RockRobin - Band Manager (Demo)

[machinist]

omfg this game is amazing can't wait for full verison

[LinWest]

I'm impressed. I haven't been impressed by any OEL visual novel... ever. And I've played quiet a few hoping to be surprised, but to no avail. The strongest thing is definitely the writing, which I believe is the most important thing a VN can have. Furthermore... ROBIN, HELL YEAH GIRL. Its nice to finally have a badass female lead, which is something japan will never do for a otome game.

I don't know how your paths work out, but of what I've seen its of high enough quality that this is something I would buy. Of course, there's only a few high quality EVN that have been made, so it might be wise to just keep this as a free game to promote visual novels as a form of gaming. To many anime fans its still foreign ground, so this could help raise interest.

But that's just my thoughts, though. Take a penny, leave a penny...

Thanks for the honest feedback! I do need more tips about what does and doesn't look good.
And I totally agree that the skin shading is too light, now that I look at it. I think I made it really light to hide the flaws. I'll go through and strengthen the skin shadows.

Your not so strong point is the sprites. They aren't as pristine as other aspects of the game. If you need help with shading I'd be willing to help, and if not me, I'm sure there'd be others willing to help out with this as well.

Oh, are you planning to have event graphics as well?

[Aleema]

I'm impressed. I haven't been impressed by any OEL visual novel... ever. And I've played quiet a few hoping to be surprised, but to no avail. The strongest thing is definitely the writing, which I believe is the most important thing a VN can have. Furthermore... ROBIN, HELL YEAH GIRL. Its nice to finally have a badass female lead, which is something japan will never do for a otome game.

Wow! How many OELVNs have you played!? Surely I'm not the only one ... And yeah for badass women! xD

I don't know how your paths work out, but of what I've seen its of high enough quality that this is something I would buy. Of course, there's only a few high quality EVN that have been made, so it might be wise to just keep this as a free game to promote visual novels as a form of gaming. To many anime fans its still foreign ground, so this could help raise interest.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, this so right. Another reason why I think stuff (my stuff) should be free. I couldn't express it earlier, but I really do think the public needs some quality VNs (whether or not I meet that standard is up to you to decide), and roping off everything that might be of that quality from younger people (and people without jobs >.>), will discourage advancing the genre in general, methinks. But thank you for saying you would have bought the game, had I made it commercial. ^^;

Your not so strong point is the sprites. They aren't as pristine as other aspects of the game. If you need help with shading I'd be willing to help, and if not me, I'm sure there'd be others willing to help out with this as well.

Oh, haha. More brutally honest feedback! I've never (ever, ever, ever) cell-shaded before, and I had the artist give me lineart to save money. I'm surprised as few people said anything about it. o_O Dallas, for one, is atrociously shaded. And shading the hair just boggles my mind. xD So if you, or anyone else, has tips for me, my ears are open. (... PMs would be best in this case, I think.)

Oh, are you planning to have event graphics as well?

Hmm, what do you mean "event" graphics? CGs to show important parts of the story? Or graphics for something else?
Because I am poor, the number of CGs will probably be limited to one per path. Sorry. I'll try to make them good ones!

[LinWest]

Wow! How many OELVNs have you played!? Surely I'm not the only one ... And yeah for badass women! xD.

Oh I've played a lot, I've worked through the ren-ai archive. There are a few cute one that are nicely made and fun to play, but none of them punch me in the gut though storywise.

Oh, are you planning to have event graphics as well?

Hmm, what do you mean "event" graphics? CGs to show important parts of the story? Or graphics for something else?
Because I am poor, the number of CGs will probably be limited to one per path. Sorry. I'll try to make them good ones![/quote]

Vocab as I know it: event graphics are pictures that take the place of the "puppet show" so to speak. They don't have to romantic scenes, but generally they pop up as you go down different paths. I understand the money matter, I was just curious since I hadn't seen any yet.

