The Buzz - a 30-episode visual novel podcast

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mikey
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The Buzz - a 30-episode visual novel podcast

#1 Post by mikey »

Welcome to "The Buzz", a visual novel podcast discussing the creative and artistic considerations of visual novel making, aimed at people who make VNs. In our show we don't necessarily discuss the latest news, or review visual novels, but instead we focus on more general topics that we feel any visual novel maker will come across at some point.

The Buzz's run was 30 episodes - you can check out all of them here:
https://soundcloud.com/sasquatchii
or get the podcast via RSS in your podcast app

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING!

List of Episodes:

Ep. 30 "Character Creation"
Ep. 29 "Tropes, Cliches And Archetypes"
Ep. 28 "Physical Intimacy"
Ep. 27 "Intimacy in Visual Novels"
Ep. 26 "Making VNs For A Game Jam"
Ep. 25 "Names In Your VN"
Ep. 24 "The EVN Community (with PyTom)"
Ep. 23 "Personal Growth"
Ep. 22 "How To Be A Better Visual Novel Player"
Ep. 21 "Non-VN Story Games... And Pokemon!"
Ep. 20 "How To Keep A Team Together"
Ep. 19 "Viewpoint And Tense"
Ep. 18 "Player Viewpoint vs. Character Viewpoint"
Ep. 17 "Lots to Say, So Little Time"
Ep. 16 "Unrealistic Protagonists"
Ep. 15 "Writing Q&A with Mikey & Kuiper"
Ep. 14 "Music and Audio in Your Visual Novel"
Ep. 13 "Homage or Ripoff"
Ep. 12 "Acclaim and Popularity"
Ep. 11 "How To Become A Rockatar Graphic Designer"
Ep. 10 "How To Become A Rockatar Graphic Designer"
Ep. 09 "Pigeons, Klingons, and Dinosaurs"
Ep. 08 "Loose Ends"
Ep. 07 "Time & Energy"
Ep. 06 "Genres vs. Creators"
Ep. 05 "How to Critique Others, and Receive Feedback Gracefully"
Ep. 04 "The Difference Between Critique & Criticism, and Why We Do Either"
Ep. 03 "Your Visual Novel in the Future"
Ep. 02 "Why You Should Create Visual Novels"
Ep. 01 "On Procrastination"
 
You can best contact us via Twitter @buzzvnp or leave a comment here in this topic.


--------------


Even though I (mikey) will be updating the topic now, here is the original post "What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?", started by sasquatchii:
sasquatchii wrote:I recently discovered Sound Off, a podcast created by this awesome dude JP who runs VNs Now!


A few months ago he posted a link to the show in the general discussion board, after he'd met up with some folks at AnimeFest 2014. In his podcast, he spoke with Pytom, Deji, & Ayu I think!? (Although I could be wrong on the last one) about creating visual novels & also about the visual novels they had been working on recently. After hearing that, I wanted to hear even more from VN creators, so I poured over all of the episodes he put out, listening to each one, but most of them were reviews & critiques of visual novels instead of conversations about them.


After hearing JP's podcast I hunted around for a good visual novel podcast, but wasn't able to find anything that was exclusively dedicated to visual novels. So I decided to create a podcast of my own, one that feels more like a conversation about the creative process & labor that goes towards creating visual novels, rather than one that reviews and critiques them.


What makes me uniquely qualified to talk about VNs? Honestly, I have little experience creating VNs, but I am very passionate about them & hope to finish my first visual novel soon. I also have Mikey from ATP Projects, a dedicated creator that has been at it for more than 10 years, writing & producing visual novels of his own. He thinks very deeply about things and is wise beyond his years.


So far we have one episode out about why we think more people should get into creating visual novels. We've also got one under way on procrastination, and we're planning for our next to be about what happens after you release your visual novel.


But we'd love to hear back from people on potential topics that they'd like to hear about in a visual novel podcast! I'm curious also if this is something you guys would be interested in listening to? It's possible that in the future we could bring on other creators and people in the community and talk to them as well. Right now our topics are very broad, but that might very well change over time.


Any thoughts/ideas/feedback/critique would be much appreciated!
Last edited by mikey on Tue Mar 28, 2017 6:30 am, edited 19 times in total.

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#2 Post by Duskylli »

How bout something to do with music? Something like different approaches to working with a musician or a musicians perspective on the different project they've worked on and challenges they've faced if any.

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#3 Post by Inksword »

It would be interesting to talk about the different kinds of choices available to creators as tools (meaningless, characterization, path diverging, stats affecting idk how you want to split them up but yeah) and maybe the positives and negatives of each kind and when is a good time to use them?

