No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

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verysunshine
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No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#1 Post by verysunshine »

Warning wrote:This preview is all-ages. Please note that this game contains sexual content (but no sex scenes), some cursing, derogatory names, and some references to suicide.
Note wrote:This game has received a near-complete overhaul. This post now references the 2018 rewrite of the game. The legacy version of this post will be on page 3.
What is No Good Wife?
No Good Wife is a historical drama game set in 1946 and 1947 in Cambridge, England. You play a soon-to-be-married woman who has to keep a secret – her fiance is an illegal homosexual. She chooses to stay with him to try to dispel rumours. Will you help her make her new life work or will you push to make her life the life of a normal housewife?

Characters
V4_Pro_Char_Info.png
How much content will be in the game?
There will be 12 activities to do over the course of 17 in-game days. There will be at least four endings depending on player choices.

When is No Good Wife going to be released?
I am hoping to release it sometime in 2018. The exact date will be announced later.

Where will it be released?
I am hoping to release it on itch.io or Steam.

How much will it cost?
It will be free.

What is left to do?
The core of the game is built. Some of the art and writing is done, but more needs to be done.

Why is this here?
No Good Wife is far from an average game. The concepts and themes alone make it difficult to market. I know there is probably an audience for this game, but I am not sure how to reach it. I would like critique and comments to shape the game for a market.

Where can I find out more about No Good Wife?
This will be the main place to find information. Information may also appear at www.wildroseinteractive.com from time to time.

Please feel free to ask questions! Screenshots of the 2018 version are below.
Attachments
V3_Scr_Day1.JPG
V3_TextF_Day0.JPG
Last edited by verysunshine on Sun Feb 04, 2018 7:15 am, edited 8 times in total.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#2 Post by Caveat Lector »

I think it sounds like a very intriguing concept, and if done right, could be a powerful social statement. Personally, I don't think you should aim at making it "marketable". Just find the right audience, and advertise it towards them. You'd be surprised at how obscure things can find the right audience.

I'm curious by the labels "B/B" and "B+G". I would presume the B/B bit refers to Ferris and Virgil's relationship, but what about B+G? Is it simply "the heroine is married" or "the heroine ends up with another man"? If it's the latter, first I'd recommend you change it to "GxB", which is "girl pursues boy", and second, I'd like to know what the dynamics of that would look like. Is it Esther trying to hold on to her marriage and crumbling under the facade? Does she have an affair? Does she end up pursuing Virgil?
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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#3 Post by redredwine »

I really want to play this. The concept is interesting, and there's a lot of social dynamics to explore. What motivates Esther to protect her husband? Does she feel some resentment at being put in such a situation? Did she have feelings for him before discovering the secret? Does she respect/understand his sexuality, especially considering the time period?

I agree that the story could benefit from a more serious art style; it's a serious subject. If you're worried about your market, do the project the way you want to, and people will be interested. I'll definitely be looking for updates :D

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#4 Post by Kinjo »

Ooh, the premise sounds interesting, especially being from the girl's point of view. And I really like the sprite artwork, but you're right that it could be better with a more serious look. I'm also wondering what B+G means.

It's definitely a smaller market than most other VNs but I hope your project is successful.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#5 Post by verysunshine »

Caveat Lector wrote:I think it sounds like a very intriguing concept, and if done right, could be a powerful social statement. Personally, I don't think you should aim at making it "marketable". Just find the right audience, and advertise it towards them. You'd be surprised at how obscure things can find the right audience.

I'm curious by the labels "B/B" and "B+G". I would presume the B/B bit refers to Ferris and Virgil's relationship, but what about B+G? Is it simply "the heroine is married" or "the heroine ends up with another man"? If it's the latter, first I'd recommend you change it to "GxB", which is "girl pursues boy", and second, I'd like to know what the dynamics of that would look like. Is it Esther trying to hold on to her marriage and crumbling under the facade? Does she have an affair? Does she end up pursuing Virgil?
Sorry, Caveat Lector, I should have clarified. I don't want a bajillion downloads. I just want to find that obscure audience.

The "B+G" does refer to "the heroine is married". I've heard "+" is a symbol for platonic relationships. She is trying to keep her marriage together, but the choices the player makes will be the factor deciding if she crumbles under the weight or has an affair of her own. She might end up perusing Virgil in one path.
redredwine wrote:I really want to play this. The concept is interesting, and there's a lot of social dynamics to explore. What motivates Esther to protect her husband? Does she feel some resentment at being put in such a situation? Did she have feelings for him before discovering the secret? Does she respect/understand his sexuality, especially considering the time period?

I agree that the story could benefit from a more serious art style; it's a serious subject. If you're worried about your market, do the project the way you want to, and people will be interested. I'll definitely be looking for updates
Redredwine, Ester doesn't understand homosexuality, but understands that the penalties of the times (two years of hard labour or one year of chemical castration for "gross indecency") are too harsh. Before meeting Ferris, she only knew one homosexual: her brother, Marcus. Marcus was convicted of gross indecency and was the suicide mentioned above. Esther had her suspicions before Farris told her, and they were engaged at the time. She tries to make the best of her situation. The 1940's were kinder to married women than single women.

Oh, and for people wondering why the homosexuals are all male, lesbianism was never illegal.
Kinjo wrote:Ooh, the premise sounds interesting, especially being from the girl's point of view. And I really like the sprite artwork, but you're right that it could be better with a more serious look. I'm also wondering what B+G means.

It's definitely a smaller market than most other VNs but I hope your project is successful.
Kinjo, thanks for your interest. The sprite artwork is still pretty. I hope it's successful too.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#6 Post by verysunshine »

Update 1: In Which My Characters Need to Move

I've been doing a lot of research on the 1940s, when the game takes place, and have often been hunting for difficult to find information. Somehow, that meant that simple things got left by the wayside. Simple things like the time it takes to go from London to the University of Cambridge. It's much longer than I thought it was.

