Starlight - Now Avalible!

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rocket
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Starlight - Now Avalible!

#1 Post by rocket »

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Download it now!
Starlight Mac 1.01
Starlight Linux 1.01
Starlight Windows 1.01

Note: 1.01 fixes a crash when accessing the save or load menu. Please upgrade if you got the old version.
Starlight is a relationship and decision game based on the idea that managing relationships can be interesting even if they are not romantic. Actually in Starlight there are romantic overtones and some fanservice, but that's just cause I can't resist it! However the basic theme remains that a person in a position of leadership must manage personalities and conflicting expectations to get everyone to succeed. Starlight Episode Zero is proof of concept for this idea.

Furthermore Episode Zero is the prologue to a story which is in-itself a full 2 hour game. My hope is that with Episode 0 I will be able to recruit additional support that can help me produce that longer version of the game, and even multiple episodes to fulfill the 12 episode story that I have planned out.

I hope you enjoy Starlight, and your time with Jade, Rose, and Violet as much as I have. As always there are many things I regret, wish I had done better, and hope to improve in the future. That said, all feedback is eagerly appreciated!

-rocket

P.S. The three endings are: Not-bad, Good and Best. ^_^
Last edited by rocket on Tue Dec 11, 2007 2:31 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#2 Post by PyTom »

I have buttons. And when the intro of the game contains the words "in... peace, for all mankind", I'm pretty much ready to have those buttons pushed. At least for this old geek, Starlight pushed all the right buttons... story, music, art, awesomeness...

Thanks.

Oh, one thing... I'm a little worried about the license on the game. You have all rights reserved, but you're using CC music. That's not really kosher when dealing with CC-SA licenses. One of the music tracks is CC-ND, and you can't include that one at all. I suggest licensing under CC-SA-NC, and removing the CC-ND track.
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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#3 Post by Samu-kun »

Haha. I played through it once and I got the not bad ending. :3 I loved it. It was pretty hysterical. ^_^ I was practically giggling through the entire thing. I hope to see more of this in the future! ^_^

Just a little spelling error though. Jade says, "Engine test aborted Sir aborted Sir." Also, I thought the alarm was a bit too loud when the ship goes into red alert... I had my headphones on and I nearly went deaf... >_<;;

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#4 Post by Guest »

Quick question: how much bandwidth do you have for your plan? Can it handle 500+ downloads a month? Assuming this is the final version of Episode 0, we need to get it mirrored asap.

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#5 Post by rocket »

Guest wrote:Quick question: how much bandwidth do you have for your plan? Can it handle 500+ downloads a month? Assuming this is the final version of Episode 0, we need to get it mirrored asap.
I'm currently at 10TB / month (overage is .10/GB). Normally I used about 2GB / month total. If I download anywhere near my limit I'll be thrilled!

Yes I apply the same strategy to my real life as I do my RPGs - level early and often. (^_^)

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#6 Post by rocket »

Samu-kun wrote:Haha. I played through it once and I got the not bad ending. :3 I loved it. It was pretty hysterical. ^_^ I was practically giggling through the entire thing. I hope to see more of this in the future! ^_^
(*^^*)
Thanks! It's really great to hear that other people enjoyed it!

When I playtested it myself, sometimes I found myself chucking out loud. My wife looks at me and is like, "Are you laughing at your own game *again*?" So, I did wonder if it was just me that found it funny! ^_^;;
Just a little spelling error though. Jade says, "Engine test aborted Sir aborted Sir." Also, I thought the alarm was a bit too loud when the ship goes into red alert... I had my headphones on and I nearly went deaf... >_<;;
Ah thanks! Making the list for release 1.1 as we speak...

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#7 Post by rocket »

PyTom wrote:I have buttons. And when the intro of the game contains the words "in... peace, for all mankind", I'm pretty much ready to have those buttons pushed. At least for this old geek, Starlight pushed all the right buttons... story, music, art, awesomeness...

Thanks.
^_^

Thank you for the kind words! I am really honestly thrilled that others can enjoy it in all its geeky glory as much as I did making it! So... thanks again for giving me the tools to indulge!

