Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

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Banya
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Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#1 Post by Banya »

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Hi everybody!
I'm Banya, and this is the time I present a project. I usually work solo, with the help and the courtesy of CC resources and artists. The reason I opened this thread is that, since I've been working solo on the project for months, I felt I reached a point where I really need feedback. I have plenty of questions for you, if you'll spend sometime to help me I'll appreciate it very much!
I'll also list the various updates here.

#06/05: new logo by Nyankar!
#04/06: redraw from scratch!
#12/06: added character sheets!
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The prophecy says that one day a fiery hero will rise and restore the world to the light from the darkness of this obscure era.
But you're not a hero, you're the villain.
Join Noah, the unexperienced greedy warlock, and Enfer, the mysterious demon he evoked to win the war, on an adventure to put an end on the misery of the world! And conquer it yourself, of course. But beware: you're not alone in the competition, there will be other villains like you and, of course, the hero of the prophecy.

Three endings: white, gray and black destiny.
Which one is the bad one? The good one? The true one? I'll leave the discovery to you.

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Sprites & CG: Banya. The logo is made by Nyankar, here is his request page, give it a look! (viewtopic.php?f=62&t=43491)
Background Artists: CC backgrounds for gentle courtesy of acquamary, Galyu, hero hero, konett, osumashi, susssu, GrammaHobbes. All is linked fully (with sites, address, etc) in the Credits File.

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Two more words for the characters. Of course it's not a game of two, but I want to keep the other characters secret at the moment because it would ruin the fun of the game. That's why you can see only the two protagonists of the prologue: I want you to discover the others by playing it.

NOAH Noah, a gifted mage kicked out of the Acantus Magic Guild, wants to make everybody regret their words by stealing the place of the blessed hero and proving his might. He joined the dark war in order to stop the chaos and taking advantage of the situation. His speciality is crystallomancy, but he's a slightly above-average spellcaster too. He's struggling to keep everything in control, from the conquest of the world to the taming of the demon which he realized will probably be mission impossible.
He's not that evil, but there's a reason he pities the good and craves for the evil.

ENFER An ifrit, the djinn of dreams and might, he was summoned by Noah to help him gather his victory.
His real name and identity are unknown.
He's being called Enfer by his master for commodity, and he adapts quickly to any situation. He hides his malevolent nature under a clear smile and some strange human hobbies, for example photography - which is his guilty pleasure - and mocking his master with bad sarcasm. Despite looking blunt and harmless, Enfer has some suprising tricks up his sleeve.

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x You can romance all the characters, but the endings won't be focused on a romantic love story. It's not a "Character's Route", but a side of the story in which you're siding with a certain Character and how this affects the dark war.
x There's an implied sex scene. Nothing that explicit of course, and especially nothing you cannot avoid: you won't be forced to do anything like this, so if you don't want Noah (the main character) go for it, you'll simply have to avoid that kind of options.

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[COMING SOON]

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Meanwhile, here is some screenshots.

Current art (Banya)

banner: http://imgur.com/a/IgHV2.png
main menu screen: http://img11.deviantart.net/f065/i/2017 ... bbfixw.png
character sheet #1 http://orig04.deviantart.net/f83c/f/201 ... bcdlsr.png
character sheet #2 http://orig05.deviantart.net/7a7d/f/201 ... bcdo7v.png
nyankar's logo: https://i.imgur.com/uyRQoHt.png

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1. First of all: I'm going to upload a demo with the prologue and the first chapter of the game. Would you play it even if it doesn't show the endings? The branching options will be present, but not effective on the finale at this stadium of the game.

2. What do you expect from the characters? I want to know this to see just how predictable I am lol. And, in case your prediction doesn't match the result, would you be excited for the plot twists or disappointed?

3. Should I lift the rating of the game? I alluded to some mature content, but didn't explicitly describe or show it: doesn't this make the game NSWF? R15 or R18? And should I do a censored version e\o the option of switching the mature contents on or off?

4. What do you think about the plot and the characters in general?

5. Would you play the game even if it has the standard Renpy GUI or should I recruit volunteers to improve the GUI and the general aesthetics? I tried to do one myself but I'm not satisfied with it yet, but also I wouldn't like to make people think the game is rushed just because I have no ability in graphics. I heavily rely on Free Resources at the moment because I have to cope the fact I'm doing this all alone.


Thank you for your attention!
Banya

Last edited by Banya on Fri Feb 02, 2018 2:39 pm, edited 6 times in total.

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Mammon
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#2 Post by Mammon »

1. First of all: I'm going to upload a demo with the prologue and the first chapter of the game. Would you play it even if it doesn't show the endings? The branching options will be present, but not effective on the finale at this stadium of the game.
Good question, I rarely actually play demos because those tend to ruin the start of the full game for me. But I wonder why not if this weren't the case, aren't all demos like that?

2. What do you expect from the characters? I want to know this to see just how predictable I am lol. And, in case your prediction doesn't match the result, would you be excited for the plot twists or disappointed?
Noah must have a motive for wanting to take over the world, and it's not just greed or evil. Combined with his Lawful evil attitude and magical preference, I'd say that he either came to the conclusion that the current state of affairs is one that will only result in eternal conflict (The hero defeats a Dark Lord, a new one appears, the cycle of war and misery continues indefinately) or just because he was told that he couldn't rule the world in a dare of sorts.
I will never be disappointed in the writer doing something different or adding plottwists, as long as these are good.

