The latter is far scarier than the former – at least in the eyes of our protagonist, Aoki Oka, who returns to Violet Hill at the beginning of our story. His time awake may not be the most interesting however, as Aoki possesses Mindstorm, an ability that prevents him from dreaming like most people. Instead, he has the ability to relive and explore past experiences down to the most trivial detail.
But nothing comes without a cost, does it?
Mindstorm can have dangerous consequences for Aoki and those around him, which is why he’s so unsociable and happy to throw more than just the odd cynical comment at our five heroines – often far from popular! You can’t put anyone at risk, no matter how much you like that person, right? But I won’t say anymore… I wouldn’t want to spoil anything! But you’ll have eight chapters of common route to explore Mindstorm and Violet Hill on top of the heroines’ routes and find out for yourself. Not to mention there may be surprises hidden along the way for those with a keen eye.
Simple, we love visual novels and we spend a great deal of our free time reading them.
As part of the western VN community, we want to contribute by giving them our very own original visual novel.
Is the VN free/are you selling it?
The VN is completely free. We are doing this in our spare time and with our own
resources because we love it.
What’s the genre and setting of the visual novel?
The genre is sci-fi/romance and has a school setting.
What about the time period and location?
The story is set in the present day and all events occur in a fictional town called
“Violet Hill”, which is in Japan.
How long is the game?
Although we have a detailed framework in place for most of the major events and routes, there’s still a large chunk of the writing that has to be done yet. As an estimate, the VN will probably be in the 30+ hours range.
What’s the structure of the VN?
Story is divided into chapters (8 for common route, 3 for each of the 5 heroine’s routes,
an epilogue, and a joke route) there are also several bad ends.
What are the technical details?
The VN’s reading format is ADV, bottom text box and has a default resolution
of 1280x720.
What are the system specs?
Violet Hill, like most VNs, doesn’t need much to play as it uses Ren’py which is quite light. That said, very old computers without a proper graphics card may struggle with some of the animations.
Is there any plan for H-scenes?
No, we feel this would impact on the storytelling too heavily. We are open to feedback however, so if there was a large demand we would consider it, but not at the moment.
So, then the VN is all ages?
There may be implied sex and mild sexual themes, but these by no means would
dominate the game. The VN is probably best classified as 15+, but honestly what we have at the moment is pretty tame.
Is there a DEMO/where do I download it?
You can download the DEMO at the bottom of this post.
When will it be completed?
Not yet, no. We’ll keep you updated as we progress.
How can I help/join the staff?
We appreciate your feedback and input, so replying and offering advice is greatly
appreciated! If you want to join the project, please message any member of staff
(see links below) or post below.
Rin lives with her father in Violet Hill, and is passionate about literature
and painting. She aspires to become a professional artist with her own
studio, despite the fact that she has little to no actual artistic talent.
Unfazed however, she recreates the art club at Sakura High in an effort
to improve her skills and realise her dream. Feisty and short tempered,
she isn’t afraid to vocalise herself, especially to Aoki who she tends to
clash with quite a bit.
Likes: James Joyce and other literature, art, sci-fi movies.
Dislikes: Milk, spicy food, thunderstorms.
Despite Kanade’s overly cheerful exterior, she actually suffers
from a rare memory disorder, that allows her to remember what
she deems as important with unerring detail, albeit at the loss
of less important memories. Kanade has used her condition to
become an incredible talented manga artist in a very short period
of time. Considering Aoki her teacher in art (although he says
different), she goes to great lengths to live near him.
Likes: Manga, drawing, horror stories and films.
Dislikes: 4-komas, natto.
Secretly the heir to the large Sasaki corporation, Akane has led
a sheltered life with very little contact with the outside world.
While incredibly intelligent due to her private tutoring, she’s often
lacking in common sense, and her overly formal speech makes it
hard for her to make friends.
She also speaks very formally, making it hard for her to blend in
socially. Despite this, she is adaptable and exceptionally observant,
making her very quick to learn new concepts and grasp situations.
She seems to have an important reason for coming to Violet Hill.
Likes: Painting, Maths, Ikebana.
Dislikes: Alcohol, bad manners.
A very popular girl at school, Yuki is the ever dauntless
Student Council President of Sakura High. She has a
reputation for being a strict leader of the student body,
and shows very little outward emotion.
Although originally a member of the Fine Arts Club, she
suddenly quits and decides to join the much smaller art
club headed by Rin and Aoki. Her past is shrouded in
mystery and she has a habit of asking Aoki cryptic
questions that only she understands. Despite her small
figure, the ever level-headed Yuki is actually 18.
Likes: Action movies, mystery novels, bitter food.
Dislikes: Cute things, chocolate, hospitals.
An enigmatic and secretive girl, Satsuki officially attends Sakura
High but rarely ever attends lessons. Not much is known about
her except that she wanders Violet Hill looking for, as she puts it,
“someone important”. Satsuki is actually a shrine maiden who has
sensitivity for the supernatural and is convinced there is more to
the erratic weather the town has been experiencing. She seems to
have an interest in Aoki, although is not clear as to why.
Likes: TV soap operas, videogames, reading.
Dislikes: Onions, hot weather.
Minimum Requirements:
OS
Windows XP SP3/Vista/7/8/8.1
CPU
Pentium 4 3.0 GHZ or higher.
RAM
1GB.
Display Adapter
Graphic card with pixel shader 2.0 support.
Direct X9 and a minimum of 256 VRAM.
Screen Resolution
Game requires at least a resolution of 1280x720.
Recommended Requirements:
OS
Windows 7/8/8.1
CPU
Anything dual core and up.
RAM
2GB.
Display Adapter
Mid-range to high-end graphic card with at least 1GB
of dedicated VRAM.
* Some in-game animations are taxing on low end PC’s.
Please note the demo is to give you an idea of what we want to accomplish, and it may not be completely representative of the final game (the demo covers the first chapter or two of the proper game, but much of the content is likely to be spread for the actual game)... that's why the pacing may be a bit, uh... heavy. Sorry. Also some of the backgrounds and music tracks used aren't ours (yet), but these will be phased out as the project goes forward. (4 Backgrounds are free-stock pictures and 6 songs are Royalty Free tracks composed by Kevin Mcleod).
In conclusion, Violet Hill is, first and foremost, made by fans of visual novels and for fans of visual novels. Whether it's the calm sound of the rain or the thrill of seeing a mystery unfold that pleases you the most, Violet Hill has something for you. We want you to have fond memories of it.