After Rain [Life Sim/Stat Raising Game, Emotional] [BxG/BxB]

[firetooth]

After Rain is a visual novel/life sim hybrid with dating and stat raiser elements. You play as Shion, a young man rebuilding his life after an accident, but how he’ll choose to live that life is up to you.

Balance work and fun, fall headlong into hedonism, or withdraw from the world completely – the choice is yours. Look for love or date casually, build skills and friendships and help those you care about achieve their goals... or just be a jerk to everyone. You shape the events around you, and even Shion’s personality, through an in-depth system of narrative choices and richly detailed dialogue.

The game has a contemporary urban setting, and is designed with replayability in mind. Shion’s past, the accident, and the demons he still struggles with are all strong themes in a subtly unfolding tale. Every choice you make and every path you follow will help you get to know Shion better, even as your decisions guide his story.

They say that the sun shines brightly after rain, but how will you choose to face the year ahead?

Plot

You play as Shion, a young man rebuilding his life after a car accident, and still struggling with physical, mental, and emotional scars. As you take control of Shion’s life, you can choose how he reacts to the world, the people, and the events around him. You’ll encounter several different characters, each with their own storylines, and you can interact with them in various ways, changing their opinions of you (and each other!), and eventually unlocking multiple different endings... and even a few hidden scenes.

After Rain covers approximately a year in Shion’s life. The game is designed to give the player a lot of freedom to explore, rather than pushing a linear plot, but there’s plenty to drive the story forward. You’ll uncover the truth of what happened on the night of Shion’s accident, and why it has such far-reaching implications for him, and you’ll unlock one of a number of different endings according to how you deal with that knowledge. Any other character storylines you play through will also yield different epilogues, and – for the completionists out there – there will be an achievements system to help you keep track of all the different possibilities the game has to offer!

Artwork: Backgrounds

All the backgrounds are based on stock photos or my own 3D renders, with a degree of editing, overpainting, and general tweakery. I've gone for a watercolour kind of look. Here's a few sneak peeks:

Quite a few of the backgrounds also feature a degree of animation - for example, rain, or certain lighting effects - and I'll be posting .gifs of those on tumblr at some point fairly soon.

Characters

There are several different characters to meet, each with their own storylines and separate endings and epilogues. You can choose to play those arcs in whatever way you like: friendly or unfriendly, romantic or platonic. Your choices can even affect how non-playable characters interact with each other. Don’t forget to check out all the locations in the game to make sure you meet everyone!

MORE COMING SOON!

Romance

It’s completely possible to play After Rain without any romance routes at all. Every character you meet has friendship and less-than-friendly options, but romance is definitely available!

Options for casual dating and serious relationships are written in, and there are even some special romance routes, including a poly option. I’m not planning any straight-up H scenes in this game, but there will be unlockable CGs and some mild romance scenes in most routes.

Gameplay

Gameplay in After Rain is very simple, but highly nuanced. You choose where Shion goes, what he does, and how he interacts with other characters, all through on-screen choices and dialogue trees.

Shion’s mood, skills, and relationships with others are all affected by those choices, and having his stats or skills at certain levels will change how the game responds, unlocking alternative dialogue or hidden opportunities.

So, for example, practicing guitar will raise guitar skill (maybe enough to get a gig at the coffee shop if you’re lucky!), and also boost stats such as culture and relaxation... but won’t help you improve performance at your job. Meanwhile, things like going to the beach on a rainy day may be great for inspiration, but might not cheer you up much. Over time, you can even effect changes in Shion’s personality – making him happier and more confident, or letting him grow withdrawn and lonely – that will change the events of the game.

After Rain keeps a record of all your choices, so you can go back and read transcripts at any time, and you can monitor Shion’s progress through skill, mood, and relationships screens.

Screenshots

WORK IN PROGRESS! (Especially the UI. It's nearly there, but still subject to change!)

Notes

I would love any feedback on this project. This is my first attempt at anything resembling gamedev, and I’m working on my own, so I could definitely use objective opinions, especially regarding the artwork. Commissioning an artist is out of my reach financially, and I wouldn't feel comfortable asking someone to work on such a large project for free - at least until I can demonstrate some material possibility of recompense - so I'm on my own with artwork too. Unfortunately, I'm not a great artist to start with, and I'm getting over a hand injury, so I can't draw much. I chose to get around this by using 3D render software as my starting point, and compiling BGs and sprites through heavily edited combinations of renders and stock photos.

It's kind of scary doing something so far removed from the accepted standard in VN-type games, but I'm a firm believer in not letting choices be dictated by what's considered "normal"... unless everyone unilaterally hates the art! Then I might have to reconsider.

Other things to think about might be:

- What do you think of the characters (so far)? Who do you like most and least so far? What other kinds of characters would you like to see?
- Does the art style appeal to you? What, if anything, would you change?
- What do you think of the UI (as much as you can see of it here)?
- After Rain deals with somewhat dark/emotional themes, including grief, anxiety and depression, and social isolation. How do you feel about games that include these kinds of themes? What ways do you most like/dislike to see these themes handled?
- There’s a lot of freedom of choice in this game. How much do you appreciate freedom or sandbox-like features in VN-based games, and how would you like to see the plot keep moving the player forward?

