Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

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.
Post Reply
Message
Author
User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#1 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Hey there and welcome to my WIP page here for my free visual novel, Solipsism Reigns!

Introduction & General Description:

I'll start out by saying that I suffer from social anxiety, and I'm not very good at promoting things xD I also tend to ramble on a lot when it comes to things that I'm passionate about. So please keep that in mind as you read this :3 (If you want to skip the wall of text and look at art stuff then please just scroll down to the bottom xD)

Solipsism Reigns is a dark fantasy love story with a nameable protagonist. You must travel across various dimensions with your yandere spirit companion, Kuro, in order to seek the truth about yourself and the worlds around you. Become a Student, Mage, Clan Leader, Detective, or Gamer as you discover more about your true destiny. You may name your character and can choose from either male or female as your gender. Kuro's gender may also be chosen, allowing for GxB, BxG, BxB, and GxG romance options. It will be completely free to download upon release, and I will endeavour to publish on as many platforms as possible. It contains roughly 175000 words. Estimated playtime when viewing all content and listening to all voice lines is around 22 hours.

The GxB/otome version is complete and has now been released for Windows & Mac :3 Download here:
https://melancholy-marionette.itch.io/solipsism-reigns

Kuro:

Kuro appears as a spirit-like creature who only you can see and communicate with. The two of you have been inexplicably tied together for as long as you can remember. Despite being your loyal guardian, certain things tend to press Kuro's buttons, causing him/her to lose control. Please know that Kuro is not a complete monster, he/she has valid reasons for acting that way, and you will gradually discover them as the story unfolds. While it may seem awfully dark at times, it genuinely is a love story, haha.

Inevitably, there are many bad endings in this visual novel, but rather than them being game over for you, you actually need to collect many of the bad endings if you want to unlock all of the secrets of the story.

The Routes:

In the Student route, you must navigate the perils of beginning college. In an environment where you hope to make new friends, you should tread extra carefully so as not to upset Kuro.
https://imgur.com/ocLpkMQ

In the Mage route, you are the latest addition to a guild of qualified magic users. Sworn to use your abilities for good, you must end up facing a threat that could wipe out all life as you know it.
https://imgur.com/99SelIz

In the Clan Leader route, you are tasked with navigating various political dilemmas in order to lead your clan to victory and peace.
https://imgur.com/xIlONFr

In the Detective route, a supernatural serial killer from your past returns to walk the land of the living, intent on finishing what he started when you were a child.
https://imgur.com/2uwzo5D

In the Gamer route, you will need to decide what is more important between the digital world and the real world as both dimensions begin to merge with one another.
https://imgur.com/hSvq3wn

An unlockable Hidden route will become available to play through once certain conditions within the other routes have been met.
https://imgur.com/5CmS2el

Background Information:

I've been working on the project for around 3 years now. The idea began as a short story I started to post on Quotev, but when I acquired TyranoBuilder, I decided that rather than continue it in text format, I would turn it into a visual novel.

I previously released a basic demo containing two of the game's routes as part of an old TyranoJam, but have since removed it as I feel like it's far too old to represent the current state of the game. I wouldn't want people to play that old demo and get a false impression of what the final release will be like. As the first version is close to release, I won't be making a new demo now. I also removed most screenshots because of all the changes I've made to character art and UI over the years.

I will get around to posting some updated screenshots soon!

Voice Acting & CGs:

The game is fully voiced in English. I've also worked with someone who has created CG art specifically for the GxB version of the game, so it now has a gallery feature to unlock CGs. (The other versions will not currently feature CGs unless I can find artists are interested in helping out with those versions.)

Progress & Further Information:

EDIT: The GxB version has been released for Windows & Mac. I will be working on possibly making an Android version too. The next version to release will be the BxG version :3

I have been informed that this is a good place to post things to promote them, and to get feedback, which is why I've decided to do this :3 Initially it all started out as a small hobby project, and it has grown immensely into a full-scale visual novel, haha. Since I've spent so much time on it, I feel like I should probably attempt to make people aware of its existence now xD I know it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but even if only a few people other than myself manage to extract some form of enjoyment from it then I'll be immensely happy :3

Questions:

1) Which gender pairing version are you most interested in?
2) Would you prefer to be able to see the protagonist on-screen (as a small bust portrait) or not?
3) Which world route interests you the most?
4) What are your feelings on yandere romance options in general?

Feel free to ask me anything, and I'll try my best to answer :3 Thank you very much for taking the time to look, and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Character Art:

The below images are Kuro's artwork for all versions of the game.
(Sorry that they're a little rough, they're images that I threw together in a hurry to post to the itch.io page.)

