[SciFi|Adventure|Christmas Release!] Adrift

[sake-bento]

The character designs are interesting, especially since those aren't their "true" colors. I wonder what Sachiko was up to that would cause her to need an outfit like that.

[Taleweaver]

The character designs are interesting, especially since those aren't their "true" colors. I wonder what Sachiko was up to that would cause her to need an outfit like that.

Actually, I would have almost decided for Sachiko to wear those colors. However, they looked to formal, in retrospect, so I went for something more... unusual.

By the way, the same thing that's always happening when I'm writing VNs is happening again: I could use about three times the amount of artwork I told my artists they would need to make, and I always seem to notice that fact half-way through the script...

Ah well. In the next production I'll be a part of, someone else with have to worry about what pieces of artwork to provide

[Taleweaver]

Wow, is it that time of the week again? I hope you didn't miss me too much because this is what I've been doing:

The game contains 4,402 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 49,368 words,
for an average of 11.2 words per screen.
The game contains 37 menus.

That's right, I finished Minako's Act 2. Next week I'll begin with the last Act 2 part (Erika's), and then all that's missing is the big finale, or rather, the big finales.

No, I'm not going to force you to look at my impressive decision tree today. Instead, I'd like to take a minute to talk about inspiration.

My main inspirations for writing SciFi are Arthur C. Clarke ("Any sufficiently advanced technology is undistinguishable from magic"), Isaac Asimov ("The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom") and Star Trek: The Next Generation (too many spiffy quotes to decide for one, though my personal motto is probably "Make it so"). Clarke taught me the value of good research, Asimov taught me the value of considering all possible consequences of a plot and Star Trek taught me that the best stories are those that revolve around people, not machines. While a few of their other ideas also appear in my stories (ADRIFT will mention Asimov's Laws of Robotics, for instance), I usually try hard to find original plots. Only rarely do I take complete ideas and make them a part of one of my plots.

ADRIFT is one of these rare cases where I did. The main idea (protagonist can only interact with the outside world through the help of robots) comes directly from an old Infocom game called Suspended. In latter game, the protagonist is essentially the brain of Earth, in a future where supercomputers control every aspect of life, including weather. When an earthquake causes the computers to malfunction, the protagonist only has a short time to somehow fix the problem before planes fall from the sky, massive storms sweep away cities and entire harvests die from lack of water. Unfortunately, our poor hero lies in suspended animation (thus the title) and can only interact with the world by controlling several different robots...

Yup, that's very close to how ADRIFT begins, and intentionally so - I don't think most people here would play a 1983 text adventure today, and I wanted you to get an idea of how cool that concept in itself was. What you may also have noticed in the original plot is the absence of beautiful women to interact with, one fatal flaw I immediately intended to correct when I started with my concept...

The title "adrift", by the way, is a double pun. First of all, as a tip of the hat to Suspended, it describes the physical situation of the protagonist of the game - he's adrift in a large sensory deprivation tank. But it also shares the name of this Interactive Fiction toolkit, which I only considered appropriate as yesterday's text adventures live today as interactive fiction.

Well, that was some longer rant again; I hope you stayed with me to the end. Maybe I'll be able to show you a little more from the game's art next time. Thanks, and have a nice Sunday!

[Taleweaver]

Oof.

The game contains 5,008 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 57,022 words,
for an average of 11.4 words per screen.
The game contains 40 menus.

You know what that means? Act 2 is almost complete - just short some 3,000 words, which I will be able to complete next week. No update yet on Erika's art, I'm afraid; however, I have something else for you:

From the opening sequence

Yup. This is one screenshot from the title sequence. We actually made us a fully animated intro (well, Ren'Py-animated, that is), and combined with our spiffy intro music and a great voice acting job by a mystery LSF member, it will put you right in the mood for the game.

In other news, I sometimes giggle at my own writing:

"I need a network signal amplifier, a programmable positronic console, two network control chips type 121.a, two resistors type chi, two PosImpulse modules grade F and a cup of tea. Sencha will do fine."

Can you guess whose line this is in the game?

[Taleweaver]

Early update this time, but I just had to show you this very cute doodle mangakaluna did:

Hinami with a very good question

It's also some sort of spoiler about the plot... or is it?

[Taleweaver]

Actually, I wanted to keep this for the weekend, but as I can't wait...

The lineup

Here's all of our girls in their fully glory, exactly as they are going to appear in the game! Kudos to mangakaluna; I think she did a splendid job!

