'autumn' [English version]

[Nya-chan Production]

After some half a year, it gets out in English as well. Big props to my proofreaders!

'autumn' by Astra9
(written and almost completely made by Nya-chan Production)

Title screen

Meet our hero, Takkun. He's just moved into the middle of nowhere. It's early autumn, and he goes out on a friday. He has yet to know that this weekend might change his life forever.

Actual game - don't worry, the text is translated now ^^

'autumn' (the title has small 'a' intentionally) is a typical VN story. It uses high quality unaltered photos as a non-perspective BG (it should be only helping the player grasp where the story takes place and more than being accurate to the sprite, it should go with the feel and main colour theme - and possibly please player's eyes) and is highly customized - it's pretty much unrecognizable that it was made in Ren'Py (of course, if you know typical layout of the Preferences and stuff, you'll prolly recognize it anyways ;+).
The story feels light-hearted in the start, but over time gets more dramatic no matter which way you choose - life is about drama anyways. Sometimes the drama comes fairly abruptly, but what can one write in 14 days~
The game itself is not voiced (1 - I don't have equipment for that, 2 - I am strictly against non-Japanese voicing (I just like Japanese voicing that much), but has some sounds and includes music.

These are intentionally left hidden, as they are in game. If you want to see them before downloading, PM or e-mail me ;x

In the story, you meet three girls, each with three endings and many smaller lines along the way which may be altered by your previous meetings and choices (it was hell to remember it all, believe me, since I didn't go for the standard "you get on her route - you get her endings" way - well, at least not untill the later parts of the game - but instead tried to make it more... interesting). Which girls you meet and which endings you get is up to you, though I tried to put some slight hints in the texts, so it shouldn't be THAT hard to get a good end.
If you are familiar with the community, you might notice that I used Deji's sprites - seriously, they were awesome to work with, easy to alter (I traced some new clothing :> ) and I tried to explain the simmilarity between the girls as well. The main theme and story of the game was based on these sprites and their easy customization after my character graphic dropped and I had been left with 18 days till deadline. So in this case, I'd say it's not sprites fitting to the story - it's the story fitting to the sprites ;D

Also, official pages.

[JinzouTamashii]

So..... this is in English now? [/edit]Nevermind, I found the SendSpace link. I'll try to give an honest critique if I find time to finish this.

2 - I am strictly against non-Japanese voicing (I just like Japanese voicing that much),

Wow... I'm speechless.

[JinzouTamashii]

I was actually unable get the zip from SendSpace. It either throttled the connection or killed the download... thirty minutes later, it told me the podzim zip file was corrupted when I tried to unarchive it when the download said finished. I'm going to try Rapidshare (which is a massive pain in the ass), but can you put it up on Mediafire or Dropbox or host it on your webspace?

Non-game rambling because I'm downloading it again:

I was wondering why that sentiment bothers me so much and I think I pinned it down. Are you Japanese or do you know it fluently or enough to be greatly familiar with it? Is the game set in Japan? If no, then the only voice-acting that would fit the Czech one would be Czech voice-actors and I think it would be very nice to also keep the Czech ones for the English version.

Because if you don't really know Japanese or haven't been to Japan and you just think it sounds better because of an anime convention or in subs... I have news for you... this is a phenomena called "the Other" and can be summed up with "the grass is greener." The Other is exotic, to be feared, to be desired, but it's always different... until you understand it.

Smetimes the voice-acting is really awful if you know Japanese, much of the time they're either over-acting or flat or spouting some very trite dialogue. I don't know why but sometimes the subs vs. dub people only thinks it sounds nice because they can't really understand what they're saying and how it's being said... even the fan-loved 釘宮 理恵 (maybe especially Kugimiya Rie) has gone so far as to turn her recent roles into jokes with the way she acts. And movies like Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away and Ponyo in English, as released by Disney, easily prove that with enough of a budget for casting voice actors, the results can still be convincing and amazing even though it's not Japanese Now, I'm only talking about the delivery of the lines and not the translation... I actually prefer Chihiro and Haku in Spirited Away's English track!

I'm just saying, don't think that it sounds nice because it's in a language you don't understand completely or even partly. That's just wrong. I think that Russian and French sound really cool, but I have no clue what they're saying. And a lot of the subbing/Japanese voice-acting's group is based on elitism, but if the game were anime and originally written in English, unless it's the Japanese version, the dialogue should be in English. I understand a lot more in Japanese than I can say because I don't get much of a chance to practice it but I know enough to notice when they're acting really poorly in anime. I've actually seen fans who don't know a drop of Japanese sit there and defend the dialogue of the original, even when it was terrible! When they don't know Japanese!

Even if it is set in Japan, if you're writing it in Czech or English, that's what the voice-acting should be what it was originally. If Czech is your mother tongue or the one you're most naturalized as, you should go with that.