Male Kuro's For GxB and BxB:

Student_001.jpg
Mage_003.jpg
Clan_004.jpg
Detective_005.jpg
Gamer_002.jpg

Female Kuro's For BxG and GxG:

Student_001.jpg
Mage_003.jpg
Clan_004.jpg
Detective_005.jpg
Gamer_002.jpg
Last edited by 8Laelia8 on Mon Jun 01, 2020 1:41 pm, edited 15 times in total.

User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, fantasy/horror, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#2 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Update:

Soooo, I've managed to tidy up the page here a little as I realise it was incredibly difficult to read the way I initially submitted it xD I can only apologise for how much I ramble on!

Anyway, I've been making steady progress and 4/6 routes are now functional. (The 6th route is a hidden route in case you were wondering why there's no actual mention of it!) I'm currently working on the 5th one and once I finish that I plan to make a short video showcasing a few of male Kuro's voice lines from each route quickly before I move on to piecing together the final route :3

If there's any interest at all in seeing other characters then I don't mind posting the art of friends and villains etc. I just didn't want to spam the original post with a tonne of images! Haha.

Also, if there are any artists out there who are interested in making some CGs for the BxB, BxG or GxG versions then please feel free to get in touch. The GxB version is already covered.

Have a great day! ^_^/

User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, fantasy/horror, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#3 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Update:

After finishing piecing together the Gamer route I decided to make a little voice demo so that people who haven't already heard (or want to hear more of) Timothy Smith's excellent voice acting as the male version of Kuro can have a listen :3 You can download it on the project's itch.io page:
https://ikarikali.itch.io/solipsism-reigns

Please note: It doesn't contain any actual gameplay, it's simply a small selection of male Kuro's voice lines to listen to. I'll make the same for female Kuro when the person voicing her has completed all of the lines.

I'll now be commencing work on piecing the final route together! After that, it will be a case of adding all the little details in before beginning to test for bugs (and there will be many T_T) haha.

I'd also like to introduce an artist that I'm working with, soemei [ https://twitter.com/soemei ]. If you plan on playing the otome version of the game then you will get to see Mei's amazing artwork :3

For example, this is Mei's finished work for Student Kuro's default sprite:

SKuroC.jpg

User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#4 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Update:

So, this may not exactly be the most exciting update in the universe, but it's a significant one for the project nonetheless :3

I've finally completed adding all text to the builder and the entire story is now playable from start to finish with all choices and consequences functioning. All background art and BGM is also in there and working alongside every single one of male Kuro's voice lines.

However, it wouldn't be much of a visual novel without sprites and other stuff that's still missing! So my next task is to add all character art, SFX, video stuff, and the remaining lot of voice lines for other characters. I should imagine it's going to take a while, but I'd like to think nowhere near as long as adding all that text and making the game function in its current form!

Fun fact, the amount of time I've spent so far in Tyrano putting this visual novel together according to steam is: 1077 hours and that's only going to continue going up xD

If you want to check out the update post I made on itch.io then you can find it here:
https://ikarikali.itch.io/solipsism-rei ... all-text-d
Alongside some of my own "art" that I posted for people to laugh at just how terrible it is :D

I hope whoever's reading this has a wonderful day! ^_^/

User avatar
Semicolonkid
Regular
Posts: 51
Joined: Tue Feb 14, 2017 6:13 pm
Projects: Summoned
itch: semicolonkid
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#5 Post by Semicolonkid »

Wow, this looks awesome!
First off, welcome! I know, judging by the date on the first post, you've been here for at least a few months now, but it's never too late for a welcome! Or maybe it is.

As someone who's also antisocial and bad at self-promotion, I can relate. But I think this project of yours has an impressive scope, and I really like how versatile you're making it with all the gender pairings and route options.

1) Which gender pairing version are you most interested in?
BxG, but I'm in the minority. Here at lemmasoft, I think you'll find that GxB and BxB are particularly popular, and I think even GxG ranks above BxG. So, I'd predict that you'll garner a lot of enthusiasm if you can maintain all those options.

2) Would you prefer to be able to see the protagonist on screen (as a small bust portrait) or not?
Eh, I like knowing what my protagonist looks like, but I generally prefer to see them in CG's only.

3) Which world route interests you the most?
Hmm, all of them interest me to some extent, though I think I'm leaning towards the Mage or Gamer routes. I'm just surprised at how vastly different and seemingly unrelated these routes sound like they'll be.

