BL4NK x RE4DER [Otome | GxB] [Meta] [SHELVED]

[KiloTango]

I'm a much bigger fan of meta shenanigans than I am of otome games as a whole, so I'm not sure I'm your audience... but this looks fun!

- Do you find the guys attractive?

They're cute! The art style is nice though I kinda wish it was done in the style of the speed paint you put up, which is even nicer.

- Which guy do you find the most attractive?

Gonna be another one of those people on team Nial I'm afraid. I like mysterious characters and his hoodie is really cool.

- Do the guys look like girls? >_<;

Nah. Bryn and Levi are a bit girly but you kind of expect that in things like this.

- Do you like the idea of being the heroine as the Reader/player?

Meta stuff is always fun. There's lots of space to play there so I'm interested to see where you do with it.

- Would you feel overwhelmed by having many, many choices? Many otome games give you just a few crucial choices to make.

Nah. I might not reply to get every possible outcome but it's nice to keep you engaged with the story. Though if it's a choice between fewer choices but those choices being more tightly written, and more choices but less care taken on the outcomes, I prefer the former.

- How do you feel about a not-so-reliable narrator character? As in, what if he isn't always as helpful as he can be and sometimes hides the truth?

Bring it on. I love that kind of thing and when you're messing with meta-narrative things it makes sense to carry that theme into narration, the UI, the tutorials etc. I've been really enjoying The Stanley Parable recently which has some brilliant use of unreliable narrator.

- What are your opinions about rollback being disabled in an otome game?

IIRC you can set up stuff to rollback text but not be able to change choices, btw. But either way, I think you can get away with it in an Otome game as long as you're careful about auto advancing text bits etc. If it was a mystery or something I might want to go back and reread certain things bit it feels like that would be less of an issue here.

- Would you play differently if you knew that you cannot rollback to change your choices? (Would you still play at all?)

I don't use rollback to change choices, the most I might do is go back to a save. So no, it wouldn't effect how I played.

- How many save/load file slots do you typically use in an otome game?

Less than most, TBH. Maybe a couple per route if I was being completionist or maybe just 2 or 3 (My current position for closing the game, and real major obvious branches)

- Would you play differently if you knew that the game only allows for one save file to be created?

I'd be less likely to try and get every ending but otherwise play the same tbh.

- Would you play differently if you knew that each playthrough of the game permanently* changes the game?

Maybe. I like that idea though, Undertale did some fun things with that and there's a lot of potential . If you're going to be really meta about things it kind of makes sense to do that kind of thing. If you're worried about that bugging people you could give a really hidden option to do a true reset (though I'd be real tempted to have the boys really not be happy with you if you decide to pick it). There's some real potential to mess around with stuff like that and it would fit the theme of the story well to play with people's expectations there.

Can't wait to see how this turns out!

[Alcor]

Update 01/31:

Thanks for the responses! Below are some details regarding the gameplay features I decided to implement.

I have changed some of the game's assets (especially the Save/Load screen), so I updated the screenshots included in the original post.

ENDINGS:
No dead-end endings exist.
(There are no actual game-overs, and you will never be stuck with a "bad" ending. As long as you continue playing, you are still able to find the "best" endings. Hopefully this makes the other possibly-frustrating features less frustrating.)
(NOTE: this does NOT mean that there is a perfect happy ending.)

ROLLBACK:
Rollback is disabled.
(Rollback is disabled in real life as well )

SAVE/LOAD:
One save/load file is enabled.
Autosave/Quicksave are disabled.
Pressing Esc does not bring up any menus.
(NOTE: the game WILL mess with your save files. It will not really affect your ability to find the "best" endings.)

PERSISTENT DATA:
Large amount of data/variables persist between playthroughs.
Persistent data is extremely important for story progression, as multiple playthroughs of the same route are required to find the "best" endings.
If the "true" ending is obtained, an option to delete all persistent data may be offered.)
(You can probably go through your computer to delete the persistent data if you really wanted to.)

