Project: Perfectly Normal [FULL GAME NOW] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

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sonnenblumen
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Project: Perfectly Normal [FULL GAME NOW] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#1 Post by sonnenblumen »

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The game is officially out now! Find the game's new thread here or download the game here.



“Project X, a top secret privately funded project designed to train the ultimate assassins, was recently shut down under government orders. Now, dozens of children trained under the program are orphaned. In order to solve this situation and offer these children a second chance at life, the government has created a special foster program.”


Genre: BL, Romance, Comedy & Action

Endings: 5 different endings. 2 endings (happy and bittersweet) per love interest. Choose between the sharp-tongued Kazuya or playful Haruto! Or perhaps you'd prefer for Ren to go solo?

Story: For seventeen years, Ren has trained to be the perfect killer. Now that Project X has ended, Ren has been relocated to a foster family. In a small town, Ren has made it his next mission to become the perfect normal person. Unfortunately, there’s a bunch of people who wish to kill him along the way.


Characters:

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“I apologize. I am not yet completely acquainted with all the customs of a normal life.”

Ren: 17 years old. Our murderous but naive protagonist. A retired killer-for-hire, Ren’s new goal is to live a normal and simple life.

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“I am part of the program that sent you here. It’s my job to make sure you don’t do stupid stuff like starting fires in the garden.”

Haruto: 20 years old. Ren’s supervisor. Haruto is charming, easygoing and a bit of a flirt. He has a habit of showing up at random places at suspiciously convenient times.

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"Oh, great, it's you."

Kazuya: 17 years old. Ren’s foster brother. Kazuya has a stubborn, prickly personality. He doesn’t really like Ren, but it’s probably not personal, Kazuya doesn’t like a lot of things.

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"Being normal is boring! Trust me, I’d know, I’m the most average person you’ll ever meet!”

Sora: 17 years old. The local delivery boy and Ren’s biggest fan. Bouncing with unstoppable optimism and positive energy, Sora is always eager to offer Ren advice. Often times more bad than good, but he's trying.

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Shion: Very mysterious. So mysterious he’s even got battle scars.

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Chiharu: Even more mysterious. An elegant, but intimidating woman who follows Ren around.


Granny: Ren's foster grandma. A kind but stubborn older lady, she wants nothing more than happiness for her two grandchildren.

Team:
Story Directors/Writers - Owl & Sonnenblummen
Character Art - onboroo
UI Art & Coding - breadpan
Music - creative commons
BG Art - creative commons

Progress:
COMPLETED!

Questions:
1) What do you think about the characters? Do you have a favorite?
2) Based on first impressions, do you ship anyone with Ren?
3) Any thoughts on who you think Chiharu and Shion might be, as well as their connection to Ren?
4) Any feedback or anything you'd like to ask us?
Last edited by sonnenblumen on Mon Jul 13, 2020 3:34 pm, edited 10 times in total.

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#2 Post by parttimestorier »

This sounds like a really fun setup! I bet there will be lots of opportunities for dark comedy and cute moments as well. Looking forward to finding out what's going on with the two "mysterious" characters. :D
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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#3 Post by nerupuff »

The art looks amazing!!! Excited to see some fast-paced action and comedy here. I hope Ren manages to stay alive and be perfectly normal for the story (lol). So far, I'm intrigued with Shion though (I love mysterious characters). Good luck! Looking forward to your updates on this ^^
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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#4 Post by sonnenblumen »

Thank you for the kind comments!

Development Log 1 [5th of March, 2019:]
Script/Story: We've made a lot of progress on the script over the weekend, because both writers had a long weekend. The script's at roughly 21k words now. A lot larger than we originally expected and right now, we're pretty confident that the final script is going to be around 50k+ words at least. (We're on part 3 out of 7 parts according to the outline, excluding the endings, so we're nearing the halfway mark.) While the scope is slightly unexpected, we're glad that we get to really explore and delve into the characters' stories in-depth.

