RockRobin - Band Manager (Demo)

[Aleema]

Update digest reposted from the forum:

Gave the band more logo options, yippee!

You can now color those logos when making a CD cover (thanks to Ren'Py matrix coloring):

Practice sessions are now indicated like such:

(Blue days already passed, white days are the session you're planning for)

A mode selector screen was made, I'm working on the mini-games, and writers behind the scenes are writing and it's awesome.

I also got some fanart from Alphonse and Starling that makes me blush. Check them out next to the other awesomely awesome people!

[Fawn]

Damn, this is so polished and fun looking! :O Keep going keep going~

[nefferinthia]

waah~ progress looks awesome!

[blakjak]

Even more customization ! Yay !
I love these chibi fan arts you got, the Emmitt one is just so cute

Reminds me I still have to draw keyboards and color Natasha. Keep it up Aleema, it's looking great.

[Gryphbear]

I quite like the blue/white indicators on days passed/to come. Makes it much more clearer, imho.

[Aleema]

Introducing ... the chibis!

Starling, being extremely gracious, is donating her time and skills to illustrating the game's characters playing their instruments. While the main management screen will still use the character portraits, mini-games and some other places will now make use of these chibis.

Not only is she drawing one for every instrument a character can play, but she's also drawing one for every instrument you can own. So if you buy an instrument at the shop, you can see it on your band. For example Robin's chibi sprites look like:

And on top of that, they're animated:


BITCHIN', STAR!

[Gryphbear]

LOL. Those are awesome and that's really nice of her to do all that.

[Riviera]

Oh my god! They're so cute!! And she's making so many.. and animated... Wow. Starling, you are a wonderful, wonderful person. I can only hope if I ever make a VN I find an artist half as nice.

[blakjak]

Nice job Starling, helping make this awesome game even more awesome ^_^

[Starling]

Lol, I'm so glad they're being well received~! And you're all too kind *beaming in happy* I know I'm way excited to see them actually in the game XD~ And Aleema doing the coloring takes a huge load off of it.

[RainingRipples]

wow, this is amaazing !
naaw, I've fallen for Sterling. ;D

[nefferinthia]

Waah, Starling, that is amazing~! Very impressive, must be a lot of work too o:

[kybale]

this was great DD to bad it was only a demo T.T but its great it was fun playing (: please keep working on it!!

[Kyminara]

I played the demo, and this project looks huge.

The art is very nice. The interface is visually appealing but not too distracting. The characters are creative and well presented. The plot setup looks interesting, and the mini games look like they will be fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of this.

I like the story and characters you've created, but you've also presented this as a sort of sim game. Putting the two together results in the player having to switch modes for lengths of time in a way that might not be comfortable. The person playing to enjoy a sim game will be bored by the story interludes, and the person playing for story would be annoyed by having to do weeks worth of band management sim to get to the next story bit. Playing through the demo, I experienced a little bit of each turn-off due to the sudden shifts between the two.

[Aleema]

Thanks, Kyminara! Your concerns are duly noted. Balance is extremely important to me, and as a fan of both genres, I plan on playing the game too many times to make sure if feels right. Keep in mind that this is the introduction (usually the longest cutscenes) of a gameplay mode called "Story Mode" (which will have a full arcing story). We also have an "Open-Ended Mode" in development for release with Story Mode. Open-Ended Mode will allow players to play the sim portion of the game with little to no story interruptions, unless they want to (see: romancable open mode characters). In any case, I know exactly what you mean, and I felt the same while playing Mag Bou. Trust me when I say I am very sensitive to this. But thank you for voicing your concerns! I can always use more constructive feedback.