Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] Beta update 4/27, ch 4 coming soon!

A place for game announcements, and for people to discuss games being made.
Forum rules
Please read the sticky before creating a new topic. Linking to Kickstarter/Crowdfunded games requires a demo. Updates to Patreon-backed games may be posted once every 2 months. Adult content should not be posted in this forum.
Message
Author
User avatar
Harliqueen
Veteran
Posts: 427
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:43 pm
Completed: Diving in Deep (NaNo15) The Lady's Choice(NaNo16) The Crossroads(NaNo17)
Projects: The Curse of Creek Edge
Organization: Seraphinite
Tumblr: seraphinitegames
Deviantart: SeraphiniteGames
itch: seraphinite
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#46 Post by Harliqueen »

You've made amazing progress, and it sounds so amazing! Can't wait for the demo :D
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#47 Post by minyan »

Harliqueen wrote:You've made amazing progress, and it sounds so amazing! Can't wait for the demo :D
Thanks so much! And I'm in the progress of playing Diving in Deep right now, it's awesome ^^
ImageImage

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#48 Post by minyan »

All right! So everything looks like it's going to be on schedule.

I drew two CG's for this demo, so I hope you enjoy them! I think everything I wanted to get finished for this first release is done. If I have time before the 20th I'll try and get the rest of the sprites done. My next job is trying to time this thing.

Thanks again for all the support and encouragement you guys!
ImageImage

User avatar
ladynamoru
Regular
Posts: 61
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:21 am
Deviantart: ladynamoru
Location: PH
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#49 Post by ladynamoru »

I love the concept already.

ill look forward to testing it

User avatar
Jin
Regular
Posts: 33
Joined: Mon Mar 09, 2015 10:57 pm
Projects: Ephemeral (Writer), Woman of Xal (Singer for Demo/VO), Cute Demon Crashers (VO), Ashes of Destruction (Writer)
Soundcloud: anairisqui
Location: Florida, USA
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#50 Post by Jin »

Oh wow. The concept sounds really interesting. I love the designs, too!

1. Does this sound like something you'd be interested in playing?
Yes. It seems like it'll have an interesting narrative, and I like the idea with playing with circus tropes. It seems unique and I'm very intrigued to see where it'll go!

2. Is the premise confusing?
No, not really. I'm curious as to how much Reavers and humans differ, and if there's any conflict from humans being forced into their position. Because some of us have to be rebels. :P Though I feel as though this VN won't touch on society so much as the characters and their relationships.

3. Would a VN with a battle system turn you off?
I think battle systems can add a lot to a game if well done. There's been some VNs with battle systems that have a system I don't feel particular interested in, and they end up being more of an annoyance than anything. I guess it just depends!

4. Of the characters, who would you want to see date who? Who would you want to be able to date?
I'll refrain from answering this because I'll need to see chemistry first, haha. Though even though it's not actually the player romancing them or anything, I'd still like to see something between Lucy and Santana. I just need it.

5. Is there anything you'd like to see implemented into the gameplay that I didn't mention?
You seem to have a lot covered, honestly! As a suggestion, maybe short animated cutscenes? Voiceover, animated sprites...though that's all ambitious and none of it is dealbreaker material, so they're more suggestions rather than, "HEY. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS."

Can't wait to play the demo!

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#51 Post by minyan »

ladynamoru wrote:I love the concept already.

ill look forward to testing it
Thanks Mish!
Jin wrote:Oh wow. The concept sounds really interesting. I love the designs, too!

1. Does this sound like something you'd be interested in playing?
Yes. It seems like it'll have an interesting narrative, and I like the idea with playing with circus tropes. It seems unique and I'm very intrigued to see where it'll go!

2. Is the premise confusing?
No, not really. I'm curious as to how much Reavers and humans differ, and if there's any conflict from humans being forced into their position. Because some of us have to be rebels. :P Though I feel as though this VN won't touch on society so much as the characters and their relationships.

3. Would a VN with a battle system turn you off?
I think battle systems can add a lot to a game if well done. There's been some VNs with battle systems that have a system I don't feel particular interested in, and they end up being more of an annoyance than anything. I guess it just depends!

4. Of the characters, who would you want to see date who? Who would you want to be able to date?
I'll refrain from answering this because I'll need to see chemistry first, haha. Though even though it's not actually the player romancing them or anything, I'd still like to see something between Lucy and Santana. I just need it.