This leaves me with two options. 1: Send Virgil somewhere else. 2: Move my characters. I know Cambrigde was more relaxed in terms of politics, so that means my characters are moving.

A map of most of the important locations is over here.

I also made a flowchart of the game's scenes.

Why yes, it is mostly blurred. Did you think I was going to spoil the plot?

What I did leave are the potential titles for the endings. They're just titles, so it'll be tougher to say what each one actually is. It's something for all of you to debate.
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V1_Pro_Plot_Flowchart.jpg

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#7 Post by noeinan »

This looks really cool, and I love that you've put that kind of research into it!

I don't know how far along you are in the writing, but if you reach the point where you're looking for an artist, I'd be interested. :) The prospect of doing period clothing sounds fun! Feel free to pm me, here's a link to my art gallery: http://daikiraikimi.deviantart.com/
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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#8 Post by Enigma »

This sounds really interesting, and I feel like you might get a larger audience than you suspect. I know there are a lot of people here who would probably like this VN, myself included. I'm looking forward to the release.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#9 Post by Mad Harlequin »

I, too, am intrigued by your concept (we need more stories about grown adults!), and I'll be waiting to see the finished product.
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Re: No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#10 Post by Googaboga »

Sounds very interesting and those choice maps are neat and make me wonder what happens to lead to those ends :]. Good luck, I hope you meet your release goal.
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Re: No Good Wife [B/B]{B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#11 Post by verysunshine »

daikiraikimi wrote:This looks really cool, and I love that you've put that kind of research into it!

I don't know how far along you are in the writing, but if you reach the point where you're looking for an artist, I'd be interested. :) The prospect of doing period clothing sounds fun! Feel free to pm me, here's a link to my art gallery: http://daikiraikimi.deviantart.com/
Thank you so much for your offer.
Enigma wrote:This sounds really interesting, and I feel like you might get a larger audience than you suspect. I know there are a lot of people here who would probably like this VN, myself included. I'm looking forward to the release.
There does seem to be a fair-sized audience so far. I hope you stick around, Enigma.
Mad Harlequin wrote:I, too, am intrigued by your concept (we need more stories about grown adults!), and I'll be waiting to see the finished product.
It's so unfortunate that we need more stories featuring adults. I'm glad you're interested.
Googaboga wrote:Sounds very interesting and those choice maps are neat and make me wonder what happens to lead to those ends :]. Good luck, I hope you meet your release goal.
That's the idea behind posting the choice map, Googaboga. :D I hope you enjoy the game when it's released.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#12 Post by verysunshine »

Update 2: It's July Already?

Happy Canada Day, Independence Day, and World UFO Day for those who celebrate them. I've been working hard on No Good Wife, and I have some great announcements. First of all, we have a release date! No Good Wife will be released on August 31st, 2015.

Secondly, an artist is considering joining the project. They seem very excited about this, and we're working out the details now. Hopefully you can see some updates to the graphics soon.

I haven't shown any transition text so far, so here's one from the very beginning of the game.
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The first text of the game.
The first text of the game.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#13 Post by verysunshine »

Update 3: Artistry

Hey folks! I know it's been a while since my last project update, but I have some lovely new updates that I would like to share with you. First of all, No Good Wife has an artist. Daikiraikimi has joined the project. You may know Daikiraikimi as the creator of the Ren'Py Quickstart Guide. I have the permission to show you the first sprite we have created. After a redesign, this is Esther.
EstherPreviewSprite.png
While Dai's been working on sprites, I've been working on the graphics. This is the logo for No Good Wife. Please let me know what you think of it.
MiniLogoColour.png
MiniLogoColour.png (27.92 KiB) Viewed 5656 times
If it doesn't look good, let me know. I have a lot to learn in the way of good logo design.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#14 Post by trevers18 »

First of all, amazing art style. The sprites and the logo look clean and professional, and that's always appealing.

Now, the subject. I love it. Way to tackle such an interesting issue! I really think you can make a huge statement about the treatment of the LGBT community if you handle this game correctly. As others have said above, don't worry about marketability. Your audience will find the game out of their own curiosity, so you shouldn't worry about that. Develop the game and make it very professional and interesting and powerful, and the rest of the puzzle will form itself.

Oh, also, about the text that shows at the beginning: you might want to either choose a brighter color or set opacity to 100% (couldn't tell which one was the problem) because the text looks rather dull against the background and it's kind of hard to read.

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Re: No Good Wife [B/B][B+G][History][Drama][Mature]

#15 Post by verysunshine »

trevers18 wrote:First of all, amazing art style. The sprites and the logo look clean and professional, and that's always appealing.

Now, the subject. I love it. Way to tackle such an interesting issue! I really think you can make a huge statement about the treatment of the LGBT community if you handle this game correctly. As others have said above, don't worry about marketability. Your audience will find the game out of their own curiosity, so you shouldn't worry about that. Develop the game and make it very professional and interesting and powerful, and the rest of the puzzle will form itself.

Oh, also, about the text that shows at the beginning: you might want to either choose a brighter color or set opacity to 100% (couldn't tell which one was the problem) because the text looks rather dull against the background and it's kind of hard to read.
Thank you. Dai and I have been working hard to create a top-quality presentation. If you have any other art suggestions, please let us know.

I am taking extremely good care to make sure this game is handled well. I realize that my earlier statements about marketing were poorly phrased. My goal with marketing is to bring the game to people who would be interested in it. Where would people find the game?

I'm remaking the text boxes so the text shows up.

P.S. Cute Adventure Time icon.

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