Project SVN

[gekiganwing]

No, this isn't something I've created. I stumbled over this linear, short visual novel [that's why it's called "Project SVN," I guess] today. As far as I can tell, it is finished.

Direct quote from the blog where progress is being posted (http://hisashiburi.dasaku.net): "...after 3 long weeks the project is finally done... So some stat about the VN: it has 2526 words and about 149 screens of dialogue. I used about 15 BG images, 2 sprites, 5 BGM, and 5 SFX... I’ve said before that I have no intention of distributing this over the net, so friends if you want to check this out, just drop me a comment and I’ll email you the link. Don’t forget to indicate the OS you’re using. I made files for win, mac & linux."

It's disappointing to hear that this fan-made game will distributed to only people who ask. Looking at the preview images, it appears to have cute art. So I'll email the creator soon and request to have a copy.

[Ren]

Interesting, the art look cute both backgrounds and sprite-wise...

[Hyperguy]

The character art appears to be from a character art pack from the Blade Engine website.

I think the reason why they're not distributing it is because the game was meant to be a learning experience for them and an exercise to put together a complete VN.

[DaFool]

I'll probably go on a rant about how 'For Friends Only' releases defeats the whole purpose of the worldwide internet, but for now I'll just link it and hope those 'Friends' include more people.

[bloodywyvern]

You'd thing a friend's only release could be handled through an email, wouldn't you? I mean, it's basically this:

Game maker: "OMG GUESS WHAT!"
You: "Uh...hi, do I know you?"
GM: "Nop."
You: "Fine, what?"
GM: "I JusT SAVED A BUNCH OF MONEY ON GEICO!"
You: "Could you stop talking in caps? And what does car insurance have to do with anything."
GM: "Nothing, oh and I made this game."
You: "Oh? Can I play it?"
GM: "No, hahahaha it's just for friends."
You: "Yeah...then why mention it?"
GM: "GEICO!"

Note: The above event is not an exaggeration, oh well it is but it could happen, well most likely not but you get the idea.

I need to stop staying up so late =.= I think I just killed at least 6 of everyones brain cells with this post.

[mikey]

In general announcing a private release publically will inevitably upset those who'd like to play the game, but are not in the friend's circle... and if I can't have it, I want it the more... a simple formula. So despite the fact that it is understandable someone would want to just make a small present for his friends (only), I don't think this was a very fortunate decision, especially since blogs are easily found and such.

[PyTom]

And, as a happy ending to this, the game has now been posted publicly. Huzzah.

[mikey]

I have been doing some catching up with released VNs, so I finally played TCF. I came expecting a variation on the "childhood friend" scenario, and basically, this is what I got - childhood friends are always the fondest memories, and this had this special melancholic touch to it. The writing as well, very nicely done, especially avoiding lengthy filler text - the pictures and music did their part, so everything was fitting and felt complete.

The ambivalent part of the VN was (expectedly for me) the usage of free-to-use materials. To be honest, I would have preferred crude drawings and photographs instead of the materials used - chiefly because this would make the VN much more personal. Since I have already played many of the free VNs which have used them before, the backgrounds and sprites seem all too familiar, detached and generic as a result, since in every game they are used to create another associations. It does make sense for a startup project to use free resources though, so this is not really a huge criticism - it's more like a personal perception.

If I have one real criticism, it's the part when K uses the words "too cute to be a fortune teller", which in my opinion is not appropriate, especially given the situation when the people just met - and it doesn't go all to well with the otherwose melancholic thoughts and troubled mind of K's personality. I suppose many people will say this is too short and possibly needs more character development, but actually, I think it's fine as it is, not repetitive, not tiresome.

I will also have to point out that I didn't understand the ending - it did go well with the overall atmosphere and I accepted it as the end of the story, but truth be told, I do not really know what happened.

Overall, this is not the kind of game I usually enjoy, but there was a plus from my point of view, as unlike in many such stories, here the protagonist's personality felt very down-to-earth (which is much more comfortable for me, as opposed to melancholy for melancholy's sake... even though I don't know if this point is understandable) - so in the end then, I liked K's personality more than what happened around him. Still, just to stress this, I don't think this is a bad game (this much is plain to see), it's just a genre that I typically don't call my favorite.