[Nya-chan Production]

I am trying the services you mentioned. I just have trouble with stuff there, sometimes, so I'll see how it goes.

Mmm... MediaFire has trouble with my Flash absence, DropBox won't install, FTP won't go through proxy... school connection sucks, I'll make sure to add some of those later, sorry ><

As for the voicing - yes, I just like Japanese voicing that much, it seems to me that it suits VNs (even more, as it's set in Japan, though it's only hinted) more - and I can understand Japanese a little (learning) and I understand your concern (I have some English dubs I like more than Japanese as well, though I have to admit I dislike Disney dubs). But for me, I am afraid that I just won't/can't accept other voicing than Japanese for a VN...

[Victoria]

At first I couldn't download it, it worked after... 4 times I think?
Maybe you should try to upload it on Megaupload? I mean, that's my favourite upload-site for everything, and it's almost unlimited (I mean, I used to download files that were like... 1 gb each? And speed can mostly be around 400 kb/sec. for downloading). Just suggestion, of course =D
When I play it through, I'll tell what I think about it =)

[JinzouTamashii]

I'm a little puzzled as to why the game wasn't uploaded to the forums. Too big?

[gekiganwing]

My thoughts on Autumn are quite positive. Thank you very much, Nya-chan Production. Let me go through my thoughts, one by one.

1. I really enjoyed the outdoor scenes. Maybe that's just me -- I enjoy getting outside when it's possible... and in fiction, I prefer spacious, natural settings to indoor settings.

Your story seems to take place in relatively rural Japan. The main character used to live in a city... but how long would it take him to reach a major city? I'm curious.

I was fascinated by the scene where he was able to take a train from his family's house to a festival. I'm not sure exactly how plausible that would be in rural Japan. But I know that in other nations, it's difficult to find a commuter train outside major cities.

The story was slow (it didn't seem like it was happening over only three days), and really calm. Sure, it wasn't plot-heavy, but I'm glad you included epilogues for each ending. And I wouldn't mind learning even more about what might happen to these characters.

2. Deji, your character designs were *seriously* moe. And I mean that in a good way. I wouldn't mind a compilation of the character art and background art -- a gallery? A CG set? Because I liked the designs so much, I browsed your blog and portfolio sites for a little while. Okay, I admit I'm kind of a fan of http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... ourMidriff style fanservice...

3. Lots of color motifs. Aka = red. Midori = green. ...So I guess Yukine is somewhat associated with the color blue. If the hero takes an interest in a girl, the text box changes color. That's a nice touch.

4. The overall mood is mellow and contemplative without being depressing. Congratulations for achieving that balance.

I hate to admit it, but some of the comedy moments didn't quite work. For instance, why does the main character know the lyrics to an Arrogant Worms song?

5. At one point in Midori's story, the main character drinks water while walking through the wilderness. This is quite dangerous in real life. Here's a Wikipedia article on why potable water is crucial: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_water

There was an implied skinny dipping scene as well. It's not quite as dangerous as drinking water from a stream. But here's an article from the UK that explains some potential hazards: skinnydipper.co.uk/safety/safety.html I didn't make that a hyperlink, because the images may not be worksafe.

In summary, I'm really impressed by Autumn. It appealed to my interests: cute characters, nice pacing, and just enough fanservice.

It sounds like you're now trying to create a more philosophical visual novel. I'll be looking forward to it.

[Nya-chan Production]

My thoughts on Autumn are quite positive. Thank you very much, Nya-chan Production. Let me go through my thoughts, one by one.

1. I really enjoyed the outdoor scenes. Maybe that's just me -- I enjoy getting outside when it's possible... and in fiction, I prefer spacious, natural settings to indoor settings.

Your story seems to take place in relatively rural Japan. The main character used to live in a city... but how long would it take him to reach a major city? I'm curious.

I was fascinated by the scene where he was able to take a train from his family's house to a festival. I'm not sure exactly how plausible that would be in rural Japan. But I know that in other nations, it's difficult to find a commuter train outside major cities.

The story was slow (it didn't seem like it was happening over only three days), and really calm. Sure, it wasn't plot-heavy, but I'm glad you included epilogues for each ending. And I wouldn't mind learning even more about what might happen to these characters.

2. Deji, your character designs were *seriously* moe. And I mean that in a good way. I wouldn't mind a compilation of the character art and background art -- a gallery? A CG set? Because I liked the designs so much, I browsed your blog and portfolio sites for a little while. Okay, I admit I'm kind of a fan of http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/M ... ourMidriff style fanservice...

3. Lots of color motifs. Aka = red. Midori = green. ...So I guess Yukine is somewhat associated with the color blue. If the hero takes an interest in a girl, the text box changes color. That's a nice touch.

4. The overall mood is mellow and contemplative without being depressing. Congratulations for achieving that balance.

I hate to admit it, but some of the comedy moments didn't quite work. For instance, why does the main character know the lyrics to an Arrogant Worms song?

