Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

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YossarianIII
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Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#1 Post by YossarianIII »

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Bureaucracy killed his parents, so now he fights bureaucracy -- with his fists!
DOWNLOAD FOR FREE:
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*These are songs released under Creative Commons licenses that the artists have pre-approved for noncommercial use (which is why Banality Man is, and always will be, free).
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QUESTIONS
Which ending did you reach first?
Could someone confirm that the game's icon is correct (and not the Ren'Py default)?
All other feedback, bug reports, etc. appreciated!
Last edited by YossarianIII on Mon Apr 04, 2016 11:59 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#2 Post by Dark Sentinel »

What. The. Hell.
In good sense, actually. Destroying capitalism is something absolutely invaluable, absolutely enjoyed it.
щ (ºДº ) щ

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YossarianIII
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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#3 Post by YossarianIII »

Dark Sentinel wrote:What. The. Hell.
In good sense, actually. Destroying capitalism is something absolutely invaluable, absolutely enjoyed it.
Glad you liked it, Dark Sentinel! It sounds like you chose the ending where

you go back in time to Scotland?

You actually reminded me: I'll add a question asking people which ending they reach first to the original post, since I'm always curious to hear about which choices are more popular than others.

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#4 Post by kitsubasa »

I just played through all the endings. Mon dieu. Immediately, this is one of my favourite VNs.

I love the various ways Banality Man can undermine himself, and how ridiculous some of the endings got. The sprite animations were fun, and the Banjo-Kazooie-esque noises the characters made while talking were a great idea. Also, the writing was hilarious! Especially in the sequence with Beretta.
I saw the Scotland ending first -- it was good to see Banality Man achieve his goals of ending beaurocracy and/or capitalism... but at what cost? Looks like press freedom took a hit in his dystopic government, as well as democracy. But hey, what can I really say without wider context? Maybe the death of everyone's families had some great plans for the economy.

My favourite ending, though, was the one where Banality Man sacrifices his brain so that Breda can reunite with her husband. The animation for the headshot was a good laugh, it reminded me a bit of those streamer cannon things people have at kitschy parties. The final 'you go, player!' text was icing on the cake.
Anyway, I think I'll take a look at Beretta Mondatta now -- if it's anything like this, I'm sure I'll love it as well. :D
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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#5 Post by YossarianIII »

Thanks, kitsubasa!


kitsubasa wrote:I just played through all the endings. Mon dieu. Immediately, this is one of my favourite VNs.
That's awesome! I was hoping there'd be some people who'd enjoy it enough to find all the endings.

The talking noises were an idea that just came to me in the middle of the month. I had Animal Crossing in mind when I did them, although I love Banjo-Kazooie too. I created all the noises with different software synths I have -- they're all just 1-4 notes that loop depending on how long the dialogue is.

As for spoilers:
I think we have the same favorite ending! When I originally wrote it, it was kind of a downer, but I think the shotgun sequence made it more fun. Also, the song, which is by Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney. I am still in total awe that an artist that awesome and established has stuff in Creative Commons that I can legally use.
kitsubasa wrote:Anyway, I think I'll take a look at Beretta Mondatta now -- if it's anything like this, I'm sure I'll love it as well.
Beretta Mondatta is kind of a spiritual prequel to Banality Man -- very similar style and tone but lower production values. Although it does have a more choices and a more in-depth story. Hope you enjoy it! :)

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#6 Post by LeonDaydreamer »

Wow, really fun... everything! :)
This is awesome, YossarianIII!

The visual and sound effects are nice and swishy, they keep things upbeat I think.
If you needed help with that, which you don't, because the music is so cool!
The minimal animated sequences are prefect.

The writing is fun and snappy. Favourite quotes: "Instead of banging fist against face, let's bang heart against heart" and "Maybe I'm so good at lying I actually changed what the truth was." :)
Plus, the ending sequences are really rewarding! And yay, "Ker-Plow" made the cut.
Also, I like that you have a counter to help/motivate the player try to get all the endings.

I really liked it all. Great work!
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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#7 Post by YossarianIII »

LeonDaydreamer wrote:Wow, really fun... everything! :)
This is awesome, YossarianIII!

The visual and sound effects are nice and swishy, they keep things upbeat I think.
If you needed help with that, which you don't, because the music is so cool!
The minimal animated sequences are prefect.

The writing is fun and snappy. Favourite quotes: "Instead of banging fist against face, let's bang heart against heart" and "Maybe I'm so good at lying I actually changed what the truth was." :)
Plus, the ending sequences are really rewarding! And yay, "Ker-Plow" made the cut.
Also, I like that you have a counter to help/motivate the player try to get all the endings.

I really liked it all. Great work!

Thanks!

My grandparents had a bunch of old cartoon VHS tapes like Looney Toons, Scooby Doo, and 60s Spiderman that I used to love, and those are a big influence on the sound and style here.

Also, I was super happy about finally getting an ending counter to work! I had wanted one in previous games I did, but was stuck on the code. (Turns out it's way simpler than I thought and there's a good thread here explaining it.)

I was sorry to see in the Put A Sock In It WIP thread that you were having troubles with programming, but I hope you can work something out soon!

***

On a different subject, can someone confirm that this game has the correct icon on both Windows and Mac? (It should look like Banality Man's head, not the default Ren'Py icon.) Just wanted to confirm since I used a different method for the icon than what I saw in a recent other thread.

