Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17] [COMPLETE]

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ashegads
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Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17] [COMPLETE]

#1 Post by ashegads »

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GxG, Urban Fantasy, Slice of Life
https://pixelsandpins.itch.io/amaranth

  • Features
    semi-linear storyline with GxG romance
    2 confirmed endings (1 planned hidden ending)
    12k words, about an hour to play a route
    6 backgrounds
  • Status
    Sprites: done
    Backgrounds: in progress
    Writing: done, out with beta readers
    CG's: on-hold
    UI: in progress
    Current build: artless but interactive and flagged
Characters


Cora (Terpsicore) apo Mytilios
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Our lovely MC is an elf from a proper, upstanding, middle class family from a less technologically advanced world than she currently lives on. Thankfully, cell phones are pretty easy to get used to if you know the principles.
Amy
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Our love interest, a sylvan that lives in the neighborhood and shares a park with Cora. She seems likes she blends with the human world she’s thrown herself into, but underneath is a lonely detachment. Really, she’s just waiting for a sign from the universe as to what to do next.
Isanna Rorinstead
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The coincidence that they were from the same world is what turned she and Cora into roommates three years ago. Having come to this world initially with her temple to volunteer with hurricane relief, she felt a calling to stay in the city as a social worker.
Greg Santibañez
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He comes from an old, large family of magicians. He happens to be an artificer, but it's not the centerpoint of his life. Instead he turned to what has grown to be called technomancy, the intricate art of making magic and non-magic technologies mesh. Cora and Isanna’s roommate.
Kaliocanthus
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Like any older brother, he wants what's best for her....even if that might not be what she wants.


2/29 Pre-Planning
It starts tomorrow, but my sketches and lists are ready to go.


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Cora came to live among the humans seven years ago, the end of the eight year stint before young elves are expected to find their place in life. Between work and dealing with roommates and the weekly phone calls from her mother that are tinged with that oh so special form of guilt that they’re so good at, she’s barely had time to think about dinner, much less the rest of her life. With everything slowly building to a head, she meets a sylvan in the park( one who’s also resigned herself to walk among the humans) that says the whole matter is simple: listen and you will know. But it’s not…it’s not so simple.
Last edited by ashegads on Thu Mar 30, 2017 8:43 pm, edited 27 times in total.

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Re: Amaranth [GxG] [NaNo '17]

#2 Post by Alcor »

Oh hey, the MC for my project is also named Amaranth! It's such a pretty name. *highfives*
I'm really enjoying the character designs, by the way. (I'm a sucker for non-symmetrical hair.)

Good luck, and I'm looking forward to seeing your progress!

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ashegads
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Re: Amaranth [GxG] [NaNo '17]

#3 Post by ashegads »

ALCOR_etc wrote:Oh hey, the MC for my project is also named Amaranth! It's such a pretty name. *highfives*
Oh my gosh, yes! I've been waiting for a chance to use that name for a character in something, and this time I was like....I'm doing it. And thanks! I've got a thing for that long hair, undercut style. It's so fun to draw.

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ashegads
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Urban Fantasy|NaNo '17]

#4 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/1
My big accomplishment was actually getting the sketch laid out of the sprite of Cora (the MC) done while going in and out of stores with my mother and sister today. I used Photoshop Sketch on my Samsung Tablet (best Christmas present ever). I’m going to wait to ink and color until I’m absolutely sure of the design, something that will change as I write her out. Speaking of, I slammed out the first 300 words of the script while waiting at the Greek place for my panini. Wanted to have more done, but my family kinda sucked a lot of time today. I’ll be writing for the next 2 and a half hours before I gotta do the sleep thing. Other than that, good start to everything I hope.

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I’ll also take a minute to go over the game, world, and other characters under the cut.

THE GAME:
As opposed to having multiple love interests, the game will focus on Cora’s interactions with her friends, love interest, family, and internal struggle with self. There are two endings confirmed, with a third one pending time constraints.

THE WORLD:
Everything in this game takes place in a world where magic and technology have sort of…grown up together. It’s connected to a couple of other planets via inter-world gates, and there’s frequent travels between worlds of varying levels of magic. This actually takes place in a universe I’ve been working in for awhile that you can see in the audio drama Ollie and Molly and my short story series Latolan.

THE CHARACTERS:
  • Cora (Terpsicore) apo Mytilios-our lovely MC is an elf from a proper, upstanding, middle class family from a less technologically advanced world than she currently lives on. Thankfully, cell phones are pretty easy to get used to if you know the principles.

    Amy- our love interest, a sylvan that lives in the neighborhood and shares a park with Cora. She seems likes she blends with the human world she’s thrown herself into, but underneath is a lonely detachment. Really, she’s just waiting for a sign from the universe as to what to do next.

    Isanna Rorinstead-the coincidence that they were from the same world is what turned she and Cora into roommates three years ago. Having come to this world initially with her temple to volunteer with hurricane relief, she felt a calling to stay in the city as a social worker.

    Greg Santibañez-he comes from an old, large family of magicians. He happens to be an artificer….but not a very good one. Instead he turned to what has grown to be called technomancy, the intricate art of making magic and non-magic technologies mesh. Cora and Isanna’s roommate.

