[Interest Check] Fallen Bloom Otome Game

[Somarihana]

Hello! I am a new user here... I am currently in the making of an otome game called "Fallen Bloom". I want to know what people think of my story idea. Any comments on how they expect the game to be will be greatly appreciated. This is my first game, so please leave tips for me!

~Story~

A sleek black cat named Xuehua (name can be customized) finds a strange mirror one day and accidentally falls into it, traveling to another world. She comes out on the other side (in human form) in a world in which 'humans' do not exist and animals can take on a 'human' form if they wish it so. She finds that this world, Shijie, is cursed by the evil witch Huang-gui. Huang-gui's evil actions has subjugated the entirety of Shijie. Xuehua, finds herself trapped in Shijie when Huang-gui breaks the magic mirror that brought her here. The cat then travels with a fox, peacock, and a hawk to gather the broken pieces of the mirror and return her home.

The story has a lot of basis on Chinese mythology, hence the Chinese names. If it is annoying, I will take them out.

Will include: animated scenes, realistic style, may puzzles, slight RPG style, variety of endings (not just three or four, probably ten)

When there is enough people interested, I will start the official game thread. The demo will be free, but the final game will require payment. I will, however, host a raffle shortly after the game comes out for ten luck people to have a free copy.

Official progress thread will be created soon! I now have a partner-in-crime~!

P.S. Now that I think about it, it's more of a RPG/Otome Game hydrid. Owo

[fleet]

I hope you have fun making your visual novel. The story idea is interesting. Regarding the naming of the characters, make the visual novel the way you desire.
I recommend keeping your first visual novel short (under 30 minutes), and that you use it as a learning experience, rather than planning on a huge story that will take several hours to play.
I'm not sure why you're going to limit downloads. Are you planning to limit free downloads, and make people pay at time when the download isn't free?

[Somarihana]

@fleet Thanks you~! Hm... I'll try to make it short then!

Yes, because I want to make a small profit for it (it has mini-games and stuff like that). It'll probably cost around $0.50-$1.50.

I want to limit free downloads... was my wording unclear? Owo I should fix that then...
I want to limit free downloads also because I have to leave a link to the download. The link can be shared and spread, therefore making my game pretty much profitless if it can be downloaded from another source. I'll set up a system where after payment, the game will be directly sent to the payer.

P.S. Is this how you tag people? I'm not sure...

Please ignore this. I made a mistake with replying and the spoiler thing is an attempt to 'delete' this.

[Somarihana]

I hope you have fun making your visual novel. The story idea is interesting. Regarding the naming of the characters, make the visual novel the way you desire.
I recommend keeping your first visual novel short (under 30 minutes), and that you use it as a learning experience, rather than planning on a huge story that will take several hours to play.
I'm not sure why you're going to limit downloads. Are you planning to limit free downloads, and make people pay at time when the download isn't free?

Thanks you~! Hm... I'll try to make it short then!

Yes, because I want to make a small profit for it (it has mini-games and stuff like that). It'll probably cost around $0.50-$1.50.

I want to limit free downloads... was my wording unclear? Owo I should fix that then...
I want to limit free downloads also because I have to leave a link to the download. The link can be shared and spread, therefore making my game pretty much profitless if it can be downloaded from another source. I'll set up a system where after payment, the game will be directly sent to the payer.

P.S. Is this how you tag people? I'm not sure...

[runeraccoon]

P.S. Is this how you tag people? I'm not sure...

Technically speaking, there's no tagging (with notifications to) people in this forum.. XD

As for your game:
1. You could leave the Chinese names, especially if the setting is also Chinese-flavored. We need more cultural diversity in VN games, especially since it's such a strong medium to tell a story.

But if the setting is more generic, I think leaving the Chinese names out should be more preferable. Who do you want to target as your players? If it's English-speaking market, names that could be pronounced in English would probably be more relevant/likeable to the players X'D

2. Raffle...? I think the system is a bit unnecessary. I think you should make a raffle if you've already had a growing community. Or, if you want to promote your game (i.e. "You get 1 raffle ticket if you reblog/share this/like our Page!") But if the community is still limited/small, I don't think a continuous raffle is necessary... That's just my two cents though. :"D

Anyways, good luck, hope you can finish this! (If your profpic is going to be the art in the game, I think it's going to be awesome! XD)

[Somarihana]

P.S. Is this how you tag people? I'm not sure...

Technically speaking, there's no tagging (with notifications to) people in this forum.. XD

As for your game:
1. You could leave the Chinese names, especially if the setting is also Chinese-flavored. We need more cultural diversity in VN games, especially since it's such a strong medium to tell a story.

