Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy] Beta update 4/27, ch 4 coming soon!

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minyan
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#31 Post by minyan »

Lucy turned out /way/ more fabulous than I intended... I kinda love it.
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#32 Post by minyan »

Added new character info pics!

Also an update: I'll be drawing the backgrounds myself so this will take a little longer to get out.
Here are some sneak peaks! They're not amazing, because frankly, I suck at backgrounds, but it'll be better to accurately represent the world I'm making. And it's good practice anyway.

Do you guys think they look all right? Aside from the fuzziness? These aren't the actual size. Would their crappiness be distracting?
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#33 Post by MadlyHazel »

I've been stalking this thread for a lil bit, and now I'm getting around to putting in my little nickle.

1. I'm very interested in playing this game, otherwise I wouldn't be here. It's different from other VNs, both between how things will seem to unfold and the whole idea behind it in general. And I surely like different! Having the same old "hey, here's a guy/girl/other, now romance them," gets kind of boring, especially when there's no story, so I'm glad to see something else!

2. The premise isn't confusing at all! I would definitely like to see more history within the VN (I always do, though). It's always fun to see how exactly everything played out, or, rather, how the society within the VN thinks it played out.

3. I'm not entirely used to battle systems within VNs, but I'm not entirely opposed to them either. I'm pretty sure as long as it was fairly simple, it wouldn't be a problem at all.

4. I just wanna see Aldrich getting with pretty much all of them, to be honest. Especially Leslie. Why not? As for either character dating any character, I do take an interest in Fenris, even though he isn't currently a romanceable character. I'd just like to see a little more development with him, I suppose, since he seems fairly interesting!

Also, for backgrounds, I think they look just fine. They show what we need to see: where we are. Backgrounds that are too complicated tend to take away from a scene, so I think that these are just fine!

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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#34 Post by Demetis »

OMG LUCY LUCY LUCYYYY XDD
From his description I totally imagined him as a spoiled shota brat but he turned out to look so fabulous and seme omg Lucy go top Santana wait whut //slapped out of window
I really like how he turned out though! >w<

As for the backgrounds, I think they are good ovob The shading style looks a lot more comic than anime but it still fits XD Though I have to admit the writing (?) on the signs are a little bit distracting o.o Maybe it's just because of the color, the blue really sticks out >w< I always find myself stare at them instead of the characters XD'
Btw I find the way you also put the full sized sprites into the background pretty cool! XD

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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#35 Post by minyan »

MadlyHazel wrote:I've been stalking this thread for a lil bit, and now I'm getting around to putting in my little nickle.

1. I'm very interested in playing this game, otherwise I wouldn't be here. It's different from other VNs, both between how things will seem to unfold and the whole idea behind it in general. And I surely like different! Having the same old "hey, here's a guy/girl/other, now romance them," gets kind of boring, especially when there's no story, so I'm glad to see something else!

2. The premise isn't confusing at all! I would definitely like to see more history within the VN (I always do, though). It's always fun to see how exactly everything played out, or, rather, how the society within the VN thinks it played out.

3. I'm not entirely used to battle systems within VNs, but I'm not entirely opposed to them either. I'm pretty sure as long as it was fairly simple, it wouldn't be a problem at all.

4. I just wanna see Aldrich getting with pretty much all of them, to be honest. Especially Leslie. Why not? As for either character dating any character, I do take an interest in Fenris, even though he isn't currently a romanceable character. I'd just like to see a little more development with him, I suppose, since he seems fairly interesting!

Also, for backgrounds, I think they look just fine. They show what we need to see: where we are. Backgrounds that are too complicated tend to take away from a scene, so I think that these are just fine!
Thanks for your feedback! Yea I really want to make the romance a natural part of the story, rather than just extra content. I'm also trying to include side stories for non romanceable characters too, so that people can become invested in and learn things about every character and not just the dateable ones. And the battle system is pretty simple I think (Since I coded it myself simplicity was a necessity, I'm definitely not a programmer xD). I try to explain it in stages rather than throw all the information out at once in the tutorial. You will definitely see more development with Fenris! Right now it's just a matter of how I want things that aren't necessarily part of the 'main' plot to build and be presented. And since I'm only doing chapter 1 for this release, I also want to save some things for later on in the VN. I'm glad you think the backgrounds are okay! It's hard to find free resources that are exactly what you want, but I was worried that if I drew them they'd take away from the other art, since I'm much more comfortable drawing characters and designing interfaces.

I hope the final product is everything you expect and more! :D
Demetis wrote:OMG LUCY LUCY LUCYYYY XDD
From his description I totally imagined him as a spoiled shota brat but he turned out to look so fabulous and seme omg Lucy go top Santana wait whut //slapped out of window
I really like how he turned out though! >w<

As for the backgrounds, I think they are good ovob The shading style looks a lot more comic than anime but it still fits XD Though I have to admit the writing (?) on the signs are a little bit distracting o.o Maybe it's just because of the color, the blue really sticks out >w< I always find myself stare at them instead of the characters XD'
Btw I find the way you also put the full sized sprites into the background pretty cool! XD
xDD Yes Lucy's fabulousness is definitely over 9000...

Yeeaaaa I'm not so good at coloring backgrounds, so I just tried to keep it simple to avoid giving myself a heart attack xD I'll see what I can do about the signs, thank you!
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#36 Post by Wide Mouth Ink »

Back to check on the thread.

Here's my opinion on the backgrounds.

I don't mind simple backgrounds as long as they fit in with the world, characters, and overall art style.
Though I was expecting the setting of the world to be inspired or be similar to Victorian civilization (in terms of aesthethics).
The buildings in the sample look a little too clean and modern, to the point they deviate from the characters more flamboyant and colorful designs.