Any other thoughts are very welcome! This is my first post here - and my first VN project - so it's a combination of excitement and terror for me, and I'm interested to know people's opinions. Thanks for reading!

[gekiganwing]

Balance work and fun, fall headlong into hedonism, or withdraw from the world completely – the choice is yours. Look for love or date casually, build skills and friendships and help those you care about achieve their goals... or just be a jerk to everyone. You shape the events around you, and even Shion’s personality, through an in-depth system of narrative choices and richly detailed dialogue.

I like the concepts of roleplaying the main character, friendship options, and a variety of options. These all sound interesting. That said... please be careful as you create your game. Why do I say this? Several reasons:

* A lot of freeware projects do not get past the planning stages. I have seen a lot of forum topics about promising free visual novels and games... and then the updates slow down. There have been too many examples that only get a demo, or that never get released. There's a relevant Lemma Soft forum thread about this topic.
* Some creators abandon their projects due to frustration or perfectionism. Ask yourself how you will persevere even if you don't feel satisfied with your story.
* A number of projects get quietly canceled due to the creator not having enough time to commit. How much time and effort can you devote to your VN? Are you passionate about telling your story?
* Some projects are affected by scope creep. Too many features can bog down a project. My opinion: sometimes a video game that does one thing well is better than a video game that attempts six things but does not do any of them well.

I believe that you will benefit by focusing on the gameplay and story segments that you like, and that you consider essential. If there is an aspect which you do not think is especially relevant or interesting, think about letting it go.

It's kind of scary doing something so far removed from the accepted standard in VN-type games, but I'm a firm believer in not letting choices be dictated by what's considered "normal"... unless everyone unilaterally hates the art! ...
- Does the art style appeal to you? What, if anything, would you change?

There are some people who say things like "It can't be a video game unless the main character jumps and shoots!" There are some people who say things like "It can't be a comic unless it's about a hero fighting villains!" However, I believe it's possible to create compelling games and comics which don't fit these category definitions. Likewise, I believe it's possible to create an interesting visual novel which doesn't include cute 1980s - 2010s styles of 2D art, academic settings, or romantic relationships.

Do you like your art style? Do you think it is appropriate for your story? If your answers for both are 'yes,' then stay committed to it.

Opinion: I usually find photorealistic 3D art of humans to be unsettling. (If the art is more abstract or unrealistic, or it portrays characters who are not fully human, I will usually give it a pass.) However, if one of your goals is to create a story which is unnerving, then your art might be well-suited for your story.

As a sidebar, consider reading Scott McCloud's book Understanding Comics, especially the chapter about combining art aesthetics and words.

- After Rain deals with somewhat dark/emotional themes, including grief, anxiety and depression, and social isolation. How do you feel about games that include these kinds of themes? What ways do you most like/dislike to see these themes handled?

I have struggled with relating to other people, so this is personally interesting. These topics can be done well. Please keep in mind that it can be a challenge to create an interesting story while also delivering messages. How much will your VN be about the characters and their dilemmas, and how much will it be about conveying Aesops to the reader?

- There’s a lot of freedom of choice in this game. How much do you appreciate freedom or sandbox-like features in VN-based games, and how would you like to see the plot keep moving the player forward?

Again, I think this can be done well. (I played quite a bit of the first two Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side games in the recent past, and appreciated how the main character could perform a variety of actions each day or week.) It might help to map out how the player's decisions will lead to different results and endings. Playtest your game extensively to find out whether your gameplay is easy, difficult, or somewhere in between.

[Zelan]