5. Is there anything you'd like to see implemented into the gameplay that I didn't mention?
You seem to have a lot covered, honestly! As a suggestion, maybe short animated cutscenes? Voiceover, animated sprites...though that's all ambitious and none of it is dealbreaker material, so they're more suggestions rather than, "HEY. YOU HAVE TO DO THIS."

Can't wait to play the demo!
Thank you for your feedback! The VN does focus on relationships between the characters but some societal issues will be touched on! Probably more in later chapters though. One thing I'd like to see for this demo is how interesting/fun the battle system is, if I should keep it in, or change the set up in some way, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on that after you play!

Yea for some reason I've been really wanting Lucy and Santana to get together too xD They're not featured much in this first chapter unfortunately but we'll see what happens as it goes on...

I'm not much of an animator, but I was considering doing a very simple animated opening cutscene for the splash screen once everything is all done. It just depends on how well I think I can do it xD As for voice overs that unfortunately probably won't happen, unless I get some very enthusiastic volunteers. xD
ImageImage

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#52 Post by minyan »

VERSION 1.0 DEMO RELEASE

Okay, school doesn't seem to understand that there's less than a month before graduation and I have had assignments out the wazoo. Kind of unrelated kind of not- I've worked really hard on this but I still feel like there's so much I can improve, and I've been so busy ideas just don't seem to be coming. So I decided to just throw this up and see what kind of feedback I can receive! I tested it myself many times and had some friends test it, but of course there are bugs/grammatical errors that slip by. Please report these to me if you find one and I'll fix it as soon as I can.

I again just want to thank everyone who's followed this and added your comments, it means so much to me and has really been motivation to keep going.

Notes/updates soon to come:
> Please, just... ignore all the backgrounds.
> I need to redraw lilie and aldrich's sprites, they did not rasterize well. I've just been putting it off ><
> I'm worried that it gets boring/dialogue heavy at parts, I'd really appreciate it if you have any thoughts on the overall flow of the story.
> Some of the owner sprites are unfinished.

Some questions for anyone who has the time:
1. Overall, what did you think?
2. I haven't added in much free roam character interaction yet. Once I do, what sort of conversations would you like to have with the characters? If you could ask one (or all) of them anything, what would it be?
3. Who is your favorite character?
4. Was there anything in particular you disliked/thought could improve?
5. How was the interface? Easy to understand? Is it aesthetically pleasing/does it fit the feel of the game?
6. What was your favorite part?
7. I haven't added in the side quests yet. Is there any task or quest in particular you'd really like to see them do? Ex: Bake cookies with Natalia (I doubt that would happen, but feel free to suggest anything at all xD)
8. How was the dialogue/script? Was it boring? Entertaining?
9. Were you able to get the two CG's/are they too hard to get?
10. Were you able to find the three codex entries/ are /they/ too hard to get?
11. I made some of the music, most obviously being the theme song. I was thinking about changing it/adjusting it, what do you think of it as it is now?
12. Any other comments or suggestions?
13. Were the interfaces hard to figure out?

Thanks again, and I hope you enjoy!

Link here:

https://www.mediafire.com/?br6ca9h887f646q
Completion time: About 1 hour.
Last edited by minyan on Mon Apr 20, 2015 6:07 pm, edited 3 times in total.
ImageImage

User avatar
ladynamoru
Regular
Posts: 61
Joined: Wed Apr 08, 2015 11:21 am
Deviantart: ladynamoru
Location: PH
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#53 Post by ladynamoru »

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
Exception: Could not find font 'Georgia Italic.ttf'. #oops XD

I also think that theres an error with the clock

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#54 Post by minyan »

ladynamoru wrote:I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
Exception: Could not find font 'Georgia Italic.ttf'. #oops XD

I also think that theres an error with the clock
That's odd, I archived the fonts so I'm not sure what happened xD but I rebuilt it and tried it out, I think the errors gone. Thanks! I changed the link. What was wrong with the clock, exactly?
ImageImage

User avatar
Demetis
Regular
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#55 Post by Demetis »

Uhm it occures when you do right-click ovo Then I get the error with

Code: Select all

Exception: Could not find font 'Georgia Italic.ttf'.
too >w<
Haven't gotten very far yet with the demo so more comments coming up * v * That was really efficient work of you though >w</ I am impressed XD The story is fun too so far * v * Even though I barely got out of the tent //slapped 8'D

