collective - a psychological thriller/mystery/rpg

[Victoria Jennings]

How many sprites do you plan on having...? I was thinking if I have time I might be able to help digitally ink and color them. If the cast is large though I know I won't have time.

That's awesome of you to offer, but I'm not doing the art for my game.

I am doing the art for another game, though, so if you're still willing to help out with lineart + coloring, you could talk to Weer (weer432) about it! 0:

[FatUnicornGames]

Perhaps. I still don't know too much about his project. Maybe when he has a bit more done.

Edit: Who is drawing for your project?

[Victoria Jennings]

Who is drawing for your project?

Fungii. I love her style so much, agh. x'D

[FatUnicornGames]

Who is drawing for your project?

Fungii. I love her style so much, agh. x'D

I haven't seen it...do you have a link?

[Victoria Jennings]

Here and here.

[Sapphi]

Thank you very much. I think I really needed your comments before I got in way over my head.

^ mfw my comments were actually helpful

I'm kind of curious as to why "a red flag always goes up" (hurr hurr *shot*) seeing as there are plenty of stories out there (and not just VNs, but movies, video games, shows, etc.) that do a fine job of integrating romance into a non-romance-oriented plot.

Well, a visual novel is a little different from a film or other linear story. You're playing with a certain goal in mind, not just passively observing. "Can I get the girl?" or "Can I solve the mystery in time?" or "Will I survive?" In this case, "Will I solve the mystery?" seems to be the question, so I'm not really interested in the answer to "Will I get the girl?". First and foremost, I'll want to find out the reason behind the suicide epidemic. Whether or not Jane Doe will go out with me is irrelevant to the overall goal. I might get annoyed (and/or Mood Whiplashed) if the game pushes me in the romance direction when what I really want to be doing is solving the mystery. If pursuing Jane Doe is essential to finding out certain clues, that is better... but at that point, it's not really about the romance, because I'm essentially using her to solve the mystery. Not that she and the MC can't have romantic interactions, of course, but they have to fall within the bounds of the story, or risk derailing it...

You said there will be a choice of love interests... How would you go about making both of those characters' "routes" still relevant to the overall goal? One might lead you in one direction, and the other in another direction...? I'm not really sure, I'm just speculating. You can feel free to disregard any/all of this, since I'm not sure my thoughts are coming across very well. XD

[FatUnicornGames]

Ah! I have seen her around. She does really good stuff. Now I'm extra excited.

[Victoria Jennings]

I might get annoyed (and/or Mood Whiplashed) if the game pushes me in the romance direction when what I really want to be doing is solving the mystery. If pursuing Jane Doe is essential to finding out certain clues, that is better... but at that point, it's not really about the romance, because I'm essentially using her to solve the mystery. Not that she and the MC can't have romantic interactions, of course, but they have to fall within the bounds of the story, or risk derailing it...

You said there will be a choice of love interests... How would you go about making both of those characters' "routes" still relevant to the overall goal? One might lead you in one direction, and the other in another direction...? I'm not really sure, I'm just speculating. You can feel free to disregard any/all of this, since I'm not sure my thoughts are coming across very well. XD

Yes, I understand what you mean. Romantic situations do arise, of course, but I'm planning on making them as unintrusive (some words should be words, hnngh) as possible. For example, one opportunity to advance your relationship a few points involves a timed choice on a bus, where you can choose to grab on to Grant or Maya (if time runs out, you fall). It doesn't last very long, probably a minute at the most, depending on how quickly you read. In fact, the majority of romantic interactions occur while the investigation is commencing.

The thing is, they're all still teenagers. I don't want to turn them into miniature adults. They still have their lives, their dreams, their desires, and most of all, incredibly heightened emotions, emphasized all the more by the desperation of their situation.

So yeah, I hope I can pull it off as well as I can verbalize it. :'D

Ah! I have seen her around. She does really good stuff. Now I'm extra excited.

I know, right. ; w ; ♥♥♥

[Victoria Jennings]

Put up a sketch for Maya! ; v ; b

[chocojax]

Aww, I like Maya. So qt.
Will we ever know how Danny looks like?

Also, I think the suicide waves thing is pretty interesting. Looking forward to the future demo. :v Good luck!

[Victoria Jennings]

Will we ever know how Danny looks like?[/size]

Actually, yes, I was planning on pulling a Persona thing, where Danny's sprite shows up when you have to make choices. First, I have to decide what he looks like though. I was thinking of putting it to a vote. U:

[Victoria Jennings]

OK, I put a survey up! Looking forward to going through your responses once I get back from vacation.

[chocojax]

Answered it. Enjoy your vacation. (:

[Victoria Jennings]

Back from vacation! I've put up some more sketches on the dA, and one in the main post. I'm gonna give the survey one more day, and then I'll discuss Danny's appearance with Fungii. Hopefully, I shall also have some screenies up soon, so there's that to look forward to as well.

Awesomely enough, going on vacation really helped jump-start my brain into writing mode. I ended up with access to computers, but it wasn't always easy or convenient to use them, so I spent a lot of time fleshing out the overarching plot, as well as developing a few of the characters. I'm a lot more focused than I was when I left. C:

And off I go to relax a bit. I':

[ludeshka]

This sounds great actually. I really like Fungii's work, I bet the art will look great when it's finished. (Hint: SHOW MORE OF IT!)
It'll be very nice to see updates on this.