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Split-Minded [BxG][LD41][DatingSim+TopDownShooter]

Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2018 3:40 pm
by FarawayVision
Image

Overview:
This is a short game I made for Ludum Dare 41. Since the competition theme was "Combine Two Incompatible Genres", I decided to go ahead and try combining a Visual Novel with a Top-Down Shooter.

This is the first time I've ever written a visual novel or worked with Ren'Py, and I'm quite proud of how it turned out (even as incomplete as it is).

Technically, it's available to the public on itch.io. Really, though, since I made it for the Ludum Dare Jam, there are a lot of features and parts of the story that I had to leave out, for lack of time. I'm going back now and adding those, though it will take a while.

Plot:
You are a voice within the head of a typical dating sim main character: Kei.

Unfortunately, you're not alone within your mental control center: several other voices have just appeared out of nowhere. They have their own goals, and they're not afraid to use force to achieve them.

Meanwhile, in the outside world, the School Festival is coming up in three days' time, and if you can keep control, then Kei might just be able to find love at the festival...
...or, alternatively, you can just let the other voices take over and watch what hilarious and horrifying antics they get up to while at Kei's controls.

Human Characters:
  • Kei: He would be just another average dating sim main character-- if his mind weren't split between four wills.
  • Hitomi: Kei's childhood friend. She's quiet and cerebral, though usually not shy, and she also enjoys writing.
  • Nanami: Another, more recent, friend of Kei. She's energetic and passionate, and takes a leading role within the Drama Club.
The Voices:
  • The Calm One: Our viewpoint character. All he wants is for the next few days to be nice, calm, and peaceful.
  • The Pyromaniac: He seems to embody Kei's passionate and daring side, and is probably the friendliest and outgoing voices in his head. It's a shame, then, that this voice seems to find pleasure only in lighting the world aflame.
  • The Survivor: He seems to embody Kei's self-defensive and protective instincts. He says he's fought in a war-- even though Kei's never fought in any wars or even left the country before-- and wants to keep Kei safe from all threats, real or otherwise.
  • The Artist: He quite clearly embodies Kei's artistic side. This voice is a bit quiet, though he possesses an almost single-minded devotion to his craft.
Links and a Few Questions:
Split-Minded on itch.io
Split-Minded on ldjam.com
Source code and script at github.com

I'd really like any feedback or criticism you all can offer about the story, gameplay, or really just anything in general.

I do have some specific questions, though:
  1. Is there any way for me to separate the top-down shooter update and render loop from Ren'Py? For instance: game state updates and rendering seems to freeze whenever a transition is playing on the VN-side-- is there any way I can prevent this from happening?
  2. Is there any way for me to automatically progress through the script from a user-defined displayable without hiding the displayable?
  3. Out of curiosity: how does Ren'Py's packaging system work? I might end up developing other games and such in Python, and I'd like to know how to package my games like Ren'Py does.