Winn Freddie's Road to the Sadie Hawkins Dance: in progress

[gekiganwing]

I worked on this super secret game project during some of April and May, but decided to wait until I had something to show before I announced it. Well, last night I decided it was about time. And so I'm glad to present my first -good- story driven game in progress: Winn Freddie's Road to the Sadie Hawkins Dance.
Download Game here.

So what is this? It's a goofy little story about a girl waiting for her school's "girls ask the guys out" dance. It's in an ADV form, and eventually there will be a few endings. Quite a few parodies in this one. Dumb humor, hopefully interesting.

Progress is maybe 10 percent of the story written thus far. It's a low number, but I'm hoping to add scenes and make the story better as it goes on.

Backgrounds are from Lemma's photos. Characters are monster images from the untranslated Kanon fan RPG (w/RM2K). No music yet. But if anyone is willing to help with art, it would be -much- appreciated.

I'll be reporting further progress on my Livejournal (name Taiyakifan) starting next week. I'll check back on this board tonight and hopefully once later this weekend.

[papillon]

All the boys at her school are monsters?

Man, high school can be rough.

[gekiganwing]

Papillon: "The boys at her school are all monsters?"

LOL! Actually, in the homebrew Kanon RPG there's a mix of graphics from non-human monsters to generic characters to Kanon characters. I used the generic characters. Disadvantage as compared to cartoon dolls: they all have green backgrounds.

BTW, this doujin game can be found at http://www.hachikuma.net. Look for the "DL" link in the left column, then look for the KanonRPG.exe link at the very bottom. Found this courtesy of the Cityofsnow community on Livejournal, and Hallucino in particular.

Oh yeah, and this afternoon I took a few minutes to see if I was mentally ready to start writing again. I did, and removed the last two lines in the script, adding new material that might flow better.

[mikey]

At the beginning there's a lot of confusion (for me) because of all the names coming at you. The story seems to be set for a long game, and I understand the demo just shows the introductory sequence. Overall it's very okay, but I missed an emotional element, guess that will come later in the game when the relationships start to interact.

The presentation - I had to correct the script and rename the file from SCRIPT.RPY to script.rpy to work. Also, the choice of Lemma's backgrunds for school, gym etc. and using characters you can't see when you read the text - I think it would be MUCH better to have used blank images with the words "GYM" or "SCHOOL" as placeholders. It is counter-immersive having to mentally convert a supermarket aisle into a school gym. The characters as well - using Amatire-style stick figures would have been more abstract and better.

Anyway, good job, let's hope the demo doesn't slow you down and the script will proceed at a faster pace (if 2 months have been for 10%, it's another 18 months until the script is done ^_^). I have been following your LJ ever since ever, and honestly I thought you already had the game COMPLETELY scripted and you showed it to look for someone who can support you with BG and character images. I believe you can finish the game, there's no question about the fact that you can write well, so all you will have to do is focus on the project as a primary goal and I am sure it can be easily done this year.

[gekiganwing]

Mikey said, "At the beginning there's a lot of confusion (for me) because of all the names coming at you"

I'll be working on those first scenes along with later scenes and paths. Clarity is a good thing.

Debate: try to slowly work on a variety of paths, or work on one at a time? I shouldn't focus too much on one story and neglect another, or multitask too much and have lots of unfinished threads. In my previous project that you mentioned, one of the big problems was that I wrote a lot of prose, but only included two or three choices. Big mistake.

No, the generic backgrounds don't work with the text at all. As with my previous project, I used whatever was sitting around. One color backgrounds with text wouldn't look -that much- worse.

So how long will this take? My first game idea was developed over two months and eventually released in text form. My second game idea took three months (including delays), and I finally released it once all the major crashes were fixed. I should probably set several "to complete _ amount by" days. And since this one is starting well, I'll need to check back in and ask for help, such as with that point system...

[gekiganwing]

After my last reply, I started thinking "I'd better create a schedule/Gantt chart for myself. After all, my earlier projects were delayed several times, and those delays didn't help much."

So in order to 1) make sure I have something to show, 2) make sure I'm getting sections of the game (close to) done, and 3) make sure the loose plot doesn't dissolve into "stuff happens, then it ends," I think one step in the right direction would be resolving to release demos every 2-3 weeks. While this could easily be busywork, it might help me make I'm being honest with my progress and not covering up for missed writing sessions.

