Chasing the Stars [BxB] [DEMO available] [RELEASED]

[Ertal77]

Social media built!

Please feel free to follow the game; there's also the small incentive of getting the cover art in high resolution for your pc wallpaper as a freebie

https://ertal-games.itch.io/chasing-the-stars

https://www.facebook.com/ChasingtheStarsBLvisualnovel/

https://chasingthestarsvisualnovel.tumblr.com/

[Ertal77]

New sprite added, courtesy of Mikomi! Check out her art post: viewtopic.php?f=62&t=43230

Lila is Tirs and Pol's best friend. She studies History with Pol and is the kind of understanding, easygoing girl who is best friend of gay guys: in fact, she is the only one so far who knows Pol has an unrequited crush on Tirs, since she's his confident. She has a wide circle of friends, although she is not dating anyone at the moment. Even though she's a good person, she sometimes has a wicked streak.

[LuckyCats]

1. Is the general plot appealing to you? Is it boring, interesting...?
Terra forming, steampunk aesthetics, and gorgeous guys where do I sign up lol （｡>‿‿<｡ ）
A question how much of the game is set on earth studying and how much is set on Alaya? Since planning and studying is going to be a big part of the settings are there going to be stat checks in the game? Consequences for slacking off or not learning something vital to the success of the mission? Will there be man eating trees?


2. Is there something specific you would like to see in a BL visual novel?

Haven't played that many BL games yet so I don't have anything I can think of in particular to mention, except that I think that your idea for switching top/bottom roles sounds like a improvement on static roles.

3. What do you thing about the multiple endings and the possibility of changing to another character's route? Is is too open for your taste?
I'm always for multiple endings that's one of my fav things about visual novels, text games like from Choice Of Games, and all of Bioware games. Being able to affect and interact with the characters/world and influence how things turn out is an engaging aspect for certain. I like for the good endings to be varied all equally as good but different like in cosmic fans explanation above and I also like for there to be bad endings. To me bad ends lend a sense of consequences to your actions/choices in game and suspense/danger to the stories depending on the genre.

For being able to switch routes in game I'm having trouble thinking of any otome/BL games that let you switch Love interest outside of the time where you accumulate affection points for the guys during a common route. Only one I can come up with is Storm Lover Kai where you can break up get back together switch etc lol and I liked that aspect of it so its nice to see something like that again.

4. Do you like the characters so far? Which one do you like best?
They're all gorgeous, really like the art style and how they all have a lively flush across their faces in the artwork. Pol and Biel are my fav though especially Biel <3

5. Questions

Do you know around how much the end word count for the game will be?

Will there be achievements, scene replay, alternate outfits?

[Ertal77]

A question how much of the game is set on earth studying and how much is set on Alaya? Since planning and studying is going to be a big part of the settings are there going to be stat checks in the game? Consequences for slacking off or not learning something vital to the success of the mission? Will there be man eating trees?

I... definitely need to give more information about the main plot. I'm a bit afraid of giving away to much and spoil the player's fun, but it seems it has to be done, so I'll add a bit more of info when the demo is ready.

5. Questions

Do you know around how much the end word count for the game will be?

Will there be achievements, scene replay, alternate outfits?

For the word count, the rough stimation is between 75k and 100k words (so, 7-10 hours of gameplay, aprox.).

There will be a CG and music gallery, Steam achievements if the game is greenlit, and I LOVE the idea of changing their outfits!

[LuckyCats]

I... definitely need to give more information about the main plot. I'm a bit afraid of giving away to much and spoil the player's fun, but it seems it has to be done, so I'll add a bit more of info when the demo is ready.

I'm taking this to mean that there will definitely be man eating trees (＠^∇^＠) Kidding aside though I know that there's a fine line between giving too much info away and not enough. I'm interested in hearing whatever you can share but at the same time no worries on what stuff you need to hold back on, it will be fun to discover in game too :3

I LOVE the idea of changing their outfits!

Awesome! I'm glad you like this idea I look forward to seeing them XD

[Dovahkitteh]

Whooooa, a steampunk game! I'm totally digging the theme -- and the unique art style! The coloring and character designs are absolutely gorgeous, I have to say.

1. Is the general plot appealing to you? Is it boring, interesting...?
I don't traditionally find school-based plots to be super interesting, but I think the steampunk qualities will make it feel fresher and more unique than your usual school setting.

2. Is there something specific you would like to see in a BL visual novel?
Lots of hot bachelors, obviously, but you got that on lock already. The top/bottom option isn't really something I care about -- I prefer just to see lots of character/relationship development so that when sexy stuff does happen, it feels natural. (which is easier said than done o.o')

3. What do you thing about the multiple endings and the possibility of changing to another character's route? Is is too open for your taste?
A little bit open for my personal taste, but I just tend to prefer more linear stories where I don't get confused or worried I'm gonna get the wrong ending. I think it's a neat feature and, as long as there's a guide, I don't see there being any problems.

