[WIP] Artificial Angels

[Mole-chan]

(texture by http://dh-textures.deviantart.com/)
So I finally got the urge to make another VN. This one is very much an interesting departure from '<3'. Hopefully much longer, and the tone is generally more serious. Though the beginning chapters are relatively light hearted most of the time. The end result will be a single game with 8 chapters.

I'm slowly progressing. Mostly due to the fact that I am incredibly easily distracted. I'm actually working on a manga, as well as this. and UTAU. Which may be the most addictive/distracting program in the world, ever. XDD;;

Genre: Sci-fi-ish, borders on slice of life in some portions
Summary: A young man named Lionel finds himself working as caretaker for an experiment in artificial life, known as "Scyld Kaiser", or "Kaiser" for short. As the two form an unlikely friendship, they both find themselves delving into eachother's pasts, uncovering memories both precious and painful. The situation is made more complex by Kaiser's "brother experiment", Kain, whose jealous tendencies threaten to tear them apart.

Demo
Several promotional videos are available on my Youtube account.
1
2
3

A playable demo (includes the first chapter, with the concept art gallery removed as it is unlocked at the end of the game.), is available.
Windows
Mac
Linux

Status
Very much incomplete, very much in beta when it is complete. The demo may have some grammatical/tense errors that have since been corrected. Please try to bear with them, the final release will be a lot more polished.

Progress so far: (Copy pasted from my to-do sheet, hence the helpful little notes.)
Character ports 5/5
Lionel (x)
Ayres (x)
Kain (malnourished)(x)
Kain (healthy)(x)
Kaiser (x)

Outline 8/8 chapters
Music 11/11
scripting: 2.5/8 chapters
Customization: 75%
artwork: ??/??

Character Sketches
Lionel

Kaiser

Kain

And yes, both Kain and Kaiser are a bit unrealistic in weight. This is intentional, and there are explanations for it later in the plot.

I hope you guys like it, please tell me what you think so far!

[IonicMomo]

This looks so cool! I played your other game, '<3' and I enjoyed it a lot, so I'm looking forward to this one too.
I love the fantasy/sci-fi crossover theme. The designs are great; it looks like to put a lot of thought into them. Lionel's soul patch and sweater vest amuse me. Kaiser looks precious, and the angel/demon elements, while they've been done before, seem original with your plot in the context of a laboratory experiment. (Kain reminds me a little of how I imagine Lucifer as an angel, pale, with long black hair and kind of haphazardly beautiful.) Are you working on this all by yourself? If so, that's very ambitious...I'm impressed. I'm downloading the demo as I write, so I suppose I'll be able to comment more once I've played through.

[Mole-chan]

This looks so cool! I played your other game, '<3' and I enjoyed it a lot, so I'm looking forward to this one too.
I love the fantasy/sci-fi crossover theme. The designs are great; it looks like to put a lot of thought into them. Lionel's soul patch and sweater vest amuse me. Kaiser looks precious, and the angel/demon elements, while they've been done before, seem original with your plot in the context of a laboratory experiment. (Kain reminds me a little of how I imagine Lucifer as an angel, pale, with long black hair and kind of haphazardly beautiful.) Are you working on this all by yourself? If so, that's very ambitious...I'm impressed. I'm downloading the demo as I write, so I suppose I'll be able to comment more once I've played through.

c: ah, thank you so much! I was kind of expecting most of my audience to come from "<3". xD Even though it still surprises me how popular that was.

XD haha, funny thing about the designs, these are all from an older iteration (as a manga, when I was too young to really pull it off properly) of the project. Aside from Kain, they've hardly changed at all. Kaiser's shirt has been made to follow the contours of his body more naturally by having the cross shape flow along his shoulders, but that's about it. But there was another version before that that pretty much everything has been changed from. So I guess that qualifies as a lot of thought.

And thank youuuu. XD I'm glad the elements work. I agree, they are overdone at times, and naming Kain almost physically hurt me, but the name fits so well despite being cliche. And really? I guess I'll take that as a compliment, as it is a somewhat fitting comparison. :U

and yep, all my work. XD I'm so used to working alone, and doing <3 confirmed that with enough resources, I can do all the parts of a VN on my own. It'll take longer, but I'm prepared for that.

[Mole-chan]

Woo! We have update. Pretty minor, since I work on this thing with..pretty much no order at all. It's just how I roll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7jg6ZpF8Q

The opening and ending themes now have lyrics! Courtesy of Vocaloids Leon and Kaito. Though mostly Leon. XD;; Funny, Kaito was scheduled for most of the parts, but Leon just kind of took over.

