Our Crossing Paths [Drama/Romance/AU] Hiatus (3/13)

[Twisted-Eva]

Genre: GxB, Alternate Universe/History, Drama, Romance

Age Rating: 16+ because the game depicts blood, violence, strong language, and moderate sexual content (or might become that way).

Synopsis: Claire Parker(age 20) is a miracle in early 19th century Kirkland. And by miracle, it means that Claire is one of the few women to serve in the Kirkish army under the recent policy that women are allowed to serve in the military. The policy was first adopted by the newfound country, Libertyria, after its success of independence from Kirkland. After Libertyria's adoption of the policy, countries all over the world adopted the policy in favor of "listening" to their female citizens whom demanded equality. At least equality starting with the chance to enter the military, but such change has yet to see success in increasing percentages of female soldiers. Most women end up providing support and "homemaking" skills at bases. Given the opportunity her father presented to her after requesting a favor from the army's field marshal, Claire has served a few years in the army up to the current ranking as a lieutenant. One assignment, however, would end her career permanently regardless of the outcome, good or bad. Given a covert mission that may take years to complete, Claire needs to infiltrate Francisia's army and assassinate the army's top general, effectively crippling chances of dominating Kirkland and all of Eurania. Will this assignment be as easy as she expected?
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Progress

Story: 40% (Did all the bad endings and some major plot points here and there)

Programming: 40%

Sprites: 15% (Working on André next)

CGs: 0%

Music: 5% (placeholders at best until I replace them with royalty-free music)
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Current Stats:

The game contains 843 screens of dialogue.
These screens contain a total of 10,373 words,
for an average of 12.3 words per screen.
The game contains 36 menus.
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Updates starting from May:

• (5/6/12) Finished Alan's neutral sprite
  (5/23/12) Finished René's neutral sprite
  (7/31/12) Right now, I'm taking a summer session at Uni where biology is my biggest weakness. Because of the heavy work load, psych lab research, and readings, there will be even less time to even draw the characters. I'm still in a rut as to figure out how to fill out between major events. I subscribed to my own thread so I can be motivated to even attempt to finish 25% of the story done, I didn't know 2 or 3 more people commented in July. It's nice to know people still notice, maybe not as much since I'm working alone and progress is slowing down. But I'll do my best to pull my weight and give a sprite to each character so when a demo comes, stick figures won't be the temps.
  (9/28/12) I finally have a freakin' logo up. It was bugging me so I made one just so it feels like it's a bit closer to completion.
  (10/15/12) I know I haven't been writing the story further at all so I said," F this" and put in whatever major plot points for each route and all the bad endings I know fresh in my head. I tell myself it will probably be easier than staring at the road bump forever to figure out how to get out of exposition.
  (1/3/13) As the title update suggested above, I'm writing out kissing scenes. Why? It came more naturally than figuring out how to fill in the more normal stuff. And I also completed all the bad ending scenarios. I haven't done the good ones yet. Just to say that this project isn't completely dead yet and shouldn't be mentioned in the dead projects thread yet.

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Characters
Claire Parker: A young woman who discarded her critical years as a gentlewoman for a sabre. Claire has an utmost sense of loyalty to her country, Kirkland. Peppered by the mocking comments of the male soldiers for a long time, Claire can willfully lash out at any man who dares challenge her place in the army or in society. At the same time, however, Claire has a soft disposition, possibly a flaw, to let others have their opinions be spoken while keeping her opinions to herself because of the way her father raised her.

Alan Bernard(age 24): One of the generals who serve in the Francisian army. Overall has a good nature, he is well respected in the army even when he has his strict moments with his division. Absolutely loyal to his country as well as humble with his status as a member of the upper-class and the military. He can be a little bit slow sometimes in picking up signs women give to him. He is unintentionally René's rival.

René Fontaine(age 23): Has the high-and-mighty complex of himself despite his position as lieutenant. Considers Alan his rival out of some envy with military rank and skills. Controls his own little army division despite not getting promoted and through the influence of his passive general. Does not like being compared to his fraternal twin brother, Louis.

