Specter of A Dream - [BxB][Nakige][Japanese Folklore][Free]

[ikebuguro]

Since my team and I have been working terribly hard on Purlieu (need to update the thread here...) we decided to take on a side project that we can work on to take off some stress.
I'll be making this thread look nicer when we finish the logo and such, but I'll leave some info and sketches here for now, as well as use this as a little checklist for things I have to get done.
I've been wanting to publish something on CloudNovel since I joined, so a shorter game seems like the thing to do at the moment!
This is something we've been wanting to do for a while, and we're now sketching some initial character concepts and writing some outlines.
Any questions, or comments are totally fine, we don't have too much up right now, but I'll be updating this as I go. We're hoping for this to be a fun, quick project, so hopefully a lot of progress to show soon.

Specter of A Dream (Yume no Yōkai) is a story about a third year student named Yori, who is currently tending for his deceased grandfather's old shrine.
The maintenance is very hard work, and the location is very difficult to reach due to being up in the mountains, but Yori makes the trip to and from school every day, then climbs the stairs up to the shrine.
Just as school is almost over, and he's having to decide what he's going to do with the shrine once he graduates, he stumbles upon one of 5 type of yōkai, who will then change his life forever.




The yōkai you'll be able to interact with will be:

Takeshi武 (Oni)- An vengeful ogre-like demon ready to kill you.

Kenta健太 (Tanuki)- A joyful racoon being that can shape-shift and drink more than the average man.

Ichirou & Jirou一郎 & 二郎 (Kitsune)- A quiet fox spirit that sits near the shrine, and his very mischievous brother.

Hiroki弘樹 (Bakeneko)- A playful cat being that was once a cat himself, and causes lots of trouble with his clumsiness.

Ryuuji竜二 (Ryuutou)- A quiet dragon spirit aching to return to where he belongs.

Character sketches
updating with any character art that comes out before official sprites are finished

Progress

Story planning- 70%
Character planning- 100%

Intro script:
Planning- 100%
Final draft- 0%

Routes:
Main routes planning- 0%
Extra routes planning- 0%
Main routes final draft- 0%
Extra routes final draft- 0%

Concept art- 100%
Backgrounds- 0%
Sprites- 15%

GUI: 100%


Features

5 unique routes with multiple endings
Unlockable scenes
A fun insight into some of Japan's most popular folklore
Facts about Shinto religion- Learn about shrines through small pop-up's through the game.
Lots of character development
Long playtimes
Fun and witty dialogue
More to be added!

Questions & Comments

Do you like the idea? What about the logo? And the characters?
How much do you know about yōkai? Should there be an explanation as to what they are in the game?
Do you prefer a lot of choices, or more linear narrative?
Anything you'd like to see added to this?

Feel free to answer any or all of these, post your own questions, or just make a comment.

Also! If anyone would like to donate any traditional Japanese music for this project, or sound effects, it would be appreciated! It's a free project and everything will be credited.

[Michalina]

A BxB game full of yokais? Sign me up for this!
I am a lover of both, plus the art looks really beautiful and the logo is just stunning.
I'll be definitely keeping my eye on this ^^ Good luck!

[ikebuguro]

A BxB game full of yokais? Sign me up for this!
I am a lover of both, plus the art looks really beautiful and the logo is just stunning.
I'll be definitely keeping my eye on this ^^ Good luck!

I'm glad you like the idea!
We'll have more concrete art soon, now that the sprites are being worked on.
And I'm very glad you like the logo, we played around with it a lot, and most of it is hand-drawn, I was worried about not having made the right choice with it

[ikebuguro]

I updated with some questions I'd love to hear back about, as well as some progress and features.
Should have the main character sprites done today, so I'll be able to post that.

[audrenes]

I love the idea! I find nakige games to be really interesting, but I haven't been able to find many of them... The logo looks beautiful as well as the character designs! I have little to no knowledge on yokai, so having an explanation as to what they are in the game would be great! For me, the amount of choices doesn't really matter-- so long as they're relevant to the plot.

For now, I don't know what I want to see from the game, but I look forward to its completion!

[ikebuguro]

Some sprite sketches!

[ikebuguro]

I love the idea! I find nakige games to be really interesting, but I haven't been able to find many of them... The logo looks beautiful as well as the character designs! I have little to no knowledge on yokai, so having an explanation as to what they are in the game would be great! For me, the amount of choices doesn't really matter-- so long as they're relevant to the plot.

For now, I don't know what I want to see from the game, but I look forward to its completion!

Thank you for the feedback! We'll be adding little bits of information on yokai and Shinto religion so no one feels left out, or like they don't fully understand the story

[ikebuguro]

Temporary background, but all the GUI is almost finished, and this is the title screen for the time being.
To clarify, the art is just a placeholder, it was not done by us.

[ikebuguro]

GUI finished! More stand-in pictures for now

[Mikomi]

I really like the text box design! It's different, and I don't see a lot of non-oval/rectangle text boxes. However, I find it a bit hard to read the writing on the title screen buttons. It might be just me, though.

Do you like the idea? What about the logo? And the characters?
I do like the idea! It's an interesting concept, and I really like seeing VNs go beyond the "teen spending time in Japan". The character designs look interesting so far, but I'd love to see the colored versions!

How much do you know about yokai? Should there be an explanation as to what they are in the game?
I know very little about yokai. Some explanation of what yokai are would be very helpful, especially what each of the yokai are for.

Do you prefer a lot of choices, or more linear narrative?
I like a good amount of choices, but I think a mainly linear narrative is okay too.

[Elyeon]

Do you like the idea? What about the logo? And the characters?
I'm a huge fan of mythologies and folklore so definitely! The logo looks lovely and suits the theme of your VN imo.
I really like how the character designs are turning out! Especially with how diverse the sprites' poses looking so far.

How much do you know about yokai? Should there be an explanation as to what they are in the game?
I'm familiar with the subject but I'm interested to see your take on them!

Do you prefer a lot of choices, or more linear narrative?
I don't really mind either way, but I guess it depends on the protagonist's personality. I enjoy linear narrative a lot if the protagonist is the one that's willing to take action so the plot progresses by their pace, rather than being passive and going with the motion while the supporting characters basically spoon-feed them information and telling them what to do. Though I guess what I've said just now can also apply to visuals novels with lots of choices ahaha

Anything you'd like to see added to this?
Nothing I can think of right now since I'm pretty content with the current features.

The GUI looks great by the way!