As you can prolly tell, I share many of the same buttons, and it seemed like the only way I was going to get the particular mix of anime and sci-fi was to roll my own. Frankly, a Visual Novel / Ren'Ai seems like the perfect format for these fantasies of mine. In many ways I see Starlight as pretty hard core porn - just not of the sexual kind! I didn't expect to ever use this format, many abortive scripts, short stories, and comics attest to that. Now that I've found it, I'm really eager to continue to play and try and tell more stories with it!
Oh, one thing... I'm a little worried about the license on the game. You have all rights reserved, but you're using CC music. That's not really kosher when dealing with CC-SA licenses. One of the music tracks is CC-ND, and you can't include that one at all. I suggest licensing under CC-SA-NC, and removing the CC-ND track.
Ah... mkay! Gonna have to really pay attention to the CC licenses now I guess... I'm afraid careful study there was also something I skimped on during my rush to release. The only intent was to attribute all work, protect any new creations, and make it free to distribute non-commercially. So... one more thing on the 1.1 list!

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#8 Post by yummy »

So I played your game and here's my review.
The background story is well thought, it's a bit vague, but I don't know, maybe it's going to be some kind of great adventure.
I don't really noticed any weirdness or anything that would make me say "duh this just ain't possible", so I guess your magic worked well.
The music particularly fit the message you were writing in your script and this alone proves you've got quite a talent for planning. I mean, even I can't do this properly yet XD
I particularly loved the exposure scene, when you span the view to the ships, making it a great overture scene, coupled with a good transition mean. There, I just thought "Hey, this is a good scene" back then.
I'm impressed by your text window, totally customised, and how it fit well the atmosphere.
The ship's design resembles another one... Where a denominated Picard was onboard if I remember well...
The characters are cute. I'm pleased you kept the lil' girl concept you drew the other time on the other thread :)
On the other hand, I preferred the last one you only saw through the intercom :p
It is original you placed the military ranks on their sleeves. That's the only issue I'd discuss about. Why on the sleeves only ? It might have been more obvious if you put some kind of mark, or anything on the shoulder or the breast. Military prefers fast readings, you look at the face, then any area close to it to define the rank. The sleeves are just too far ^^;
But still, it's an original idea.
What made me continue until the end was the atmosphere, the setting. You have very simple and easily understandable sentences, which is something I like a lot. No need to harm this already knock-down head, heh :D
You also introduce technologies which do not seem over the scale or unrealistic.

Overall, the game's main asset is its story. It's touching, not enough to move me to tears yet (yeah I love nakige, games that play a lot with the pathos), but I feel you might have found one of your storylines. Then the situation. Quite simple if you're aware of how to put trust on someone's shoulders (also known as "how to delegate so you won't have to do anything" concept).
What made me smile was the event scene, with the traditional undies flash. Well, actually it's not really a flash, it's more likely "going to show you". It was actually a critical scene, where you'd either magnify one's character from another one, either a scene where you relief one by the other. What more important in the first case (that you chose) is the setting, how to bring on this kind of situation. Totally fits the characters ^^
I've finished with the second end, namely a good end. I don't know yet if I'll replay to get the other endings, I just like how the pant-- err, the characters stayed in my memories.
Ah, forgot to tell about the cinematic-like telescripting. It's a good choice in my opinion. Makes the whole thing epic.
Ah, now that I think about it... Yeah, it gives an air of an epic tale.

I'm looking forward to the next chapter!

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#9 Post by monele »

*plays*.... woah... I obviously can't play that at work XD... Darn...

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#10 Post by Deji »

The girls got me totally mad and I just wanted to beat them DX; And, for the record, I don't like war/military/space adventure themed sci-fi at all ^^;...
But hey, that's just me and my personal tastes in things! don't take it personal >o<!!!

Anyway! I quite liked the idea and It made me want to see more =P (so I can get a beat-up/punishment scene in the future ...j/k! xD) I want to see how much the relationships with the characters develop in the future =3

The art was pretty nice too =D And I wiish i could make 3d Bgs to use as base for my backgrounds T_T... those were a nice touch =3

I hope we can see more of starlight soon ^^
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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#11 Post by Vatina »

Just played through it a couple of times. Got the good ending first, then the 'not bad' one - that one surprised me a bit with the extra scene at the end xD I can't seem to get the last ending though..... ^^;

I liked the atmosphere in the game, and the flashy presentation of it. The characters were fun too.
Although I *did* feel like throwing Violet Winkler out the airlock :twisted:
And.... captain Thrace? Was that an intentional hint at something else? (Maybe these were all over the place, and just didn't notice it). I found it funny either way :P
Looking forward to more of this ^^
Last edited by Vatina on Tue Dec 11, 2007 5:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#12 Post by Jake »

On the plus side, mostly, I can just echo Py'Tom's comment. It was... fun! That's a good thing.