It doesn't have to be Victorian styled buildings, but a little more depth on the brick lines and some decorative rims for the windows might help give the place a more rustic yet civilized look. Which will compliment the fantasy theme of the game.

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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#37 Post by minyan »

Wide Mouth Ink wrote:Back to check on the thread.

Here's my opinion on the backgrounds.

I don't mind simple backgrounds as long as they fit in with the world, characters, and overall art style.
Though I was expecting the setting of the world to be inspired or be similar to Victorian civilization (in terms of aesthethics).
The buildings in the sample look a little too clean and modern, to the point they deviate from the characters more flamboyant and colorful designs.

It doesn't have to be Victorian styled buildings, but a little more depth on the brick lines and some decorative rims for the windows might help give the place a more rustic yet civilized look. Which will compliment the fantasy theme of the game.
Got it! I'll try that. I was trying to do something a little victorian-ish, but as you can see I failed xD
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#38 Post by minyan »

I decided I'm definitely going to do a mix of resources and drawn backgrounds just to save time Eventually I'll probably end up redrawing them or work with someone else to make them nicer~ I finally got all of the gui done for the shop screens and inventory and I'm pretty happy with it, but knowing me I'll keep tweaking things.

As far as coding goes, I almost have day one done, and for the script I'm almost finished with day 3! Everything's finally coming together~ -waves tiny flag-
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#39 Post by Demetis »

I would rather go with the word "tavern" than "restaurant" since it brings out the fantasy feeling more XD But that's just my opinion * v *
And glad to see coding and scripting going so well >w</

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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#40 Post by minyan »

Ah, I do like that better xD the setting is turning into a sort of japanese/victorian mix, and I'll probably keep updating names of stuff as I go. Thanks for the suggestion!

BTW check out what I'm calling Leslie's 'draco malfoy' face
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#41 Post by minyan »

New logo~
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#42 Post by minyan »

Finished coding day two, just one more day left to go! Then I'll be doing a few script revisions. After that I just have to draw the cg's, maybe some more expressions, and I can release the demo!
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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#43 Post by DuskSnare »

minyan wrote:Finished coding day two, just one more day left to go! Then I'll be doing a few script revisions. After that I just have to draw the cg's, maybe some more expressions, and I can release the demo!
Yay!!!! :D

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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#44 Post by ladyaida »

I can't wait to try this game. I love Visual novels,romance games,and dress up games. I hope the battle system won't be to hard to figure out. I am looking forward to this.

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Re: Arena Circus [GxB][BxB][GxG][Fantasy]

#45 Post by minyan »

ladyaida wrote:I can't wait to try this game. I love Visual novels,romance games,and dress up games. I hope the battle system won't be to hard to figure out. I am looking forward to this.
Aw thanks! I'm trying to make the tutorial as thorough as possible. ^^ Unfortunately with the senior art show coming up I haven't had much time to work on the script, but hopefully that'll change after this week. I finished the main points of days two and three but I still need to go in and flesh everything out, as well as add in character interaction. So I'm thinking I'm going to move my tentative release date to sometime in May! Probably around the end of May.

I'm (hopefully) getting a cintiq tablet after graduation (if I can scrounge up enough from commissions) so that should definitely increase my production time as far as art goes. ^^

Update!
So, (tentative) release date for initial demo: April 20th


As of now the initial demo (this is for my purposes really) is going to include (x's mean I've finished that portion):
~ The option to play from Lilie's point of view. (x)
~ 8 character sprites (x)
~ Temporary backgrounds (I might eventually try to find/pay to hire a bg artist, but until then I just need to set aside some time to really take my time drawing them) (x)
~ The full main story of chapter one (x)
~ Three battles, two with predetermined outcomes (x)
~ one side quest (x)
~ A bit of character interaction and the change to gain affection or rival points (x)
~ One dress up item available (x)
~ One weapon available (x)
~ Two assist items available (x)
~ Music, but probably not sound effects. (x)

And I think that's it. I need to start from baby steps just to get feedback on basic gameplay, story flow, and ease of UI before I move further.

The In the next update I'll add in sound effects, more quests, more character interaction, more items, codex entries, and adjust things based on user feedback. ^^

From there I'll start doing Aldrich's point of view, sprites for the stores, and work on the CG's! Yay!

Got a gameplan.

Some questions:
1. How many different outfits would you like to see in this chapter for the full release? I was thinking about having just one full outfit set available (as well as the individual pieces) because in this first chapter they're only in one town.

2. I was thinking about changing it so that codex entries are in the form of books you can read or buy at the library, and maybe letters or notes you can find different places. Do you think it would be better to have a more professor layton-ish way where you can find things just by clicking around the screen?

3. How many CG's would you all like to see? Right now I have two planned for sure, and two animated ones that I wouldn't really count as CG's. As far as the romance path goes, I was thinking just one 'romantic' CG for each option per chapter that you can unlock, but do you think more would be better? I don't mind the extra art, and I'm planning out side stories for each romance path so there will be plenty of opportunities.

4. Would you be interested in playing this very basic demo in order to give me some feedback and help me improve the final product?


After this first chapter is done and I've finalized the ui, gameplay and such, I should be able to get other chapters out much faster as I'll only be doing writing, coding and CG's. However just so you all know after this chapter I'm going to take a break to work on a more simple project to give myself a little breather before starting on chapter 2. That will also allow me to gather up the feedback of anyone who's kind enough to play to see what I can improve upon in the second chapter and/or fix any bugs that slip through the cracks.

Thank you for all your support! It's what's helped me get this far.
Last edited by minyan on Wed Apr 15, 2015 4:25 am, edited 2 times in total.
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