Character Art: Our character artist onboroo has made a lot of progress in the art department. She already completed some character sketches pre-Nano, so she's been able to get started on the actual in-game sprites right away. We're putting the expressions until hold for later, but Ren and Haruto are basically finished (main pose + arm change). onboroo's still working on some final touches for Haruto's sprite though, so for now I'll just share a quick preview of our protagonist Ren! (¬‿¬)
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UI/Coding: Only 5 days in, Breadpan has already made some amazing progress on the interface (both visually and coding-wise). Our vision for the game's interface is to give the player the feel that they are looking through the eyes of someone who is observing / monitoring Ren and his life. (Unfortunately for him, aside from being monitored by the government, Ren is very popular with stalkers. xD) Some of these are undergoing some final edits, but here are some quick preview images of the GUI so far!
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Alright, that's all for today's devlog. Let us know if you have any questions or comments, we're always open to feedback! P.S. I've updated the main post with some questions! 。^‿^。

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#5 Post by sonnenblumen »

Development Log 2 [10th of March, 2019]:
Script/Story: The script is currently over 33k words.

As the writers’ schedules have been pretty packed with work and school over the week, we focused a lot of time on planning the last details of the 5 endings. As it works right now, our plan is to primarily include 2 types of choices: the first type determines which love interest you will pursue (Haruto, Kazuya or solo) and the second type determines whether you are leaning towards a romantic or bittersweet ending. With another long weekend ahead of us, we should definitely be able to finish part 3 of the script. After Part 3, not including the endings, we will be officially halfway through the script.

Character Art: onboroo has finished the sprites for Kazuya and Chiharu, so here are a few more sprite previews! :) onboroo just has Shion, Sora and Granny’s sprites left before she’ll move on to focus on the sprite's expressions and the CGs.
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We wanted Chiharu's pose and outfit to emphasise her mysterious, but also elegant and powerful nature.

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That’s all for today’s devlog. Thanks for reading!

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#6 Post by Amiralo »

The art looks absolutely stunning! Personally, I have a weakness for assassin stories haha. Can't wait to see all the antics that will ensue as Ren lives out his definition of "normal".

1) They all look very good! But so far, the knowledge we know about them is barebones. I'm going to go with Ren, because I'm a sucker for characters with a single-minded focus, no matter how ill-equipped they are.
2) Probably Ren X Haruto. I feel like it will be hilarious to see Haruto put out the fires that Ren had started.
3) Honestly? I think they are Ren's parents. Or Ren's genes were based on them. Anyways, I think there is some kind of blood relation.
4) Is this story more light-hearted? Or will it be more dramatic?
My deviant art (where you can look at the embarrassing sim dates I have made). http://amiralo.deviantart.com/

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#7 Post by Syrale »

1) What do you think about the characters? Do you have a favorite?
Haruto..... I'm a simple man who will always fall for this type of character. (Though I'm excited to see your particular spin on it :D)

2) Based on first impressions, do you ship anyone with Ren?
Ren/Sora! I'm rooting for the underdog!!!

3) Any thoughts on who you think Chiharu and Shion might be, as well as their connection to Ren?
The similarity of Ren's and Shion's hair doesn't seem like a coincidence, so I'm going with "blood relation" as well. B)

4) Any feedback or anything you'd like to ask us?
I really love the art style, the way your artist draws eyes is beautiful. Definitely looking forward to the full game!

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#8 Post by sonnenblumen »

Amiralo wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2019 10:07 pm 2) Probably Ren X Haruto. I feel like it will be hilarious to see Haruto put out the fires that Ren had started.
Melli (the writer for Haruto's scenes) is very happy to hear you're shipping her favourite couple. xD
Amiralo wrote: Sat Mar 09, 2019 10:07 pm 4) Is this story more light-hearted? Or will it be more dramatic?
It's a combination, really, but for most part it's a light-hearted / coming of age slice-of-life with some more emotional and light angst sprinkled here and there. We want to make a game that's cute and fun, but also gets you invested in their narratives. At the same time, with the action scenes, we also have a bit of dark comedy.
Syrale wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:20 am 2) Based on first impressions, do you ship anyone with Ren?
Ren/Sora! I'm rooting for the underdog!!!
I think our whole team is mourning that Sora can't be romanced! Dx Don't worry though, being Ren's "sidekick", he still gets plenty of screen time!
Syrale wrote: Sun Mar 10, 2019 10:20 am4) Any feedback or anything you'd like to ask us?
I really love the art style, the way your artist draws eyes is beautiful. Definitely looking forward to the full game!
onboroo really appreciates the kind comment! Thank you!

