Hey y'all. You guys might remember me posting a while back about a visual novel that I wanted to write about spirits. Well, I scrapped that idea after wrestling with it for about five weeks as it approached to close to being an 'Air' rip-off. Anyhow, I have a new story, complete with a 15-page draft of the main arc (without the 'good' ending). Here's the idea:
Main plot:
A young guy named Haruo, is on winter break and decides to help out his cousin Midori running her inn. One day, he meets a girl named Yukiko in the snow who's waiting for someone. Underlying all of this is a series of mysterious disappearances around the resort area. Some people are saying that it's the work of the snow-demon (Yuki-onna) while some others think differently. The mystery behind the city of perpetual snow (10 yrs) is revealed as the player goes through the different female arcs.
****SPOILER*****
Haruo is really writing a fairy tale as he tries to cope with the fact that the girl he loved disappeared in the snow one day. She was found and currently resides in a ten-year coma. He's basing all of the characters and events off of real-life occurrences, with just a hint of 'magic.'
****END SPOILER****
Characters:
Midori- Haruo's cousin and his support. Runs an inn in the town.
Yukiko- Mysterious girl who Haruo found standing by the woods in the snow. She's also the yuki-onna, although she doesn't remember it at all.
-I'm currently planning two more characters (possibly a reporter, a person who's seen this all before, etc.) but I haven't fleshed out the idea yet.
This tale was inspired when I read the russian folk tale of the 'Snow Princess' and a Japanese one about the 'Yuki-Onna.' Currently, I'm just posting to see what y'all think of it so far.
Snowfall: A Winter Fairy Tale
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Ren'Py specific questions should be posted in the Ren'Py Questions and Annoucements forum, not here.
Snowfall: A Winter Fairy Tale
Last edited by baboo2406 on Mon Apr 16, 2007 12:31 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Hime
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That sounds like a really interesting plot. 
You could use the spoiler tags, though, because some of that information feels somewhat spoiler-ish.
Then, to the question section...
Is this going to be made with Ren'Py?
Is Midori going to be one of the girls that you can get?
Do you know how many girls that you can get will the game contain? Or if you don't know, how much if you would have to guess?
Are you going to be the artist, or do you have another artist that will do the art, or are you looking for one?
You could use the spoiler tags, though, because some of that information feels somewhat spoiler-ish.Then, to the question section...
Is this going to be made with Ren'Py?
Is Midori going to be one of the girls that you can get?
Do you know how many girls that you can get will the game contain? Or if you don't know, how much if you would have to guess?
Are you going to be the artist, or do you have another artist that will do the art, or are you looking for one?
Answers:
Not sure what I'll be using to make the game yet. It's still in the planning process.
Yah, Midori is going to be one of the girl's you can get. (I'm all for the wierd incestuous relationships!!!
)
There's going to be two more girls, I'm just not sure how I'm gonna be using them.
I'll be the scenario writer and a Photoshopist on the project, hopefully finding someone at my school (Academy of Arts University) to do the character design. Although there will more than likely be around 2-3 to help alleviate the work load.
Oh and just for everyone's 411, I'll be using the 'Crying Game' Formula that was developed for games like One, Kanon, etc.
Not sure what I'll be using to make the game yet. It's still in the planning process.
Yah, Midori is going to be one of the girl's you can get. (I'm all for the wierd incestuous relationships!!!
)There's going to be two more girls, I'm just not sure how I'm gonna be using them.
I'll be the scenario writer and a Photoshopist on the project, hopefully finding someone at my school (Academy of Arts University) to do the character design. Although there will more than likely be around 2-3 to help alleviate the work load.
Oh and just for everyone's 411, I'll be using the 'Crying Game' Formula that was developed for games like One, Kanon, etc.
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Welcome to the forums, baboo2406.
Too bad I caught the spoiler untagged
But anyway, I would actually even maybe encourage you to reconsider that plot twist, because it's extremely overused - it does add that bishoujogamey feel to the Snow Queen, but a lot of the fans may find this too stereotypical. It's up to you, but still...
Other than that, of course, it's great to see an effort inspired by a fairytale. This is much more what I personally like, as opposed to fantasy. I always found magic in fairytales more magical ^_^.
