The Man and His Shell [knetic novel] [fantasy] [horror]
Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 11:06 pm
After a daring raid, a handful of spell casters called mystics belonging to the Mystic Community managed to corner and kill the dangerous Soul mystic Faylen Malic. In the aftermath of the raid, they discover that Malic had an apprentice and they quickly take her into custody. Suspecting that the apprentice may have been coerced into serving the soul magic practitioner, the Mystic Community takes the woman in, offering her asylum and a chance at a new life. The apprentice is silent for a a few weeks, but she finally provides her answer in the form of a letter.
That letter forms the basis for this story. As the Soul mystic's apprentice reveals the events in her life that shaped her into Faylen Malic's apprentice, the reader (standing in for a member of the Mystic Community) will find themselves witness to a tragic story of death, rejection, isolation, fear, but still the fragile seed of hope, as she recounts the story of the Man and His Shell.
A mix of fantasy and horror, this story is the longest addition I have made to my "Mystic Grimoire" series, now expanded by additional dialogue for a total of ~14,300 words by the latest lint check.
Progress: ~90%
Writing: 100%
Art: ~95%
Music: 100%
Coding: 90%
Sound: 100%
GUI: 0%
All material (minus a few creative commons 0 sounds effects) were created by me so the art and music aren't anything exceptional. I'm a writer first so what I'm going for is trying to use a new medium to tell some of my stories. I haven't touched the GUI yet, but I plan on doing something about it before the end. I expect I'll have this out in a week or so (so long as I can finish it before I move).
I'll throw some screenshots at the bottom of this post. I'll preface that by saying I have little experience with forums (can't even find where to add signatures on the ucp), so please be forgiving and if I make any forum etiquette mistakes please inform me so I can learn.
I plan on releasing a beta or demo soon (most of the game is already done) and when I do I'll be asking what you all think about my first attempt at creative a kinetic novel. I have written a number of short stories but this i my first real attempt at using renpy to adapt one into a visual novel. I'm not so worried about how my art or music turned out, as I feel I would try to work with actual artists or musicians if I tried to make another big work, but I'll take any comments you have about the art and music as well. More on that once I actually start releasing parts of the game though. Which will be soon. Like maybe tomorrow (no promises... but seriously).
Here goes nothing! I'm in your hands now!
###Edit###
Demo is up. Covers the first ~10% of the story. I'd like any opinions you have to offer on the nvl window, the music, characters, art, ect. But mostly I want to know if this feels like I've done enough to warrant trying to make this story into a visual novel. Again, this is all based of a short story I wrote which had next to no dialogue in it's original form. Most of the dialogue in this visual novel has been recently added, but there are a number of parts later in the story which fall into nvl mode while I copy the text from my original short story as it was.
I also consider myself a writer first, so any comments or honest criticism you have for my writing is welcome and appreciated.
That letter forms the basis for this story. As the Soul mystic's apprentice reveals the events in her life that shaped her into Faylen Malic's apprentice, the reader (standing in for a member of the Mystic Community) will find themselves witness to a tragic story of death, rejection, isolation, fear, but still the fragile seed of hope, as she recounts the story of the Man and His Shell.
A mix of fantasy and horror, this story is the longest addition I have made to my "Mystic Grimoire" series, now expanded by additional dialogue for a total of ~14,300 words by the latest lint check.
Progress: ~90%
Writing: 100%
Art: ~95%
Music: 100%
Coding: 90%
Sound: 100%
GUI: 0%
All material (minus a few creative commons 0 sounds effects) were created by me so the art and music aren't anything exceptional. I'm a writer first so what I'm going for is trying to use a new medium to tell some of my stories. I haven't touched the GUI yet, but I plan on doing something about it before the end. I expect I'll have this out in a week or so (so long as I can finish it before I move).
I'll throw some screenshots at the bottom of this post. I'll preface that by saying I have little experience with forums (can't even find where to add signatures on the ucp), so please be forgiving and if I make any forum etiquette mistakes please inform me so I can learn.
I plan on releasing a beta or demo soon (most of the game is already done) and when I do I'll be asking what you all think about my first attempt at creative a kinetic novel. I have written a number of short stories but this i my first real attempt at using renpy to adapt one into a visual novel. I'm not so worried about how my art or music turned out, as I feel I would try to work with actual artists or musicians if I tried to make another big work, but I'll take any comments you have about the art and music as well. More on that once I actually start releasing parts of the game though. Which will be soon. Like maybe tomorrow (no promises... but seriously).
Here goes nothing! I'm in your hands now!
###Edit###
Demo is up. Covers the first ~10% of the story. I'd like any opinions you have to offer on the nvl window, the music, characters, art, ect. But mostly I want to know if this feels like I've done enough to warrant trying to make this story into a visual novel. Again, this is all based of a short story I wrote which had next to no dialogue in it's original form. Most of the dialogue in this visual novel has been recently added, but there are a number of parts later in the story which fall into nvl mode while I copy the text from my original short story as it was.
I also consider myself a writer first, so any comments or honest criticism you have for my writing is welcome and appreciated.