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#9 Post by sonnenblumen »

Development Log 3 [15th of March, 2019]:

Script/Story: The script is currently over 45k words. Our new estimate for the final word length is looking to be around 60 to 70k words (damn). It's been a busy week (particularly towards the end), but with the weekend ahead of us, the script should pick up speed again. We are currently working on part 4 with just a few final scenes / variations left, though we will do our best to finish them off this weekend. Part 5 is a bit more tricky to write as it has more variations leading up to the endings in part 6, but it will be fun! We have a lot of fluff, but also some angst, planned for the final parts of the story.

onboroo also made a quick gif of a funny scene from the game, so here's a short script preview... (¬‿¬)
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Kazuya “I’m surprised we agree on something for once.”

“Kazuya cracks a smile. Ren’s eyes widen, surprised by the sight.”

Kazuya “What? Why do your eyes look like they’re about to pop out of your skull?”

Ren “You smiled.”

“Kazuya’s smile falls, returning to its usual frown.”

Kazuya ”Yeah, so?”

Ren “I like it.”

Ren “(I cannot explain it, but it brings me... satisfaction to watch Kazuya’s reactions.)”

Ren “(Would it be acceptable for me to interpret this as us growing closer to one another?)”

Kazuya “I-I don’t get why you’re making a big deal out of it! You don’t smile that often either!”

Ren “That is because I am still practicing my smiles. Last time I smiled in class, one of the female students burst into tears.”


Character Art: Only Grandma's sprite remains, as well as a missing pose change for Sora and Shion's sprites. After that's finished, onboroo will be moving on to work on the expressions and then the CGs. It's looking great so far, but for now, have some sketch previews of Sora and Shion's main pose.

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The edits to Haruto's sprite have also been completed.
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UI Art / Code: breadpan has been working on the choice buttons for the game's UI. we'll eventually get around to showing some more previews once we start coding scenes from the script into the game.

That's all for today's devlog. As always, thanks for reading!
Last edited by sonnenblumen on Sun Mar 31, 2019 7:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#10 Post by sonnenblumen »

Development Log 4 [1st of April, 2019]:
Sorry for the delayed update. The second half of NaNo has been crazy busy, both in terms of the project and IRL duties. That's why we've got both good and bad news for everyone.

Bad News... and Good News: The bad news is we're not going to be able to finish the game in time for the jam's deadline. :( The good news is we're only expecting to be delayed by a week or two at most, since we're pretty close to the finish line. The second good news is that the reason why we're behind schedule is because the size of the game has expanded a bit. It's not unreasonable, but what we originally expected to be a short VN is turning out to be a medium size game (script-wise). We don't have a definite deadline yet, but we'll hopefully have a more steady estimate for the next update.

Script/Story: The script is at 56k words. Part 5 is finished, except some variations. We have to do some final checks and minor edits to the previous parts and wrap up Part 5 before moving onto Part 6. Part 6, the finale, is shorter overall but split up into three routes depending on who the player decided to romance (if anyone). Melli is on vacation now and from Thursday onwards, I will be as well, so we have plenty of free time to wrap up the finale.

Character Art: onboroo has finished all the sprites, including expressions, so she'll be working on CGs for the next 1 - 2 weeks.

Here's the sprite previews for Sora and Granny!
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UI Art / Coding: pan has finished defining most of the sprites and characters, as well as the UI art assets, so she started coding stuff into the game today. We've had some minor (but pretty funny) sizing issues, but it's otherwise going more or less smoothly. xD We'll have some more polished screenshots for next week that will better reflect the final visual quality of the game.

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Because the story is told from third person, with Ren's internal thoughts represented through parentheses, we wanted to have Ren on screen as a part of the "story" rather just a side image.

As always, thanks for reading! We'll be back with another dev log towards the end of this week/early next week.

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#11 Post by sonnenblumen »

Development Log 5 [10th of April, 2019]:

Release Date: It's a short update for today, because everyone's working hard on the last stretch of the project. As for the release date, we still don't have a defined date in mind unfortunately, but we are aiming for early next week. I'll try to post an update on the weekend about how likely this goal ends up being or not, but we are very close!