The Narrator will warn you about all of these features at the beginning of the game. These features will be included in the demo, so hopefully they make more sense then.

[VocaloidsRCool]

Thank you for working so hard for us! I'm sure the game will be great~

[Harmonywish]

No rollback and ONE save file? :'D I'm loving it already! And I found it very amusing when you said that there are no rollbacks in real life. This really does make me feel as if I'm the heroine of the game. Thank you so much for adding those features~ <3

As for endings, I like that there are no bad endings, I usually look at walkthroughs because I'm really afraid of messing up and getting the guys mad, and then resulting in a bad ending I played a game once with no walkthrough and I pretty much failed at the romance part :'D

[Lyhra]

Wow, one save file, no rollback, persistent data, that sounds tough! xDDD

I wonder, when you say that pressing Esc wont let you access the Menu, that means there's not going to be a way to access the Menu while playing or only to do it pressing Esc? Also, is there going to be any "speed skip" option?
I have a question about the persistent data feature: will it only apply when you finish one playthrought, and start a second one, or would it apply too if I started playing the game and then, for X or Y, decided leave it and start a new one (i mean, not having finished the game the first time)?

[Alcor]

Thank you for working so hard for us! I'm sure the game will be great~

Thank you for your enthusiasm and continuing support.

No rollback and ONE save file? :'D I'm loving it already! And I found it very amusing when you said that there are no rollbacks in real life. This really does make me feel as if I'm the heroine of the game. Thank you so much for adding those features~ <3

As for endings, I like that there are no bad endings, I usually look at walkthroughs because I'm really afraid of messing up and getting the guys mad, and then resulting in a bad ending I played a game once with no walkthrough and I pretty much failed at the romance part :'D

Haha, thank you! I don't think you should be afraid of messing up here--the guys are going to get mad regardless of what you do. The harder part is getting them to stop being mad

I do think that the game will fairly difficult to navigate through, so I plan to write up some sort of walkthrough (or just a simple tips and hints document) to help those who get stuck.

Wow, one save file, no rollback, persistent data, that sounds tough! xDDD

I wonder, when you say that pressing Esc wont let you access the Menu, that means there's not going to be a way to access the Menu while playing or only to do it pressing Esc? Also, is there going to be any "speed skip" option?
I have a question about the persistent data feature: will it only apply when you finish one playthrought, and start a second one, or would it apply too if I started playing the game and then, for X or Y, decided leave it and start a new one (i mean, not having finished the game the first time)?

Esc doesn't allow you access the menu, but the buttons on the textbox will lead you to all the menus you need. The textbox will generally be present in the game (except for a few instances, where it'll disappear; but saving/loading isn't important to those moments anyway). There is a skip button on the textbox, but it quickly skips over all the text instead of taking you directly to the next choice menu; is that what you mean by "speed skip"?

I'm currently coding persistent data, and at the moment it's scattered all throughout the game; I'll probably organize it better later. At the moment, the persistent data is saved once you reach certain points of the game, and it saves certain bits of information. This actually makes saving a lot less important, as the game remembers (most of) your important choices.

I'm not sure I'm explaining this clearly, but it works something like this:

You start a new game for the first time. You are greeted by the Narrator, and you tell him your name.

At this point, if you quit the game and start a new game, the Narrator will tell you that you didn't finish your last playthrough. He will not ask for your name again, and will pick up around where you left off.

If you quit the game mid-playthrough and start a new game, the Narrator will tell you that you didn't finish your last playthrough. He will not ask for your name again and will comment on the choices you made in your last partial-playthrough. The guy whose route you picked in your last partial-playthrough may act somewhat differently depending on your choices.

Alternatively, if you finish the playthrough and then start a new game, the Narrator will not ask for your name again and will comment on the choices you made in your last playthrough. The guy whose route you picked in your last playthrough will act quite a bit differently, though it depends on your choices.

