Ruler by Default [Kickstarter]

[gekiganwing]

Unless I missed it, this project doesn't have a substantial demo. Also, even though its Kickstarter page mentions things the people have accomplished, it does not appear that the same creators have completed another game or story. So I can't link to it for now.

That said, Ruler by Default is called "A Fantasy Life Simulation Visual Novel." The Kickstarter page makes it clear that there will be day-planner simulation gameplay. It's also a romance game with four heroines. I'm not sure how story-driven it will be.

The premise -- a guy enters a fantasy world, becomes a ruler, and won't have the option to go home for two years -- isn't especially original. It reminds me of Kyou Kara Maoh but with heterosexual characters, as well as the original El-Hazard: The Magnificent World OAV series. But as I've said elsewhere, originality isn't everything. The same premise can be used in many ways. Clever writing and gameplay can change an ordinary story into something extraordinary.

[ProgrammerByDefault]

Hello all, primary developer for Ruler by Default here. Thanks for the mention gekiganwing! Thought I would stop by quick and let you guys know that I'm here to answer any and all questions to the best of my ability, and I'm really looking forward to seeing this project through.

For the best overview of our game, I would strongly advise looking at our kickstarter, but I will give a brief one here as well:

The premise of Ruler by Default is that you are an average guy who one morning your daily routine is sharply interrupted as you are yanked from your world into another dimension. You find that this is all the result of a summoning intended to bring back the other dimension's evil overlord who was lost to your dimension many years prior, but for some reason they got you instead. Through an odd twist of fate, it is found that you are a valid candidate to take over in the absence of a ruler, and they somewhat begrudgingly accept you as the new overlord - at least until they can send you home. Throughout the game, it will be up to you to manage your time and training, as well as to build relationship with the characters you encounter along the way. At the end of the game, the typical 'romantic' endings will be augmented by additional 'ruling style' endings based on what you focused on in your training along the way.

For questions, I guess I'll start with the implied questions from the OP:

I'm not sure how story-driven it will be.

Presently we are leaning towards about a 70/30 split, 70 being story elements and character interactions, 30 being driven mostly by the activity scheduling player stats. To elaborate, the activity scheduling is intended to be fun and fast paced, giving the game a bit more depth than just text interactions, allowing us to add things like endings based on your 'ruling style' to catch a bit more of the player's personality, as well as giving the game a feel of time passing as you play, and allowing the story to be linked to a timeline as opposed to being driven by branch decisions alone.

This project doesn't have a substantial demo

A good demo can definitey make a project, but an average or bad demo can wreck it beyond repair. I am currently working on the demo, but before I release it I want to make sure that can give a proper look at what we have in mind, and not leave any misconceptions about what have in mind for the future. (Honestly, I was going to wait on mentioning this on lemmasoft until I had a good demo ready, but you lured me out of my coder den a bit early )

The premise -- a guy enters a fantasy world, becomes a ruler, and won't have the option to go home for two years -- isn't especially original.

Say it ain't so! That hurts but I'll make sure to blast that comment out of the water with the results of this project.

TL:DR

> 70/30 story/other
> Demo is in progress
> we are unique, i'll show you!

<edit: deleted the links to the Kickstarter because, as by our forum rules, no linking to Kickstarters unless they include a non-trivial demo - Taleweaver>

[gekiganwing]

Thanks for replying, and for creating a thread in Player's Pavilion. When I first posted and commented on Kickstarter, I wasn't sure if you knew this forum existed.

I know that creating a demo is difficult and time-consuming. Don't hurry to release it. A demo can wait until it's ready.

Your plot synopsis reminded me of several stories. However, that is not necessarily bad. You can use comparisons to your advantage. Just as long as you don't endlessly compare it with published works. Make sure to state what makes your story notable.

I know that originality is praiseworthy and that it's a good goal... but it's rather difficult to achieve. Everything that can be said has been said. There is nothing new under the sun. (Also, there are similar sayings that predate the book of Ecclesiastes by many years.) For some good thoughts on this topic, read the TVTropes article "So You Want To: Be Original."

If you're genuinely worried whether your visual novel is just a hand-me-down version of someone else's story, then think about what you can do differently, and what you want to achieve. Magic Knight Rayearth seems like a straightforward "enter a fantasy world, save the princess" story, but then a major plot twist occurs. The Twelve Kingdoms could be summarized as "girl enters alternate world, becomes ruler," but there's a lot more to the story, and it has a remarkable lack of jokes, shipping, or fanservice. Now and Then, Here and There is a rare example of the other world being a horrible place.