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#8 Post by ebi-hime »

Hahaha this VN was such beauty, such grace. I enjoyed it a lot - enough to go and get all endings.
The first ending I got was the going back in time to Scotland ending - the choices you have to make to get to it seem like the most... 'logical', in this most logical of stories XD
The opening theme is really catchy, haha XD; It made finishing one end and getting the VIP pass to the main menu more fun, and probably gave me the encouragement to work for the rest of the ends. I could just leave the VN on the main menu and just listen to that theme.

Actually, all the sound in this VN was done really well. I liked the sounds made when the characters talk (it did remind me of Banjo Kazooie), and the punching sound effects when you want to click through the menu. It makes everything seem a lot more epic XD

Even though it's a pretty silly story, I liked some of the more dry/sarcastic humour used here -
like the 'you go, player' after getting some pretty bad endings. Considering it's so silly, some of the endings are actually pretty grim - and it's vaguely depressing when you consider, no matter what you do, you just can't beat capitalism... Or maybe you can, but you just end up inadvertently establishing a dictatorship ruled by an iron first (hur hur). I think the ending w Breda and Beretta was my fav, since it was oddly sweet (compared to some of the other ends), but I liked the zombie endings too - cause of that sprite. Also the line, "maybe I'm so good at telling lies it became the truth" - probably my favourite line XD
I was happy to see the 'pomf' in there too, haha XD; Thank you for including it! u///u
I have a lot of free & commercial VNs available on Steam and itchio.io if you want to check them out! ☆

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#9 Post by YossarianIII »

Thanks, ebi-hime!

Yes, making the "logical" choices in this story plays out a little differently than it might in other stories. :)

I think sound and user-interface were the two places where I learned the most this NaNoRenO. After my two previous VNs, I've worked out a lot of the "rules" for this art style, so it was fun to explore other things, like sound design, which was mostly new territory to me.

As for the spoilerly bits:
My other favorite ending is the one with Breda and Beretta (and I'm not just saying that because you picked it!). I like finding humor in endings where bad things happen, but I wanted at least one happy ending to prevent the whole thing from seeming too pessimistic or cynical. My goal is usually to try to fit the widest range of emotions possible into a game!

I don't want to editorialize too much, but I will say that it's no accident that the good ending comes after Banality Man decides NOT to punch first, ask questions later... :)
ebi-hime wrote:I was happy to see the 'pomf' in there too, haha XD; Thank you for including it! u///u
No problem! It was a good word -- kind of unusual, but still recognizable as an onomatopoeia.

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#10 Post by LeonDaydreamer »

YossarianIII wrote:My grandparents had a bunch of old cartoon VHS tapes like Looney Toons, Scooby Doo, and 60s Spiderman that I used to love, and those are a big influence on the sound and style here.
Yeah, I can see that. And darn if that intro song doesn't get stuck in your head!
YossarianIII wrote:I was sorry to see in the Put A Sock In It WIP thread that you were having troubles with programming, but I hope you can work something out soon!
I've been talking to a programmer for a few days, we'll see how things go. As far as I'm concerned I finished what I set out to do on time. :P
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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#11 Post by YossarianIII »

LeonDaydreamer wrote:Yeah, I can see that. And darn if that intro song doesn't get stuck in your head!
I figure I must've heard that song at least 150 times during the creation/testing of this game, and here is the process it went through:

*under 50 listens: "Hey, I'm really happy with how this turned out!"

*50-100 listens: "Dear God, why did I create this?"

*100+ listens: "The words and music lose all meaning. I feel calm and meditative. My own song sounds like a transmission from a faraway galaxy."

Luckily, I designed it so most players will stay well under 50 listens. :D
LeonDaydreamer wrote:I've been talking to a programmer for a few days, we'll see how things go. As far as I'm concerned I finished what I set out to do on time. :P
Oh, cool. Hope things go well!

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#12 Post by Kumiho »

OH GOSH THIS VN WAS THE BEST <3
Banality man for the win 8'D
And I was super happy to see Beretta make a cameo ;)
All the animations were ridiculously cute as always,
and the violence... oh, the violence.
The decapitations made me particularly happy.
The music and sound effects were both great and worked super well with the VN.
I needed this game in my life, and just. Thanks for delivering it. 8'D

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#13 Post by YossarianIII »

Thanks, kumiho!

Yeah, I'm always a fan of cute + violent -- stuff like Wile E. Coyote, Tom & Jerry, the Powerpuff Girls, etc.

When I first started making VNs, I never intended to
have so many decapitations. But they just pair so well with sound effects!
Also about the cameo: I'm thinking character crossovers are something I'd like to continue in future VNs. It lets me tell interconnected stories... AND recycle old sprites. :wink:

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#14 Post by Alcor »

Hello! I just wanted to say that two friends and I played a few endings of this together (by screensharing). We thought everything was HILARIOUS and we LOOOOVED it.
We especially enjoyed Greta, and also the zombie ending. And when Beretta appeared and-- eeeeeegad you're brilliant <3

My personal favorite parts were the punching sequences. Those made my day. They also made me laugh out loud even though it was 5 AM
Great job on this game, and looking forward to more from you!

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Re: Banality Man [VN][Comedy][Cartoon][Pop Culture][NaNo16]

#15 Post by MimirollCookie »

I played it. Man, this is a heck of a game! I had fun playin' it!
Got all the 11 endings.

Honest Comment:
To me, the game doesn't have a decent plot, but I had fun playin' it!
OMG. Who's Superbuzz figmuff? OMG.
The animated sprites are really cool!
Brings life to the character!!!!
One of my favorites in NaNo.
I like the theme song!*
Great job in NaNo! :)

*I imagine Banality Man punching in those ba ba ba parts thingy.
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