[Aleema]

Vocab as I know it: event graphics are pictures that take the place of the "puppet show" so to speak. They don't have to romantic scenes, but generally they pop up as you go down different paths. I understand the money matter, I was just curious since I hadn't seen any yet.

Yeah, you probably won't see any yet ... unless I get a job before I release the full version and pay off my debts. ;_;

I've always called them CGs, no idea why. I'd love to have one of each of the guys playing their band instruments, but ... *le sigh* Just use your imagination for now? lol.

[LinWest]

I've always called them CGs, no idea why..

CG is a non-visual novel specific term that just means any kind of computer graphic. ^^

[Alphonse]

I was expecting something awesome, but not this awesome.

1. Usually, I don't like Robin's type. But despite her roughness and selfishness, I liked her. I do not know why. She's really funny, and she does have a heart. And you don't even have to dig that deep to find it!
2. I don't know much about Dallas right now so I guess he hasn't grown on me yet. But I can't decide between Emmitt and Beaurigard. Which do I like more? They're both cool. Emmitt's band name suggestions were awesome, btw. I dislike Sterling so far, but I don't hate him. He feels a little...flat to me so far. Then again, it's only a demo.
3. I'm not the world's best art critique or anything, but I thought the sprites looked good. I liked the shading. But that could be just me. The music was nice, too, and always fitting. I'd only heard one of them before in a VN. Yay for finding songs somewhere else! That makes them feel nice and fresh.
4. Great interface. Fun system, liked it even more once I got the hang of it (which was on the second playthrough...I didn't understand it the first time. I'd thought I couldn't do a gig unless I had 6 songs. So I couldn't get the bass guitar when that was the objective.)
5. Named my band Decade Arcade (geddit? Shocker Millenium?). I usually like to go with default names, but Rocking Robin seemed a bit too self-centered, even for Robin. It didn't make much sense later when I found out Robin didn't care for video games. (I later thought up the name Hometown Heroes, thinking "Hey, that's just self-centered enough!" But apparently there's a band called Home Town Hero. Who cares? I'd never heard of them before I googled the name.) Only discovered the random band name generator on the second playthrough (which gave really cool names). Wow, I was really slow the first time around, huh?

Anyways, as a whole, that was sooo awesome. When the demo ended, I twitched. Then slammed my desk and yelled at my computer angrily, before sliding down my chair and shaking with sorrow. Cannot wait for the full version. Okay, maybe I can. But only if I stare at this thread until it's finished.

[Aleema]

2. I don't know much about Dallas right now so I guess he hasn't grown on me yet. But I can't decide between Emmitt and Beaurigard. Which do I like more? They're both cool. Emmitt's band name suggestions were awesome, btw. I dislike Sterling so far, but I don't hate him. He feels a little...flat to me so far. Then again, it's only a demo.

Yeah, they should be able to define themselves more in the story. No harem ending, though, so you'll have to pick a guy eventually. =P

The music was nice, too, and always fitting. I'd only heard one of them before in a VN. Yay for finding songs somewhere else! That makes them feel nice and fresh.

Great, thank you! (Out of interest, what was the song you heard before? lol)

4. Great interface. Fun system, liked it even more once I got the hang of it (which was on the second playthrough...I didn't understand it the first time. I'd thought I couldn't do a gig unless I had 6 songs. So I couldn't get the bass guitar when that was the objective.)

>_> Yikes, my bad. I wrote "None" for no songs, because I couldn't find a great way to say "you either played requests from the audience or covers of existing songs". Heh. I'll see if I can, hmm, force the player to do a gig to teach them how it works.

5. Named my band Decade Arcade (geddit? Shocker Millenium?). I usually like to go with default names, but Rocking Robin seemed a bit too self-centered, even for Robin. It didn't make much sense later when I found out Robin didn't care for video games.

That's an awesome band name!! And "arcade" doesn't have to imply she likes games, just that she might feel her life is like one. xD I'm not sure why the default was "Rocking Robin", I think just to play off the song pun some more.