Final Version of Alan, Hooray!

André Fernand(age 23): Slightly clumsy and happy-go-lucky café owner, André will occasionally treat Claire some of his meals for free. He is also the support Claire needs when she feels "stuck-in-a-rut" or when she just feels like talking.

Claire -Project Branch Page- (mini).png (179.17 KiB) Viewed 4728 times

León Lambert(age 22): The Francisian field marshal's secretary. Inherited the recessive gene of albinism that noticeably affects his hair and skin, León experienced some difficulty getting around the streets because of stares. Therefore, he only thought it was suitable of him to be a secretary and spend much of his day indoors. Although he appears to be unfriendly to the students and some faculty members, León is close friends with Alan.

Taylor Williams (age 22): Military "buddies" with Claire, Taylor has known Claire a few years back since she joined the military. An outgoing young man, Taylor rarely thinks about the consequences of his words when he speaks. He joins her in the short voyage overseas to see her off before going back to Kirkland and hopes that he could see her again.

General Walter (age 53): One of the Kirkish army's prestigious generals as well as Claire's superior. Took Claire in roughly 3 years ago after her father requested that she be able to join the military. A small request to help the low, middle-class father give his daughter a more comfortable life in exchange for the father saving the field marshal. He is the one who assigned Claire to the covert mission.

Drake Fontaine (mini).png (194.96 KiB) Viewed 4728 times

Liliana Blanc (age 24): Housekeeper of the residential building where Claire resides. Has a very aloof nature which makes her complimentary to her friend, Kamille Chevalier. The most easygoing of the housekeepers on the grounds, Liliana is well-liked by her employees.

Kamille Chevalier (age 24): One of the very few women to successfully rise in the ranks to a commanding general, Kamille is someone to be feared. What she may lack in strength to the next man, she compensates with her mobility and effectively making lethal strikes. The eldest daughter of her family, rich in economic and militant backgrounds, Kamille is the head of her family despite her father's preference for a male heir and because of having only sisters. Has a strict demeanor which ticks off René, but oddly enough is good friends with him.

Features
- The player has the ability to shape Claire's personality through her responses from passive, neutral, and aggressive. She can be the pushover who will have a difficulty getting through her mission or she can be hot-blooded at times against many things particularly the status quo for women during the time period.
- Responses can range from being polite to rude.
- More than 10 endings
+A good and bad ending for each guy
+A good and bad ending for harem
- There will be quizzes from time to time at the academy which Claire must do well in order to raise affection points from any guy or lose face with any of them.
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List of terms:
1. Eurania is essentially Europe for the purpose of this story. In order to bend the social rules of allowing women into the military, I decided to create a parallel universe where the landmasses have different names, but have the same history as real world history. This game is still labeled as Alternate History or Universe where real world history will be implemented to the fictional countries and their societies.

2. Kirkland is Great Britain. I got the name from "Arthur Kirkland", and unofficial human name given to Hetalia's England.

3. Francisia is France.

4. Spain is Aspin
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[distorsion]

I picked up Ren'py last week so I'm making a demo solely for the purpose to delivering my project's pitch to the public. From now on, I'm relying on Ren'py to make the game.

Yay. I was worried for a second there.

[Twisted-Eva]

Yay. I was worried for a second there.

Worried that it wouldn't run on Ren'py?

[Twisted-Eva]

Man, no one's biting or at least commenting the premise of this game. Ok, I admit that not all the basic sprites are done, but for now can anyone provide input here without having to input somewhere else about historical accuracy? Since it's related to my project, it would make sense that I would need to bump this thread so people can see and comment.

Biggest conflict I have right now as to whether or not I should go with alternate history or alternate universe. Alternate history would be making enrollment into the military possible for women everywhere before 1800s. Alternate universe would be like pulling a Valkyria Chronicles and rename landmasses and rename historical figures or parody the figures.

