My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror] Update Music

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Shio_Fuu
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My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror] Update Music

#1 Post by Shio_Fuu »

Hello there! I'm happy to share with you Dotama Studio's next VN project,

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When Agatha’s father dies, there’re no other relatives to take her in. Except Peter Amsel - a mysterious man, appointed to be Aggy’s legal guardian in her father’s will. But who is this man no one seems to know? What is Peter’s connection to her father? Moving into his cold stone house, Agatha makes a decision she might soon regret.

Characters

Agatha, 14 years old
A very quiet and reserved girl, likes to spend time in nature, caring for animals and plants.

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Peter Amsel, 29 years old
A man Agatha never met before her father's death. Some people think he's too young to be her guardian.
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Music



Team

Writing Krae, Shio Fuu
Programming Hakuen
Art Shio Fuu
Music Antonio Jiménez Fernández

Progress so far

Writing 60%
Sprites 100%
BGs 80%
CGs 50%

The story will have two endings.
Last edited by Shio_Fuu on Wed Sep 09, 2015 4:13 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#2 Post by Green Glasses Girl »

Ahhhhh~ this is exciting! I'm totally cool with horror without romance. Fabulous character artwork, as always.

Hmmm...what would I like to see? I'm all in it for exploring places to slowly unlock a character's backstory. Some VNs just tell you about the character right off the bat, but I prefer parts of the character gradually being revealed through discoveries. Like coming across old photographs, diaries, books, heirlooms, objects, etc. I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#3 Post by DeletedUser160413 »

Wow, the art looks beautiful! :) One thing though, it kind of bothers me that Agatha is so short. Idk, I feel like most 14 year olds are much more taller than that xD But anyway, looks like a great story, and I'm looking forward to this project! :) Good luck!

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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#4 Post by Caveat Lector »

The premise sounds very intriguing. I'd love to play through something like this! :D I'm okay with no romance. As for what I'd like to see featured, I'd love to see a focus on the mystery or horror aspect, maybe have the player get involved in solving the mystery and then have consequences if, say, the player solves it incorrectly, gets it only half-right, etc.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#5 Post by Googaboga »

This looks amazing ^^. I'm super psyched to play it. The designs seem very fitting for this kind of game and the art is fantastic.

As for your question no romance is definitely fine. I love horror games. Features I like are a good atmosphere, an enjoyable protagonist, and an interesting story. Not very helpful but that's all I got 'X3.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#6 Post by Shio_Fuu »

Thank you for the feedback, guys! =3

@Green Glasses Girl I personally love the exploring aspect so it will most definitely take place in a game!

@muniiam You have a point there, I think I really made her too short. But she's still supposed to be pretty small in comparison to Peter (he's like 1.9 m tall :mrgreen: )

@Caveat Lector Yes, there will be different ways to solve the mystery depending on how bravely you act. As for the horror aspect, I hope it will be scary or at least chilling :roll:

@Googaboga Hmm, I think this time a protagonist is quite pleasant... Can't say the same about her step father though :lol:
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#7 Post by Lyyli »

Stunning art and setting. I love gothic horrors! ... or anything gothic really :)

Answer to question: I do love and prefer visual novels with romance, but if something takes my interest like this project then it's totally fine without.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#8 Post by xxstrangesoulxx »

This game looks awesome. :D And the fact that it's gothic horror makes it even better. Art is very nice. Plot sounds very interesting. Can't wait to play this. :)

Romance is a nice touch, but it's not necessary. I'd play this game without romance.

Question, is this free or commercial?

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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#9 Post by Haze »

Oh, hey, a new project by you guys!
A question for readers - are you interested in horror VNs without romance?
Oh my goodness, of course. Romance isn't needed in a horror game. Granted, blended well, the two genres can make a enjoyable story, but you definitely don't have to have romance. Besides, Agatha is 14 and Peter is 29...
What would you like to be featured in this genre?
You mean, what do I want to see in a horror game? Well, I haven't played a lot of horror games(read quite a few horror stories, though-- I'm in the middle of a horror short story collection right now!), but I think looking around the house when Peter isn't around could be interesting. Maybe what you see while looking around could affect the ending? Also, unexpectedness is good too(obviously), such as if Peter is acting like a sweet guy, but then Agatha sees him doing something at night. I think it's all about giving the player a false sense of security or predictability(i.e "Peter's definitely evil; he's going to murder Agatha any minute now") and then pulling the rug out from under them, so to speak(i.e "Woah, did Peter just get killed by the house's evil spirit? What's going to happen next; I want to read more.").Of course, if Peter really is evil, there's nothing wrong with that-- just try not to make it too obvious.

