Lemma Soft Forums

This is just a small project. With a very small team. It might not be noticed because of its overuse of VN cliches and tropes. As well as its close similarities with Katawa Shoujo. But we're still going for it.

It's about a guy who's asexual but doesn't know it yet. He struggles to know what's wrong with him and this becomes the main dilemma for the story. But once he sees how much a girl loves him, he tries really hard to feel that emotion. In the end, he doesn't, but whether he ends the story on good terms or not is the player's choice.

We're only three people for now. We are in need of CG artists. So if you're interested on joining us, please don't hesitate. We really want to make this project successful.

This could actually end up being a pretty sensitive topic and I would suggest being super careful with it.

If what your summary means is "the protagonist does not feel romantic love," that would make your protagonist aromantic. This identity is considered by many to be a part of the LGBTQIA community, and suggesting that it is a "disorder" could be upsetting or offensive to some.

If what your summary means is "the protagonist does not form close bonds with anyone at all, romantic, platonic or otherwise," he probably does suffer from some sort of disorder. There is nothing wrong with writing about a character with a mental illness, but if you do this you need to make sure that you do your research on it and can portray it as accurately as possible. It would probably be helpful to use a real disorder for research, even if the protagonist's disorder is never named in-game. Also, keep in mind that people don't really "get over" disorders overnight, or usually at all. It takes a long time, often years, of work to get used to dealing with the disorder and keeping it managed to the best of your ability.

Best of luck with your project.

Mavrik_Lokeeh wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:57 pm This is just a small project. With a very small team. It might not be noticed because of its overuse of VN cliches and tropes. As well as its close similarities with Katawa Shoujo. But we're still going for it.

1. If you believe in your story's merit, then write it. (You can look at specific examples of professionally published fiction and make judgments such as "The writer created this for a paycheck. They didn't care whether it seemed like a knockoff of a knockoff." Likewise, you can look at other examples of published fiction and say "The writer cared about this story. They applied creativity and life experiences so that it didn't seem like Generic Detective Novel #33 or Generic Sci-Fi Game #25.")

2. An idea that seemed cliche two decades ago might seem clever now. If there's an idea which seems cliche now, then it might seem innovative with some tweaking. (Incidentally, I use the word 'trope' to refer to any identifiable concept that exists in any form of fiction. They are not inherently good or bad.)

3. Katawa Shoujo was released over six years ago, and helped English-speaking visual novel fandom grow. Between 2012 and 2013, a bunch of new fans found it inspiring and decided to create their own freeware VN projects. Only a handful of the planned visual novels from that era have been released. A couple of them are still in development. The Google doc in the hyperlink above shows how many planned VNs were abandoned.

Mavrik_Lokeeh wrote: ↑Fri Jun 08, 2018 8:57 pm It's about a guy who has some kind of disorder that prevents him from feeling love at all. But once he sees how much a girl loves him, he tries really hard to feel that emotion.

You could approach this story as a fantasy. In other words, start with a premise such as "the protagonist was cursed by a witch, and has been magically prevented from having romantic feelings for any other person." If that is your goal, then think about how the fantasy world works.

If your story takes place in a relatively real world, then think about the following variables...

* Is the protagonist dealing with trauma? If that's true, then he might be reluctant to start relationships, or he might have trouble maintaining relationships. This story will benefit from some research. Make sure to talk with real people, because they'll probably have many complex thoughts and reactions after surviving a natural disaster. You can probably think of professionally published fiction in which a character survives an auto accident and moves on with their life too quickly.

* Likewise, if the protagonist starts out the story dealing with depression, then make sure to research how it could affect his relationship.

* Does the protag struggle with more than one of The Four Loves? Maybe he has trouble with storge -- relating to people in his family. Or they have experienced difficulties with philia -- having meaningful friendships.

* Perhaps the protag is an aromantic or asexual person. If that's true, then do some research, and consider how this could affect his relationship with a girl. Again, talk with real people.

Moved to the Recruitment forums, because that's what it is.

gekiganwing wrote: ↑Sat Jun 09, 2018 4:51 pm * Perhaps the protag is an aromantic or asexual person. If that's true, then do some research, and consider how this could affect his relationship with a girl. Again, talk with real people.

I guess it would be better if this was what I was going for... I really forgot that this would trigger other people... Thanks for the advice!