Senior Year Development Thread

[DaFool]

You mean a game with its own standalone webpage like this? http://www.9-11game.com/

If you want to save on hosting, maybe get a generic blogger account where only you can post text and pictures, then disable interactivity ( to prevent spam) and instead post a link to a Lemmasoft discussion thread for your game.

I mentioned this before but you can torrent using any number of anime-related trackers then advertise on any anime-related sites.

I'm seriously debating whether I'd want to beta test or not, since I would like to have a complete unspoiled full experience of the final product.

[PyTom]

I would suggest that googlepages is a good choice for people who want free web hosting with a minimal amount of work. It's much more appropriate then using blogger, anyway.

[EwanG]

OK, I actually have a domain with 60GB of storage and a fair (though not unlimited) amount of bandwidth. So it's more of a design question than a hosting question.

If you look at what I have right now (http://www.bklovr.com), you can see that I have the logo and the favicon (BTW, why doesn't lemmasoft have a favicon?), but that's about it. It's the "what else should I put on the page" that I could use help with.

DaFool, while I've DL'd torrents on more than one occasion, would you be surprised to learn I've never UL'd a file and setup a torrent for it? If you could point me to a good tutorial, that would probably help me understand how to use those trackers you've mentioned. And I certainly wouldn't want to deprive you of the full experience.

Thanks again for all the help/advice,
Ewan

[DaFool]

Many modern torrent clients enable you to create torrents. I personally use utorrent since its standalone and lightweight.

First sign up at a torrent tracker site (datorrents, deadfrog, check the recent places you've downloaded anime torrents (I assume you watch fansubs), but especially those that host licensed anime since they are more open to content). Then refer to that site when creating the torrent. Make sure your local file is already your final version since you don't actually upload the file beforehand, you won't be touching that file again for a long time. And once started the torrent will be working off your machine for a while (up to forever, perhaps? )

And a word to the wise...don't use super-seed, initial seeding whatever. Just seed like you usually do, its far better to allocate bandwidth disproportionately.

[musical74]

If you are still looking for beta-testers I can give it a go...I'm not too preoccupied ATM and it would be good experience for me =)

[Mirielle]

Well, I guess there would be plenty of tutorials for torrents around...

http://torrentfreak.com/how-to-create-a-torrent/

That's the result of a two second google search! Yay!

Oh and on a side note, lines recorded and sent. An hour and a half of talking to myself makes me tired...

[EwanG]

If you are still looking for beta-testers I can give it a go...I'm not too preoccupied ATM and it would be good experience for me =)

OK. Thanks to Mirielle I have one path fully voiced, and I have enough voices for each of the other paths that checks for mixing and such can be done. So I'll probably put together a Beta package on Sunday to get to you and the one other gentleman who volunteered early next week. Figure that should find anything except where I might put the wrong voice in the wrong place, and no amount of beta testing will guarantee I don't screw that up

If that goes well, the final version might yet go out around Christmas. I dbl-checked my hosting setup, and I have a monthly limit of 500GB in traffic. So I can probably allow for direct downloads as well as torrents. Though I'll obviously encourage the use of torrents to preserve bandwidth.

[EwanG]

Beta test version has gone out to the Beta Testers. Azure was able to get me the rest of Annette's lines, so both Annette and Linda are fully voiced in the Beta. Have lines done for Becky and Carla, but unfortunately did not get anything in time for Julie.

Of course packaging proved to be an adventure as well - mainly just because I had to get used to letting RenPy do most of it directly.

And so, slow and certain progress. Just need to see what comes out of Beta now.

[EwanG]

Attachment is a revised rpyc for the beta that was released earlier today. Many minor fixes, and one major one thanks to Jake!

To use this, rename this to script.rpyc, and then copy it over the script.rpyc you already have. Make sure to delete your saves folder since the save names are different in this version.

[EwanG]

Another script.rpyc update to fix a couple issues PyTom found that prevent you from reaching the end of Julie's path (bummer).

Same drill as before. DL, rename to script.rpyc, copy over the last one.

PyTom also found a couple things I can only fix with a full re-release. So I'll shoot for doing that sometime this week. Those aren't show stoppers, but they should make the game run smoother. I should have some more of the voices by then also.

Thanks again for all the help!

[EwanG]

OK, this should be the last update for today

Fixes include a different text window, use of fade for character appearances and dissolve for leaving, numerous unclosed {i} {/i} pairs, and a few typos.

As always, DL the file, rename it to script.rpyc, and copy it over the current one.

Unless something fatal is found, I suspect this will be it until I do a general re-release later this week.

[EwanG]

The general re-release for the end of this week is getting pushed to early next week as I've been assured by the two remaining voice artists that I will have all their voice recordings by then. That way I'll be putting out more of a release candidate than a beta.

I would highly(!) recommend a good beta cycle to my fellow VNers. In addition to the "oops" sorts of bugs, I've also gotten some valuable feedback in terms of how some of the story flows, tweaks to make things look better, and found things that I had been so close to in developing that I had stopped noticing. I am also glad I waited until all the art and story was done, and that I had some representative voices. Otherwise it probably would have been even more confusing for the brave souls who have been giving up their time for this.

In the meantime, I'm remixing all the audio to make it more consistent, and am working a little on the character art, as well as some logic holes. Hopefully I'll have time to get the webpage mocked up so that the release doesn't get delayed because I can't get it out to anyone

FWIW,
Ewan

[Mr. E]

Wow... Seems pretty completed. And with voice acting too... That was quite quick overall, judging by the number of characters and general size of the game. Can't wait to play it. Best of luck with the last minute work around there.

[EwanG]

Just waiting for the 19th to get here. Have done everything I can do until the last voice files arrive. Then it will be a ton of quick editing (half of Carla and almost all of Julie), and a release candidate, and with any luck an official unveiling on or around Christmas.

But the sitting and waiting is definitely a pain... May have to consider trying to get the voice folks lined up earlier for the next title since there will be so many parts.

[EwanG]

Well, I'm now faced with quite a dilemma. It looks like the voice of Julie is nowhere to be found, and my attempt so far at getting a replacement is not working out either.

So I see three choices - in the order of preference:

1) Wait until I can find someone to voice Julie

Pros: The game is fully voiced, and is the full game I intended.

Cons: It looks like getting anyone over the holiday season is going to be tough. So I'm going to have to likely sit for another few weeks, with no guarantee that I'll be able to find anyone then either.

2) Edit down Julie's part

Pros: This gives me some control over the final product. I can still have Julie introduced, and then she just becomes a path that can't be taken. This minimizes the effect on the other paths (two of which depend on you knowing Julie), and since I do have the first ten lines, I still have the piece I do keep fully voiced.

Cons: Ten lines out of 135 means that her story is almost completely gutted. Which means it's only slightly better than option 3.

3) Remove Julie entirely

Pros: Makes the game shorter, and I can have the game ready in about a day for a final beta test and still make an end of year release.

Cons: Removes the longest story from the game, and means I have a lot of resources I spent time on that don't get used. It also means I have to edit two of the other paths, and possibly introduce additional errors into those paths as well.

Of course, all of this emphasizes why this is something you should do if you can pay folks rather than ask for volunteers. While the other four actresses have done a very professional job in a fairly short time, I can't blame the other lady for putting her personal life in front of getting my story done. That is certainly something I'm going to have to give a hard think about for doing "Camp Handiba".

Just so y'all know where the beta is if you're waiting for it.