4. Do you like the characters so far? Which one do you like best?
I'd have to say Biel or Tirs. The main character is just so fabulous in his coat, and those green eyes... His design is awesome!
Biel looks pretty cool too though, and I have a soft spot for more gloomy/quiet characters. Definitely would be first on my romance list~

5. Any suggestion or criticism?
Please please please have a sex scene on an airship. Steampunk Mile-High club, yes please

In all seriousness though, it looks great -- curious about how long you're planning on making the game though! Is it a short VN or a longer one?

[kistnerelizabeth]

I love your character art! And, the fact that this is steampunk makes me very happy! I definitely look forward to hearing more about this.

[Ertal77]

Added demo, nice headers and edited bios!

[Ertal77]

Mac version for the demo uploaded, and also Win version now has some tiny issues solved (thank you to the ones who pointed them out) and SKIP ADULT SCENES added. This way, even if you are not a great fun of BL will be able to enjoy the game!

For the ones who do enjoy yaoi... let me show an awesome CG by Kurosilver, who will be in charge of making all the game CGs.

If you like the demo, please consider to rate it, share it with friends who might like it... since next Tuesday the Kickstarter for Chasing the Stars will be live, and we need all the help we can get! Thank you!!

[Cirrocumulus-Cloud]

That CG looks great! Love the perspective and shading style. If all the CGs end up this pretty - awesome! I absolutely ADORE steampunk settings (which is why I like Code:Realize so much), so this is right up my alley. Pol's design reminds me a bit of Prompto from Final Fantasy XV - which is great, since I love Prompto. I'll try out the demo as soon as I have time! ^-^ Also, I love you for that skip adult scenes option. My little asexual self can only handle so much steam. I can handle all the punk though. /shoots self for the terrible pun.

[Ertal77]

Also, I love you for that skip adult scenes option. My little asexual self can only handle so much steam. I can handle all the punk though. /shoots self for the terrible pun.

Well, I certainly enjoy the steamy scenes, but sometimes I'm so into the story that those scenes distract me, so... yes, that option might be useful.

Anyway, in the demo you will only find a couple of kisses and that CG, marked as "mildly adult content", so it's more for the people who have zero interest in yaoi.

[illuminate001]

Hi Ertal! I got to try out the demo today.

I would've blinked and missed it as the demo being announced was rather subtle. In any case, I hope people have been feverishly downloading it and becoming hyped for the completed version.

Anyhow I wanted to mention something that was on my mind, dev-to-dev and only because I sincerely want your VN to succeed. I have to say, I was alittle distracted by some of the noticeable clashing of art styles and drawn vs photo imagery. In my VN, I was clocked for people thinking the art styles were also too varied (even though I was the only artists behind all the sprites, bg's, cg's, promo etc. lol...) Anyhow hopefully this helps:

- Lila's sprite is distractingly different from the others (obviously a different artist entirely)
- The cafeteria BG is amazing! And, to me, embodies CTS...however the photo Bg's of the gay club and Marc's office dont match, and also dont strike me as keeping in line with Steampunk.
- The BG where Pol and Tirs are stargazing out on the street is very cyberpunk to me and thus seems totally out of place
- The Steampunk theme I hope isn't just an aesthetic but also an integral part of the world related to story and WHY the Chasing The Stars even takes place in such a universe.

Anyways, just some thoughts. The UI is great btw and in general I enjoyed my time with your VN! Also I was happy to see that after I encountered Marc that I still liked and wanted him as my main romantic option. As sometimes you like the preliminary look of the character but then you start interacting with them, and then you do not. lol

[Ertal77]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

So far, only the cafeteria background has been made specifically for the game, all the other bgs are placeholders. I'm not an artist like you, so I must commission all the art, and it's not cheap, hence the Kickstarter starting tomorrow.

About the demo passing unnoticed, I would be more than glad if you could share some tips on promotion, here or by pm. Pretty please? I still have to make posts for Chasing the Stars in other game pages like Game Jolt and such, but my first VN went by thoroughly ignored in those websites, so I don't know where else to promote. The eblg blog in tumblr has sadly died, too

[illuminate001]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

So far, only the cafeteria background has been made specifically for the game, all the other bgs are placeholders. I'm not an artist like you, so I must commission all the art, and it's not cheap, hence the Kickstarter starting tomorrow.

About the demo passing unnoticed, I would be more than glad if you could share some tips on promotion, here or by pm. Pretty please? I still have to make posts for Chasing the Stars in other game pages like Game Jolt and such, but my first VN went by thoroughly ignored in those websites, so I don't know where else to promote. The eblg blog in tumblr has sadly died, too

I know it's sad that eblg is gone, as well as 8-bit Adonis who is another blog that really went out of it's (his) way to help me promote on his tumblr. Also my friend CosmicFan was also incredibly helpful and pointed me to some networks that might help, I'll send you a PM and hopefully you can explore some of those.

[Ertal77]

Thank you so much, Illuminate; we should make a new post about suggestions of places where we can promote our VNs, since sadly the websites appear and disappear rather quickly!

Anyway! *drumroll*

Our Kickstarter is live!

It will last for a month, until August 17th, so please take a look at our page and, if you like what you see, consider to pledge or share it with friends who might like it

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/10 ... sual-novel