"Honey, everyone who comes to Industry has issues. That's the kind of place this is, and we're the kind of people attracted to it."
Lilycal Laika is a visual novel set in a Sci-fi universe. The story follows Laika, who ran away from a rogue planet to Industry Colony where she intends to work as a Striker. Industry Colony sits on a planet sprinkled with unknown compounds and bizarre wildlife - a treasure trove of scientific discoveries. The Striker's jobs are to hunt and collect samples from those wildlife for the R&D department. Laika's adventures will be affected by the various people she meets there, each of whom carry their own emotional baggage. That's the kind of people that Industry attracts - people with issues of their own, who desire an escape from their old world into a reckless thrill-seeking life.Lilycal Laika was originally made for Tyrano Builder's month-long game jam, then continued on for a few weeks into Yurijam. It's still a demo of the first act, but gives a glimpse of what each route would be like. I worked alone on everything except the free license music, so the assets are still rough. Given more time I could polish them up, but this gives a general feel of the project.
Download available at itch.io - http://anyafennec.itch.io/lilycal-laika
- Laika
After living her entire life on a rogue planet with a collapsed government, Laika finally got her escape when the Federation sent an aid convoy.
- Mei's Sample Sprites
One of the Strikers that Laika meets. Hotheaded and rash, which may be exactly what Laika needs.
- Kaori's Sample Sprites
The woman who runs the Lily Guild, where Laika just moved into. She has strong connections to the company that runs Industry, but disagrees with their actions.
- Ciel's Sample Sprites
Another Striker and Mei's friend. She seems to enjoy some popularity, and may harbor some idol tendencies.
- Screen 1
- Screen 2
I worked on this alone, and I wonder if I should continue to do so. I know that with other people, the end result would be better. With artists, I can get better CGs, backgrounds, sprites etc. With more writers, I would be able to include more routes than if I wrote everything myself. A composer making new music just for the story would lead to a better product than trying to fit existing music.
However I don't have the money to hire anyone, and recruiting partners would be its own can of worms. I'm under no illusion that I could crowdfund anything at this stage either.
But mostly it's a pride issue. I managed to get through the game jam by myself, and a part of me wants to see it through that way. I want to be able to point at this and say "Look, I made all of that (minus music)." I don't have any musical skills whatsoever so I'm not as averse to hiring a composer, but again, money.
Basically: If I go forward alone, would the project be good enough? Would the way I work on backgrounds and other assets (with more polish than the current time-rushed state) be good enough, or will it be a serious distraction for the audience? I do want to be able to sell the end product, since I need to eat and pay rent and stuff.
Thank you for your interest in Lilycal Laika!
Please send feedback to anya [dot] fennec [at] gmail [dot] com.
You can also find me on twitter @anya_fennec https://twitter.com/anya_fennec
Some of my art is posted on pixiv, and that's where the first complete sprites went up too. http://www.pixiv.net/member_illust.php?id=2942608
I have a blog at http://crescentteahouse.com/, and I might use it for updating VN status after I settle on how to handle this project.
