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Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 7:59 am
by thooruchan
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PRESENTS

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Noel has never had an easy or normal childhood. Since he was small, he's had two monsters coming out of his closet to scare him... or, it was so at first.
Turns out, monsters can be lonely too, and all the cheerful Sidney and the ever-serious Simon wanted was some company.

After years of an unusual but happy friendship though, Sidney started to see Noel in a different light, and that complicates things. The redhead monster can't take no for an answer. Sidney is insistent, Noel is unwilling, and Simon is, for some reason, set on not letting it happen.

Add to this romantic comedic plot the tragedy that befalls them when Sam, Noel's little sister, disappears in mysterious circumstances, and you've got the plot of Charming Monster.

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Started first as a webcomic, after I, thooruchan, got started on working with videogames, I decided that it was the kidn of story that would work perfectly as a Visual Novel.
Right now I work with my sister on a demo. We have the plot written, characters designed, the GUI is implemented and functioning, and progress is going smoothly.
Our plan is to release a demo in the second week of January, free to play, to gain awareness. Once it has gained enough of a fanbase, a small crowdfunding campaign would start to gain enough funding for development of the rest of the game.

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UPDATE 5:

Hey there guys!

There is not a lot to explain this week, though hopefully now that the holidays are finally over here in Spain we'll be able to get back to work.

Sidney's srpites are half done, so I guess overall, 15% of the sprites are done.

Backgrounds are also progressing, slow but steady.

We are being forced to work a bit more slowly than we had planned due to other jobs coming our way (the kind that pays bills and cannot be rejected :p) but we are still doing our best to have the CharMon demo out as soon as possible :)

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UPDATE 4:
Happy New Year!
Hope you are all starting 2015 with a lot of energy!
Here at DrawOrDrop sure did, and we started it with a streaming session, though due to technical and time problems, it could only hold for about an hour U__U (I need a new laptop after all).
Despite that, it wasn't for nothing, and a few cool designs for Noel came out!

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Thanks to everyone who voted for Noel's design!
After a really close call, winning by just ONE vote, the bottom one was picked as Noel's design.
Hope you'll all like him!

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UPDATE 3:

Due to my laptop needing a factory restore, development has been slowed down a bit. Despite that, there has been quite a lot of progress, which I'll proceed to detail like so:
  • scripting: 90% (needs beta-reading and spell-checking)
    sound and sfx:80 %
    GUI: 100%
    CG: 0%
    backgrounds: 15%
    sprites: 5%




UPDATE 2:
We are proud to present to you Simon's new design!


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UPDATE 1:

I'm happy to present to you the first finished sprite for Sidney.

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And here are a few screencaps. the game is being scripted with placeholder art so we can work on plot and art assets at the same time;

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You can follow our blog for the game at http://charmonthegame.tumblr.com/

Feedback of any kind is welcomed!

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Fri Dec 12, 2014 1:05 pm
by ameliori
Really dig the art for this game! And the premise sounds quite interesting. I'm looking forward to see how it develops.
thooruchan wrote:
What do you do to get your name out there, to get it known and reach the players?
Speaking as a beginner Visual Novelist, I think the best thing to do is to update your WIPs and engage your audience. Asking specific questions and sharing your progress will get people interested in your game. Try looking at other threads of Completed games and WIPs to get an idea on the level you're aiming at. A blog or a thread like this is definitely a good first step.

It also helps to be detailed and organized on your goals, and mindful of the nuances of your project. It shows people you are really invested in finishing your game.

Good luck!

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Thu Dec 18, 2014 5:34 am
by thooruchan
ameliori wrote:Really dig the art for this game! And the premise sounds quite interesting. I'm looking forward to see how it develops.
thooruchan wrote:
What do you do to get your name out there, to get it known and reach the players?
Speaking as a beginner Visual Novelist, I think the best thing to do is to update your WIPs and engage your audience. Asking specific questions and sharing your progress will get people interested in your game. Try looking at other threads of Completed games and WIPs to get an idea on the level you're aiming at. A blog or a thread like this is definitely a good first step.

It also helps to be detailed and organized on your goals, and mindful of the nuances of your project. It shows people you are really invested in finishing your game.

Good luck!
Thanks!

I'll make sure to follow your advice.
Though it's my first VN it's not the first videogame I make, so I'm aware of the difficulties that arise along the way. Mostly getting the public engaged and interested, actually!

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 4:22 am
by Googaboga
I love games with monsters ^^. This seems like it'll be fun. I wish you the best of luck on your future crowd funding campaign. I hope it'll work out for you :].

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 5:38 am
by thooruchan
Googaboga wrote:I love games with monsters ^^. This seems like it'll be fun. I wish you the best of luck on your future crowd funding campaign. I hope it'll work out for you :].
Thank you! Cute supernatural beings are always a plus to any story!
Trying to get the project known and to reach the public, it's not easy!

