~ MILK SWIM ~ [released]

[mikey]

http://www.manga.sk/atp/milkswim/milkswim.htm
or
http://www.renai.us/games.shtml#milkswim

For those who noticed the birthday banner 3 days ago at my page, I have good news. I have a working beta of Milk Swim on my hands today, so I made a page for it as well. The release date is going to be as soon as I decide on some things and send some e-mails, plus some testing. At latest, it's going to be 14.2., not because it's V-day, but because it's the anniversary of my page ^_^.

I have sort of broken all my usual stereotypes with this game - it has school-aged protagonists, and no girls with glasses. Well... I shall be back, though... The gameplay will not suit everyone I'm afraid, but it's really dictated by the story ending this time. Anyway, I should be ready for criticism by the time the alpha is assembled.

Details about playtime and hard disk space will follow shortly, so far, it seems the game will take up around 40 or less MB, packed to a 10 MB download of 2x 5MB. Playtime is hard to estimate at this point (I'll have to play through it in the following days), but all paths should yield for just about an hour of play. It has 6 paths and 1 character (it's the Black Pencil legacy I never seem to be able to escape from )

So have fun waiting I guess...

[PyTom]

So you've decided the titles of your next 4 projects? I wish I could work that far in advance.

[papillon]

heh, I have titles for TONS of projects, even artwork and code towards some of them, whether any of them will ever get finished is still somewhat in question.

Personally, though, I'm afraid to release titles until the game is near done, lest someone else steal it and spam the search engines with it and ruin my release. Unlikely, yes, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about it.

[mikey]

So you've decided the titles of your next 4 projects? I wish I could work that far in advance.

1. Well, Milk Swim is already done, leaving three.
2. MMM2 can be easily done in a week (or less), so that leaves two.
3. The other one is NaNoRenO (either I do it or fail), that leaves one.
4. And the last one is already written and in a working RenPy script in both language versions, so all I need for that one is inserting backgrounds, plus a few uncomplicated characters. In addition to that the game has an "emergency release plan" if everything fails.

So I've really effectively announced just that one project ... since everyone knows about me working on it anyway

Personally, though, I'm afraid to release titles until the game is near done, lest someone else steal it and spam the search engines with it and ruin my release. Unlikely, yes, but that doesn't stop me from worrying about it.

Hmmm,... your games are commercial, so that's a reason. Heh, wish someone would spam search engines with my games...
(*imagines River Trap rip on warez site )

[RedSlash]

Wow, yet another one in such a short time. You either have a lot of time on your hands or you're very good! I wish I could do that.

[rioka]

It also helps to have a reliable team. If you work with a team, you cut down on development time considering when the overall script and game design is done, the art and programming may begin simultaneously. While the team is finishing that project, mikey can start on designing another game and the process continues.

Pretty sweet setup, imo. ^_^

[mikey]

For Milk Swim I had the basic idea back in Summer 2004, a few weeks after River Trap was released and I collected things very little by little, doing it as a pasttime, sometimes not touching it for a month, but recently I noticed I have almost everything I need, so I rolled up my sleeves and blah, blah, brag, brag.... The point is it's not like I have turned into some kind of mass-producing factory, it just came together. That happens sometimes.

RedSlash>> I don't actually have that much free time. It's the same as always, and most of the time very inconveniently the most productive creative time is identical with IRL project deadlines, *sigh*. And NO, I don't like to work under pressure.

Back on topic: I am confident, that when music is done on time, we should have the game ready this weekend. The game is stable and hopefully all buggies were eliminated (I found a password bug same as in Kaori... and I have played through one path in 20 minutes, despite my fast reading. Also it seems that we are going to be able to add fasttracker modules just like that, it's going to make making music much easier and with very little space to take up. Just a few days to go now.

[mikey]

Phew, that was close! Just 30 minutes to midnight...
Alright, I uploaded it, checked, tested, please report any problems.

http://www.manga.sk/atp/milkswim/milkswim.htm

Enjoy!

Renai.us admins >> You can add this game to your site anytime you like, and feel free to use any info/screenshots on the homepage or readme file. Additional info: (Age: everyone; Playtime: 50 minutes (all altenatives), 20 min each path)

[rioka]

Thanks mikey. =)
Milk Swim is now also available at Ren'Ai Archives:
http://www.renai.us/games.shtml#milkswim

[RedSlash]

Yay! I will have to check it out later though. Kinda busy these days...

[darkknight]

I played a little of it today...only till saturday.
It is interesting, i have have to play it later

[Taleweaver]

Finished it - again, the password was a hoot. You have a knack for making people giggle, d'you know that?

About the game: This time, there were very distinct, different story paths, and they were all very well written. My only gripe (and that's a gripe I always seem to be having with your games) is that the decisions have outcomes that are sometimes the opposite of what they look like. Choose the romantic path? Get kicked out by parents and face being a total loser. Do everything to stay clear of romance? End up in all sorts of romantic moments! It's probably supposed to be surprising, but when I got the most positive ending by trying to push Natane away from me as far as possible in my first playthrough, I knew something was fishy here

Walkthrough for mikey's games: Take all the bad-sounding decisions. Get best ending. ^^

[mikey]

TW>> awww, that last sentence hurts... Well, the next game's concept will see clear choices, I promise. I'm glad you liked it nevertheless and thanks for once again being the first one to finish it completely.

[Random Guy off the Street]

Just one question: what age are these characters supposed to be? Natane is described as being the "pride of second graders" (or something like that) so I'm assuming that it means a grade *very* different than what I think of as second grade.

Either that, or Haruhiku has very serious issues...

[Random Guy off the Street]

Great game, btw. Keep up the fantastic work Mikey(and co.)!

And sorry about the double post, but I can't edit my previous one, being a guest and all... ^^;