On the minus side, I just wasted, like, an hour trying to get ending three so I could see the epilogue. Ending-hunting is my number-one pet-hate about VNs (at one point in the development of MorningStar we considered giving each ending a random number between 1 and 100 just to confuse people who tried it; I can't remember if that made it into the release), since I'll often get bored of a setting before I should do just through experiencing bits of it too many damn times. On one hand, I want to see the epilogue. On the other, I don't want to put myself off of future installments by looking at this one for another hour trying to find bits I've not tried yet. :/

If I hadn't just spent that time fruitlessly, you'd totally be looking at Jade O'Brien fan art right now. :P
Vatina wrote:
And.... captain Thrace? Was that an intentional hint at something else? (Maybe these were all over the place, and just didn't notice it). I found it funny either way :P
Also the ship's designation is only a character off of Star Trek's Enterprise, and the Station Commander looks terribly familiar... I'm sure there was something else that stood out, but I forget. Anyway, it seems likely that if there's a coincidence, it's intentional... ;-)
rocket wrote:My hope is that with Episode 0 I will be able to recruit additional support that can help me produce that longer version of the game, and even multiple episodes to fulfill the 12 episode story that I have planned out.
Obvious question: What kind of 'additional support' are you looking for?
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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#13 Post by PyTom »

Ending 3 is my favorite, but it's hard to get to. I had to resort to technical means* in order to get there. Suggestions for getting the ending:
You generally have choices between building a girl up, or tearing her down/doing it yourself. You want to do the former, and then trust in them.
To some extent, I worry that the game is too hard, because it doesn't say much about this in game.

* I cheated.
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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#14 Post by Jake »

PyTom wrote:
You generally have choices between building a girl up, or tearing her down/doing it yourself. You want to do the former, and then trust in them.
See, that's what I'd figured. And what I tried. Perhaps I have different opinions to Rocket as to what constitutes this in at least one of those situations. :/

[EDIT: After getting bored enough to go back and check some of the ones I was less sure about, it seems this was probably the case. Still, that is a nice ending. ;-)]
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Re: Starlight - Now Avalible!

#15 Post by DaFool »

First time I played the game, amazingly it seemed I was en route to the Best ending.

But also got this traceback: (haven't been able to replicate it)
http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewto ... &sk=t&sd=a

I was able to complete all endings. If it weren't for my random luck before, I doubt I would have gotten the Best Ending.

Though I guess this is a 'feature' of point-based endings, there's really nothing that can be done without branching off into divergent paths and consequently more writing. One thing to think about in the future is to make choices very clear whether it will lead to a branch in story or rack up points, and keep the point-based ones minimal and consistent.

Okay, technical stuff out of the way...

Amazing. The boldy-colored (and dare I say it... moe) hand-drawn sprites look nice on top of the crisp vibrant 3DCG backgrounds.

The dialogue was very nice and engaging, though you have to be a Star Trek fan to understand the technical lingo.

I actually hadn't expected this to be a full-out space opera (I should have read the initial description in the WIP thread more thoroughly)... even the bridge sort of looked like it came from Vandread.

The setting reminded me more of Crest of the Stars (which I absolutely loved) and the opening almost made me cry (when listening to it in surround).

The Epilogue was really nice... even though it was just a B&W conversation, it revealed more of the world and it is a very mature view of it too... it's not a B-movie sci-fi setting at all, it was an interesting worldview.

Now... what would you need help for in the future? Your art is great, your 3D is great, your writing is great, and you can pick music and program very competently. It seems you only have a few CGs so if you don't go overboard, you can keep churning out episodes at a moderate pace. Especially since most of the settings and interaction take place on the bridge.

Anyway, lovely game.

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