Too bad I caught the spoiler untagged
But anyway, I would actually even maybe encourage you to reconsider that plot twist, because it's extremely overused - it does add that bishoujogamey feel to the Snow Queen, but a lot of the fans may find this too stereotypical. It's up to you, but still...
What's the Crying Game formula?baboo2406 wrote:Oh and just for everyone's 411, I'll be using the 'Crying Game' Formula that was developed for games like One, Kanon, etc.
Other than that, of course, it's great to see an effort inspired by a fairytale. This is much more what I personally like, as opposed to fantasy. I always found magic in fairytales more magical ^_^.
Agreed. When you actually read fairy tales as they originally came (not the versions toned down for children), you'll find that they are hauntingly beautiful and mature.Other than that, of course, it's great to see an effort inspired by a fairytale. This is much more what I personally like, as opposed to fantasy. I always found magic in fairytales more magical ^_^.
Nakige.mikey wrote:What's the Crying Game formula?
See attached, the second from left.
Source:
http://heiseidemocracy.com/2005/09/08/n ... subgenres/
[Warning: NSFW attachment, though not explicit]
- Attachments
-
Hmmm, I know about Nakige as Crying Game, but I wondered whether there was a "formula" to it. The contents (less sex, more emotion, empathical characters - as seen from the diagram) are what I'd expect, but I wondered whether the word "formula" said something about the way the game was constructed, the composition, distribution of plot points or such - kind of "a recipe for Kana-style games".DaFool wrote:See attached, the second from left.mikey wrote:What's the Crying Game formula?
I'm probably just hungry... gah, when will my wife get home... The crying game formula works pretty similar to Hollywood films where writers typically use the same formula for every story, just with different characters and a few different plot twists. For example...
romantic comedies
boy sees girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back...this of course is usually less emotional than your avg bishujo game as there's no sense of impeding tragedy.
Without further ado,
Crying game formula=
[Comedic first-half] + [heart-warming romantic middle] + [tragic separation] + [emotional reunion] ="Crying Game"
Take almost any bishujo/visual novel and you can apply it to this. It was developed by the makers of Kanon, and has a major formula for writing stories. Typically, it's up to the writer to be able to disguise this, just like in any film. No matter how many times you've seen a romantic comedy, you know what the ending will be, you'll still watch them just to re-experience the 'magic.'
In consideration to the above comment with the 'twist.' I'll think about it....it just works too well with the story about the Russian Snow Princess who became a human after she fell in love. I DO have another idea on tap, but it isn't all fully fleshed out as the other.
romantic comedies
boy sees girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back...this of course is usually less emotional than your avg bishujo game as there's no sense of impeding tragedy.
Without further ado,
Crying game formula=
[Comedic first-half] + [heart-warming romantic middle] + [tragic separation] + [emotional reunion] ="Crying Game"
Take almost any bishujo/visual novel and you can apply it to this. It was developed by the makers of Kanon, and has a major formula for writing stories. Typically, it's up to the writer to be able to disguise this, just like in any film. No matter how many times you've seen a romantic comedy, you know what the ending will be, you'll still watch them just to re-experience the 'magic.'
In consideration to the above comment with the 'twist.' I'll think about it....it just works too well with the story about the Russian Snow Princess who became a human after she fell in love. I DO have another idea on tap, but it isn't all fully fleshed out as the other.
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Counter Arts
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What? If you can make a formula like that then you can clearly change the formula. Aren't you more interested in making something new?baboo2406 wrote:The crying game formula works pretty similar to Hollywood films where writers typically use the same formula for every story, just with different characters and a few different plot twists. For example...
romantic comedies
boy sees girl, boy gets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl back...this of course is usually less emotional than your avg bishujo game as there's no sense of impeding tragedy.
Without further ado,
Crying game formula=
[Comedic first-half] + [heart-warming romantic middle] + [tragic separation] + [emotional reunion] ="Crying Game"
Take almost any bishujo/visual novel and you can apply it to this. It was developed by the makers of Kanon, and has a major formula for writing stories. Typically, it's up to the writer to be able to disguise this, just like in any film. No matter how many times you've seen a romantic comedy, you know what the ending will be, you'll still watch them just to re-experience the 'magic.'
