After an accident resulted in the death of their ruthless queen, the people of Bellshirn have once again hope for the future. Princess Rosabel is known for her kindness and good deeds, and her to-be subjects expect that better times will follow her coronation.
Duchess Annette, the queen’s middle child, has been summoned to the capital to attend both her mother’s funeral and her sister’s coronation. Annette is very much like her mother – clever and a talented sorceress, but also cruel, selfish and spiteful, and silently hated by the people of her duchy. Yet when a rumor that the queen’s death might have not been an accident begins to spread, Annette starts to wonder if she should change her attitude…
The Queen is Dead follows Annette in deciding her future. Decide if you want to change for the better or for much, much worse.
CHARACTERS
Annette (MC)
25 years old. A duchess and middle child of the king and queen of the country. After the death of her mother, she is summoned to the capital to attend the funeral, as well as the coronation of her older sister.
Annette is clever and quite the skilled sorceress, but she is also selfish and cold-hearted and won’t shy away from manipulating people into doing what she wants. She didn’t care much for her parents and likes her siblings even less, but sometimes she feels like she should change her attitude.
Rosabel
31 years old. Annette’s older sister who is about to become queen after their mother’s passing. Despite being an air-head and a little fickle, she is a kind and caring soul who was always involved in charity works and gained the trust of the people of Bellshirn. Rosabel even worries about Annette and tries to see the good in her, which is an almost impossible task.
Noah
23 years old. Annette and Rosabel’s only brother, the youngest child of the king and queen. He is quite similar to Rosabel in personality, but unlike her he has no illusions regarding Annette and makes an effort to avoid her.
Vaughn
24 years old. He has been Annette’s servant for the last seven years, and maybe likes her a little too much, even if no one understands why. He has a kind and loyal heart, and always tries to see the best in people.
Being gullible and unable to say no to anyone, Vaughn usually ends up doing twice the work he originally had scheduled to do. He is also an absolute failure at magic.
Wilford
25 years old. The son of an important noble and a possible suitor of Rosabel, had Rosabel not dismissed him in their first meeting; understandable, considering they are complete opposites. Wilford is ambitious and arrogant, and always puts his ambitions before anything else. On the other hand, he is quite studious and practical, and has considerable magical skill.
Skyler
28 years old. A commoner; he is currently a prisoner for attempting a rebellion against the queen. Skyler is very determined and has an adventurous spirit that hasn't wavered even during his imprisonment, despite the fact that he hates closed places and prefers the outdoors.
His hate for the now deceased queen doesn’t seem to fit his usually friendly and sunny personality, but there certainly must be a reason behind it.
The (former) King
60 years old. Father to Annette, Rosabel and Noah. A very calm, mild and reasonable man. He was the queen’s consort, and thus lost his position after her death. He favors Rosabel and Noah, unlike his wife, who preferred Annette due to their similar personalities and outlook on life.
ART
EDIT: Due to time concerns, this VN will indeed have the usual sprites + backgrounds combination. I'll update with the first sprites (Annette and Rosabel) soon. This VN will be mostly text-based with illustrations done in traditional art, instead of the usual sprites-and-backgrounds method. I'd really like to know people's opinions on this. Also, since this is day 1, nothing is finished yet, but I will try to update soon with an illustration example. Meanwhile, have a chibi of Annette, the main character:
[attachment=0]Annette.png[/attachment]
Last edited by CSV on Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
It sounds like your illustration/art direction is going to be closer to a picture book than a traditional VN There have certainly been other vns that present the art differently than the traditional sprites on bgs set up, so I think you're fine. I look forward to seeing how you'll do the art where choices are involved though. Do you have access to a scanner? Your photo of Annette's chibi was probably taken in a hurry but make sure you crop out any unnecessary details from photos if you don't have a scanner! Good luck on your project!!
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Reikun wrote:It sounds like your illustration/art direction is going to be closer to a picture book than a traditional VN There have certainly been other vns that present the art differently than the traditional sprites on bgs set up, so I think you're fine. I look forward to seeing how you'll do the art where choices are involved though. Do you have access to a scanner? Your photo of Annette's chibi was probably taken in a hurry but make sure you crop out any unnecessary details from photos if you don't have a scanner! Good luck on your project!!
Yes, it's going to be picture book-like. I actually have another project that is a collection of short stories done in Ren'Py, so I am waiting to see people's reactions to this. And I'll indeed crop the photos better (I have a scanner, but it hates me). As for choices, since they do branch the plot quite a bit, it shouldn't be much of a problem.
Thank you so much for your comment!
Googaboga wrote:I think a storybook style is a nice idea :]. And it seems like a fun set up, being sorceress is always great.
Also, the chibi of Annette is very cute. Good luck :>.
Thank you! However, after finishing the first picture, I understood I might have to give up on my plans due to the time limit... Guess it's back to making sprites and searching for free-to-use backgrounds. The good side of this is that I'll be able to update with character pictures soon!
A game sounds very interesting and i love the chibi ! I can't wait to play it.
Btw,will we be able to romance some characters ?
There will be endings and ending variations that include romance with three of the characters - Vaughn, Wilford and Skyler.
Auro-Cyanide wrote:I'm like Kitty, if evil MCs become a trend I'm going to be so happy Your set up is really cool, I can't wait to see how it turns out! Good luck!
Thank you for your interest! =)
It's the end of week 1 and did real life get in the way of this project or what! But I did finish three sprites and gathered all the backgrounds I'll need, as well as a CC GUI. So for an update, I am posting screenshots.
WEEK 1 PROGRESS
Screenshots! What do you think of the art? I am a little afraid that the character designs are too simple...
Black bookstore owner. Diverse fiction reviewer. Bestselling romance author. Award-winning fiction editor. Quite possibly a werewolf, ask me during the next full moon.
There have certainly been other vns that present the art differently than the traditional sprites on bgs set up, so I think you're fine. I look forward to seeing how you'll do the art where choices are involved though. Do you have access to a scanner? Your photo of Annette's chibi was probably taken in a hurry but make sure you crop out any unnecessary details from photos if you don't have a scanner! Good luck on your project!!