Script/Story: The script is roughly at almost 80k words. Part 5 only has 2 Kazuya variations left, which I'm catching up on before I move onto Kazuya's endings. Melli has finished the first draft of Haruto's happy end, so she'll now be working on the bittersweet ending as well as fleshing out some parts that need extra detail.

Character Art: The past days have been pretty busy for onboroo as she's been working on extra expressions/details we had to add last minute as well as the CGs. So far, 2 out of 5 CGs are near completition. We won't be sharing the CGs in order to avoid spoilers, but instead we would like to share a quick sprite preview of Shion!

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swoons over Shion's beauty o(*≧□≦)o

UI Art / Coding: We've brought a' onboard the team who's helping us beta test and proofread a bit. Pan is working hard on the next test build and the code for the sprite positioning, which has been causing us some tiny problems here and there. One of the most tiring and boring, haha parts of the coding process is adding the sprite instructions to the script. (ꐦ ಠ皿ಠ ) Melli and I are about to lose our minds, but it's a sacrifice that must be made! xD

The next dev log is due this weekend, probably Sunday. Thank you for reading!

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#12 Post by sonnenblumen »

Development Log 6 [1st of May, 2019]:

Sorry for the late update! IRL responsibilities have been driven us crazy lately, but we’re getting back on track. Haruto’s endings are finished and Kazuya’s path is also nearing the finish line. The solo ending is also finished. We've still got some editing to do, but it's mostly finished.

Onboroo is currently working on Kazuya’s CGs and the solo ending CG. Pan is working on coding the script. As we didn’t have a really effective system set in place while writing and the script ended up being waaay longer than any of us planned, it has been more difficult than we thought it would be to go through the script and add flags/points. Although it saddens us that the game has to be delayed, we are happy with how it’s turning out & hopeful that we will be able to finish soon. If anything, it has been a good learning experience to stay more organized in the future! :D

Basically, we’re still working to release the game asap. It’ll definitely be ready by next month, we just don’t have an exact date yet. We will keep you updated, thanks for your patience!

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [Nano2019] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#13 Post by sonnenblumen »

Development Log 7 [4th of Jan, 2020]:

We just released a demo! Check it out here: https://peaceful-pastel.itch.io/project ... tly-normal

Happy New Year! Sorry for the radio silence the past couple of months, but we're back and determined to finish this project asap. The script is complete (over 80k words - we need to re-count, but might be even higher than that) except for Kazuya's ending scenes, so only coding and CGs are left. The demo is pretty close to the final product, except we might be adding CGs and all of the music isn't where it's supposed to be yet. Right now, the demo just covers part of the first half of the game and should be at least 30 minutes of playtime. :D

As for the CGs, unfortunately we haven't been able to get in contact with our character artist for months and we only have some sketches for Haruto's CGs. We've decided to move on with the project without any CGs for now, but we're going to be looking into potentially finding someone else to do them! Feel free to shoot me a PM if interested, we only need 3 CGs minimum (for the ending scenes) but potentially up to 2 each extra for Kazuya/Haruto's individual scenes if the artist's up for it. We don't mind the CG style being different from the sprites, as long as it's roughly the same level of quality. However, since it's a free project, we can't offer any other compensation than credits.

If you end up checking out the demo, we'd love to hear your feedback here or on itch! Although the script is 98% complete by now, we are always open to feedback on what you did or didn't enjoy, how we could improve the game or if there's any issues you might have noticed that we missed. As always, thanks for reading!

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [DEMO OUT NOW] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#14 Post by sonnenblumen »

Hey everyone! We're still alive and posted another quick update on itch.io: https://peaceful-pastel.itch.io/project ... march-2020

Also, sharing this CG preview here now since we didn't before. :D
We ended up getting back in contact with the original artist for the project and she's finishing up the CGs.

Image

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Re: Project: Perfectly Normal [DEMO OUT NOW] [BL] [Comedy] [Action]

#15 Post by sonnenblumen »

We haven't updated here in a while, but the game's made a lot of progress! We finished the leftover writing and all the CGs.

Now coding's finished and we're officially entering the testing stage. If everything proceeds smoothly, we should finally be able to release the final game this Summer as we hoped! We're very excited to finally get to see this project nearing its completition. :)
cg.png

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