The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo17]

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Harliqueen
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The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo17]

#1 Post by Harliqueen »

Image

When Tiana finds herself house-sitting a mansion, she thinks her life is taking a turn for the better.
Little does she know the house is not what it seems… and neither are the two occupants who both wish to lay claim to her heart.

Contested ownership barely covers what’s happening at The Crossroads.
Image
Download now at itch.io- https://seraphinite.itch.io/the-crossroads

--About--

The Crossroads is a light, romance-focused, supernatural visual novel.

It was made for the one month gamejam, NaNoReno 2017.

It is quite a linear visual novel, with really only the romance scenes differing throughout- this is so I can actually manage to finish within the one month deadline!

--Features--
[1280x720][Modern][Romance][Supernatural][GxB]
Warnings: Suggestive adult content

> Character customisation which features in the CGs
> ~42,000 words (about 1 hour)
> Two love interests
> Personality choices all the way throughout
> Three possible endings (though they vary only slightly for each love interest, unfortunately due to time constraints)
> Just general fun and romantic lightness
> Unique Sprites, BGs, CGs, GUI

--Characters--

Main Character

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Tiana- Name Changeable
After losing her job, her apartment, and pretty much everything else, Tiana finds herself at a crossroads in life and has to decide where to go next.
Luckily, a job offer to house-sit a mansion in the middle of nowhere sounds like the perfect opportunity to take some time for herself.
(A very simple character customisation will be available- hair colour, skin colour, and eye colour)
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Love Interests

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Lucan
The steward of The Crossroads. The man seems to bypass flirting and go straight into… well, full on suggestions! Quite the man to figure out…

---

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Tristan
Works as the handyman of the house. Sweet and caring, he suits the gentle gardens he spends most of his time in.

--Sample Art--
Image
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---
Yay! I finished! And within the month!

It turned out much more linear than I wanted, especially towards the end (the part where I was running out of time :D)- but I hope you guys enjoy it!


---

I'll be taking a bit of a break until after Easter- partly due to RSI, but also I do need a break after the intensity of NaNo!- so I won't be around as much. Please don't think I'm ignoring you if you comment and I don't reply quickly!I love hearing from you! :)
Last edited by Harliqueen on Sat Apr 01, 2017 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

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Kirlett
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#2 Post by Kirlett »

Oh my God! I wasn't expecting this today!
I'M DOWNLOADING RIGHT NOW. (I have to watch The 100 4x08 first) I don't even need to play, it's obvious it'll be amazing 8)
I'll be back later to fangirl like a madwoman~
I wish I worked half as hard as you do... I'd have done so many useful things with my life :lol:

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Alcor
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#3 Post by Alcor »

Aaaah, congrats! Really awesome to see that this is released--a whole day early, too!

Will definitely play later (after I finish my own projects, whoops). I'm so excited!

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Harliqueen
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#4 Post by Harliqueen »

Kirlett wrote:Oh my God! I wasn't expecting this today!
I'M DOWNLOADING RIGHT NOW. (I have to watch The 100 4x08 first) I don't even need to play, it's obvious it'll be amazing 8)
I'll be back later to fangirl like a madwoman~
I wish I worked half as hard as you do... I'd have done so many useful things with my life :lol:
Ah, thank you so much for your confidence :D I really do hope you enjoy it- it's a lot different than The Lady's Choice- but should be fun and romantic!
ALCOR_etc wrote:Aaaah, congrats! Really awesome to see that this is released--a whole day early, too!

Will definitely play later (after I finish my own projects, whoops). I'm so excited!
Thank you so much! I really, really wanted to actually finish in the month this year- so I'm really pleased I managed to achieve that :)

Good luck with your own! Now I've done mine, I'm impatiently waiting everyone else's so as I can binge on VNs :D

---

I really do hope everyone likes it- I get so nervous releasing VNs! (I seriously hope there's no major errors either!)
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#5 Post by YonYonYon »

Noice! I need to get this as soon as I'll get home :o
Congrats on finishing the game
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#6 Post by Zelan »

I'm just echoing the others, but congrats on finishing!

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Harliqueen
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#7 Post by Harliqueen »

Thank you for the congrats, guys :)

I hope everyone else is doing well on their projects in the last push!
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#8 Post by Kirlett »

I have finished Tristan's route!
THE ART IS SO PRETTY. You have improved since The Lady's Choice! Those CG's... and Tiana in the red dress... <3
I really liked the music! Cute and relaxing!

Buuuuuuuuuut... I feel like a bad person for saying what I'm about to say :oops: AND FIRST THINGS FIRST I'm fully aware that creating a whole VN alone in a month is a tough task! I couldn't do it! So... I found it a LITTLE boring. Don't be sad, please, I just wanted to be sincere! u_u The romances are realistic in the sense that it's not very rushed (I'm playing Lucan's route now) and being able to choose Tiana's personality is as amazing as it was in The Lady's Choice. I think the problem is with the plot and characters. They're not interesting, the way they talk feels... artificial. In Tristan's route, the romantic scenes were... Idk, cheesy but empty. The dialogues were a little cliché. I don't want to make comparisons because I know they're totally different stories; however, in TLC, the characters were ALIVE. Every single one of them. They had passion, they were well-rounded and original, you couldn't say: "He/She is acting like a stereotype". I understand TLC was a larger project and you had more time to develop it! I'ts hard finding the words to express myself.
About the plot, Tiana's reaction to the discovery of them being spirits was unrealistic. She accepts it too quickly. It also surprised me how neither Tiana or Tristan try to find a way to free Luncan. They just left him there, alone... forever. Okay, they visit sometimes, but it was so selfish and cruel... I felt really sad for him... and given that I was playing Tiana as a gentle and kind woman... it was more of a shock.
However, this is just about the writing. As I said before, art, music and everything else was beautiful and I have 0 complaints n_n
IT'S NOT LIKE EVERYTHING I SAID BEFORE WAS A COMPLAINT. It's just that I know you can do better. IF you have the TIME. For this game, you didn't and it must have been very stressful.
I hope you don't take this badly because I remain your fangirl.
That means I'll be there for Touch of Fae. (Take your time for that one! <3)
I'm sure by the time it's released I'll be left speechless :3 (Also, it's fantasy... and I'm a huge fantasy nerd)

