Waahh (´▽`ʃƪ) I really love the character designs. I'm huge fan of mystery genre so I'll definitely be stalking following this thread. :D
Now for questions...

1. Will you still play it, even though it's out of season...?
Of course! Definitely O(≧▽≦)O

2. Which character will you go for first? :)
Depends, I usually start my first play by choosing base in intuitions -no, really you have some good looking guys it's quite hard to choose (〃▽〃)-


3. Any questions, comments, suggestions...? ^_^
Is it just me or does the twins kind of remind Hikaru and Kaoru from Ouran High? The plot is kind of intriguing (who the hell kidnaps people on Christmas season unless he's some psycho or something) but I'm curious of exactly what kind of sub genre will it be?

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:17 am
by Ran08
@SilverSnow
Thank you for the interest! :")

1. Really?! Hahaha. That's awesome! The artist and I were even planning to delay the release until Christmas just so it'll be in-season... lol. :) I think we should give it a second thought... hahaha.
2. Well, I can't blame you. Hapuki's art is awesome! :)) You better get all neutral endings though... there's a sweet surprise waiting at the end... wahaha. ;)
3. Omo? I didn't realize that. Come to think of it... they do have pretty similar characteristics. :o And oooh, thanks for finding it intriguing! I hope I don't disappoint you with the motive though... :))
It's romance, mystery, friendship... and melodrama for some parts. Haha. Is that what you meant, or something else? :3

Thanks for answering! :") Really appreciate it. ^^

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 6:11 pm
by Ferdokki
Wow, I love your unique art style! =D
I love seeing different kinds of artwork being used for VNs. Sometimes I get really bored of just conventional anime-esque drawings with CGs slapped in there. =P

1. Will you still play it, even though it's out of season...?

YESSSS. Why? Because I LOVE mystery games! I wish there were more mystery VNs! While I myself am fairly good with coming up with mystery stories/writings, it's kind of hard getting a team together to work on one because there's so much that could go wrong. =( But I'm glad you're taking a shot at making one! =D I totally support you! >________<


2. Which character will you go for first? :)

The little brother!
Hehe, jk jk, that would be my pervy shotacon side trying to release itself. >____>
But honestly, idk. You've managed to have ALL of my possible dream boy types. ♥___♥ The sweet boy, the mischievous/playful boy(s?), and the bad boy....wow. *___* I guess for me it would have to depend on the dialogue when I play.


3. Any questions, comments, suggestions...?

Questions: Will this game be commercial or free? Also, are you working in a team, or is it just you? How much of the game is done thus far? (Sorry for all the questions, I'm really excited for this! =D )
Comments: Have I mentioned that I'm super excited for this game? I think it's going to be cute or awesome (or secretly bloody and psychopathic? o_O Jk, that's my yandere fangirl side trying to release itself). Again, I really like your art style, and I love all the different boy types you have for the game! =D

I'll definitely follow this game's development! =D

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 11:02 pm
by Ran08
@Ferdokki
Oh my gosh, hahaha, I appreciate your enthusiasm. :) Thank you so much! :")

1. Yay! Hahaha. It's not super-duper focused on mystery though, because I'm more of a romance writer than a mystery one. Hahaha. The plot revolves around Vince's disappearance, and on their "journey" to find him. :)) Like I said, I'm not a very good writer, especially when it comes to mysteries, hahaha, but I'll do my best. ;) Thanks for the support~
2. Hahaha! :)) Awww, I hope you get them all though. There's a sweet surprise waiting for you if you manage to get all the neutral endings... ;)
3. It's free. Haha. I'm just the scriptwriter/programmer. Hapuki does the art and we have an idea-bouncer, Ivy, who also does snippets of dialogue for Landice's route. :) So far, the game has 47k words and we've completed all the routes, except for Landice's. As for the art, we're not yet done with the CGs. (Haha, it's okay! I'm really glad you're so excited for this.)

Hahahaha, omo, thank you! ^^ It's not... secretly bloody, oh my gosh it's a Christmas VN! Hahaha, but the motive behind the kidnappings could be... disturbing, I guess. Or sad, if you want to look at it that way. Hahaha. Nothing graphic though, so don't worry. And thank you for liking the art! Haha. Hapuki is a wonderful artist. :3

Thank you so much! If you reaaaaally wanna follow the development... here's our game's dev blog~

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2014 11:36 pm
by Ferdokki
1. Even if it's not totally mystery, it's alright. Romance games with good male characters are good too. =) I dislike sappy otomes, but ones with a twist (like a mystery in yours) catch my attention. =)

2. A surprise if I get all the neutral endings? o_O Hmm...now I'm interested. You're forcing me to see them as friends rather than love interests. =w=

3. Yay, FREE! *___________* Oh that's cool, sounds like you guys have a lot done. =) I'm always afraid that a cool project has the possibility of being shelved if not enough work is done on it. =(

And it's totally ok about the kidnappings. Those kinds of stories are the coolest! 8D They stick in your mind for a couple of days. =) (Are you familiar with the game "Heavy Rain"? It's a mystery game; I really liked the story, especially because of how intense it got to be.)
Well, Hapuki is a great artist! =D

Thanks for the blog link! I'll totally stay posted! :3

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 1:27 am
by ArachneJericho
1. Play it out of season? Of course I would play it out of season. It sounds really interesting!