In consideration to the above comment with the 'twist.' I'll think about it....it just works too well with the story about the Russian Snow Princess who became a human after she fell in love. I DO have another idea on tap, but it isn't all fully fleshed out as the other.
Though I suppose a good game can still be made from this.
But I must thank you for reminding me how to structure plotlines.
Well, although it is the classic way of structuring stories people use it because.....IT WORKS and is instantly popular to a target audience. Referring back to my film studies days, the major motion picture studios use avant-garde and indy films in order to draw ideas and incorporate them for popular-mass appeal.
While I would like to make a visual novel thats reminiscent of Salvador Dali's impact on the film industry with 'an Andalusian dog', I personally feel that its better to get experience using someone else's plug-and-play method than being original at first. I mean you have to learn what works and what doesn't.
There are ways however to be original other than storylines. For example, take the recent Snyder production 300 or Torentino's Kill Bill. Although they use CHC (classical-hollywood cinema) formulas their production design is what set them apart. That said, who knows what I'll do with the art in this game. Will I use typical anime-style (ie Kanon and/or Air) or maybe I'll go crazy and stylize it to match the bizzare fairy-tale mood. Or then again, I could always just use 'Woo-hoo' by the 5.6.7.8's as part of my dramatic score, nya?
While I would like to make a visual novel thats reminiscent of Salvador Dali's impact on the film industry with 'an Andalusian dog', I personally feel that its better to get experience using someone else's plug-and-play method than being original at first. I mean you have to learn what works and what doesn't.
There are ways however to be original other than storylines. For example, take the recent Snyder production 300 or Torentino's Kill Bill. Although they use CHC (classical-hollywood cinema) formulas their production design is what set them apart. That said, who knows what I'll do with the art in this game. Will I use typical anime-style (ie Kanon and/or Air) or maybe I'll go crazy and stylize it to match the bizzare fairy-tale mood. Or then again, I could always just use 'Woo-hoo' by the 5.6.7.8's as part of my dramatic score, nya?
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Counter Arts
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In any case, I prefer homage / tributes rather than parodies.
The recent wave of fairy-tale mocking 3DCG movies (started by Shrek) is an example of the stuff I dislike. It was refreshing when Shrek started it, but now it's old and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So I think the homage approach should be better.
I actually like indie / foreign films that really capture the hollywood feel despite a comparatively low budget, rather than a hollywood film that captures (or even fakes) the indie feel by using a comparatively higher budget.
example:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0288330/
(*takes notes that good writers come from the Czech Republic / Slovakia. It doesn't take much to figure out why the visual novel medium is popular there)
The recent wave of fairy-tale mocking 3DCG movies (started by Shrek) is an example of the stuff I dislike. It was refreshing when Shrek started it, but now it's old and leaves a bad taste in my mouth. So I think the homage approach should be better.
I actually like indie / foreign films that really capture the hollywood feel despite a comparatively low budget, rather than a hollywood film that captures (or even fakes) the indie feel by using a comparatively higher budget.
example:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0288330/
(*takes notes that good writers come from the Czech Republic / Slovakia. It doesn't take much to figure out why the visual novel medium is popular there)
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Recca Phoenix
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UPDATE TIME!
I've changed the story a bit to make it more 'fairy-tale' like more 'magical', and less based on something like 'the Bridge to Terebithia.' I actually like my ending a helluva lot more now since it combines my original idea with the tale of the
To the guy earlier, I do like to daydream a helluva lot more than I really should.
Second- this isn't a Shrek-type fairy tale. To me, it's more of a homage that combines a couple of my fav. story mediums.
I've changed the story a bit to make it more 'fairy-tale' like more 'magical', and less based on something like 'the Bridge to Terebithia.' I actually like my ending a helluva lot more now since it combines my original idea with the tale of the
Snow Princess becoming human
.To the guy earlier, I do like to daydream a helluva lot more than I really should.
Second- this isn't a Shrek-type fairy tale. To me, it's more of a homage that combines a couple of my fav. story mediums.
Last edited by baboo2406 on Tue Apr 17, 2007 4:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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