And of course once I have a complete game with no major hangups and an artist's help, I can finally say I've finished something. (Looking forward to that.)

[mikey]

Whatever works for you to help focus I guess...
It's mostly a matter of being able to eliminate distractions. For some, this can be setting a schedule and deadlines, some may prefer working every day for at least a minimum amount of time.

I think it's entirely possible to finish the script in 2 months. It will involve however, sacrificing some other activities - anime/TV watching, playing online games, dating (...ummm, not sure about this one). I think that unless the game's priority is TOP, it won't move along at a reasonable pace.

The thing with writing is you lose focus and track easily. So when the idea is fresh and the story is always on your mind, while in the bus, at home or during work, it's the right time to write - and devote that time to writing. There's motivation and it saves time - having to re-motivate yourself and freshen up ideas from time to time is a very lengthy process and it will show in the script.

[gekiganwing]

Yes, one of my weaknesses is that when things aren't going well, I usually watch/read something else. I shouldn't waste -too much- time in the search for inspiration.

After three days of work, I have two more scenes. I'm trying to keep it going and not worry about reworking those first few awkward scenes just yet. That will wait.

[gekiganwing]

I decided today that even if I don't write enough to reach a satisfactory level of progress on Game Day Two, I'll still update my demo. This one will include "generic" backgrounds and character images, so that the player will just see a name and not an image that doesn't match what's being described.

Game Days Three and Four will be more complex, and all the points earned in the first three days will finally make a difference in the end. (Will worry about how to get a point system working later.) So I figure that I'll send my game to Renai Games once I've set out all the story paths, created endings, and ironed out any scenes that don't fit. It -will- take a while, but I don't think I'm ready to set a release date yet. (Should I plan ahead and say "five to six weeks"? I think I would be wise to.)

[gekiganwing]

Demo version 1.1 of Winn Freddie is now available from my crappy old Tripod site. So if anyone wants to see an expanded and slightly improved version of this game in progress, go to members.tripod.com/gekiganwing and look for the link with sadie.zip. (Careful w/popups.)

The next two weeks: Day Three will include a lot of decisions as the title event gets closer. I'm gonna keep on working with characterization, pacing, normal-not-dumb humor, and so on. I will experiment with Ren'py's point-earning system so that it doesn't cause the game to crash, and if I fail, I'll ask for help. (Been putting this off.) In two weeks, I should be done with the Day Three events, and be ready to begin some branching paths in Day Four.

[gekiganwing]

My first attempt to use a point system didn't cause the game to crash when starting up. It's a start.

I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but I'm using a vague Season of Sakura-style structure. The main character gets to talk to the five main characters as the story goes on. Each correct response will earn her a point. What will happen near the end? I'm thinking one or more events to help determine good/okay endings.

[mikey]

Just expressing support. And perhaps it would be good NOT to reveal so much? I'm just saying there should be at least some "secrecy" so that WF still feels fresh when it's released. Your call, of course, but when there's info, well... I read it. And there are entire script parts in your journal, plus game structure is being explained...

[rioka]

That's why I stopped reading posts like this because it reveals so much. It's nice to hear how much someone is progressing in detail but as mikey said, you have to balance info you release and those you keep secret. For example, do you really have to say something like "branching paths on day 4", when "day four will be worked on soon" suffices and also doesn't reveal anything towards the plot?

[gekiganwing]

Just this afternoon I was thinking "Maybe on a future project I'll have enough confidence so that I won't have to post more script exerpts each day." I've been worried that on past projects I was too lazy and kept my progress so vague that *I* wasn't sure how far I was getting. So if I stick with Ren'py for another game in the future, I won't reveal too much of that game.

The good side of many detailed updates? The game isn't too plot driven. Half of it is being improvised, and will eventually be edited for clarity and good transitions.

Sorry if this post is semi coherent. Thanks for replies!

[gekiganwing]

It's been a week... time to update my progress here.

I'm currently working through one character's pair of endings. At this point I'm a day away from divding the Good and Okay endings. I've succeeded in creating technical code, so I shouldn't get hung up on this... just as long as my rough draft story leads into the two endings. Once I create the first two endings, I'm thinking of updating my demo to celebrate the milestone.

To create each other sets of endings, I'm probably going to need about four days each. There'll be some copy and paste, but not that much. Yes, this draft is taking more time than I first thought, but it ain't bad.