4) What are your feelings on yandere romance options in general?
I'll be honest, I generally hate them, haha. I have trouble imagining any relationship with a yandere that's healthy or satisfying.
Regardless, on some level, I see the appeal of them. And there have been exceptions. Surprisingly, I really liked Yuno Gasai, who's kind of the trademark yandere if ever there was one. But she did a lot of selfish things that made me also really dislike her at times.
Let's just say, if Kuro's yandere traits are character flaws that s/he overcomes in the good endings, then I'll probably enjoy those endings a lot more.

Finally, I feel compelled to mention that if you're still having trouble finding a male VA...well...I could be persuaded to audition...but I've never done it before...but I think I'd be good at it...but my voice might not fit the character...nevermind.
Image

User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#6 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm Wow, this looks awesome!
First off, welcome! I know, judging by the date on the first post, you've been here for at least a few months now, but it's never too late for a welcome! Or maybe it is.
Well, I'm super glad to hear you think so! :3 And you're right, it's definitely never too late and I really appreciate it!
Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm As someone who's also antisocial and bad at self-promotion, I can relate. But I think this project of yours has an impressive scope, and I really like how versatile you're making it with all the gender pairings and route options.
It's nice to know that you understand, I see many groups who make visual novels posting on social media and stuff and then there's just me on my own, not even knowing how to begin with social media since I don't really use it xD I wanted to include some different gender pairings because I personally get annoyed if there's a great looking VN that I want to play, but can't because it's BxG or BxB (and I like to self-insert so I can only really get into GxB stuff myself.) I know my options still don't cover everything, but since I'm working alone it's already a lot of work as it is to include the options I have, haha. With the route options, I suppose it's sort of like a series of short stories and the Hidden route is what ties them all together in the end :3
Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm 1) Which gender pairing version are you most interested in?
BxG, but I'm in the minority. Here at lemmasoft, I think you'll find that GxB and BxB are particularly popular, and I think even GxG ranks above BxG. So, I'd predict that you'll garner a lot of enthusiasm if you can maintain all those options.
That's great to hear that there's interest in the BxG option because, as you say, I've had almost no feedback at all on people interested in that option compared to the others! The voice actor playing the female version of Kuro is pretty incredible so hopefully, anyone who plays BxG or GxG will enjoy listening to her performance :3
Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm 2) Would you prefer to be able to see the protagonist on screen (as a small bust portrait) or not?
Eh, I like knowing what my protagonist looks like, but I generally prefer to see them in CG's only.
It's also nice to have some feedback in regards to that because it's a tough one! Not many people have really even mentioned it to me. I'm the same, I prefer to only see the protagonist in CG's, but I understand that some people like to have a permanent portrait there. Perhaps I will also make that a choice so that people can decide to have it how they want.
Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm 3) Which world route interests you the most?
Hmm, all of them interest me to some extent, though I think I'm leaning towards the Mage or Gamer routes. I'm just surprised at how vastly different and seemingly unrelated these routes sound like they'll be.
I'm very fond of the Gamer route myself, that and the Detective one :3 I'm happy to hear that they all sound of some interest to you though! Each route does indeed function as a completely separate story, but as I said earlier, the Hidden route is what links them :D
Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm 4) What are your feelings on yandere romance options in general?
I'll be honest, I generally hate them, haha. I have trouble imagining any relationship with a yandere that's healthy or satisfying.
Regardless, on some level, I see the appeal of them. And there have been exceptions. Surprisingly, I really liked Yuno Gasai, who's kind of the trademark yandere if ever there was one. But she did a lot of selfish things that made me also really dislike her at times.
Let's just say, if Kuro's yandere traits are character flaws that s/he overcomes in the good endings, then I'll probably enjoy those endings a lot more.
Hehe, that's perfectly understandable! I personally adore male yandere characters (and am usually just jealous of female ones xD) I definitely wouldn't want to be in that kind of relationship in real life, as abuse of any kind isn't healthy! In a fictional setting though I think many yandere characters are completely adorable x3 I have a feeling the fact that Kuro is the only romance option and I've announced that he/she is a yandere character, is probably off-putting for many people >.< But I can see why that would be the case, haha. Kuro isn't truly a monster, I can say that much! And this isn't going to be all about violence and creepiness either (though that stuff is certainly in there) :3 At the end of the day, it's still a love story and the love is real <3 haha.
Semicolonkid wrote: Sat Jun 23, 2018 10:06 pm Finally, I feel compelled to mention that if you're still having trouble finding a male VA...well...I could be persuaded to audition...but I've never done it before...but I think I'd be good at it...but my voice might not fit the character...nevermind.
I'm still looking for male (and some female) VA's so please feel free to check out the new audition page and drop me an audition if you feel like it! :D
https://www.castingcall.club/projects/s ... sual-novel
I'm happy to hear from anyone :3