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#56 Post by minyan »

Demetis wrote:Uhm it occures when you do right-click ovo Then I get the error with

Code: Select all

Exception: Could not find font 'Georgia Italic.ttf'.
too >w<
Haven't gotten very far yet with the demo so more comments coming up * v * That was really efficient work of you though >w</ I am impressed XD The story is fun too so far * v * Even though I barely got out of the tent //slapped 8'D
Aaah, I found the problem! Thanks Demitis :D
I'm glad you think it's fun! Haha I wouldn't call it efficient xD it's just really bare bones. There's a lot more I want to do with it! I want each chapter to be a fairly decent VN in and of itself, you know?

Plus I still have all of Aldrich's side to do xD

Okay the link is once again fixed!
ImageImage

User avatar
Harliqueen
Veteran
Posts: 427
Joined: Fri Feb 06, 2015 12:43 pm
Completed: Diving in Deep (NaNo15) The Lady's Choice(NaNo16) The Crossroads(NaNo17)
Projects: The Curse of Creek Edge
Organization: Seraphinite
Tumblr: seraphinitegames
Deviantart: SeraphiniteGames
itch: seraphinite
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#57 Post by Harliqueen »

Haven't finished all the demo yet, but wanted to post now because it's awesome and I might not get another chance to post for a while, so will answer questions that I can.

1. Overall, what did you think?
Loved it, and seriously excited for the full game!

2. I haven't added in much free roam character interaction yet. Once I do, what sort of conversations would you like to have with the characters? If you could ask one (or all) of them anything, what would it be?
I think just stuff in general to get to know the characters more would be interesting. I thought the characters were really varied, which was so nice, so my interest was piqued by all of them!

3. Who is your favorite character?
Leslie :D And I didn't expect to like him after first meeting him!

4. Was there anything in particular you disliked/thought could improve?
I really enjoyed it all.

5. How was the interface? Easy to understand? Is it aesthetically pleasing/does it fit the feel of the game?
The interface was stunning. Though I did struggle a little in the preferences menu to understand what each button meant without a title and just images, but that could just be me!

6. What was your favorite part?
Spending time with the other characters.

7. I haven't added in the side quests yet. Is there any task or quest in particular you'd really like to see them do? Ex: Bake cookies with Natalia (I doubt that would happen, but feel free to suggest anything at all xD)
I'd be interested in anything more to do with the characters.

8. How was the dialogue/script? Was it boring? Entertaining?
I thought it was great, all the characters had their own distinct speech and personality which came across great in the dialogue.

11. I made some of the music, most obviously being the theme song. I was thinking about changing it/adjusting it, what do you think of it as it is now?
I thought the music was awesome, went with the theme brilliantly.

12. Any other comments or suggestions?
There were a couple of spelling mistakes (I'll put it in spoilers, nothing really spoiler-y, but just don't want to ruin anything for anyone!):
In the tutorial- 'This is our link guage'
Outside after spending time with Aldritch for first time- 'Besdies, you need to scope out tomorrow's competition.'
Visiting bookshop for the 1st time- 'There's a narrow spiral staircase in the midddle'
Also, I don't normally enjoy battles in visual novels to be honest, but the way you set out everything was really easy to understand and made it fun to play in the fight, rather than having it reduced to micro-managing every piece of equipment or stat. So yeah, really enjoyed the battles, which is such a change for me! :D

Overall it's brilliant! I planned on playing just a bit in my lunch break today and ended up going waaaay over my time because I got sucked into it completely! :D
Completed: Diving in Deep/The Lady's Choice/The Crossroads
Current WIP: The Curse of Creek Edge (NaNo2020)

User avatar
Demetis
Regular
Posts: 134
Joined: Mon Jul 22, 2013 3:56 pm
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#58 Post by Demetis »

Still playing through >w< I need more time to get this done properly waaah XD
Two questions popped up till now though ovo
First, is it actually possible to meet the requirements during the first fight? And if yes, how does save/load in the middle of the fight influence it? >w< Cause I kinda cheated, got a critical hit, saved, and loaded until I got another critical hit. But at the end of the fight it still said requirements not met 8'D //slapped out of window