But if the setting is more generic, I think leaving the Chinese names out should be more preferable. Who do you want to target as your players? If it's English-speaking market, names that could be pronounced in English would probably be more relevant/likeable to the players X'D

2. Raffle...? I think the system is a bit unnecessary. I think you should make a raffle if you've already had a growing community. Or, if you want to promote your game (i.e. "You get 1 raffle ticket if you reblog/share this/like our Page!") But if the community is still limited/small, I don't think a continuous raffle is necessary... That's just my two cents though. :"D

Anyways, good luck, hope you can finish this! (If your profpic is going to be the art in the game, I think it's going to be awesome! XD)

Thanks~! I'm targeting both the Chinese and American market. Hm... I'll take out the raffle until the community grows bigger then. My profile pic is actually a digital painting of my persona, so unfortunately it is not in the game. I'll try to incorporate my realistic painting style into the game, but that will be extremely hard as just a head shot takes me 5 hours plus.

[gekiganwing]

Somarihana, are you currently active in independent video game communities? If not, then I believe you will benefit by making sure to talk with other people who are selling indie games. They will likely have some up-to-date insights on pricing, finding an audience, and related topics.

Unfortunately, I do not have much insight on selling independent games and visual novels. That said, think about the following...

* "Will it play in Peoria?" How many people do you think will read and enjoy your story? Might they live in several different nations? Think about factors such as how avant-garde / arthouse your story is, and how much it challenges the audience.

* Some people will really enjoy a story about Chinese mythology. Other people will ignore it. Consider whether you want your visual novel to appeal to fans who are interested in this specific topic, or if you want it to appeal to fans who are looking for any romance or fantasy story.

* Sometimes it's appropriate to compromise your vision. At other times, you should stick to your plans, even if your product is not likely to become a bestseller.

A couple of personal, somewhat off-topic thoughts:

I appreciate a variety of stories and art styles. If creating art for this VN is difficult, then you might benefit by asking for help. If you can only create a few art assets, then use them sparsely but effectively.

My knowledge of China is embarrassingly bad, and I don't often know how to pronounce Chinese people's names. However, I want to respect both people and their cultures. I believe that I will benefit by learning more. I also want to be more informed about other nations.

[Somarihana]

Somarihana, are you currently active in independent video game communities? If not, then I believe you will benefit by making sure to talk with other people who are selling indie games. They will likely have some up-to-date insights on pricing, finding an audience, and related topics.

Unfortunately, I do not have much insight on selling independent games and visual novels. That said, think about the following...

* "Will it play in Peoria?" How many people do you think will read and enjoy your story? Might they live in several different nations? Think about factors such as how avant-garde / arthouse your story is, and how much it challenges the audience.

* Some people will really enjoy a story about Chinese mythology. Other people will ignore it. Consider whether you want your visual novel to appeal to fans who are interested in this specific topic, or if you want it to appeal to fans who are looking for any romance or fantasy story.

* Sometimes it's appropriate to compromise your vision. At other times, you should stick to your plans, even if your product is not likely to become a bestseller.

A couple of personal, somewhat off-topic thoughts:

I appreciate a variety of stories and art styles. If creating art for this VN is difficult, then you might benefit by asking for help. If you can only create a few art assets, then use them sparsely but effectively.

My knowledge of China is embarrassingly bad, and I don't often know how to pronounce Chinese people's names. However, I want to respect both people and their cultures. I believe that I will benefit by learning more. I also want to be more informed about other nations.

Thanks you so much~! No I am not active in independent video game communities. Thanks you for telling me that it is a good option tho! I will try to get in contact with a indie game producer then. The art will be high quality using a realistic painting style. I am not aiming to appeal to fans who are interested in this specific topic or anything alike that. I just wanted to create something with it's one 'twist' to it that will stand out from the others.

[pandamyc]

Wow, now that it's mentioned, there's actually a real lack of Chinese inspired games out there. Granted, there are a lot of Japanese inspired, but still I've been generally fascinated with Asian culture as a whole, really. I'd be down to play it, and hopefully in the near future I can pay for it.

I don't mind the Chinese names really, and in fact welcome it. I just think you'll have to be really careful on how you introduce each character, so they can all be acknowledged by the player.

Meanwhile, good luck and I hope you finish it!

[Shinoki]

China! Yay! I'm definitely interested in it. While I'm not super into otome games (I prefer chasing girls... that sounds weird, but yea), if you do happen to make this, I'd play it.

I'd like it if you kept to Chinese names for everything. (You just kind of have to choose one thing or another. I'm fine even if you don't use Chinese names, but having an awkward mix is never good.)

Also, just a random thing, the world that the cat falls into is literally 'world' in Chinese unless I'm just reading it wrong. Also, I think Xuehua is a pretty name for the cat--it's gap moe (snow flower, I'm assuming, and a black cat).