What's this game about?
Elven Revenue Service is a game about love, life, and the mundane existing alongside the fantastical. As players progress through the story, they’ll have to decide how they want to run the bar, handle the tax audit, and build relationships with the people around them. Players can shape the course of events radically with their choices, ranging from how involved with the audit they get to what characters (if any) they’re hoping to romance. With seven characters planned to be available for romance, this creates a wide array of possible endings, ensuring the game will be enjoyable to play again and again. Players will be able to set the protagonist’s gender without affecting their romance options, providing gay and lesbian options for those interested. And while building relationships is a major part of the game, they won’t necessarily have to be romantic to win, either. Our hope is that Elven Revenue Service will have a little something for everyone rather than simply being thought of as a dating game.
Themes within the game have thus far revolved heavily around the ethics of "magic potions" (drugs), racism and discrimination, overcoming cultural divides, and finding your own path. There are other heavy themes like sexual harassment that come up, although Elven Revenue Service never gets explicit or inappropriate. I expect topics like gender and loss to also come up in other routes, although I haven't made it quite that far yet. The end result is a complex, anachronistic fantasy setting where the mundane nature of modern life exists alongside the magic and fantastical, bringing with it all that such a situation would imply.
How's it look?
Stylistically, Elven Revenue Service draws from the golden age of RPGs in the ‘90s and early ‘00s, using an art style reminiscent of classic series like Fire Emblem, Golden Sun, and Final Fantasy. We’ve taken influence from a variety of other fantasy works, of course, including seminal works like Dungeons and Dragons or Lord of the Rings as well as more modern fare. Old school PC adventure games have also influenced the visuals to an extent. The music is all custom written and being filtered to give them a sound more akin to old GBA/SNES titles to help further this aesthetic.
- Title screen for Elven Revenue Service
- Elven Revenue Service Screenshot
- Elven Revenue Service Screenshot
The writing is a daunting task on its own, but where I'm really stuck right now is art. All assets in the game currently were created by me, but I hardly consider myself an artist, really only understand pixel style, and hope to get some more experienced assistance. As a result, I'm really lacking in things like official artwork of characters or nice CGs for significant moments in the narrative that are just simply beyond my capabilities artistically. I fully recognize this is a lot of work, so we're hoping to launch a kickstarter in a few months in order to be able to pay someone adequately for their art. I've written regular novels, I've learned to write music, I've learned to use Ren'Py's code, but the art is largely out of reach. It's what kept me from trying something like this before, and I'm really hoping that this time around I can get past that stumbling block.
So, I suppose my question is based around that. I'll take suggestions for artists to look into commissioning, help estimating the cost of getting these assets produced, and any suggestions as to how to spread the word before attempting a crowdfunding campaign. Should the CGs be in pixel style as well, albeit a more detailed one, or should it be kept at its highest quality? Does the existing artwork seem to meet an acceptable standard, or should it be replaced? Of course, I'd also love to hear any impressions or feedback. While there isn't a demo available publicly yet, I'm hoping we can have it ready by March. In that regard, I'd gladly welcome ideas about how long a VN demo should be, too.