- What do you think of the characters (so far)? Who do you like most and least so far? What other kinds of characters would you like to see?
They don't seem to be cliche'd characters, which is always a plus. Right now they seem to lack development, but of course that's to be expected since you just started. c: My least favorite aesthetically and in terms of personality is probably Marsh. I've never been a huge fan of the goth/metal look, and of the four characters he seems to be the most 2-dimensional.
- Does the art style appeal to you? What, if anything, would you change?
I've always liked filtered photo backgrounds just fine, and the few that you have up are very nice. I've never seen filtered photo sprites before so I'm honestly not entirely sure what I think of them right now, but like gekiganwing I find them a bit unsettling. Not enough to make me lose interest in the game, but... they look like they're trapped in my monitor and wnat to escape. cx It's a bit strange.
- What do you think of the UI (as much as you can see of it here)?
I like it a lot! It's simplistic, matches the them of the game, and compliments the logo.
- After Rain deals with somewhat dark/emotional themes, including grief, anxiety and depression, and social isolation. How do you feel about games that include these kinds of themes? What ways do you most like/dislike to see these themes handled?
I don't have an opinion on games with this subject matter as a whole - I'll play games with a pretty wide variety of plot. What I dislike with these games is when the description of the feelings becomes repetitive and dull. It's touching at first to hear about a character's struggles if they're written well. However, if time passes, there are a few things that might happen that cause the dullness. 1) The character neither improves nor deteriorates for a long while. No matter how well written it is, after being told about a character's loneliness for the thousandth time I'm going to start losing sympathy. 2) The character deteriorates for no reason. The character may gain a lot of friends and start to feel accepted (which is cool) but then suddenly become more depressed or anxious than before. This would make sense if there were some sort of trigger (i.e. overhearing new friends gossiping, unforeseen event, etc.) or if the character has a mostly untreated mental illness that would cause this to happen. If there is no reason/trigger of any sort, it's depressing for the sake of drama and it becomes cheap.
- There’s a lot of freedom of choice in this game. How much do you appreciate freedom or sandbox-like features in VN-based games, and how would you like to see the plot keep moving the player forward?
My biggest piece of advice would be not to make it too grindy. Of course, it's perfectly understandable that there will probably be scenes that we need certain stats to unlock, but when these scenes are too far between the game can become boring. The variety of choices may stop mattering as the player endlessly clicks through screens to level up a stat to a certain amount to the point where it becomes a chore. A suggestion would be to write several scenes that can occur during grinding and have them be randomized so that the player doesn't read the exact same dialogue every time the main character goes to work, for example. You could even have little scenes that are unlocked after a certain stat, but even after that have a small chance of appearing while grinding (maybe 30-40%?) which reveal a bit more about the characters or the world. These can help to keep the player alert while stat-raising instead of playing like a zombie.

[Ghost of Crux]

Oh boy, I'm so excited to see this! Everything looks really pretty so far, and I really love the premise. And I really love the characters. And I really love the style. And the GUI. A Lot of Things here are things I adore right now. The GUI though, the GUI. What a beauty. Absolutely lovely.

- What do you think of the characters (so far)? Who do you like most and least so far? What other kinds of characters would you like to see?
I really like them all, though I reserve further judgement for when I get to know more about them. I can't really choose which ones are my favourite, though, because of the premise of the VN; I want to get to know them all.

- Does the art style appeal to you? What, if anything, would you change?
NOTHING. It's absolutely gorgeous. I love it, it fits everything perfectly. The nuance of everything just fits each other like some great puzzle and it's genuinely making me giddy from how good it all is. I feel like it compliments the more nuanced, realistic premise you've given us.

- What do you think of the UI (as much as you can see of it here)?
THAT GUI CAN MARRY ME AND I WOULD BE HAPPY.

- After Rain deals with somewhat dark/emotional themes, including grief, anxiety and depression, and social isolation. How do you feel about games that include these kinds of themes? What ways do you most like/dislike to see these themes handled?
Honestly, I'm all for these themes in a game. I feel like what you've offered so far is an honest attempt at dealing with them maturely. What I hope I don't see in the game is, well... cheap attempts at making things dramatic? Cheap attempts to make things darker with ~*> dark and matur temes <*~ ?
Which I don't see from this so far, so :'D?

- There’s a lot of freedom of choice in this game. How much do you appreciate freedom or sandbox-like features in VN-based games, and how would you like to see the plot keep moving the player forward?
Considering the premise, I'm definitely all up for the sandbox-like features! I mean, I wouldn't really expect plot to really be a huge thing when the premise ISN'T about plot, yanno.

[lath]

- imperfect characters that may rise or fall as the story progresses.

- the background pics here are sombre, cold. If your choices change the character's outlook on life, the backgrounds should also change to reflect that. Different lighting will probably help.

- the UI needs to be helpful and easy to the eyes. I've played games where you have buttons with some kind of picture on it, but you still didn't know what it actually did unless you clicked them to find out and often they didn't do what you expected them to.
Keep it simple, direct and convenient.

- it depends on what type of characters you want to write; otherwise, i dislike unnecessary drama and fake choices.
If you give the option of going one way, you develop that route right. A few devs like to show things like "you can go this way" and then do a 180 and say " Nope. You need to go the other way because that's how i wrote my story. That choice is fluff for one extra image and 10 lines of words."

- i've played some of the interactive novels out there, sims and the like, and they have this thing where your character chooses in which direction to move(e s w n), examine different objects and people in their current area and interact with them in one way or another. Besides the main story, you can waste time doing whatever you like within the limitations of what the developers have implemented. If you've played the TES series, it's pretty much that in text form.
If you plan to go the sandbox route, story plot is secondary. That's not what will make the game. Diversity in activities and interactions will liken it to that audience.
The thing about it though is that while it's easier to program bit by bit, one interaction at a time, it's also easier to get lost in the code and bug it all out.

Linear plot and limited interactivity means faster release and fewer bugs.
Limited plot and increased interactivity means longer development and a ton of bugs.
However, it's a choice only you can make.

[Abhidamn]

Love these kind of games!! Is it completed?