2. Ha. Actually I would try for Clarissa. :) Though I know it's probably not possible.

3. No questions, just curious to see how it all rolls along! You've got so much done, it is awe-inspiring. Also thank you for commenting in my idea thread. :)

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Tue Jun 24, 2014 3:12 am
by Ran08
@Ferdokki
1. Thank you! Hahaha. :)) I hope you'll like it when you do play it. ^^
2. Err... yes, neutral, hahaha. Well, I just call them that. Technically, they're the good endings but... ;) Hihi. Don't worry, they ARE good endings. Hoho. But there's a... hahaha, just play it to find out! :))
3. Haha, yup. :3 Well, I like free games too... hahahahaha. I totally know what you mean! The more you work on a project, the more you can't let it go, because you've done so much already. :3 That's a basic rule in life I think. Hahaha. Even when it comes to love! Trolololol.

Yaaaaay~ I'm glad that's what you think. And nope! It seems interesting though, so I'm gonna look it up. Hahaha.
I know! :)) She totally is. ^^

Alright, thank you so much too!

@ArachneJericho
Yay, thank you! Looks like we really have to think twice about delaying the release... :)
And ooooh, sorry. You're right. :) Fun fact: Clarissa was supposed to have her own route with another guy but I kinda changed that and... hihi, just play to find out.

You're welcome! I'm looking forward to that game too, you know. ^^

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Wed Jun 25, 2014 4:39 pm
by xxstrangesoulxx
I see you moved your TTWM thread to Works In Progress. asdfghjkl :D I'm so excited for you Ran! :) You've worked so hard on it. I hope you manage to get more people interested it. It's a really nice game worth keeping an eye on.

Wow, I love the CG's sketches! They look so amazing. Hapuki did a lovely job. The sprites are also great. Landice is so cute. :3 Daniel too. He's the one on the right, right? xD

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Thu Jun 26, 2014 9:09 am
by Ran08
@xxstrangesoulxx
Waaaaah, thank you Ivy. :) And I'm still working on it~
Thank you for all the help!

You're totally right. Hahaha. :)) She's an awesome artist. ^^ So lucky to have her for this project!
And heyyy, don't be biased Ivy! =) They're both cute! Hahahaha.

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2014 10:01 pm
by SweetChiel
I really like the character designs! they have some kind of an unique trait (easy to be remembered), cartoon-ish, but so pretty in overall :D Here's my answers ^.^/
1. Will you still play it, even though it's out of season...?
Of course! :D it's all fair and square in otome games~
2. Which character will you go for first? :)
Is the twins Daniel & Gabriel available? xD they really caught my attention at first sight. But will they actually 'share' Lumina? xD
3. Any questions, comments, suggestions...? ^_^
The mystery is interesting o.o I wonder what the disappearances about. I'll look forward to play this game tho! :D looks like the family element is strong in this one and I just love VNs with strong friendship/family sense :3
no questions since I want to surprise myself xD

good luck miss Ran! ^v^

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 1:10 am
by Ran08
@SweetChiel
Hello again! :)
I'm really happy you're supporting my games. Thank you so much! Haha.

And yeah, I super duper love Hapuki's art in Thorn Knight, so I'm glad she agreed to work with me on this project. :)

Yes, they are available. Buuuut, nope, haha, they won't share! Although their routes are pretty much intertwined... haha. Fun fact: Only one was supposed to be the obtainable. Play the game to find out who that is! :) Hahaha.

And thank you so much again! :) Goodluck on your project too! It's coming along really nicely.

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:41 am
by kser6354
1. Will you still play it, even though it's out of season...?
I love big sister characters. Yay for this?

2. Which character will you go for first? :)
Just want to see the sister get back to the brother.
(Omg, the visual novel I am working has something to do with this... ^^' oops.)

3. Any questions, comments, suggestions...? ^_^
Will there be problem solving elements?
Love the first CG sketch. <3

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:08 pm
by Ran08
@kser3654
Yay, I'm happy you'll still play it. :) We're pretty close to finishing it actually, since we're down to just a few thousand more words and the CGs. :D As for the release date... that I'm not sure of. Hahaha.

And that sounds cool! What VN is that? Is it "Routine"? Have you posted it on LSF already? :) Younger brothers are actually like... a soft spot for me. So... :)

Hmmm, not really. :( I planned on putting something like that, but I'm afraid I couldn't focus on it. Haha.
Yay, I'm glad you love it! Hapuki's art is really lovely~

Re: The Thing With Mistletoes (GxB, Romance, Mystery)

Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:25 pm
by kser6354
I haven't posted the details about "Routine" yet, as I am setting up the blog and stuff. Do come and take a look when the thread is up :)