3. Should I lift the rating of the game? I alluded to some mature content, but didn't explicitly describe or show it: doesn't this make the game NSWF? R15 or R18? And should I do a censored version e\o the option of switching the mature contents on or off?
Describing the issue of a lot of people here. I can't help with this, struggling with it myself. but an ON/OFF button would be preferred.

4. What do you think about the plot and the characters in general?
We can never have enough evil guy trying to take over the world stories. Those haven't been turned into a recipe of sorts yet, unlike the common 'everyday guy becomes the hero' story.

5. Would you play the game even if it has the standard Renpy GUI or should I recruit volunteers to improve the GUI and the general aesthetics? I tried to do one myself but I'm not satisfied with it yet, but also I wouldn't like to make people think the game is rushed just because I have no ability in graphics. I heavily rely on Free Resources at the moment because I have to cope the fact I'm doing this all alone.
Depends on the GUI you pick. The one you have now never bothers me.
ImageImageImage

Want some CC sprites?

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TheJerminator15
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#3 Post by TheJerminator15 »

1. I love demos, they give me a hands on experience with games I'm interested in. It doesn't matter whether or not the endings are in there for me so it poses no problem for me.

2. I'm of the same mind as Mammon said above. Just doing it for the lols isn't exactly a thrilling motive to read through from the villain's perspective. As long as the motive is properly developed and has solid reasoning and build up behind it, I will like it. Also, please no "It's been so long I cannot remember the reason" twists with Noah. Sword Art Online traumatised me with that.

3. Since it's a non-commercial game, it would most likely be easier to simply implement a feature which allows you to censor that material if you choose to eventually include it. If you was releasing it commercially I would have suggested the typical release a censored version but provide an uncensored patch approach to things, since it works out pretty well.

4. I love these types of stories personally. I'm really excited to follow up on the progress for it.

5. I'm honestly not that bothered about GUI, so using the default ones from the engine doesn't really me. Hell, my demo doesn't even include art at the moment haha!
My Current Writing Project: viewtopic.php?f=47&t=37699
Manipulation Teaser Demo: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BzJ4E ... zV6TWVaclk

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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#4 Post by Zelan »

I can't read through/comment on everything right now because the Wi-Fi is crap, but about the rating question - if there is implied sexual content but nothing is explicit, the rating would generally be 16+.

Banya
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#5 Post by Banya »

Thank you for the replies! In my bad English I can't describe how much it means to me >\\\< it's really of a great encouragement!

I'll take the suggestions all in account: about the rating I think I'll go for 16+ as Zelan suggested, but if I have enought material to do two version I'll do the On\Off switch as Mammon suggested :)
The reason for him to conquer the land of course won't be for the lulz, but I'll explain it later in the story - no amnesia of course, don't worry Jerminator! I hope it will sound convincing when it comes.
Plus, the project will be non-commercial and all free to play once it's finished. I was thinking about the demo to show at least the beginning and don't rush the complete game :)

I'll update you soon!

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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#6 Post by Nyankar »

En mi opinion, una demo solo se aplica a un producto comercial.
In my opinion a demo only apllies to a commercial product.
Yo creo necesitas un nuevo GUI, al menos lo mas importante el textbox.
I think you need a new GUI, at least the most important, the textbox.

Me gusta el concepto de tu proyecto, sigue adelante y ¡buena suerte!
I like your project concept, keep going and good luck!

Banya
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#7 Post by Banya »

Update!
Nyankar made the logo for the game and it's wonderful *-* look!
http://imgur.com/a/vU2Fd.png
Also, his credits have been inserted on the main page of the topic (and in the game aswell)

As for the progress of the demo, I had a halt but I'm back to work!
To respond to Nyankar, I'd like to finish the whole game since it's free, but I fear it might take a really long time before I can show it... ;__; thank you for your support anyway!

Banya
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#8 Post by Banya »

#04/06 Update

Demo delayed.
Since the CG artist left, I'm redrawing the project from scratch.
I can't use three different styles for the VN and, even if I think it might take longer, I'll try to make the sprites too.
To avoid taking years to complete the art I thought of adapting to a monochrome style except for the colour of blue (or maybe purple instead) like in Sin City. What do you think? Could it be acceptable? I updated the main post with my art - at the moment, only the main screen.

Banya
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#9 Post by Banya »

#12/06 Update

Character Sheets with the new art inserted!
As soon as I polish a little the new sprites (which I'm currently working on) I'll post some screenshots too.
I saw that more people viewed the topic so, if you've stumbled here and you're reading this message, please leave a comment :) your advice could be really helpful during the making-of of the VN!

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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#10 Post by Zelan »

Games with limited color palettes can definitely work. It's not always as eye-catching as something with lots of bright colors, but I personally think it's super cool and gives the game a unique style.

Banya
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Re: Spellbound [Fantasy|Adventure|BxB, BxG|Non Commercial]

#11 Post by Banya »

Thank you Zelan! I feel encouraged >\\<

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