Teachings of the Buddha

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usul
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Teachings of the Buddha

#1 Post by usul »

Teachings of the Buddha is an english-language visual novel. It features sixteen sutras adapted from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/index.html, and original digital artwork adapted from tibetan thangka paintings.

Alpha version 0.1 of Teachings of the Buddha was released on February 4th, 2009. It includes original art by Frederic Guimont, and the song 'Guan' composed by Scott Godin and performed by Bradyworks.

Py'Tom I totally ripped your html from your Moonlight walks page, I hope that's cool with you. If not, let me know.

You can download the files from:

http://teachingsofthebuddha.org

Feb 4th 2009 - Alpha 0.1
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#2 Post by JQuartz »

Using a VN engine to make a religious work. Never thought that would happen. :O
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#3 Post by DaFool »

Totally didn't anticipate this... when you hinted you were about to release your first VN I was thinking "Hmmm... more Poser I guess...".

You now win my internets for totally defying expectations.

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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#4 Post by usul »

Thanks for the kind words. The idea really came to me 8 days ago. It took me seven to bring it to the state of this first release. I would have waited a little while longer to release it, but a friend of mine urged me to get it out early. That's partly why I'm calling it version 01. I'm taking a few days off, but am planning to add more sutras and work some more on the visuals (improving the quality of those already in the game, adding animations and other interesting details).

This is the third game I've started and the first one I've finished. I've actually been working for over a year on a game that will revolutionize all oelvn :P (kidding) and am planning to continue taking my time with it so it's complete before I release it. It was nice however to work on this short project and have it out and available for people to play in such a short time.
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#5 Post by usul »

I submitted this game to the linux game tome at happypenguin.org and they included it on their page.

http://www.happypenguin.org/show?Teachi ... e%20Buddha
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#6 Post by F.I.A »

While I praise your efforts in including a customized mouse and a ctc, I am not totally sure how to label such kind of games. They are made in ren'py, but definitely not a visual novel.

Also, I understand that you might attempt to give a true adaptation to the source, but generally, most do not enjoy a wall of texts with a click of the mouse.
Last edited by F.I.A on Fri Feb 06, 2009 1:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#7 Post by usul »

While I praise your efforts in including a customized mouse and a ctc, I am not totally sure hot to such kind of games. They are made in ren'py, but definitely not a visual novel.
Thanks for the feedback. Can you elaborate on how this game is not a VN? I'm calling it a VN where it's being promoted and would like to know what category it falls under if not a VN.
Also, I understand that you might attempt to give a true adaptation to the source, but generally, most do not enjoy a wall of texts with a click of the mouse.
I can appreciate this criticism as many of the sutras (discourses, or sections) could benefit from trimming down the amount of text displayed at one time. I will definitely keep this in mind before releasing the next update.
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#8 Post by Wintermoon »

People get attached to their favorite words. Case in point: I think this is a visual novel, but definitely not a game.

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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#9 Post by F.I.A »

usul wrote:Thanks for the feedback. Can you elaborate on how this game is not a VN? I'm calling it a VN where it's being promoted and would like to know what category it falls under if not a VN.
You might just call it a visual sutra or just graphic scripture. It sort of bothers me since novel is generally a fiction, and I don't think that could be said for this work, which leans close to history record or biography. It is similar in how we cannot really label a bible as a novel.

[EDIT: And the reason why I cannot really come up with an available term, this is the first time I see such work in this medium.]
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#10 Post by usul »

Interesting ideas. I'll think of something I can call it when I do the second release. On a side note, my google alert picked up a developer page that was created, probably as a result of my submitting the game to happy penguin dot org.

http://linux.softpedia.com/developer/Fr ... 28026.html
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#11 Post by Aashtarsrain »

:D Very interesting and original work indeed. Definitely looking forward to the final version !
As far as text is concerned, well, that's just an opinion but wouldn't NVL mode be more convenient ?

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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#12 Post by usul »

I agree this isn't a game per se. If it was you would have to achieve enlightenment, and then you would only win when every other player also wins ;)

As far as NVL mode goes, I've never experimented with it so I'm not sure what it does. I just read the page for it on the renpy wiki, but I'll have to try it out in the game to see exactly what it looks like.

Thanks for the pointers.

I've already started work on the 0.2 version, but am not expecting to release it for another month. I want people who take the time to try out the second version to have it worth their while.
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#13 Post by monele »

you would only win when every other player also wins
Here's a concept! Yesterday I played a game where you only win if no one else in the world launches the game within 4 minutes and 36 seconds of your launching it (it connects to a central web server to detect that).

As for this work proper, well... while I couldn't deal with the content (mostly the repetitions :/), I think it's rather well done. It's... slick. Nice graphics, even some eye blinking in there... a custom cursor... and a custom font (which is enough to make it look different from the basic theme). It just fits and seems polished.
It's hard to say because I'm not familiar with the source but only the text delivery seems a bit rough (the "wall of text" effect in some parts).

Good job!

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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#14 Post by usul »

While the Buddha's teaching is repetitious and I don't plan to change it. I do however plan on getting rid of the 'wall of text'. I also plan on polishing more and adding to the visual appeal of the presentation.

I don't ever expect for this project to have a wide appeal in the VN community of course, but I do think that your suggestions and contributions will benefit those who are looking to learn more about the Buddha's teachings.
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Re: Teachings of the Buddha

#15 Post by Der Tor »

:shock: wow... i didn't excpect something like this to pop up... i mean i LOVE visual Novels with moral values in them... I love them even more if they have a religious messege in them (i mean some of the old Twillight Zone episodes had that and i loved it - so why shouldn't a visual novel have it?).

But making the Sutras themselves and the teachings of Sakyamuni into a visual novel? :?

I am not sure if i should love it (as i do believe in Buddhas) or if i should roll my eyes as an expression of my finding it inappropriate :roll:

But of course i haven't checked it out yet. But now you know how i thought about it before i "played" it, so now i am gonna check it out and i am gonna come back and tell you what my thoughts are afterwards... :mrgreen:

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