5. At one point in Midori's story, the main character drinks water while walking through the wilderness. This is quite dangerous in real life. Here's a Wikipedia article on why potable water is crucial: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinking_water

There was an implied skinny dipping scene as well. It's not quite as dangerous as drinking water from a stream. But here's an article from the UK that explains some potential hazards: skinnydipper.co.uk/safety/safety.html I didn't make that a hyperlink, because the images may not be worksafe.

In summary, I'm really impressed by Autumn. It appealed to my interests: cute characters, nice pacing, and just enough fanservice.

It sounds like you're now trying to create a more philosophical visual novel. I'll be looking forward to it.

Thanks for your (nice) feedback... now let's take it apart! XD

1. I enjoy that too ^^ As for your question - I supposeit would take him/them about two hours by train, and it wouldn't be any of the Tokkaido conglomeration.

I wouldn't mind learning what happened after as well, or, actually, I have thought about it quite a few times. If anyone wants to write sequel/fan story, i am opened to chitchatting and stuff. Might even write some side story myself, in time (Winter? XD)

2. I am sure Deji is glad :> So am I, I spent really some time tweaking those out ^^

3. Yukine's original name should've been - yes - Aoi. But it sounded weird to me and so I changed it to Yukine, which has something to do with winter, which is fitting for blue.

4. Mellow is my second name \o/
The lyrics - it's just a personal pun for fellow AMV editors :>

5. Here (Czech), and probably in Japan as well, most of the water is safe and drinkable and it's not a problem to drink from streams and such, it's because the countries are high, rocky and so the streams keep autocleaning, as opposed to flat countries like US or Australia. But taken into account :>

Once again thanks for the feedback and I am glad you liked the game and I will try to make the next one at least as good as this one ^^

EDIT: Also, take note that we are currently working on DDL \o/

[gekiganwing]

If anyone wants to write sequel/fan story, i am opened to chitchatting and stuff. Might even write some side story myself, in time (Winter? XD)

Intriguing... Let me think about this.

I suppose the first question is, will Takkun be in the countryside during winter? And the second question: would you want to continue from places where storylines ended, or consider some other options?

5. Here (Czech), and probably in Japan as well, most of the water is safe and drinkable and it's not a problem to drink from streams and such, it's because the countries are high, rocky and so the streams keep autocleaning, as opposed to flat countries like US or Australia.

I did a few seconds of research, and confirmed what I'd learned through geography classes -- the Czech Republic's terrain is primarily hilly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geography_ ... h_Republic But I didn't know that rural streams there, or in Japan, might have water that would be drinkable without the need to filter or boil it. (Here's a link that seems related to my search for 'japan water potability': http://web-japan.org/trends/lifestyle/lif030509.html )

W'pedia's entry for Australia geography says the content is overall rather flat... but there certainly are mountains. I live in a flat section of the US, but I have traveled to mountainous regions in the west.

That said, thanks for the reply.

[Nya-chan Production]

If anyone wants to write sequel/fan story, i am opened to chitchatting and stuff. Might even write some side story myself, in time (Winter? XD)

Intriguing... Let me think about this.

I suppose the first question is, will Takkun be in the countryside during winter? And the second question: would you want to continue from places where storylines ended, or consider some other options?

He will stay in the vicinity no matter what scenario.
And actually... pretty much both :>

[carosene]

I thought this was a fun little game! I enjoyed it very much! Thanks for making it!
I loved the photo backgrounds, they were really beautiful. And Takkun's tone was pretty good, I like your sense of humor. XD The Canada song reference was amazing. I couldn't believe that you did that. XD
I got all the endings... yes! X3

[LVUER]

I've just finished it and it's a good game.
One of the few RenPy games that long enough to be finished in one run and made me eager to play it again ^_^

Beautiful BG, nice arts, and good story (though the story is somewhat typical? but it still good anyway so I don't really care). I read all the text (I try all possible path and choice, took me quite long)

There are some typo, but only one or two and only minor ones. But I think there is an error/bug. In bonus section (in gallery mode), there is writing about showing sketched used in the game, but I can't see any of it.

[Nya-chan Production]

Thanks a lot to both of you ^^

I'll try to check the sketches again. They were added rather hastily and should work... mmm, weird.

[Lazy risingdreams]

I wish I could download it, the game sounds good, unfortunately there aren't free slots for free download.

[Victoria]

Sorry I haven't commented this earlier.
I really liked the colours and pictures. And characters have personality and differences. One thing I wanted to ask:

Are these three girls sisters? Because in Aka's story, she said she was one of the tripplets I think. If they are, it's a little bit weird that they don't mention each other (except Aka in one point) at all. If they are, it would be even more weird they don't mention anything because one sister is dying, one is called a murderer and the third jumps in front of train.