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Next Station

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:08 am
by Mr. E
( Not to be confused with "Final Station for dying dreams", my other project whose remains I dumped on this forum some time ago. )

Genre - Romance
Setting - The main character is a high schooler. The game is set almost entirely in the city's subway, in two hours' time.
Time: 10-45 minutes, depending on how many endings you want to reach for.
Synopsis: You've just been rejected by the girl you had silently loved for so long... Now you embark on a journey to nowhere in particular, in the subway's circles and cycles, trying to deal with the pain everyone feels at least once in their lives: rejection.

I know this is coming out of the blue, but I didn't even know if this was going to be finished or not. I had to pull a few all-nighters just to get this far. As the version points out, it's still incomplete. The main functions are all there, script, story, music, endings, etc. But when I have the chance, I'd like to create a new version, add a few more expressions, a bit more text and maybe even a bonus ending.
But that's not possible for the next month at the very least... I have slept 5 hours in the last 2 days and in another 5 I shall be taking a plane to the other side of the world, quite literally, where I don't know how long it will take for me to be connected.
As it stands now it's a simple game, and I believe fairly enjoyable if you don't have high standards in the graphic area ( art done by me I'm afraid. I didn't wanted to risk screwing anyone up if this didn't work ). It's an IntRenAiMo work, since I began in mid-February.
Farewell Lemmasoft Forums. See you again soon. In another country, in another life.
And thank you for all your support.

Mr. E

Re: Next Station

Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2008 6:15 am
by mikey
Whee, you did it!
I'm really happy for you, congratulations! I'm looking forward to playing.
And the best of luck for your next step - have a great fresh start!
See you around!

Re: Next Station

Posted: Wed Apr 02, 2008 2:43 am
by Ignosco
It's good to play this with the music and art included :D - I've already said a lot to you about the game before, so all that's really left is well done, and congratulations for finishing on time :D.

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:41 am
by Mr. E
At the risk of bumping what may be a dead post, I'd like to ask any of the 62 players what things would they like for the 1.0 version of the game. I'd like to add more expressions to the girls, more writting, maybe an extra ending or two ( no new characters though, I think I'm happy with the ones I have. ) Maybe even voice acting if anyone is willing. Unfortunately contact will be a bit difficult this month to say the least ( I'm using a cyber-cafe computer all in 日本語 right now... ) But next month I shall be connected to the great web once again, so any suggestions or people willing to do the voice acting, please send me PMs until then. I already have a laptop right now, so I'll be able to work on the game a bit as well.
Anyways hope you are all well. I can't wait to play all those new games... :D

Re: Next Station

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 11:49 am
by ashogo
Hey, I really dig the whole concept of this game, riding the train station to station aimlessly. I've always wanted to do something like that, though maybe not in this kind of situation.
Anyways, what I really enjoyed about the game was the variety of outcomes depending on which station you get off at, when, and under what circumstances. I've only played for about 30 minutes, but so far all I can seem to get is ending #1, but it's still fun to go around the stations, trying to get different characters to appear and see how they will affect the character.
I don't know if you're still working on a version 2, but I don't have much to suggest, except maybe to add some pictures in the final scenes...? Like the streets and apartment he lives in. The music felt a little...corny to me, but I say that about a lot of stuff. Overall it was very well made, can't think of anything else. If you're adding more endings then I've got to hurry up and find those other 3. :x

edit: alright! in the past half hour I was able to get endings 2 and 3. 4 seems impossible to find though...maybe I should cheat and read the script.

Re: Next Station

Posted: Fri May 16, 2008 6:05 pm
by Spiralbunny
I really, REALLY like this game! The music works great, I think, and the backgrounds and all... it just works well together, all of it.
I've been playing for something like half an hour now, and I'm having trouble getting any endings other than 1/4. I'll keep playing for a while though, I'll probably get the other ones soon enough.

