In progress: Inside/Outside (VN/KN)

[Taleweaver]

Hi everybody,

a long time ago, there was this "challenge" thread - creating unusual VNs. EsperKnight and I have now stepped forward to take one of those challenges: write a VN with no dialogue options and no "choose yer action" boxes - but still a multi-ending VN.

The catch? You play a character with a split personality, and at any time in the game you like, you can switch to the other personality, whose behavior, of course, will influence the further course of the story. That's right: there will be no dialogue options, no "choose now" situations - and you won't even have the chance to think your decisions through a lot because the game will run through like a kinetic novel - you don't have to press a button for the next line of text, it will automatically proceed. Instead, there will be a pause button - and the "personality switch" as the only control element.

At this point, I don't want to reveal much more about the plot, characters or anything else. However, EsperKnight and I need some staff to take on this task. Specifically:

- We need an artist, manga-style. However, the overall look of our characters and everything should be a little rough and unfinished, without looking silly. The tone of the story is rather serious. If you've seen the anime Kemonozume (http://www.animeacademy.com/finalrevdisplay.php?id=596), that's just perfect.
- We also need someone to do the music, and whoever is willing to do it will have full freedom over the musical content of the game. Read the script and write your music. Whatever fits the mood will be great.

If you're up to the challenge, hooray.

[Taleweaver]

Duh. One week and not a shred of interest.

Okay, let's make this a different question: Where do I _find_ artists for a VN project, if not here? I tried DeviantArt for an earlier production, but the people with sufficient skills and determination for a major project in that community aren't willing to participate in limited-audience, non-commercial productions. And no, I don't have the money to pay them.

Any ideas where - aside from the Lemmasoft community - I could look?

[Hime]

It's good that you bumped, since I somehow missed this thread before. Anyway, the concept sounds very interesting. ^^ The choose now situations tend to make some games a little too easy, so Inside/Outside sounds like it'll actually require some brains to get to the ending you want. How many personalities have you planned, by the way?

[mikey]

I would actually look everywhere - and probably start in "general" manga forums (their respective drawing/fanart sections), where drawing isn't the main focus, maybe a small (to medium) sized community - what you need, really, isn't a person who will draw for your VN, but a person who wants to participate in your project. So I would be looking for someone like that - the level of skill is almost irrelevant, as long as he has the will and you see (or believe) that he will have the commitment as well - that would be my approach. So it would be the person first and the artist in that person second.

[Cybeat]

I know how you feel. My thread is going through this, too.

[Taleweaver]

How many personalities have you planned, by the way?

Only two personalities, so that our poor EsperKnight won't die from exhaustion working at the engine. They will, however, be very distinct from one another and sufficiently unique to completely turn a development around. Plus, only one additional personality would quadruple the text size, and I'm not willing to devote that much of my time to the project.

what you need, really, isn't a person who will draw for your VN, but a person who wants to participate in your project. So I would be looking for someone like that - the level of skill is almost irrelevant, as long as he has the will and you see (or believe) that he will have the commitment as well - that would be my approach.

If skill was irrelevant, I'd contribute the artwork myself. Unfortunately, it isn't. I'm trying to evoke a certain mood with Inside/Outside, the sort of mood I also search for when I'm writing fiction. Just writing, however, means using every available means of language to draw my readers into my narrative, which I can't do in a visual novel; and frankly, if I made a visual novel without visuals, what would be the point?

Thanks for the manga community tip, however - I hadn't thought of looking for fanart so far, mostly as I have only little use for the umpteenth seifuku schoolgirl or the x-th iteration of Naruto. One can hardly dispute the determination of creators of fan art; if I can gather some interest in my project, there might be a winner.

To everybody here, however, don't let this deter you from dropping me a line if you're willing to participate in the creation of Inside/Outside. I might not have much accomplishments to claim beyond MetBlues, but I will get this here finished.

[Taleweaver]

Good news, everybody: I just got word from one potential artist who's interested and whose art looks perfectly suited to the type of story I'm trying to tell. I don't have his final okay - he wanted to know how much work it all would be - and I won't reveal his identity until he's on the team, but really - I'm positively thrilled. The best thing is, he lives in France, so we share the same timezone, which will make communication so much easier!

[renkenjutsu]

Congratulations on finding an artist! I hope he sticks with your project though Good luck! I bet it's going to be great!

[Taleweaver]

Okay, we got us an artist!

He's blakjak, from the LSF, and he'll be a wonderful lead artist for Inside/Outside. Here's three samples from his work, so that you can see what we're up for:







I think he'll be a wonderful addition to the team. Now all we need is a composer and we're all set.

[monele]

Wow... stylish! I think I like the last one the most... two tones and yet so much to see!

[blakjak]

Thank you

[renkenjutsu]

Awesome style! I like the second one more. It looks very dramatic and done with traditional medium. I do hope style #2 and #3 is used for the game They look the part that fit the game idea.

[blakjak]

thanx man, I appreciate your feedback. Well #2's line was a rough line scan, colors in photoshop, but the rough line might have given you the impression of traditionnal media. As for the styla I'll be aiming at, nothing is definitive at this point, but I think it'll be rougher in terms of colors and line something along those lines but with colors :

[Taleweaver]

Remember that we still need a composer, everybody. I'm willing to accept almost any musical style, as long as it fits into our mood. I could, for example, imagine to have some pretty hard rockin' guitar stuff, if anybody were into this kind of music, or something bombastic and orchestral, or something entirely electronic and very futuristic. Really, if any of you'd like to give it a try, feel free to introduce yourself to me.

[Taleweaver]

I've got news for you: We got us a soundtrack, and it rocks. Literally.

Listen to this.

And while you're at it, Jamendo is actually a neat place to find free music for Creative Commons License game.