NB: This thread is pretty old and outdated now! See the tumblr (linked in pic above) for more up-to-date information.
"Because We’re Here ~Mohnblume und Blauerose~ is an upcoming visual novel otome game for Windows, Mac and Linux, following neurotic postwoman Elfriede Rauss as she navigates the battlefields of an alternate First World War. While investigating the harsh realities of her country’s involvement in an unwinnable war, Elfriede is given the opportunity to grow close to - and even romance - a variety of eligible gentlemen; from childhood friends to aristocrats to corporals to cowards.
Unfortunately, in exciting times things rarely work out so simply - and everything you hold dear can still be lost in the blink of an eye…"
Here's a rough estimate of the amount of content in the finished game (almost all resources are finalised and completed, so any give-or-take will be in the single digits):
- 15 romancible characters (as a servicable enough estimate; the routes are intertwined with the overarching plot and so some are difficult to define)
- 22 fully-sprited characters in total, with a good few alternate outfits; additionally, a slew of minor characters illustrated with a range of NPC sprites
- Looking at 500k+ words for the final game - hopefully somewhere in the region of 15-20 hours of gameplay for average players
- 106 pieces of CG art; 15 pieces of bonus unlockable art
- 34 pieces of BG art (plus various edits taking it up to technically almost double that)
- 23 songs in the soundtrack - 9 original compositions for BWH, alongside classical and folk tracks
Creation/Writing/Programming: Eike ('Studio Elfriede')
Character Art: J. L. Bartels
CG Art: Lordless
BG Art: Zayanah “Nalenthi” Mahammad
Original Compositions: Matias Heimlander
GUI & Menu Design: KingV
Additional Programming: DragoonHP
Art Edits/Valentin's Lineart/Misc. Art: Rio
The characters in Because We're Here range from the earnest military men and bonafide engines of history to obscure non-combatants and self-concerned civilians - but all have a part to play, and all are key to Elfriede’s story. There's a cast of over twenty characters, so here are the profiles for the first few characters you encounter - and then, to avoid this being a behemoth of a post, a link to the rest!