Which one seems to make more sense? It's my story, but I'd like to eliminate any potential comments that ends up being a negative point about my VN which is along the lines of "The historical accuracy is atrocious or it's not realistic at all no matter how the author puts it". Hence which is why I label the VN as Alternate history or universe to avoid being stuck with established historical events and having the freedom to change it.

[Auro-Cyanide]

I think it depends why you are making it alternative. That will answer which way you will go. Alternative history suggests that you are expecting the audience to compare and contrast your world history with ours. It would make the most sense if you were going to be writing about a specific change, event or circumstance that changed everything. It can usually be phrased as a question, such as, 'this is what the world would be like if such and such did or did not happen'. Like 'What would the world be like if Germany wasn't as harshly punished after WW1', 'What would it be like if the Romans never went to the British isles', 'What would it be like if Christianity never expanded', that type of thing.

Alternative Universe is more about drawing inspiration from our world to create another. There is still a compare and contrast, but it's more to give meaning to your world as opposed to discussing a issue. AU will give you far more freedom and it would make the most sense if you are going to be changing a number of things over a range of issues.

For your story specifically you could go either way (though from reading your synopsis, AU makes the most sense since it's already going that way). Regardless of which you choose you are going to have to come up with very good reasons as to the change that your story will centre on. There are a number of things that are unclear to me.

There is a distinct change that causes the country to accept women into the army. What is is?
What was the society like in regards to women before that? You should also note that women have both fought and lead historically in our world. For example Celtic women fought alongside men and it was apart of their culture. Boudicca was one of their Queens and she was both strong and ruthless. The view that women can not fight in war is not a universal one, though the British have held the view for a very, very long time.
Why is entering the military the turning point? Politics is generally the main starting point for women's rights, as is education.
How rapid are the changes with women's rights? Women in our world have been fighting for well over 100 years.
To what degree will women's rights and social views of women in your world play a role in your story?

I personally find it an interesting concept and would like to see it fleshed out to it's potential. Looking at powerful women through history might be a really good idea, from Queens and leaders to adventurers and revolutionists. I guess what you will be looking to avoid is stating either that the main character is special despite being a woman or because of it. We are defined by more than our gender. The social pressure of her gender will obviously be a big factor, but her achievements will be because of who she is, not solely what she is. An example of this would be Pixar's Brave. People were critical that the first time Pixar had a female protagonist, the story revolved around her being a girl. This won't mean it will be a bad story or that it won't be valid, and since I haven't seen it I can't speak one way or the other. But it could be a problematic social expectation. How many Pixar movies do you see where the story revolves around a man being a man? Or any movie? There is usually much more to it than that and the same should be said for women

[Twisted-Eva]

I think it depends why you are making it alternative. That will answer which way you will go. Alternative history suggests that you are expecting the audience to compare and contrast your world history with ours. It would make the most sense if you were going to be writing about a specific change, event or circumstance that changed everything. It can usually be phrased as a question, such as, 'this is what the world would be like if such and such did or did not happen'. Like 'What would the world be like if Germany wasn't as harshly punished after WW1', 'What would it be like if the Romans never went to the British isles', 'What would it be like if Christianity never expanded', that type of thing.

Alternative Universe is more about drawing inspiration from our world to create another. There is still a compare and contrast, but it's more to give meaning to your world as opposed to discussing a issue. AU will give you far more freedom and it would make the most sense if you are going to be changing a number of things over a range of issues.

For your story specifically you could go either way (though from reading your synopsis, AU makes the most sense since it's already going that way). Regardless of which you choose you are going to have to come up with very good reasons as to the change that your story will centre on. There are a number of things that are unclear to me.

There is a distinct change that causes the country to accept women into the army. What is is?
What was the society like in regards to women before that? You should also note that women have both fought and lead historically in our world. For example Celtic women fought alongside men and it was apart of their culture. Boudicca was one of their Queens and she was both strong and ruthless. The view that women can not fight in war is not a universal one, though the British have held the view for a very, very long time.
Why is entering the military the turning point? Politics is generally the main starting point for women's rights, as is education.
How rapid are the changes with women's rights? Women in our world have been fighting for well over 100 years.
To what degree will women's rights and social views of women in your world play a role in your story?

