Controlled Chaos; or, Second Origins (demo up to Ch 8)

[Watercolorheart]

Voice acting! OMG. Whose voices, or do they prefer to remain anonymous?

I haven't gotten a chance to go through this latest file, though, but from what I've seen so far its coming along very smoothly!

Keep up the good work.

Well, for the other 2/3 people that I *know for sure* will be doing this project, I'm still making individual scripts.

Like, you know, just text dumping the game and copying and pasting their lines out of context ..... and adding a short little note about the emotion involved like, "sad" or "angry" or whatever.

Now, who do you think I could get to play Laura on extremely short notice?

... Me. ^_^;;

I really do sound young for my age, I can sound even younger when I try. D: .... but to acheive that, I recorded ALL of her dialogue in one go on one sound file that was like 10 minutes long with all kinds of retakes.

[monele]

I'd suggest using a less flashy color for links in the final version ^^.
And about the definitions themselves : sometimes I felt even more confused after reading them ^^;. Given they're rather complex topics, it's understandable though ^^;

I felt that way writing them. . Maybe I need someone to help me write definitions, are you by any chance volunteering yourself? ^_^

Problem is : I'm really not a thorough science person ^^;... so defining would be hard... but defining things in *english* ??... Oy ^^;. The thing is, it just made me realize it might be better to just let these things be. It's true that you either need to know what it is already, or just let it pass. Most things are not mandatory to understand the story. Only the phasic thing was, and you explained it in the regular flow of the story.

[DaFool]

Liner notes are good for cultural context stuff.

But for hard science, well, the type of people playing visual novels tend to be dorks anyway, and if people don't understand anyway, they'll learn through context or wikipedia.

Still, your on-screen definitions are cool just for the heck of it.

[Watercolorheart]

I was going to leave them in because I always have trouble deleting something unless it really just doesn't fit.

There's really no need for the player to click them at all unless they want to, I tried to integrate little definitions in ... I felt like the only thing I sort of left out was the "wheels" reference, but oh well. But, hey, if you're like me and you really wished a couple of games had more background information (*coughAMidsummer'sDaysResonancecough*), you'll read everything in the forlorn hope that maybe you'll understand it better later on.

I even read the whole omake on that game, hoping for a more technical explanation of what kind of parallel universe it was or what was the deal with the cellphones. None was forthcoming. D:

[monele]

When is the 2nd chapter taking place ? I don't know if pictures will help know it but I just can't guess the protagonist's age ô_o;... Nor Laura's actually (voice is not an absolute indication).

"Your welcome" > "You're welcome" ^^;

Cute voice overall (and at first I thought it was for Yukina *shock* XD) but I felt a few lines were not overly.... felt/lived/meant. And actually, the fact you'd give lines out of context for other VAs scares me a bit ô_o... Is this how it's usually done for dubs ?... I mean... if there's one thing that breaks the illusion, it's when you feel that a line is independant. Especially in conversations and when you're supposed to react to something. I'm not saying I can do better, btw, just stating what I notice in games (yep, pro games ^^;...). The worst type is the "interrupting someone's speech" one... "And then I thought..." *pause* "What are you talking about ?". It's so rare to have one done well ^^;...
Ahem, anyway... maybe the best way to voice act conversations would be to actually have the two VAs conversing with each other ^^;... but that's pretty hard to do online ô_o;...
*will try to think of a possible trick for this*

Good sad/crying voice, except it goes back to neutral too fast I think. I don't think one could keep a steady voice when saying all that to the poor little girl ^^;...
Not sure what tone you intended for the whole spore/daddy explanation either... Again, very neutral. Is Laura resigned ? Is she horrified ? I'll admit I don't even grasp any particular feeling from the text at that point :/ (whereas Yukina is, understandably, very shocked)

"How should I know ? (...) *you* should ask him" <- best played lines so far ^^

[Alessio]

the fact you'd give lines out of context for other VAs scares me a bit

BCS's script is good in the way that it gives direction so as not to mislead the VA. Agreed, seeing other VAs' lines might make it easier to get into the correct mood. (In radio drama, every VA gets the same script copy, but then again this is because they have to know when it's their turn.)

It's not feasible to do a real live session with different VAs, but when all pieces are put together we still have the possibility to edit (or re-record) bits that sound a bit off. (The "interruption" example is maybe not applicable to VNs, since in a VN we will probably play the voices page by page and not continuously. But I get the point.)

A more general question: Would it make sense to use OGG-Speex files (supported since 5.4.4) instead of MP3? It would reduce the file size and at the same would be a nice first to show off Ren'Py's features. Not pushing, just wondering. (Although I would recommend to at least use OGG-Vorbis instead of MP3. Edit: No, I take that back. I have no basis for that recommendation, and licensing for non-profit use does not seem to be an issue.)

[Watercolorheart]

No, such scripts were produced from overwhelming request by VAs who had already played the game/read through the script and wanted to record their lines all in one sitting, in one file.

I lost most of my early animation attempts, but a very few of them can be found on Newgrounds ...... here they are. There are no real spoilers, I don't think, but it was a different plotline, be advised.

Laura Mitchell's intro (back when she was still called Kara) ... and back when she was the heroine. I have since switched it to her sister.
http://newgrounds.com/portal/view/196682

Like this story, the prologue started somewhere in the middle, in the present when Laura was about 12 and then backtracked into her memories. I'm doing the same thing, but with Yukina this time.

Can you hear the difference in my voice? I was about 2-3 years younger then, I believe.

[Correction: ONE spoiler]
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/212636
-Yukina was voiced here by her earliest voiceactor, the 13-year old Angel Leung, on an animation storyboard, she's the one that goes, "You can't stop me ... because I am in control now!!"
-Matthew is still being voiced by Lucien Dodge, he's the one that says "On a righteous .... etc." I'd give more details surrounding that scene, but I can't. Not yet, anyway.[/i]

[monele]

Kara's Memories animation : niiiice~ . I like how it seemed all rather static and then, whoosh, full animation . With this voice you could have done Yukina easily I think. Very sweet and childlike. Now (Laura's), it's more late teenager.

[DaFool]

BCS, you have talent.

That's pretty neat animation!

I liked the penciltests. Did you have formal art training?

I highly encourage you to finish your work (or will they all finish at the same time )

[Watercolorheart]

Um, I never had any formal training. But, I've been using Flash since I was 15.

I was considering doing animated cutscenes, like animation anime-style .... and I thought that that could be really cool, just out of the blue, you're clicking along and then BAM! an animated MPEG of some really, importal pivotal scene. I can think of two, offhand ...

[Watercolorheart]

I made lots of pictures last night.

[Watercolorheart]

More.

[Watercolorheart]

Just for you guys, a step-by-step sort of thing.

[Alessio]

Gorgeous art. And you're unbelievably productive, please keep it up! ^_^ Did you draw the room's outlines on paper and scanned that in, or did you draw it on the PC directly?

[monele]

Lovely . You're an ace with backgrounds too *_*