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 10:44 am
by gekiganwing
Thanks for posting on r/vndevs a couple days ago. Unfortunately, I had accidentally confused this work-in-progress with I'm Not a Monster. Sorry about the mistake...

That said, I'm curious as to how the story will work. I have some questions...

* Do the monsters live in their own world? Or do they exist in the human world, hiding in the shadows?
* What do other monsters think of Sidney and Simon? Do they consider them unusual for interacting with a human?
* How many humans other than Noel and his sister are relevant in the story?
* The premise sounds kinda similar to Labyrinth... though it might just be a coincidence. Do you intend to compare and contrast your story with this movie?

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Sat Dec 20, 2014 3:57 pm
by thooruchan
gekiganwing wrote:Thanks for posting on r/vndevs a couple days ago. Unfortunately, I had accidentally confused this work-in-progress with I'm Not a Monster. Sorry about the mistake...

That said, I'm curious as to how the story will work. I have some questions...

* Do the monsters live in their own world? Or do they exist in the human world, hiding in the shadows?
* What do other monsters think of Sidney and Simon? Do they consider them unusual for interacting with a human?
* How many humans other than Noel and his sister are relevant in the story?
* The premise sounds kinda similar to Labyrinth... though it might just be a coincidence. Do you intend to compare and contrast your story with this movie?
Hey, no problem... the confusion didn't cause any harm did it? (I think nobody saw or cared much about it yet :p )

As for your questions... they are all really interesting!
But for the sake of not giving you too many spoilers, I'll refrain from answering some of them.

*Sidney and Simon live in their own world, and it's through a portal Sidney created that they can goto Noel's house. Portal is in his closet.
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* Though I have seen the movie, and now that I think about it they have similarities, it's a coincidence. There'll be no David Bowie or Goblin King crotch in this game.

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 3:21 am
by Ferdokki
This looks cute! x3 I can't wait to try this out! =D

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2014 4:36 am
by thooruchan
Ferdokki wrote:This looks cute! x3 I can't wait to try this out! =D
thank you!
We are working hard to make it be as good as possible. Hope it'll come out great even for it being our first VN :)

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 3:55 am
by AntiquedFae
This looks really quite interesting. I can't resist something about lonely childhood monsters. ;) I'll be watching this.

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Sun Dec 28, 2014 7:17 am
by thooruchan
AntiquedFae wrote:This looks really quite interesting. I can't resist something about lonely childhood monsters. ;) I'll be watching this.
thanks!
This week finally I'll be able to start with character art, so soon you'll be able to see tons of sketches and pictures and all of the good stuff :)

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Mon Dec 29, 2014 5:05 am
by Ferdokki
I love your artwork, btw (so many playful lines! <(*0*)> ). The coloring style is so smooth and cute-looking. =D I especially love how spunky Sidney looks in contrast with stoic and poised Simon. xD

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Tue Dec 30, 2014 4:14 am
by thooruchan
Ferdokki wrote:I love your artwork, btw (so many playful lines! <(*0*)> ). The coloring style is so smooth and cute-looking. =D I especially love how spunky Sidney looks in contrast with stoic and poised Simon. xD
thank you! I'm glad you like them both, I've been thinking about their designs and personalities for a long time!
Now I just need to make Noel and Sam look as cool/cute :p
As soon as I get my laptop back to shape, since yesterday I was forced to do a factory restore on it and lost all of my programs and stuff... now I need to install SAI and Photoshop again, my tablet, renpy, etc etc -__-
Oh well!

BTW, I got a question, do you guys around here post your VN on itch.io? I was thinking about using it to promote and upload the demo, but I wonder if it'll be a good channel for it to get exposure?

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Wed Dec 31, 2014 7:02 am
by thooruchan
Hey guys!
We made a Livestream channel so you can come watch us draw!
We'll be working on the sprites for the game; and you can ask questions, chat to us, make suggestions, or whatever you want (but be nice!)

The first stream will be on New Year, in the afternoon, so what better way to spend the day and start the year?

https://new.livestream.com/accounts/209 ... ts/3694103

Re: Charming Monsters [BxB] [BxG] [Fantasy][Comedy]

Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2015 8:24 pm
by Ferdokki
Aw man, sorry to hear about your laptop! =(
I have a Microsoft OneDrive account where I upload my files for backup purposes. It's been pretty useful for me, so maybe it'll work for you too. =) That way, if you lose stuff or your device messes up (yikes!) you'll have a cloud storage of your works.

Hmm...I think that might be a technical question you should post on the forums. I mainly only do writing and editing, so I don't pay attention to all the programming stuff that happens after I finish a script. xD

Btw, I checked out you guys' livestream! =D...but no one was there. u_u When are your next plans for another Livestream?