I personally find it an interesting concept and would like to see it fleshed out to it's potential. Looking at powerful women through history might be a really good idea, from Queens and leaders to adventurers and revolutionists. I guess what you will be looking to avoid is stating either that the main character is special despite being a woman or because of it. We are defined by more than our gender. The social pressure of her gender will obviously be a big factor, but her achievements will be because of who she is, not solely what she is. An example of this would be Pixar's Brave. People were critical that the first time Pixar had a female protagonist, the story revolved around her being a girl. This won't mean it will be a bad story or that it won't be valid, and since I haven't seen it I can't speak one way or the other. But it could be a problematic social expectation. How many Pixar movies do you see where the story revolves around a man being a man? Or any movie? There is usually much more to it than that and the same should be said for women

I'll put in the backstory for women's rights somehow in my game. So far, all I got is that after Kirkland's (Britain) defeat to United States of Amarika (U.S.A) and/or the Francisian Revolution (French Revolution), women in these countries were granted ability to enter the military. Amarika used women in the militia to boost numbers, and Francisa had female rebels who stormed the capital palace and demanded equality. As part of the numbers game, these few countries allowed women to join solely for utilizing manpower and expected most women to not fight anyways. In this alternate universe, some aspects of women's rights progressed much rapidly than in actual history, such as only aristocratic women allowed to vote or be educated in sciences. The thing is that the change is still a new idea after years of being enacted, so not all women are on board with fighting in the army. Most women who "joined" the military simply worked as nurses, cooks, and other traditional occupations from the homefront.

I'd like to get the point across in the game that Claire does get acknowledgement for her swordsmanship. But the demo will only showcase one scene that supports it. The result will most likely end up with women who are in military ranks are only there because they had the money, interest, influence, and skill to join the military. Other women who work in the military bases are only there for domestic jobs or seeking the romanticized life of being surrounded by men. Claire joined because her father, a former general, taught her and asked the Kirkish field marshal to take her in to save her from living an impoverished lifestyle. The countries that feature a military in AU will have better living standards compared to the lower class and between the quality of upper and middle classes. When Claire arrives in Francisia to the capital's military, she's not getting the "oohs" and "aahhs" of being a woman, but she gets cold stares and mockery for having a sword at her waist.

This is all I have written in the exposition. I could very well make changes to whatever makes sense after I release the demo and get user input on how believable it is.

[Auro-Cyanide]

The main question to ask yourself is why.

How much do you know about women's involvement in the French Revolution and American revolution? Women's roles were wide ranging in both but women's rights, especially during the French Revolution, generally took a backseat to human rights. They aimed for the right to an education, rather than civil or political rights. Women's role in the American revolution was primarily support based, such as cooking and other home duties. In WW1 women took on a more active role both in the workforce and as nurses, and were also allowed to join specific corps but they were not officially allowed on the front to fight. That was 1914-1918. By WW2, 1939-1945, women again were not allowed to fight directly in the war and instead took more supportive roles. Even today, many countries do not allow women to fight on the front lines. So what would change the minds of the people in your world? What is their reasoning?

Boosting numbers was also an option in our world, but it is not one we took. The paradigms regarding women were far too strong. Men didn't even like the idea of women in the workforce during WW1 because they thought it would take jobs from men and make women too independent. Women lacked many basic rights during the period you are setting your world in. It wasn't until 1928 when women over the age of 21 were allowed to vote in Britain.

Having an alternative setting is very interesting, but it should be based on reasoning if you can. Allowing women to have rights is an interesting statement to make for something set in the early 1800's and could make for a very interesting story. For reasoning, maybe a significant war is happening that would force the army to look for more recruits. Maybe a significant number of women end up in military and political power during the revolution that changes the way they were viewed (imagine if a number of women seized power during this period, Queens, aristocrats, generals, that type of thing. a number of high powered women might be able to change something one could not do alone). Basically, I personally would like to see what would shift the paradigms of your society so significantly. Reading something like that would be exciting I think, especially the effects it would have.