Also, act 2 complete! I can't stress the importance of that enough; two thirds of the script are now finished, and I'm very confident I can release the game until the end of this summer. I've also decided on the music now, and if you're curious, here's the "intro theme".

Oof. Two more months. Wish me luck, and this game is going to be a blast!

[teacup]

This is a really interesting plot.
I hope you can release it as soon as you're planning, because I am eager to play (Hinami and Erika look adorable!)

[Camille]

Reading through this thread for the first time~ I love the premise of it (underwater settings are always tempting to me) and the girls all look so pretty! *__* Good luck finishing the last part of the script~ I'll be stalking this thread for the next two months. xD

[Mihel]

This is relevant to my interests - as it seems all your work is, Taleweaver. Of course, I do have to ask where the music is coming from

[Taleweaver]

This is relevant to my interests - as it seems all your work is, Taleweaver. Of course, I do have to ask where the music is coming from

Not from you... this time. I've pretty much decided to use CreativeCommons-licensed music for Adrift, and I think I've found really talented people with Celestial Aeon Project. Of course, if you volunteered to create an OST for Adrift within the next two monts, containing eleven unique tunes, I might change that decision... you know I love your music, Mihel.

Reading through this thread for the first time~ I love the premise of it (underwater settings are always tempting to me) and the girls all look so pretty! *__* Good luck finishing the last part of the script~ I'll be stalking this thread for the next two months. xD

It's good to hear that there are a few sci-fi lovers in this forum aside from me (and carosene ^_^), and the credit for the girls goes entirely to mangakaluna who did a great job giving our four stars memorable and unique appearances. mangakaluna even gave me the choice of several color schematics for each of them, and when I wasn't entirely satisfied with either, she had no qualms customizing them. With artists of this talent and dedication, it's a pleasure to work at a project.

[RemnantDream]

Yaay ^^ I'm glad this is coming along. I loved testing it and can't wait for the full game to be released.
The characters look soo good. Sachiko is still by favorite though. I never thought Erika would have blue hair but it looks really good on her.
The intro theme is so pretty *~*

"I need a network signal amplifier, a programmable positronic console, two network control chips type 121.a, two resistors type chi, two PosImpulse modules grade F and a cup of tea. Sencha will do fine."

Can you guess whose line this is in the game?

Sounds like something Sachiko would say...maybe..?

[Taleweaver]

The characters look soo good. Sachiko is still by favorite though. I never thought Erika would have blue hair but it looks really good on her.

I was hoping that each of the girls would appeal to a different kind of person, and seeing that some people apparently like Hinami and Erika and you like Sachiko, now all I need is fan for poor Minako and I'm happy.

About Erika's hair color: I've tried to stick to anime "rules" and gave the girls appropriate colors for their personalities. Blue-haired girls in anime are usually calm and quiet, red-haired ones lively and aggressive, white denotes innocence and purity and black... well, the opposite of that

The intro theme is so pretty *~*

Yeah, Celestial Aeon Project have a nice selection of beautiful tunes on Jamendo, many of them very suitable as background music, some very cinematic too. They're probably not as cool as a custom-made OST by Mihel would be hint, hint but a nice alternative.

Sounds like something Sachiko would say...maybe..?

Why don't I let Sachiko answer that...

Heh heh heh... do I really sound like that? I must be having a bad day.

[RemnantDream]

I was thinking either Sachiko or Minako.

[mangakaluna]

Hee <3
I'm so happy everyone is enjoying the character designs >u<
I had a lot of fun drawing them :3

[Mihel]

They're probably not as cool as a custom-made OST by Mihel would be hint, hint but a nice alternative.

Of course, if you volunteered to create an OST for Adrift within the next two monts, containing eleven unique tunes, I might change that decision...

I'm getting this really strong feeling out of nowhere that I should volunteer to do the music for this game. Isn't that odd?

I'm actually quite flattered that you'd consider taking me on at this stage, especially when you've already got other music picked out. It is sorely tempting - I've gotten a few ideas from the tidbits you've left in this thread, and I'd be more than willing to give the full soundtrack a shot. I even came up with a quick-and-dirty demo this afternoon (and this evening... and tonight...) that I can post here or PM you if you're still interested.

Also, I just have to voice my compliments to mangakaluna's artwork, as it is really quite excellent. I can't wait to see the full-resolution game.