(Of course, you could've also refused to tell the Narrator your name at the beginning of the game. After you talk to him more, he may ask for your name again. If you told your name to another character but refused to tell your name to the Narrator, he will know your name and will comment on the fact that you'd tell your name to someone else but not to him.)

Hopefully that helps answer your question. Thanks for commenting!

[Lyhra]

Totally understood your explanation, and sounds pretty interesting!

[bekami]

i've been stalking this game for a but so it's bout time i comment! (Although you pretty much got lots of feedback already)

---What are your opinions about rollback being disabled in an otome game?
I rely so much on rollback LOL I don't mind it being disabled, especially since you can't roll back in every game.

---Would you play differently if you knew that you cannot rollback to change your choices? (Would you still play at all?)
I would think my choices much more carefully... I usually #yolo my way through games because I know I can go back.


---How many save/load file slots do you typically use in an otome game?
It depends on the length of the game, the the amount of choices and the amount of guys. I generally abuse the save slots though. For Amnesia I used up pretty much every save slot!

---Would you play differently if you knew that the game only allows for one save file to be created?
Definitely... not gonna yolo... MUST PLAN THROUGH IT.

---Would you play differently if you knew that each playthrough of the game permanently* changes the game?

Sort of like Undertale? (not that I've played Undertale personally) I would play best on my own preferences and then maybe get my friend to play to see just how much the game differs!

Miscellaneous
---Which characters are most attractive to you, and why?
They're all pretty attractive, but I'm leaning towards the narrator and Nial. I really like the mysterious type and Nial is pretty cute! Also narrator just because??? IDK white hair, closed eyes, kinda shady smile, kinda peeks my interest too--

I find your idea really neat, it's totally my type of game. (Just don't break the fourth wall with nightmare fuel like Undertale did LOL) Good luck on completing it, I look forward to it!

[Alcor]

I find your idea really neat, it's totally my type of game. (Just don't break the fourth wall with nightmare fuel like Undertale did LOL)

ahahahahaha I can't really make promises about that let's just call it a surprise

Thanks for your feedback!

----

UPDATE 02/06:

I've been playing around with MuseScore, and I'm happy to announce that this game will indeed feature original soundtrack. (Though, given that the OST involves me attempting to write music on music software I only began using yesterday, the quality of the OST itself may be a little iffy.) I'll try to have a sample posted by tomorrow.

The demo will at least partially have music (and the music may be partially-complete music). Given how long it's taking me to actually write the music and program the script, it's likely that the demo will not be released until March.

I'm considering asking for beta testers for the demo, as it consists of a good chunk of the game (around 1/3 of the full game, I think) and dozens of pesky persistent variables. I don't know if beta testing (alpha testing?) game demos is a thing, though. Please let me know if you have thoughts about this.

Thank you for your patience!

[Alcor]

UPDATE 02/09:

Sorry for the delay! Two sample (WIP) tracks for BL4NK x RE4DER are now available on my soundcloud:

https://soundcloud.com/alcor-etc

I am not an experienced composer, but I hope everything sounds alright. Please let me know if you have any critique!

[FonaCall]

Not much to say about the music in general yet, but I am loving the Cafe Shamrock track.

- Piet

[VocaloidsRCool]

Start is mysterious and soft, and Cafe Shamrock is whimsical and pretty. Good job on both of them~

[Lyhra]

I really like both soundtracks too, the sound very cute and engaging in their own different way. Cafe Shamrock is my favorite too ^^

[Harmonywish]

The music is so nice! Cafe Shamrock is really cute and pretty! I like that one the best, but start is nice as well! Yay for a possible demo in march :3

Looking really forward to this >w<~ Is the game going to have a song for it or just a sound track? :3

[Alcor]

Happy Valentine's from the BL4NK x RE4DER romanceables!

(Narrator doesn't consider himself a romanceable, so he didn't show up to the chibifest. )









Thanks for your continued support!