Another way to look at it is that it isn't quite a big change all at once, but something that has been building up for a long time, say if the suffragette movement found a lot of traction much earlier. Maybe then it's not so much women being recruited into the military, but a woman being recruited into a specific part of the army, or to a team that hasn't had a woman before. I think then it might be a bit more believable. The men could still have an old fashioned point of view, but it would be different from the one being held by the wider society.

However, this is my own point of view. I think you could still write a good story without as much backstory and reasoning. But I do think it is the backstory and reasoning that makes a world feel real. You are free to do as you wish of course and I wish you luck in your story It has the potential to be very interesting.

[Twisted-Eva]

HAHA! I finally finished Alan's sprite so I bumped this as to show progress. Aannndd... I realized that it takes me an average of 5 hours to make this... My fingers hurt...

[Dakishimete]

Okay, I'm not an artist, but I think that it's better for beginners to draw anathomy until they hands hurt. Espcially General Walter, his head is too big and his ear is in wrong place. Liliana's head is moved to forward from neck and there's something odd with Kamille's hips. I'm not saying this because I'm such a terrible person - these are just tips, so take no offence.

[Twisted-Eva]

Okay, I'm not an artist, but I think that it's better for beginners to draw anathomy until they hands hurt. Espcially General Walter, his head is too big and his ear is in wrong place. Liliana's head is moved to forward from neck and there's something odd with Kamille's hips. I'm not saying this because I'm such a terrible person - these are just tips, so take no offence.

Ok, so I get that I'll have to shrink Walter's head a bit, but his ear is in the wrong place? How would you expect the ear to be corrected, shift it to the left a bit or shift the ear lower? As for Liliana's head, would you say it would be more correct to shift the head a bit to the left so the chin lines up with the right side of the neck? Maybe I should just make Kamille's hips wider so the coattails can drape over them, making the hips more pronounced? I was going for slightly broad shoulders, but maybe the shoulders are slightly off. I'm just asking if these kinds of suggestions are more anatomically more correct than what I have now.

[fallenangel198]

looking forward to the game

[Katty16]

oh my god, this looks like a really good GxB game
Good luck ^.^

[jeje]

Hiya!! Whewww, this looks like a really good game. If you need any assistance, such as basic anatomy, I can do it for you, based on your picture so far. And I can maybe basic color them.
Or maybe (just maybe) some backgrounds.
It's up to you though if you want to do it alone ^^ I just think that maybe I could help to make this game come true so I could play it sooner.

[Twisted-Eva]

Hiya!! Whewww, this looks like a really good game. If you need any assistance, such as basic anatomy, I can do it for you, based on your picture so far. And I can maybe basic color them.
Or maybe (just maybe) some backgrounds.
It's up to you though if you want to do it alone ^^ I just think that maybe I could help to make this game come true so I could play it sooner.

I really appreciate the offer to help when it comes to artistic assets. Right now, however, I need to work alone on the story so at least I get the story and coding done. When all that's left is checking artistic assets then I am open to assistance. I just don't want to drag anyone down a dimmed path of unknown progress when I'm in an important stage in college to pave the way to grad school.

Also, thanks to everyone who has commented in the summer, lol. I had summer session as well and have been trying to integrate the main story and the romance sub-plots together.

[Twisted-Eva]

I FINALLY HAVE A LOGO UP. Though it's not entirely to my satisfaction. I didn't want just a simple, generic-looking, gradient filled logo even though I tried to make a "bloody" or "cracking" effecting within the outlines. I couldn't get my hands on a free image of a rapier (or I could have just yanked one from Google and heavily modify it) so I can make the rapier pierce through "...Crossing Paths", creating cracks and crumbling effects. I'm just too lazy to get another image and install my tablet driver again to prevent soreness from mouse usage >__>