Thank you very much for taking the time to give me some input, I really appreciate it a lot :3 I hope that you'll be able to enjoy the game when I finally manage to release it! ^_^

Elric Atchison
Newbie
Posts: 20
Joined: Tue Aug 14, 2018 12:23 pm
Completed: Friendly Meetup
Projects: Good Morning, Royal Legend
Organization: Bronze Pinnacle Games
itch: row96rowland
Discord: Timothy Rowland II#6889
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#7 Post by Elric Atchison »

I can't wait to play the full game when it releases. Even though I voiced Zen in the visual novel, I'll be providing game-play on my YouTube. if it's alright by the creator when the game's full release is here. Like I said at Casting Call, I have been a voice actor for about 2 years already. I don't mind voicing in an another project of yours.

From:
Elric Timothy Atchison
(Zen)
Voice Actor:
Zen- Solipsism Reigns
Bouncer (Samuel)- The Curse of Dwight Periwinkle
Marcus Marshall- Aurore: Five Princes
and others


Visual Novel Creator:
Friendly Meetup


Here's a more chronicled version and better version!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pxL ... r-9IW98c-8

User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#8 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Update:

Okay, so I have been dreadful at sticking to posting updates in general, but I have been posting more regularly on my itch.io page recently, haha. There are no excuses though, I should have updated this a long time ago!

The GxB version of the VN is pretty much ready for release now :3 I'm just waiting on some test feedback from a few people, and for my partner to help me finish the opening video to go with the new opening theme we made. I've run a full test myself, and the VN is fully playable from start to finish now, a test demo has been sent out to a couple of the voice actors that helped me out on the project, who are currently running through it to see if they can catch any little bugs or find things to tweak that I might have missed on my go!

While I can't give an exact release date as I don't know for sure when everyone will finish what they're doing, it should be released by the end of May this year :3 Please feel free to check out my itch.io project page for more details and information! I hope you're staying safe, and have a happy weekend ^_^/

User avatar
8Laelia8
Regular
Posts: 26
Joined: Sun Feb 21, 2016 12:47 pm
Completed: Solipsism Reigns, Impostor, Apartment No.9, Darling Duality - Winter Wish, Love in Lockdown, Yandere Heaven, Dawn of the Damned, The Graveyard Shift, Bitter/Sweet Blythe
Projects: SR, CiQ, DD, LiL, A9
Tumblr: melancholy-marionette
itch: melancholy-marionett
Location: UK
Contact:

Re: Solipsism Reigns (free, dark fantasy, romance, yandere, fully voiced) [GxB, BxG, BxB, GxG]

#9 Post by 8Laelia8 »

Update:

Well, it's getting close to release now, so I figured it's time to upload the opening theme and video! Unfortunately, my partner was too busy in the end to help me with creating the video so it's all done by me (and I know nothing about video editing xD) My partner is hoping to make a better video in the future though, and each version of the game will have a slightly differing video and song lyrics :3 This is specifically for the GxB version.

https://youtu.be/Ahl_qAtH198

I know it's not a typical opening video for a VN, it's more like a combo of opening video/lyrics video for the song x3

It's about time I actually set a proper release date too! I know I said I was on schedule to release by the end of May and I could have done so this Friday, but I've been waiting for my partner to help me with video stuff for a while and also for him to record his Q&A for the extras section x3 I'm hoping that he'll find the time to record it tonight so that I can add it to the game tomorrow and then export and do one final test over the weekend for release on Monday 1st June :3 If he doesn't, I'll just be releasing it without his Q&A and I can add it in an update whenever he gets around to recording!

So yeah, that's the plan! To release the GxB version of the VN for Windows and Mac on Monday 1st June. It'll be sometime in the afternoon on BST.

The Mac version may be a little trickier as I don't own a Mac myself and so I can't test anything on one >.< I'm also currently working on creating an Android version as well, which I will release on the same day if possible, but it's more likely to be a few days later towards the end of the week as I have a hell of a lot of files to convert for it to be playable on Android. On top of that, Tyrano's manual export process gives me a headache, and the Android one looks even more complicated, but I'll do my best x3

I hope that wherever you are in the world, you're staying safe and having a wonderful week so far! ^_^/



Credits:

World of Glass
Composed by DRIIMA
https://soundcloud.com/dragonphase
https://soundcloud.com/driiima

Lyrics by Melancholy Marionette
Performed by DRIIMA & Melancholy Marionette

I made the singing character art using ComiPo! The CG art in the video is in the GxB version of the visual novel and was created by Destini Ruffin.
https://twitter.com/DestiniDraws
https://www.deviantart.com/destiniuchiha
https://www.deviantart.com/destinidraws

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Ahrefs [Bot]