furry detective vn! (mystery, furry)

[Nay]

SO I am a big fan of VNs with an element of mystery like the When They Cry series, 9 doors 9 persons 9 hours, and Banshee's last cry. I like mystery novels like Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes and want to make a mystery novel like these, except the characters would be furries since that's what I'm best at drawing.

I've already got a tentative detective design:



Tentatively naming her Clara, she's a detective/ spiritual person in a world where reincarnation is the biggest religious belief. In order to aid spirits that may be lingering before going to their next life cycle, she finds out the truth behind unsolved murder cases. So her motivation for solving crimes is mostly spiritual.

Would anyone have interest in this idea? ^^

[fleet]

I think it's a novel idea, and while I can't draw, I like your art.
While I don't care for furries, I like detective stories. Don't worry about whether anyone has 'interest' in your idea, go ahead and make it. Some people will read it, some won't. I hope you have fun making your visual novel.

[Zelan]

Clara looks like a sweetheart. I think it's cool that your protagonist has a different motivation for solving problems - a lot of detective stories have more jaded, cynical protagonists. This looks like it could be a really nice change of piece. c:

[Nay]

Thanks guys! ^^ That makes me happy to hear. I'm going to try working on it!

All I need now is to write a compelling mystery. Which is of course the most difficult part. Hm...

[afternath]

She's totally a cutie, I'd check it out for sure!

[Zelan]

Thanks guys! ^^ That makes me happy to hear. I'm going to try working on it!

All I need now is to write a compelling mystery. Which is of course the most difficult part. Hm...

I'm by no means an experienced writer, but the advice I typically hear is to make it so that everyone (or at least, more than one person) has the possible motivation and ability to commit the crime. That way, it's not too obvious who the culprit is. c:

[Nay]

I'm by no means an experienced writer, but the advice I typically hear is to make it so that everyone (or at least, more than one person) has the possible motivation and ability to commit the crime. That way, it's not too obvious who the culprit is. c:

very true, it's always good to have lots of suspects o:
If anyone is familiar with Murder on the Orient Express, that one is a pretty awesome example of that sort of thing! thanks for the advice <:

She's totally a cutie, I'd check it out for sure!

thanks so much!!

[Nay]

this past week I've been doing a lot of worldbuilding and brainstorming and it's been super fun! I've come up with a rival for Clara here, her name is Missel:



and drawn some pictures just to get the feel of the characters & story that I want to tell.





(2nd one is kind of a CG test...?)

Since reincarnation is such a cardinal belief in this world, all life is considered really important and respectable. Every person you meet might have the soul of a (previously) great person, so everyone is generally very respectful of each other as well as polite. Things like 'soulmates' and 'fate' carry a heavy weight. But there's also a belief that souls can only reincarnate if they're at peace, ie/ not murdered and not regretful. Thus, murderers are considered the lowest of the low, absolute scum. Taboo in not just a practical sense but in a very societal and spiritual way. Murderers become pariahs pretty much forever and have little to no chance of redemption in this society.

Detectives are considered the angels who can solve a case and return peace to an unfairly murdered soul. They have celebrity status in this world and are really revered. If you are good at solving cases, you're very very popular. Clara, our protagonist, is a detective who believes in the truth as an instrument to bring both the murderer and the victim to justice. She finds it difficult to gain popularity because - sadly - her mother was a murderer, and she's still stigmatized because of this. She solves cases with and against her rival, Missel, who is one of the top detectives of that particular region.

So far the plot/setting are reminding me a lot of Ace Attorney, and I didn't intend it to become that way, but do often get influenced by inspirations even without me knowing it and it gets into my work. Any tips as to how I can change the plot to be less similar to AA and/or thoughts about the setting so far?

[Zelan]

Your art style is really gorgeous! I love the CG test.

I like the worldbuilding, too! I don't know enough about Ace Attorney to give you any suggestions, but I like the societal ideals that you have listed. c:

[Nay]

Your art style is really gorgeous! I love the CG test.

I like the worldbuilding, too! I don't know enough about Ace Attorney to give you any suggestions, but I like the societal ideals that you have listed. c:

Hehe, thanks so much. That really gives me encouragement to continue working on it!

Hopefully I'll be back with a more concrete plot skeleton. ^^

[afternath]

Unfortunately I don't know anything about AA so I can't give advice there, but I find the lore real interesting so far! I think you've got something solid here.

[arachni42]

That is some very cute artwork! So adorbs. I like the idea of the world, too; it seems compelling so far. I don't know the plot of AA either, but being influenced by things isn't bad as long as you do it your own way.

My personal approach at this stage is to brainstorm a lot of possible ideas about the world, the characters, and the plot. This is to avoid any risk of getting stuck on just the first idea I think of. (Any first ideas that were good, will still be good in comparison to other brainstormed ideas. But sometimes you come up with something even better.) If I'm not generating enough ideas, I generate questions, like what kind of background the main character has. (Her mother was a murderer is a good answer, for example, that has interesting implications for the kind of person she might be.) Good luck!

[Horma]

Hi!

I like the idea. Are you going to have the species affect the personality of the characters? Also, you could have moments where Clara starts doubting her beliefs (without making the game into a statement about religion, of course).

[Nay]

Unfortunately I don't know anything about AA so I can't give advice there, but I find the lore real interesting so far! I think you've got something solid here.

Thank you so much ^^ That means a lot, I want to make the world believable so I'm glad the lore seems solid!

That is some very cute artwork! So adorbs. I like the idea of the world, too; it seems compelling so far. I don't know the plot of AA either, but being influenced by things isn't bad as long as you do it your own way.

My personal approach at this stage is to brainstorm a lot of possible ideas about the world, the characters, and the plot. This is to avoid any risk of getting stuck on just the first idea I think of. (Any first ideas that were good, will still be good in comparison to other brainstormed ideas. But sometimes you come up with something even better.) If I'm not generating enough ideas, I generate questions, like what kind of background the main character has. (Her mother was a murderer is a good answer, for example, that has interesting implications for the kind of person she might be.) Good luck!

Thank you, I'd been low-key worried that my artwork would be offputting But I'm glad people find it cute.

That's a good approach! I sometimes try too hard to stick to the first idea I have and it doesn't turn out well. Thank you for the tip, I'll definitely be regurgitating a few more ideas and questions before I work on the VN. I'll be taking it slow with this one, as I really do like the premise and want it to be less rushed than perhaps a NaNo would be. ^^

Hi!

I like the idea. Are you going to have the species affect the personality of the characters? Also, you could have moments where Clara starts doubting her beliefs (without making the game into a statement about religion, of course).

That's a good thought, I'd been mostly leaning towards making discrimination and differences almost nonexistent in the world. But in an animal-based society, with lots of species, I guess it might be hard to avoid. I also wonder if making the world so blank in terms of differences would take away from the story or make it less complex. I'd been thinking that maybe the people of this world categorize each other based on individual physical attributes, like "short tail" or "long ear" depending on the individual and not the species. I'll have to think about it a little more~
As for religious beliefs, I've been toying with the idea that Clara herself is more atheistic than the rest of the society, since she has firsthand experienced the negative aspects of the religion (being stigmatized as a murderer's daughter). ^^


I'm putting this idea away for March while I work on NaNo, but I will still be thinking about it & be back to working on it soon.

[Zelan]

Thank you, I'd been low-key worried that my artwork would be offputting But I'm glad people find it cute.

gOD your art is the cutest thing I've ever seen!! I like seeing updates to this thread because it gives me an excuse to come back and look again. cx