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ashegads
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Urban Fantasy|NaNo '17]

#5 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/2
It was a rough day with work, a niece with the flu, and recording for an abridged short. Still managed to get another sprite sketch done (this time of Amy), and get the script up to 1200/10000(ish) words. Things still looking up.
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ashegads
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#6 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/5
Pretty much lost the weekend due to the flu, but I managed to get another sprite sketch done. This one is the roommate Isanna.

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Managed to move further along in the script, as well. About a quarter to a third done, now. I’ll continue working on it tonight. I’ve no work tomorrow (not allowed to go within 24 hours of having a fever), so I hope to get a lot done tomorrow.

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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#7 Post by Harliqueen »

Ah, I hope you feel better soon! Getting ill during NaNo has to suck really bad :/

Though, you're really getting tons done- on sprites and script! I love the idea of mixing fantasy with modern. Good luck with it :) Looking forward to seeing how it progresses.
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ashegads
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#8 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/6
Still working a little slowly, but the sketches for the last two sprites are done. This is Greg the Technomancer and Cora’s as of now unnamed older brother. They look a little different from the others because I did them on my home tablet instead of my mobile one.

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I have (at least) one more day off work to get over the flu, so I’m hoping to ink and base color tomorrow. That’s also when I’ll get them in the proper resolution. Things are moving along okay.
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#9 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/7


Alright! Pretty productive day. Got lines and flats done for the sprites of the main characters, Cora and Amy.

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I need to clean them a little, and I’ll solidify the colors when everyone’s done, but this was a big step toward making me feel like I’m getting somewhere. I’m going to keep working on the script for another hour then finally…let myself play some Breath of the Wild if the download is finished.
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#10 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/8
Two (ish) more sprites have line and flat colors done. Greg the technomancer and Isanna.
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I don’t really like Isanna’s colors, right now. she’s too…..green….and I can’t figure out what I want to do with the headscarf. I’m kinda leaning toward a neutral tone, but I don’t know. One of my initial iterations of her today actually had a patterned dress, but I didn’t like it when paired up against the others. What I did manage to be happy with today, though, is playing around in the engine. I wanted to see how the sprites actually looked together to make sure they’re sizing wasn’t weird. Ended up with about a 30 second preview. Obviously none of the art is done or anything. The backgrounds are just….a quick gradient and a picture of the park near my house. Programming is actually my favorite part, so I’m looking forward to getting there and playing with the GUI and getting all the flags in.
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#11 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/16
I've been busy busy busy.

Script: Done

Main character sprites: Done

Finishing off all the sprites tomorrow, then starting to actually implement everything. Looking to have a fully functional game by the end of the weekend. Then it’s backgrounds (which I might cheat a little bit) and UI (which I intend to keep as simple as possible). I’ll be relying on our old friend “royalty free” for music.

CG’s will be the last thing to be implemented if I have time before the deadline. Otherwise, I don’t think they’re going to happen.

I think…I think I’m managing to do this, though.

And look! Some expressions.

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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#12 Post by Alcor »

Oh! It's awesome to see all the progress you've made! Congrats on finishing the script; writing is the hardest part for me, so I personally feel that having the writing done means the game will be done for sure! (Definitely just my personal opinion, though...)

The expressions and sprites are looking great, and while I'd love to see CGs, they also take quite a while and don't fret if you can't get to them. I hope you have fun with the UI (it's my favorite thing, but I also hate wrestling with it half the time); you said you enjoy programming, so that'll definitely make it a nicer experience!

You're doing great :D

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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#13 Post by ashegads »

ALCOR_etc wrote:Oh! It's awesome to see all the progress you've made! Congrats on finishing the script; writing is the hardest part for me, so I personally feel that having the writing done means the game will be done for sure! (Definitely just my personal opinion, though...)

The expressions and sprites are looking great, and while I'd love to see CGs, they also take quite a while and don't fret if you can't get to them. I hope you have fun with the UI (it's my favorite thing, but I also hate wrestling with it half the time); you said you enjoy programming, so that'll definitely make it a nicer experience!

You're doing great :D
Thanks for the encouragement! It's been rough but I'm getting there.
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#14 Post by ashegads »

Update 3/18
As of 1:30 this morning, I had an artless build of the game with all the flags set and totally playable. It's out with some friends who are beta reading it for me over the weekend, and so far they've come back with good notes. I shouldn't have to make more than a few small labeling and typo fixes with maybe a little rephrasing of some thing which is fantastic. No major rewrites.

All the sprites are totally, done, as I've mentioned before, and I went ahead and updated the first post in this thread with those.

GETTIN' INTO THE HOOOOMMSSSTRETCH.
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Re: Amaranth [GxG, Drama, Slice of Life|NaNo '17]

#15 Post by Glitterbark »

Ahhh!! I'm so happy to see you've been progressing well, and congratulations on finishing the script! I am always happy to see more GxG games, and I really enjoy urban fantasy settings, so I'll definitely be playing this when you finish. ^^ Good luck! You can do it.
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