(I later thought up the name Hometown Heroes, thinking "Hey, that's just self-centered enough!" But apparently there's a band called Home Town Hero. Who cares? I'd never heard of them before I googled the name.)

Yeah! Who cares? RockRobin is world where that band name doesn't exist, and you're super clever having thought of it.
So stop Googling your band names, people! Hehehe. xD

Only discovered the random band name generator on the second playthrough (which gave really cool names). Wow, I was really slow the first time around, huh?

You're not slow!! I'm at fault, because I didn't make it more obvious. I was even told to make the damn button bigger, but I didn't get around to it. >_> Explaining the system was almost an afterthought, and I think it shows. For the full-release, I hope the game mechanics will be easier to learn and understand. No more walls of text, hopefully.

Anyways, as a whole, that was sooo awesome. When the demo ended, I twitched. Then slammed my desk and yelled at my computer angrily, before sliding down my chair and shaking with sorrow. Cannot wait for the full version. Okay, maybe I can. But only if I stare at this thread until it's finished.

Wow, what a range of emotions! I'm so sorry! O_O

Thank you SO MUCH for playing, and more so, for liking it (and enough to play again! hehe). I'm fast at work writing it, which is the bulk of what's left to do. >_< Hopefully my writer-support-group (unknown5, IonicMomo) will feed me ideas to keep me hot with writing fever.

[chelxoxo]

I think it's nice that there's going to be a 'unique' leading character in this game. I'm intruiged as to whether her personality is how I'm imagining it to be, what with that 'cool and spicy' expression on the teaser photos ^^ (sorry, didn't know what else to call them!) This looks like a really interesting game. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

[Aleema]

I think it's nice that there's going to be a 'unique' leading character in this game. I'm intruiged as to whether her personality is how I'm imagining it to be, what with that 'cool and spicy' expression on the teaser photos ^^ (sorry, didn't know what else to call them!) This looks like a really interesting game. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Maybe you should play the demo.

[Alphonse]

(Out of interest, what was the song you heard before? lol)

Cold Funk by Kevin Macleod, and heard it in Lucky Rabbit Reflex's demo...and in some random advertisement on Jamaican television for a kids' soccer team or something. o_o;

[Aleema]

(Out of interest, what was the song you heard before? lol)

Cold Funk by Kevin Macleod, and heard it in Lucky Rabbit Reflex's demo...and in some random advertisement on Jamaican television for a kids' soccer team or something. o_o;

Figures, the only Kevin MacLeod song I use. Thanks!
If it's in Lucky Rabbit Reflex, I'll let her have it (she probably had it first, too). I think everyone likes "Gonna Make It" better anyway.

[chelxoxo]

I'm playing the demo... and so far I've laughed, cried and nearly thrown the laptop out of the window. The writing is so... personal. You convey Robin's feelings so well. That scene with Dallas and the car had me bawling my eyes out! I mean, I was expecting something amazing from the originality of it, but... I mean... wow. I don't know how much more praise I can give that cuts it, but... To summarise:
I. Want. This. Game.

O.O

[azureXtwilight]

I. Want. This. Game.

O.O

Me too!

*cheering Aleema on*

[Aleema]

I'm playing the demo... and so far I've laughed, cried and nearly thrown the laptop out of the window. The writing is so... personal. You convey Robin's feelings so well. That scene with Dallas and the car had me bawling my eyes out! I mean, I was expecting something amazing from the originality of it, but... I mean... wow. I don't know how much more praise I can give that cuts it, but... To summarise:
I. Want. This. Game.

Waaah. You're too sweet. <3 It's an amazing feeling when something you write can touch someone. So thank you for sharing that with me. And ... you. may. have. the. game. (whenit'sreleased) xD

Me too!

*cheering Aleema on*

I wrote 5,000 words today and fixed up a mini-game. ^^ I'm feeling productive.