Athena [sci-fi, short, female protagonist]

[Auro-Cyanide]

Athena is a short visual novel about relationships, technology and what exactly makes the characters tick. The focus is on the interactions between Eliana and the other characters while uncovering exactly what happened at the research facility. Relationships will unfold, characters will grow and choices will need to be made.

I'm making this visual novel with Arachni24, who surprised me greatly by offering to write one of my story concepts. She has done an amazingly good job of taking my crumpled and vague character concepts and giving them so much personality and drive that I am now totally in love with them. Needless to say I am super excited about working on this~

So far the character concepts are done and sprites will commence soon, the GUI is 80% designed and just missing the extras section and we have approximately 16k worth of draft script. Arachni estimates that the full game should sit around 30k. This game will be free.

Feel free to give your opinions or ask questions, we'll be happy to hear them ^_^

[Itwasneveradream]

This looks absolutely gorgeous! And you GUI is so clean as always.

It always makes me feel like...

Like...

ASDFGHJKL

But yeah. The story looks pretty interesting. I love Sci-Fi.

And I'm curious, but will there be action in space or just on the mentioned planet?

Also, it says Female protag but I don't see any picture sooo...is it going to be a faceless protag-chan or something?

[Auro-Cyanide]

This looks absolutely gorgeous! And you GUI is so clean as always.

It always makes me feel like...

Like...

ASDFGHJKL

But yeah. The story looks pretty interesting. I love Sci-Fi.

And I'm curious, but will there be action in space or just on the mentioned planet?

Haha, thank you XD

The story is character driven rather than action driven, so no space battles and the research facility is the primary location. There is one other main location that is important that is not on the same planet

[merdeamour]

Oh man, this is gorgeous. The art, the GUI, the story, the genre... looks like this is shaping up to be a pretty awesome game. I'm stalking this thread now.

[MaiMai]

I can't wait for this one!

[saguaro]

SCI FI YESSSSss

Very excited about this, Arachni has some great writing chops. That GUI is snazzy as hell. Looking forward to it.

[Auro-Cyanide]

Thank you merdeamour and Mai, it makes me happy that you are looking forward to it \(^u^)/

SCI FI YESSSSss

Very excited about this, Arachni has some great writing chops. That GUI is snazzy as hell. Looking forward to it.

OMG, I can't agree more. Dat dialogue. I absolutely adore what she has done with the characters and I pretty much end up rolling on the floor in happiness every time she sends a snippet. I'm looking forward to reading it :3

[fioricca]

/FALLS IN LOVE WITH YOUR UI

again

and

again

This looks like it's going to be an insanely polished release! However short it is, I'm definitely looking forward to it! All the very very best!

[Sapphi]

SCI FI YESSSSss

Seconded! More sci-fi is always good.

[Carassaurat]

With all this commotion I finally had a go at the demo of Vignettes (because it isn't looking to be more than a demo soon, is it?), and now I'm totally jealous of you for getting to work with Arachni, Auro.

If I may be totally honest, I think your art is really neat, but it still clings too close to anime for my tastes, so I just made a paintover to see what it'd look like with a more nosey nose and smaller eyes. I wouldn't want to force you into something, but this is what I'd do:

[LateWhiteRabbit]

With all this commotion I finally had a go at the demo of Vignettes (because it isn't looking to be more than a demo soon, is it?), and now I'm totally jealous of you for getting to work with Arachni, Auro.

If I may be totally honest, I think your art is really neat, but it still clings too close to anime for my tastes, so I just made a paintover to see what it'd look like with a more nosey nose and smaller eyes. I wouldn't want to force you into something, but this is what I'd do:

I think the smaller eyes are nice, but I prefer how Auro has more clearly defined the planes of the nose.

I like the sound of Athena. Is it going to be more hard or soft sci-fi?

[arachni42]

I'm happy to see the interest in Athena. ^_^

And I'm curious, but will there be action in space or just on the mentioned planet?

Also, it says Female protag but I don't see any picture sooo...is it going to be a faceless protag-chan or something?

It takes place on the planet, so, sadly, no epic space battles. Just epic research facilities. Well, one epic research facility. And whether you'd call it an "epic" facility is kind of in question. I mean, for starters, the researchers have chosen to stock light beer...

But that is beside the point.

The female protag is Eliana -- she looks boyish but she is the one in orange-yellow. She's not a silent protagonist, either. (Well, sometimes she is, but that's just her personality.) She has a Mysterious Past. (Well, until you know her past, because then it's not mysterious anymore.)

I like the sound of Athena. Is it going to be more hard or soft sci-fi?

I'd say it's 3-4 on Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness. There exists FTL travel and some advanced technologies, but nothing too wild.

With all this commotion I finally had a go at the demo of Vignettes (because it isn't looking to be more than a demo soon, is it?), and now I'm totally jealous of you for getting to work with Arachni, Auro.

I'm honored by the compliments on writing. ^_^ Vignettes isn't going to be more than a demo soon because I felt burnt out on it for awhile, but I do plan to finish. With Athena I can just focus on the writing, and that feels liberating. I've had fun bringing Auro's characters to life, and I look forward to sharing!

[netravelr]

Really looking forward to this. As always; your art is amazing!

[Auro-Cyanide]

@Itwasneveradream, ah yes, the yellow one is the main character. She's a girl... *sob* But yeah, she won't look so serious all the time, I think she will have some quite vivid emotions. I might work on her first since she is the main character ^_^

Thank you Fioricca and Sapphi I hope it lives up to your expectations.

@Carassaurat, Most definitely ^_^ I've been totally blown away so far~~~

Thank you, I think your changes look quite nice. However, while I like trying different styles, I don't really feel the need to get rid of the anime look my art can have since I have nothing against those art styles myself and quite enjoy having them blended in there. Thank you for the feedback though

@LateWhiteRabbit, I was going to say... soft *mumble* but *mumble* I think Arachni did a much better job answering that XD I have a smart writer.

@Netravelr, thank you o3o

[gekiganwing]

There was an arcade game also called Athena, which had some computer and console ports. Of course, the name Athena dates back to Greek mythology, and has been used in all sorts of media...

Anyway, feel free to use whatever art style you feel is appropriate. If it's consistent and if it appeals to fans of a genre or aesthetic, that will help your game get noticed. And while I'm not a serious sci-fi fan, I'll be interested in seeing what you do with your story.