If you get some sort of error, I practically just uploaded them. And really, music is not my strong suit. So chances are they're...not that great. Any help would be appreciated~

[unknown5]

hi, i'm a newb. just joined! what programs do u use to compose music? i want to learn!!!

did you use free material / music generator for the instrumental portion?

yeah, er, leon is kinda all over the place with his notes ... BUT there are parts where the off notes are quirky and intriguing. saved it on my computer because i think if you tweaked it and played around with it, you could get something different from the usual stuff. i'm not a musician, but kinda atonal or sumthin like bela bartok maybe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_bartok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxzU472zCDE&feature=fvst
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... vement.OGG

could be interesting - especially if you are playing around with the themes of angels / demons, harmony / discord - then why not have the music embody those as well?

(i always wanted to mess around with vocaloid ...)

edit: but if u go that route, u have to be careful cuz it still has to sound good tho - even if a tad eccentric. hehehe

[Mole-chan]

hi, i'm a newb. just joined! what programs do u use to compose music? i want to learn!!!

did you use free material / music generator for the instrumental portion?

yeah, er, leon is kinda all over the place with his notes ... BUT there are parts where the off notes are quirky and intriguing. saved it on my computer because i think if you tweaked it and played around with it, you could get something different from the usual stuff. i'm not a musician, but kinda atonal or sumthin like bela bartok maybe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_bartok
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxzU472zCDE&feature=fvst
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... vement.OGG

could be interesting - especially if you are playing around with the themes of angels / demons, harmony / discord - then why not have the music embody those as well?

(i always wanted to mess around with vocaloid ...)

edit: but if u go that route, u have to be careful cuz it still has to sound good tho - even if a tad eccentric. hehehe

I used Mixcraft (not free), and Garageband (free, but Mac only XD) for the instrumental.

And sadly, no, that was not my intent. xD I just suck. WEE.

Like I said above, any help that is available would be great. Because yeah, it is off, just not being a musician myself, either, I can't tell where, or how to fix it. :'D

[carosene]

Hey, this looks really interesting! I loved "<3", it partly inspired me to get cracking on my own game. XD (Which will hopefully come out someday...)

These character designs look great, definitely looking forward to this one!

[Mole-chan]

Hey, this looks really interesting! I loved "<3", it partly inspired me to get cracking on my own game. XD (Which will hopefully come out someday...)

These character designs look great, definitely looking forward to this one!

;w; W-wow! Really? I'm honored!

I'm glad it looks interesting to you! >3<

[cheshire-sensei]

I'm really interested in this story! xDD
Do you still need an artist? ^^;;

[Mole-chan]

I'm really interested in this story! xDD
Do you still need an artist? ^^;;

You must be confused with another topic. ^^; I don't recall needing an artist, since this is an entirely solo project.
What I needed was help with the OP and ED vocals, but aside from that, I'm covered.

[alberte]

What kind of vocals do you need? m/f

[Mole-chan]

What kind of vocals do you need? m/f

Woo! We have update. Pretty minor, since I work on this thing with..pretty much no order at all. It's just how I roll.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dt7jg6ZpF8Q

The opening and ending themes now have lyrics! Courtesy of Vocaloids Leon and Kaito. Though mostly Leon. XD;; Funny, Kaito was scheduled for most of the parts, but Leon just kind of took over.

If you get some sort of error, I practically just uploaded them. And really, music is not my strong suit. So chances are they're...not that great. Any help would be appreciated~

Less vocals and more corrections, read this post. XD;; I already fixed the harmony issue in the OP, but the ED sounds...way off. I'm sure.

If it is easier to just sing the vocals yourself (which I'm sure it is, I just used Vocaloid because that's what I had access to), then I have no preference for gender.

[Mole-chan]

Progress is slooooooooow. Finals week is fast approaching, so I've had neither the time or inspiration to do much of anything.

I did manage to redo Lionel's ports, because man, the old ones were bugging me.



Just a reminder, the end theme still needs some tweaking. I've gotten a lot of help on the first few parts (thank you, Unknown5, you're amazing!), but the rest is still...well..not very good. xD I'm going to see if I can do this myself when time allows, but this will probably fail spectacularly. And if anyone thinks they can do better (most likely), please contact me!

Note that I do use Vocaloid Leon for well....vocals. But any English Vocaloid should work for tweaking.

and to finish on a completely unrelated note. Have some plushie.

[alberte]

That plushie is so awesome! the eys on it.. dayummmnnn
I might draw a character sketch because of that.. gonna look at your song . =p

[Mole-chan]

That plushie is so awesome! the eys on it.. dayummmnnn
I might draw a character sketch because of that.. gonna look at your song . =p

;w; ILU! I mean..thanks. XD

And haha, the eyes are actually iron-on transfers, if you'd believe it. We had some extras laying around. His glasses are actually hand painted on, and you can tell. XD My painting is faaaaaaaaaail.

But I do look forward to the sketch, and any music help~ ;3; I didn't expect art of these guys at all, let alone before the project was even close to done! XD