I think a talk about workflow for both creators doing it all, and team projects would be good. How to manage, how to divide the workload (especially multiple artists or multiple writers) and how to keep things organized. People can often drop off of long-term team projects too, so it'd probably be worth while to cover how to recover from someone leaving too.

A social media/kickstarter/marketing episode is a no-brainer I think. Could probably get some people who have run successful kickstarters and the like and ask how they did it.

An episode on copyright and how to deal with copyrighted assets and procuring your own assets safely. Legalities of hiring people for money. Maybe a commissions episode in general could be bundled in with it.

That's all I can think of for the moment >3<!

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#4 Post by mikey »

I'd add that we're also interested in specific episode feedback and additions. Maybe we forgot to mention something, or didn't get something right - let us know, and we will talk about it in the next show, before the main topic.

Our first released episode (actually Nr.2) is about why visual novels are a great format / medium, and we'd like to hear your comments / suggestions. You may also just have your own story or experience related to the topic. All of these are interesting to us.
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2014 ... pisode-02/

And thank you for your topic suggestions - we do have a few topics already planned, and these would go into consideration when we decide on the next batch.

Also, our next topic as sasquatchii said will be about visual novels and what happens to them in the future - if you have been thinking about how to keep your VNs relevant, available or playable 5, 10 or 15 years from now, we'd like to hear your thoughts. I like the idea of us trying to cover a topic as fully as possible.

Thank you!

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#5 Post by gekiganwing »

The Eroge Bus podcast has been discussing visual novels in an audio-only format since July 2011. About ninety percent of what they've discussed has been professionally translated VNs. And as their name suggests, nearly everything they have discussed has included adult content. The program itself is usually not safe for work.

That said... if you want to talk about creating visual novels, or discuss the media form, then consider these possible topics:

* Writing as a hobbyist, with no intent to make money.
* Writing as an indie game creator, with plans to sell the final product.
* Perseverance: how to keep writing even when you're bored, frustrated, or busy with real life problems.
* How to keep your group active, and deal with conflict.
* Don't get buried in the Renai.us archive: advice on creating stories that might get people interested, and hold their attention.
* Observation on originality: what do you think of the quote "If you seek novelty, then do not expect a polished experience. If you seek a polished experience, then do not expect novelty"? Does it make sense to think that a school-based love triangle comedy will be a well-refined story? Does it make sense to think that an avant-garde epistolary tale about Martians having lengthy conversations about sculpture will not be all that enjoyable?
sasquatchii wrote:After hearing that, I wanted to hear even more from VN creators, so I poured over all of the episodes he put out, listening to each one, but most of them were reviews & critiques of visual novels instead of conversations about them.
I found plenty of text-only articles on VNSNow. Then I searched it for "podcast," "sound," and also "sound off." However, I couldn't find any audio discussions other than the latest episode.
I like reviews. However, I have sometimes been frustrated by articles that are called reviews, but seem more like rants meant to convey the person's agenda. In my opinion, even some professional critics have written what I consider barely-disguised rants. For instance, there was that time in 1991 when Roger Ebert looked at Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze, and apparently saw it as a glorification of antiheroes and gang violence.

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#6 Post by sasquatchii »

Duskylli wrote:How bout something to do with music? Something like different approaches to working with a musician or a musicians perspective on the different project they've worked on and challenges they've faced if any.
Oooh, I love this idea! I was actually thinking about doing an episode on music in one way or another (there are seriously so many aspects of music + sound design + visual novels that you could talk about) I'm willing to bet Mikey has some experience in that arena, and we could always invite composers or seasoned creators on to talk about the music side of visual novels. Thanks duskylli! :)
Inksword wrote:It would be interesting to talk about the different kinds of choices available to creators as tools (meaningless, characterization, path diverging, stats affecting idk how you want to split them up but yeah) and maybe the positives and negatives of each kind and when is a good time to use them?
I think a talk about workflow for both creators doing it all, and team projects would be good. How to manage, how to divide the workload (especially multiple artists or multiple writers) and how to keep things organized. People can often drop off of long-term team projects too, so it'd probably be worth while to cover how to recover from someone leaving too.

A social media/kickstarter/marketing episode is a no-brainer I think. Could probably get some people who have run successful kickstarters and the like and ask how they did it.

An episode on copyright and how to deal with copyrighted assets and procuring your own assets safely. Legalities of hiring people for money. Maybe a commissions episode in general could be bundled in with it.

That's all I can think of for the moment >3<!
We had actually been playing with the idea of doing a workflow episode, but then decided to try to tackle lighter subjects before grappling with a workload/work flow type of episode (because we could probably do an entire series with a bunch of episodes on workflow and workload) But I can definitely see doing something like that in the near future.