Two more things before I stop ranting: subtle is usually good when it comes to horror. The short story "Garden of Eden" by Al Sarrantonio has a very subtle hint in the ending that
the members of the town, namely the MC's mother, are the ones who kill him
which is what makes the story great. It's so subtle because this "hint" is based of one line of dialogue from the beginning of the story. And the best part? The story is still creepy even if the reader doesn't understand this subtle hint. Being too subtle, however, can make a story confusing, so be careful with this. Last thing: a sudden statement in the ending that makes the player realize what's really going on can be great. I think this is because, since it's the end of the story, leaving the reader with a new sense of what happened gives them with a feeling of helplessness, even if the reader doesn't realize it, and this adds to the creepiness. If you can get ahold of the short story collection "More Horowitz Horror" by Anothony Horowitz(yes, the author of Alex Rider wrote horror, too) and read "Burned" or "The Lift", you'll know exactly what I'm talking about(I hope).

Anyway, that's all I've gotta say. Hope this helps, and I'll be looking forward to this release!
Last edited by Haze on Tue Apr 22, 2014 3:02 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#10 Post by Shio_Fuu »

@Lyyli Thanks for the compliments! I love anything gothic too :D

@xxstrangesoulxx Thank you so much! =3 This game will be free!

Speaking about romance, I think each and every story is about love, just in different forms, like friendship for instance. So the characters of this novel won't be unfeeling oafs XD I'm actually a huge romantic, I just prefer my fiction relationships twisted and complicated =P

@Haze Oh, I didn't mention that Agatha is almost 15? :mrgreen: Sorry, I'm joking!
As a huge horror fan, I get what you mean about subtlety. I didn't read any books by Horowitz, but it reminded me of Willy by Robert Dunbar. It is so subtle, that you never understand what really happened. :shock: I enjoyed it anyway!
Although I'm not sure if subtlety will work for this story, maybe in one of the endings...
I also agree that a good twist is a must for a horror story!
And thank you for writing so much, it's very helpful!
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#11 Post by AntiquedFae »

I am popping in to say that this game looks completely fantastic to my Victorian gothic novel crazed self. I got even more excited when I read the part about there being snooping opportunities! Now you are appealing to my wannabe detective side too! I love it when investigation and gothics are combined too much for words! I really like Agatha's personality and I am already worried about bad things happening to her. This tells me that you have succeeded at your gothic character-crafting. ;)
I personally am not a huge fan of romance in general, so I'd definitely be inclined to vote for no-romance creepiness. This being said, there have been particular instances when I've really liked relationships between certain characters, so it depends on how it is executed. Twisted and complicated is always preferable to sweet and simple. :3
I love Agatha's character design, by the way. The art is nice for both of them, but her design stands out to me a lot!

I am really excited for this to come out! I love how it sounds. *o*
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#12 Post by Shio_Fuu »

@AntiquedFae Thank you! Nice to hear that romance between two main characters isn't the most important thing! And yeah, you can already start feeling sorry for Agatha, nothing good will happen to her :twisted:

Some updates!
I redrew Peter's face. I didn't like the previous version much, he was too girly >.< What do you think?

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Here's a photo of Agatha's father Thomas when he was 25. It's one of the items she can find.

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And a housekeeper who worked for Agatha's father. She isn't important, we meet her only at the beginning.

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Last edited by Shio_Fuu on Sun May 25, 2014 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#13 Post by Hazel-Bun »

Oh my, hot Papa alert. In all seriousness though, really looking forward to this game :) I enjoyed Deadly Attachment and can't wait to play more from you guys!
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#14 Post by Cobweb »

I can't wait for this. The art is incredible (as always) and I love horror! =) Looking forward to your new game.
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Re: My father's apprentice [VN] [Gothic Horror]

#15 Post by pickle131 »

Because I'm often so busy, I really love short VN *_* Definitely checking this one out when it's done.
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