Asylum [Horror, Humor, Supernatural, Monster Girl]

[Phroth]

Good evening, gents and lady-gents, I am Phroth.

I am obviously working on a Visual Novel by the name of Asylum! It's still well into the conceptual stage, and I am the only creator at the moment, but I'd surely like to generate any support I can!

A little bit about my current project:

It is called “Asylum”. It takes place in a dark fantasy world, and there will be three heroines to chose from.

Only one remotely fleshed out character so far;

[Name Pending]: In the past, she lived among a clan of high elves. Human witches in their jealously of their beauty, agelessness and radiance, placed a curse upon her clan. Thus, the dark elves were born. The curse locks away their great power, leaving only one method with which to return to their former selves; to form a true bond with another, and the power would be shared between them. Possibly even greater. Unfortunately for these elves, it is in the literal term. A bond could be forced upon an and, if so desired. This caused a stigma upon the dark elves. Most see them as harpies or succubi, seeking only to find a tool for their power. Those who don't believe that see them only as a source of power. Whether hunted out of bigotry or lust, a dark elf's life is naught but misery. She lost her kin to the ages, and knows not if any remain or where they would even be.

Two more heroines will be available. Each arc will consist of 3 to 4 acts.

The curse was greater than the witches could ever have hoped.

A brief synopsis of what’s going on with the story;

“You awake in a cold, dark place. Or rather, that’s the only way you can think to describe such overwhelming “emptiness”. Everything around you is oppressive, yet without form. Where are you, and what’s happening? As you begin to feel even more lost, a voice asks you, “do you wish for something more?”. You couldn’t say if it was a man or a woman, as it seems to be placing the words in your mind, rather than speaking them.

What choice will you make?

Will you run, or will you face your destiny head on, and experience the incredible, dark and monster ridden world known as “Asylum”?”

It’s far from completion, but I have taken the time for a “proof-of-concept” release.

Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is subject to change, and likely will. All art and music are place-holders using random stuff I created in the past.

http://www.mediafire.com/download/97695 ... .0-all.zip

All art and music will likely be commissioned by others, as to get the highest-quality final product that I can.

I probably won’t release any other builds for quite some time, at least enough so to have something to release!

Done in Ren'Py.

Project blog can be found here: phroth.blog.com

Let me know what you think so far!

[gekiganwing]

Welcome to the forum. A few questions, for when you have time...

1. I assume that your main character will have some sort of relationships with others. It's important in any fictional story. (And in your genre, the person can interact with humans, witches, dark elves, and maybe more.) But in the context of a dark fantasy / horror story, they might be antagonistic, distant, or strained. But if you plan to write positive and loving relationships, that's fine... just be sure they make sense in the context of your story.

2. How lengthy and complex do you want your story to be? If you're uncertain, I'd recommend keeping it relatively short, and making sure its scope is not too large. Keep in mind that plenty of works-in-progress die quietly due to lack of planning, life complications, frustrating with writing and coding, reduced interest in the story, and more.

3. On your blog, you stated "...this will NOT be safe for work." Let us know what sort of content you intend to write. If it were reviewed as a movie or a video game, what rating would it likely get?

[Phroth]

Thanks for the welcome and the reply!

To answer your points/questions;

1.) I plan to have a relationship between the protagonist and the heroine that is in contrast to the world around them. Really though, almost ALL horror elements will come from "Bad Ends", which are generally going to be pretty obvious. The general story will be more of a fantasy/adventure experience with SOME horror elements within it. Such as the emptiness the protagonist feels, Death hounding him and various other elements seen in the PoC.

2.) It depends. So far, as I said, each arc will consist of 3-4 acts, each being roughly 1-3 hours long (if reading casually). The main heroine's route will likely be about twice as long as the second and third's route, however. They will "supplement" the game, if you will. So I would expect, with all routes, the game to be ~10-12 hours of casual reading, including Bad Ends. A demo is planned once the main route is absolutely complete though act 1 (including all artwork and music).

3.) Well, once again we refer to the "Bad Ends" in this more than anything. Of course, the 3 main routes will have their "H" scenes in them. "Bad Ends" are going to consist of things such as death, rape and some other things not suitable for anyone under 18.

[gekiganwing]

Thanks for replying. I wasn't sure what to think of your premise, so I appreciate the clarifications.

Since you stated that your main character is male, you can use tags such as "BxG" (boy pursues one or more girls) to describe it. Or "man x woman/women" if you want to emphasize their age and maturity. That said... if most of the story is about fantasy and horror, then you might not want your descriptions to emphasize pairings.

I'm a little surprised to hear that your VN will include adult content. (I say this because I've read a variety of translated adult VNs, mostly from 2002 to 2005, and since then, my interests have leaned toward worksafe stories.) There is a section on this forum for strictly 18+ games, so you might benefit by asking for your discussion thread to be moved there.

One more thing... Please state if you've worked on *and* completed at least one creative project. Doesn't matter if it's fiction, art, games, or something else. If you have experience in finishing what you start, that will give people confidence that you will create and complete this story.