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 10:05 am
by Mr. E
:shock:
There is still somebody playing this? And there are TWO new posts? oh, be still my trembling heart...
Now seriously... Thank you for posting. I had already abandoned this project as a failure, but your comments have now given me an incentive on making the final version...
hmm, but while it doesn't come, I think at least a few hints would be a good idea. Here they go:
Ending 1-
Come on! You want spoilers for ending 1? :P
Ending 2-
-Angela will go away in 20 minutes if you don't talk to her. She's not going to wait at the station eternally after all.
-After talking with her once, she'll wait for you to show up a bit longer... But still no more than 50 minutes.
-To make her happy, you'll have to make another girl happy...
Ending 3-
-Ryoko is only present at Rudyard St. from 13:20 to 13:40 If you miss her, there's no hcance to get the ending
-The path may not be as straight as you think...
Ending 4-
-As you might have guessed, the hardest endings of them all.
-You need to trigger MANY different events in order to get this ending. There is almost no time to do them all, so timing is essential. However, none of the endings can be reached, obviously.
-When you have done the last event (and there should be less than half an hour until 3:00) then go to rudyard station.
But since some people may not be willing to play through many times and ending 4 is REALLY hard, I'll include a walkthrouhg kindly written by Ignosco. May the god of free Ren'ai games bless his patience with me... :roll:
I don't want to make any promises on the compete version, since I'm way overboard busy right now...

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 11:42 am
by Spiralbunny
Mr. E wrote:There is still somebody playing this? And there are TWO new posts? oh, be still my trembling heart...
Now seriously... Thank you for posting. I had already abandoned this project as a failure, but your comments have now given me an incentive on making the final version...
I don't want to make any promises on the compete version, since I'm way overboard busy right now...
In my opinion, it's extremely far from being a failure! (The only thing related to 'failure' with this, is that somehow, it seems most people who checked it out failed to comment on it?)
I've been playing many Ren'Py games lately, and to be honest, this is probably my favorite one so far. Good job!! *3*b

I managed to get all the endings, finally. I played the game through MANY times last night XD It didn't feel troublesome playing it so many times though! It was fun each time!

Ohh, I would be really happy to see a final version, sometime. (If I can help with anything, I would. Although I fail at scripting and programming and all that, so I'm really only useful for art, and maybe you prefer doing the art yourself like it already is?)

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sat May 17, 2008 1:49 pm
by ashogo
Mr. E wrote::shock:
There is still somebody playing this? And there are TWO new posts? oh, be still my trembling heart...
haha, I really don't know why more people haven't commented on your game, because it's awesome. They're all crazy. :roll: It's got a great atmosphere, and you build the characters really well so that you feel for all of them. Each ending was unique too, even if 4 was near impossible...I ended up looking at the script. Ending 2 was probably my favorite though, I'm a sucker for happy endings like that.
btw, I love all those station backgrounds-are those just real pictures with filters, or original art? They really gave the impression you were in a crowded subway.

no hurry on the next version, if there is one. Just know that the game is being enjoyed.

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 10:27 pm
by Mikan
:3 huh...
I stayed on the train for half an hour, and then I got off, and the game ended.
I guess this is supposed to happen...?

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sun May 18, 2008 11:48 pm
by Mr. E
Mikan, you probably got off at Banerjee St. Getting off there automatically ends the game (it's the main character's station). All the other stations are fine.
Ashogo, the backgrounds are filtered photoes (althouhg some are a mix of photo and tracing and filters... I was experimenting :roll: ). I'm glad you liked them, and ending 2. I tried to make different endings varying from bitter to sweet and the shades in between.
Spiralbunny, if I add any art I think I'll do it myself, just to keep the style consistent. But mostly I wanted to add a bit more text I couldn't before because of time restraints. Thank you for you offer though. I'm flattered. :D

Re: Next Station

Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:42 pm
by vnr4
Next Station reviewed at VNR4.

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sat Jul 05, 2008 6:57 pm
by maselphie
I really liked this game! Just the subway interface itself made me what to play it over and over. The names of the stations meant nothing to me the first few times of playing, so it was very confusing. Did I want to go to such-and-such station? =P Well, despite labeling the stations, I was very intrigued by everything. Even just the time aspect was exciting. Thanks for such a nice way to spend my hour!

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 8:02 am
by Mistik
SKAAAAAAAAAAA. I finally got all the endings. I had to use the guide for the last 2. man this was innovative and hot. Must have been a bitch to link all those scenes together. I think my favorite part is the story the train women tells you in when you first meet her. The story definitely felt like there was a lot of personal experience feeding it.

anyway Loved the game.

Re: Next Station

Posted: Sun Jul 06, 2008 5:03 pm
by Tsundere Lightning
Mr. E, speaking as pretty big fan of Pygmalion, I came into this with pretty high expectations... and you didn't disappoint.
Of course, I'm a sucker for anything having to do with mythology, and, well, I was glad I got to the ending with Fortuna. Though in terms of drama, I think I liked the Angela ending the most.
I like the basic idea a lot.

Your artwork has also definitely improved since Pygmalion.

Just wondering - is there any significance to the names of the stations?