It's been two long years, but I'm retiring this project, mainly because the story format has been repurposed and retold as a manga oneshot that can be read here:
https://medibang.com/book/eb2008311502503650016614882/
I'm leaving this intro up because... I remember working hard typing it all back then and I don't want to delete it all :'D
Also with the cancellation of this project, I'll eventually be releasing the sprites as CC work here (may take me a few days to get everything up). When I find the time, I also intend to give the sprites an art update.
Anyways, thank you all for your interest in this project and hope you'll follow along in my future projects!
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I will be updating this first post soon, but... here's a new logo! :D
I just found out about this event today and lucky me! It turns out I started my project on 3/4/18 so I can join with it!
All writing, drawing, and coding will be done by me. Music may be done by someone else
"Magical Girl Memories" is a temporary name until I come up with something better, if anyone has any ideas, please shoot away! ;]
I considered adding more genres to the game, but I'm not sure how well they fit just yet. The considered genres are: romance, friendship, mystery, suspense, and superhero.
Summary:
In a sleepy town where nothing seems to happen, you meet four girls who battle monsters in their free time! You've never seen them before, but they attend your school and maybe after nearly ten years of crushing on the same girl, you can fall in love with someone completely new during your senior year of high school.
This game has three parts: the present, the past, and the future. There will be chances to win four girls in the present portion, one (subject to change) in the past, and a choice of three in the future. All three parts has good and bad endings, with several "final" endings in the future section. Admittedly, I have not yet decided on the number of endings. ^^;
Although the main character will be interested in the girls, the actual story is probably going to be less romantic (with the plot I have in mind). The core of the story would be figuring out why these Magical Girls exist, who Moria really is, and what happened in the past, before moving forward to the future. The gameplay for the present portion will differ depending on which girl the player chooses to pursue. Betty will be a point and click detective story, monster fighting with Sandy, RPG world exploring with Jan (...if I can figure out how to do RPG programming ^^;), and a classic dating sim "love" story with Hana.
Each route will reveal more clues to the mystery in the game before a final reveal in the past portion of the game. These routes can be played in any order and... I'm thinking that the player has to play 3/4 routes?? I'm not sure cause this would be a very long game.
Cast:
Betty- A terrifying girl with a sharp tongue, she has no time for shallow flirting and wastes no chances to call the main character an idiot. She is the leader of the four magical girls, but is the weakest of them physically. Her contribution to the team is her analyzation and leadership skills. This is made possible with her magical girl outfit-- a robotic armored suit with a large database on... seemingly anything. Unfortunately, she cannot access this knowledge when she takes exams. Design:
Jan- A free-spirited girl who's always getting into trouble
Hana- A quiet girl whom most people consider the prettiest of the group. She often sticks with Jan and never voices her opinion. In fact, it's rather hard to get and keep her attention. She rarely cares about social norms and would walk off in the middle of a conversation without a word if it bores her. However, on topics that she does care about, if she starts overthinking she becomes quite the crybaby and breaks into tears. Hana is a natural genius and aces every subject at school, but has no interest in applying her skills anywhere. Hana's weapon is a mallet and when smashing opponents, is as strong as Sandy. She doesn't get along with Betty solely because she argues with Jan. Design:
Moria- The main character has had a crush on her since the fourth grade. He gets tongue tied around her and can never hold a conversation for more than 10 minutes with her. They have been in the same class for nearly ten years, but she remains a mystery to him (and everyone in the class). She's quiet and often sickly, disappearing from school after lunch or missing school every other day. No one seems to have any memory of spending time with her. Design:
<unnamed pet>- The obligatory cute creature that follows the group of magical girls around. He's loyal, that's all that matters, right? Design:
Wendy- A magical girl from a different town. (To be expanded upon.)
<unnamed magical girl>- A magical girl from a different town. (To be expanded upon.)
Simon- A magical boy from another town, a good friend of Betty's and one of her many ex-boyfriends. He is a flirty rich kid and despite having broken up with Betty long ago, still takes her out on many dates. Always with sunglasses. He purposefully flirts with the main character just to piss Betty off. ("Unlockable" winnable character, courtesy of my best friend.) My best friend called dibs on him and you will have to fight them for Simon.
<The Main Character>- An average guy from an average town, looking for someway to either impress his crush or escape his feelings for her. Not cowardly, but known to lack courage. Has a love of fruitcups. He is nameable by the player and currently has the default name "John Doe." Currently no plans to give him a design, but... who knows, maybe?
More characters will be added as I continue on.
Game Plan
I think for this Nano I just want to get days one and two fully completed. Any more may just be icing on the cake. First I'll work on script (day one done), then art, then GUI. Since I'm done with the day one script, I'm filling in all the art gaps for it. This will mean that day two shouldn't require any graphics when I'm done. Then... GUI.
Current word count: 8,141 words
This thread is to report progress and to generate interest. This is the first time I'm making a visual novel and would love critique as I progress. I've always loved stories with alternate universes and "what ifs" and a visual novel feels like the perfect way to explore that. On top of that, this has been a story I've been trying to find time to tell so this was a great chance. I would love feedback on the story as the the game is developed, and when it is finished. (To be fair, I don't know how much of the story I will be revealing here so maybe I can only accept story feedback once the game is done? I guess that's another point I'd like advice on.)
This is also my chance to try and get back into some programming. I had one class to complete major credits in college and haven't really programmed at all since I graduated. While the features I'll be including in this game aren't particularly difficult to code, I'm hoping to at least get used to it again. I'm forgetting what stacking does-- I'm lucky to remember why I'm supposed to define my variables ;u;"
Questions for... Anyone who wants to Answer!
- What do you think of the summary and characters? Are they too bland? Or maybe you have a favorite one already?
- Do you think I should expand on the summary, setting, and/or characters, or leave that for players to find out in the game?
- Do you have any suggestions for the title, name of the pet, and the last, unnamed magical girl?
- Is there a way to resize images in the forum or do I have to go directly to the source and resize them?
- How do you pick the poses for your sprites? What do you use as inspiration?
- What's your process for drawing sprites? Do you start with one image and edit as you go or do you work layer by layer? How much rework do you usually end up doing?