AND I DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT THE CUSTOMIZATION. THAT WAS AWESOME. It must have been a lot of hard work but oh man it paid off! (I made her blonde with blue eyes and she looked just like Clarke Griffin from The 100 T_T TIANA WHY ARE YOU SO PRETTY)

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Harliqueen
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#9 Post by Harliqueen »

@Kirlett- It's ok, obviously it's upsetting that you didn't enjoy it :D But, it's better to be honest! I think a lot of it was to do with the time issue. I tend to think BIG when it comes to projects, so had to scale back in a major way on this one- and kept having to do that all the way until the end. I probably should have kept to one love interest and focused fully on them instead (something I have learned and will probably do for next year's NaNo instead, if I participate).

I'm glad you liked the art and customisation though :) I learnt a lot doing it that I can take on board for Touch of Fae, which was really good to do!
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#10 Post by Mammon »

Wow, a solodev project of this size with customiseable protag and this much art and writing at such a level. And as one of the first submissions... Way to raise the curb. *Totally not jealous.*

I have to agree with Kirlet that it's not as good as The lady's choice but then again I never expected such a thing. One month against a deadline-free project, the difference speaks for itself. So I'm not going to judge the crossroads upon your previous work but just like the other games. And it did make it past my 15min test: me getting bored of it after 15min and stop reading it, so that's already putting you ahead of 60% of the other VNs. There weren't any moments of excitement or spine-shivering enthrallment, so it's not in the top 90%. So, somewhere in between those?

About the plot, and I am going to compare it to the Lady's choice here for a moment after all, it missed that part where I was actually wondering about the story and conflict of the other. Whereas we discovered things along with our lady, I kinda felt like I already knew the entire plot here by the time of the first dinner and was merely watching the protag figuring it out. It's not that this was written more boring rather than that it was lacking the kind of plot to enhance it.

So I did very much like it, but your previous masterpiece is raising your stakes unfairly high in comparison to other contestants.
Harliqueen wrote:(I seriously hope there's no major errors either!)
Erm, the raised eyebrow reveals a part of skin-less part of your protag that is supposed to be covered by the eyebrow itself. Most will probably overlook it, but as much as my eyes are peeled on her rather than her two hunks... :wink:
ImageImageImage

Want some CC sprites?

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#11 Post by MissArel »

OH MY GOD, YES!

I ADORE your games, really. Im playing your visual novels and also CoG game as well. Im downloading this right now, Im sure I will enjoy it. :3

Keep up the great work you've done so far, and dont stop making games :D

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#12 Post by Jain »

Hell yeah! Downloading now!

I loved "The Lady's Choice", so glad to see this!

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#13 Post by Ammeh »

This turned out absolutely gorgeous! I'm also amazed at the number of unique lines after most of the 4-way dialogue choices--it makes the personalities feel much more significant, and it must've been a ton of extra work!
Harliqueen wrote:@Kirlett- It's ok, obviously it's upsetting that you didn't enjoy it :D But, it's better to be honest! I think a lot of it was to do with the time issue. I tend to think BIG when it comes to projects, so had to scale back in a major way on this one- and kept having to do that all the way until the end. I probably should have kept to one love interest and focused fully on them instead (something I have learned and will probably do for next year's NaNo instead, if I participate).
I think the reason the characters felt more "alive" in The Lady's Choice might have more to do with the premise, rather than scale.
Because of the core premise of the game, the guys are inherently pretty limited in their life experiences--and because the MC is in the dark on the spirit stuff, they can't discuss that either. There's also not much going on externally for them to react to--and since their primary motive is to romance you, those things limit the number of dimensions available in your interactions.

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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#14 Post by YonYonYon »

This is a good, well-done game, fairly enjoyable. Just not for my tastes, I guess.

I liked Lucan a lot, holy damn, he's gorgeous. I do like flirty characters, but only if their pair is flirty themselves and can stand their ground. The MC here was a way too faint-y, weak-in-legs, naive person for me. Kinda like a romance novels cliche? Like, girl, don't make it weird, please.

Writing was good enough to not make Lucan a creep and the dialogues uncomfortable. Just something irked me, that's all.
So, final score would be 4 out of 5
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Harliqueen
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Re: The Crossroads [Modern, Romance GxB, Supernatural][NaNo1

#15 Post by Harliqueen »

Thanks for the comments everyone! (Sorry for not answering individually, suffering with a flare up of RSI, but didn't want to not reply at all :D )

I'm glad there's some parts of it that are going well :) I sacrificed plot for romance this time around, which is probably part of the problem.

I think I'm probably better at route-based things because I can focus on story with only 1 love interest, something I will definitely think more about for next year if I participate again.

Obviously it is upsetting that it hasn't been as good, especially after working on it so much in a short space of time, so I think I'll take a step back and come back stronger with other projects :)

---

I'll be taking a bit of a break until after Easter- partly due to RSI, and I do need a break after the intensity of NaNo!- so I won't be around as much. Please don't think I'm ignoring you if you comment and I don't reply quickly! I love hearing from you! :)

Once I'm back after Easter, I'll be really getting to work on finalising demos for Touch of Fae and The Wayhaven Chronicles :)
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

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