And second ovo After returning to the tent at night, if I choose stay up to train, I get "I stayed up a few hours and.....". Right after that, it displays a random number XD I think it's just something that you guys inserted to see if the training feature works >w< So just letting you guys know in case you want to make it invisible for us players XD

aimanin
Newbie
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Mar 16, 2015 9:28 am
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#59 Post by aimanin »

Encountered something quite confusing-
Is it impossible for the game to register the win against Lucy? I'm pretty sure I did win (and the words YOU WON! appeared) but the ensuing conversation seems to assume that Aldrich/Lilie lost. I'm playing from Lilie's POV- if it matters

User avatar
minyan
Miko-Class Veteran
Posts: 630
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 3:59 pm
Completed: Trial By Fire, Heartbaked, Ellaria, Plain, This My Soul, The Pretenders Guild
Projects: Arena Circus
Tumblr: minyanstudios
itch: harlevin
Contact:

Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] DEMO AVAILABLE

#60 Post by minyan »

Harliqueen wrote:Haven't finished all the demo yet, but wanted to post now because it's awesome and I might not get another chance to post for a while, so will answer questions that I can.

1. Overall, what did you think?
Loved it, and seriously excited for the full game!

2. I haven't added in much free roam character interaction yet. Once I do, what sort of conversations would you like to have with the characters? If you could ask one (or all) of them anything, what would it be?
I think just stuff in general to get to know the characters more would be interesting. I thought the characters were really varied, which was so nice, so my interest was piqued by all of them!

3. Who is your favorite character?
Leslie :D And I didn't expect to like him after first meeting him!

4. Was there anything in particular you disliked/thought could improve?
I really enjoyed it all.

5. How was the interface? Easy to understand? Is it aesthetically pleasing/does it fit the feel of the game?
The interface was stunning. Though I did struggle a little in the preferences menu to understand what each button meant without a title and just images, but that could just be me!

6. What was your favorite part?
Spending time with the other characters.

7. I haven't added in the side quests yet. Is there any task or quest in particular you'd really like to see them do? Ex: Bake cookies with Natalia (I doubt that would happen, but feel free to suggest anything at all xD)
I'd be interested in anything more to do with the characters.

8. How was the dialogue/script? Was it boring? Entertaining?
I thought it was great, all the characters had their own distinct speech and personality which came across great in the dialogue.

11. I made some of the music, most obviously being the theme song. I was thinking about changing it/adjusting it, what do you think of it as it is now?
I thought the music was awesome, went with the theme brilliantly.

12. Any other comments or suggestions?
There were a couple of spelling mistakes (I'll put it in spoilers, nothing really spoiler-y, but just don't want to ruin anything for anyone!):
In the tutorial- 'This is our link guage'
Outside after spending time with Aldritch for first time- 'Besdies, you need to scope out tomorrow's competition.'
Visiting bookshop for the 1st time- 'There's a narrow spiral staircase in the midddle'
Also, I don't normally enjoy battles in visual novels to be honest, but the way you set out everything was really easy to understand and made it fun to play in the fight, rather than having it reduced to micro-managing every piece of equipment or stat. So yeah, really enjoyed the battles, which is such a change for me! :D

Overall it's brilliant! I planned on playing just a bit in my lunch break today and ended up going waaaay over my time because I got sucked into it completely! :D

Aaahhhh I'm so glad you like it!! That makes me so happy :D I'll be sure to add a lot more conversations with the characters so you can get to know them better (especially Leslie xD). Thank you also for the spelling checks- I miss those so easily xD I appreciate your feedback and I'll keep working to make it even better!
Demetis wrote:Still playing through >w< I need more time to get this done properly waaah XD
Two questions popped up till now though ovo
First, is it actually possible to meet the requirements during the first fight? And if yes, how does save/load in the middle of the fight influence it? >w< Cause I kinda cheated, got a critical hit, saved, and loaded until I got another critical hit. But at the end of the fight it still said requirements not met 8'D //slapped out of window

And second ovo After returning to the tent at night, if I choose stay up to train, I get "I stayed up a few hours and.....". Right after that, it displays a random number XD I think it's just something that you guys inserted to see if the training feature works >w< So just letting you guys know in case you want to make it invisible for us players XD

Hmm, I think that's probably a coding error on my part xD I'll fix that in the next update, thank you! And yes, that was for coding purposes. I'll fix that too xD
ImageImage

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users