And yeah, thank you for all the awesome ideas!! This is definitely some great fodder for mikey and I to chew on and mull over :D
gekiganwing wrote:The Eroge Bus podcast has been discussing visual novels in an audio-only format since July 2011.
Thank you for letting me know! I can't wait to give them a listen tomorrow :) I also appreciate the awesome ideas you've listed. I love the idea of creating episodes for both hobbyists & people looking to move into commercial territory! And I also really like the one about not getting buried in the Ren'Ai Archives (which unfortunately tends to happen sometimes).
gekiganwing wrote:I found plenty of text-only articles on VNSNow. Then I searched it for "podcast," "sound," and also "sound off." However, couldn't find any audio discussions other than the latest episode.
I couldn't find any of them on the site either, which just happened recently, so I shrugged and chalked it up to my shoddy internet. But if it's happening to other people then they might have moved their episodes to another site! I sent a tweet to JP asking what happened, and will update if he gets back to me.

Thanks again everyone for all of the awesome ideas! They have all been great so far :)
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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#7 Post by Katy133 »

I've been enjoying listening to your podcast, sasquatchii, and I'd be very interested in episodes discussing how to get your VN noticed, as well as discussions on VNs you've seen that stand out (either as object lessons, or as VN recommendations).
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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#8 Post by Inksword »

sasquatchii wrote: We had actually been playing with the idea of doing a workflow episode, but then decided to try to tackle lighter subjects before grappling with a workload/work flow type of episode (because we could probably do an entire series with a bunch of episodes on workflow and workload) But I can definitely see doing something like that in the near future.

And yeah, thank you for all the awesome ideas!! This is definitely some great fodder for mikey and I to chew on and mull over :D
Glad I could help! And yeah, a workflow episode should definitely come after you've actually done some episodes featuring the individual parts specifically (discuss the pieces before putting them together!)

For more abstract general stuff, what about cliches and tropes in the VN world? Art styles and what fits your game/diverging from "anime" might be cool to discuss too, but that would be harder to discuss in a purely auditory form haha. You can probably browse the creator discussion and asset creation forums and get lots of topics
straight from there to talk about too!

This isn't an episode idea, but maybe you could do plugs for games that demonstrate stuff you talked about during the show at the end of each episode. I think that'd be a cool thing and then you could give back to the VN community and help spread the love too!

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#9 Post by Auro-Cyanide »

I've already commented on your released episode and I'm so delighted someone is doing this :D It's so great to see something like this targeted at the creators rather than more leaning towards catering to the audience. I really enjoyed what you have done so far and your planned topics sound great!

I guess I am most interested in some of the more philosophical questions rather than more instructional type things, though a mixture would be super awesome. Things along the lines of how player agency works, how the mechanics effect the telling of the story, changing patterns in visual novels released, that type of thing.

I would also love to hear you get other creators on to talk about their processes, passions and projects! I'm really fascinated by that stuff because it often makes me think about different ways to approach my own work.

Good luck! I will be listening :)

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#10 Post by Vatina »

Just wanted to chime in and say it was fun to listen to, and I'd love for more to come out :) If I manage to think of some actual useful ideas for it, I'll let you know!

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#11 Post by sasquatchii »

gekiganwing wrote:I found plenty of text-only articles on VNSNow. Then I searched it for "podcast," "sound," and also "sound off." However, I couldn't find any audio discussions other than the latest episode.
I recently found out that VNsNow has been reworking their site, and so they temporarily moved their podcast here for now. Thanks Katy133 for letting me know!!
Katy133 wrote:I've been enjoying listening to your podcast, sasquatchii, and I'd be very interested in episodes discussing how to get your VN noticed, as well as discussions on VNs you've seen that stand out (either as object lessons, or as VN recommendations).
I think an episode on how to get your VN noticed is a great idea! And talking about things that other visual novels do right would also be good, I think our episodes will (hopefully) be peppered with tidbits like that. A VN recommendation one would be great too, although between mikey and myself we could probably have multiple episodes (there are podcasts dedicated to doing this type of thing) as there are so many great ones out there! Thank you so much for listening, we are thrilled to hear you enjoyed it :)
Inksword wrote:For more abstract general stuff, what about cliches and tropes in the VN world? Art styles and what fits your game/diverging from "anime" might be cool to discuss too, but that would be harder to discuss in a purely auditory form haha. You can probably browse the creator discussion and asset creation forums and get lots of topics straight from there to talk about too!

