That said - onto my VN idea:
We Overflew The Stars is intended to be a VN inspired by some of the older; cheesy CYOA sci-fi stories of old. Softer anime-styled sci-fi (perhaps to the point of being squishy) in order to focus on the characters and the plot. Currently I plan for three viewpoint characters who the player will control in various stages through the VN (names are all placeholders right now):
- Jayce, a revolutionary pilot who retired in the wake of near-total losses among his unit during the final battle for his home world. With his last battle a success and Imperium forces having withdrawn, Jayce became a contractor and helped to rebuild his world in the wake of war. That success did not last, however; and when Imperium forces returned to Cheyk they targeted him for assassination. Forced to flee in the face of a renewed invasion he comes to discover that the real reason for the Imperium's return is far worse then simple occupation.
- Brienne, the only other survivor of Jayce's unit during the revolution on Cheyk - unlike Jayce Brienne stayed on with the rebels as their campaign extended throughout the sector. She returns to Cheyk under orders to evacuate Jayce and as much of the leadership of the Cheyk government as she can. However her true intentions are far more suspect then they first appear.
- Taegan, the Imperium agent tasked with the elimination of Jayce and other high-value targets on Cheyk. A cunning and ruthless enemy - he fights to redeem his honor in the wake of his defeat at Jayce's hands. Having long hunted Brienne and other rebels he believes his redemption in the eyes of the Imperium is at hand. But the longer his pursuit lasts the more he sees that his superiors aren't sharing everything about the real reason for their renewed interest in Cheyk. The return of forces from Earth only serving to confirm his suspicions.
Though the MC is Jayce, which of this VN's six planned endings the player receives will be heavily influenced by how they advance the relationship between these three characters. The game advances mostly through dialogue choices - with multiple paths planned to be made available to advance the characters. For example - players can customize Jayce's piloting career through dialogue choices that describe how he came to be an ace pilot and the events that led him to be the man he is.
It is important to note here that We Overflew The Stars is intended to be a freely available prologue chapter for a later commercial work. I don't have a set amount of CG and art assets yet because I haven't yet decided how far I want to extend the prologue's chapter count. But because it is a prologue to a larger commercial work I plan to give players the option to import saves from We Overflew The Stars into later works in the series (in other words; choices in WOTS will matter in subsequent games). I do not, however, have any plans to add any additional major characters as development on this project continues.
I currently lack any artwork or music assets to show here, but I will add some generic sci-fi assets in the near future to use as placeholders while I create my own assets to replace them - if I am unable to secure the assistance of an artist/musician. I am currently writing the code for the game and will update this thread when the code for the first scene of the game is in place.
In terms of actual plot - the background idea for We Overflew The Stars is deliberately generic. Retired war hero gets dragged out of his self-imposed retirement when a powerful enemy invades his home again. I am trying to breathe a little originality into that concept by playing around with the details. For example - in We Overflew The Stars the Imperium isn't a galaxy-spanning alliance of evil. In fact it is a rising power in a lawless section of Human territory way out in the boonies where central authority has broken down. The people living out there had to fend for themselves, and that larger resistance front is what Jayce left and Brienne stuck with after Cheyk's liberation. However the central government back on Earth has not turned a blind eye on the Imperium and they have their own ideas for how to solve the problem.
If any of you find this project interesting - or even if you don't - I'd like to ask you to tell me why. I've written for other gaming projects before but WOTS is my first attempt at a solo project, let alone a VN. I enjoy feedback and I'm not afraid of criticism. If any of you have development advice or find my designs a tad ambitious - feel free to speak up on that point as well. Links to any decent sci-fi sprites would also be a life saver. I'm evaluating a few I've found on LSF already but more candidates for consideration are always welcome.
Until the next update, then.