This isn't an episode idea, but maybe you could do plugs for games that demonstrate stuff you talked about during the show at the end of each episode. I think that'd be a cool thing and then you could give back to the VN community and help spread the love too!
Ooooh, I hadn't even considered talking about tropes! But I think with all of the tropes, cliches, and stereotypes out there we could have a lot of fun discussing the ones often seen in visual novels, maybe chat about which ones are tired and overused, or just plain silly. I can't speak for Mikey, but I seriously love tropes, and adore it when creators poke fun at them or twist them around into something new. Art styles would be great too- I'd love to hear Mikey's take on all the new stuff that's been coming out versus how it was nine years ago (since most of the stuff at the time was inspired by anime & manga). And I wouldn't mind doing plugs for games & linking back to them in the show notes, especially if the games were on topic and relevant to things we talked about!
Auro-Cyanide wrote: I've already commented on your released episode and I'm so delighted someone is doing this :D It's so great to see something like this targeted at the creators rather than more leaning towards catering to the audience. I really enjoyed what you have done so far and your planned topics sound great!

I guess I am most interested in some of the more philosophical questions rather than more instructional type things, though a mixture would be super awesome. Things along the lines of how player agency works, how the mechanics effect the telling of the story, changing patterns in visual novels released, that type of thing.

I would also love to hear you get other creators on to talk about their processes, passions and projects! I'm really fascinated by that stuff because it often makes me think about different ways to approach my own work.

Good luck! I will be listening :)
Oooh, philosophical Q&A is always good! I could see mikey and I talking a long time about mechanics/changing patterns in visual novels. (We could do probably do multiple episodes on those). Mikey's on board with the creator idea, and I think it would also be great to get more people in to share their thoughts and ideas. I love when podcasts that I listen to bring in new people because sometimes they have insights/wisdom that I never even considered. Also, thank you for all of the encouragement!! It is so exciting to hear that others are interested, and makes me want to improve & get even better at this.
Vatina wrote:Just wanted to chime in and say it was fun to listen to, and I'd love for more to come out :) If I manage to think of some actual useful ideas for it, I'll let you know!
Thanks for listening! Please do get back to us if you think of anything, we'd love to create more episodes on things that people are interested in & curious about :)
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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#12 Post by mikey »

We have released the next episode of our podcast "Ep.3: Your Visual Novel in the Future", this time we talk about how to preserve your VNs, and how to deal with loss of relevance, plus many more related talking points.

You can get all the information and links to listen to or download here:
http://www.thebeeskneesstories.com/2014 ... pisode-03/

If you have any additions, let us know - we have a segment at the beginning of each show with feedback or additions, so interesting points or points of view are appreciated. Because we have already recorded the 4th episode though, the feedback would then be in the 5th.

Regarding your topic suggestions, a big THANK YOU! We have already put quite a few of them into our topic list, so if all goes well, we should cover them in the future. We would like this podcast to focus on how to help / support creators and talk about their particular needs and problems.

And I can't forget to thank sasquatchii for the production of this, especially editing. She has done an amazing job and it makes me look like I have my thoughts much more together than I actually do. Coming up with things to say on the spot is much more difficult for me than having the time to formulate them as text.

So... yeah, after so much time of absence, this really seems to be my next "project", if you will. Didn't think I'd have one, to be honest. So I keep my fingers crossed, and once again thanks to everyone who listened and / or even left some feedback, it means a lot to both of us.

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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#13 Post by Kate »

Here are a few ideas:
-potential as simple learning games (maybe review some examples)
-pros/cons/features of different current engines for making VN's
-application for the iStore/googleplay/android markets?
-To mini-game or not to mini-game?
-The art of giving your game replay value
-Flexibility of application (your coding is your limit!), Varieties of games
-How to break down your task/what order you can do tasks in to make your project possible
-The value of an original song and video for advertising: Worth it or not? Why/Why not?
-Copyrighting work, producing a commercial work, how to protect your work
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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#14 Post by Akai85 »

An episode focusing on newcomers and giving them a sort of breakdown of the process of creating your own vn might be good. I know as a newcomer myself, I'm aware of the different things I have to do but I'm finishing the script first - which also means I've got less shiny marketing stuff to show. Or none, really.

Discussing some common pitfalls and traps and covering resource-hunting and outlining the process of making a practice vn without any real script behind it would make for a good episode or two, I think. I also think it's majorly cool you're doing this because I love writing excuses and extra credits and stuff like this is so great. :)
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Re: What would you like to hear in a podcast about VNs?

#15 Post by mikey »

Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone, and keep them coming! We have more than 10 lined up already, and it's growing, which is really good. I'd actually like to just do everything at once, but the reality is, we have to pace ourselves and even very interesting topics may not come up for a few months. So if we don't talk about what you suggested, please be patient, I'm sure we will get to it sooner or later.

I really like the latest submissions for something like a guide for first-timers, I've already made two pages of notes on that :)

One piece of information, we'll probably not record this year anymore, but we have Ep.4 recorded waiting for editing, and we'll try to figure out some release schedule that is fitting.

Once again, thanks for your feedback here and on the podcast page as well!

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