WIP "Looking For My Prince"-- now with 100% more devblog

[Mrs. Abject]

In "Looking For My Prince," Justine, a girl living in a world where fairy tales come true, can't stand that none of the wonderful things she sees happening, especially romance, have been happening to her. After seeing other girls find their princes, she wants a prince to come take her away, too. Her friend Maria, sick of Justine pining over him, makes it her personal mission to help Justine find a prince by following the stories that shape their world. Kissing frogs? Going out into the world? Looking for trouble? If it can lead the girls to a prince for Justine, then they'll do it.

But is Justine looking for a prince for the right reasons? What is she hiding from Maria? And what is Maria hiding from her?

~~~

I'm putting together this project mostly by myself. I'm writing the VN, making sprites, drawing the CGs, and putting it in Ren'py-- I will probably need to find music somewhere, but I'll deal with that once I have everything else done. If you're a composer or know where to get good free music, you're welcome to help, though. This project started out as a 5-10 minute VN that would be about 5,000 words, but it's expanded into maybe a 20-minute VN that'll be about 20,000 words. It used to be a high school story, too, and Justine used to be named Jane. It didn't work out.

This game will contain yuri/ shoujo-ai/ girls love/ whateveryouwantocallit, and in the current draft it is an essential part of the story and is not avoidable (you can screw up and ruin the relationship, but the feelings are automatically there.) There's not going to be anything graphic or really anything sexual at all, but if you have an aversion to the yuri, then you'd probably do best avoiding this.

~~~

On to the character profiles!~


This is Justine. Apart from her spectacles, which she hates, she fits the standard princess profile very well-- only, you know, no prince. Justine is fairly traditional, wanting her life to be just like a fairy tale, which is sort of understandable since that's what she's surrounded by every day. She has several friends, but out of them all, she's closest to Maria (and the only one in town who doesn't believe any of the rumors about her). Justine doesn't think too highly of herself, which is a shame.


This is Maria. She's somewhat odd-looking for the setting, and is very much an outcast in her village. She is very close to Justine, and cares about her enough to help find her a prince even if that means she won't have any friends left once Justine and her prince leave. There are many, many rumors about Maria in the village, ranging from the completely absurd to the frightening. They may or may not be true.

There are other characters (mostly friends and family of Justine, and random villagers) but these are the two leads.

~~~
Progress:
Working on writing the thing and making sprites for the leads. I'm about 25% done with the writing (I'm in the middle of part 2 of 5), and 30% done with the sprites (Justine's sprites are mostly done, but they're all in her old appearance, and Maria only has her neutralface sprite.)
Editors found!

[MaiMai]

The sprites look fine for a VN game, it doesn't have to be anime/manga style-- I think you should improve your lineart and coloring technique though, but no need to rush.

As for stock backgrounds there are some free resources listed here: http://wiki.renai.us/wiki/Background_Art

[Mrs. Abject]

Thanks for the feedback, MaiMai. I know my lineart isn't very good-- I'm working with a Wacom tablet that refuses to be pressure sensitive, for one thing-- and I'm hoping that if I keep drawing, it'll improve. I do think I need to work on my coloring, too, but what do you think specifically I can do to make it better?

I revised the Maria sprite to make the lineart look less pixelly, and fixed some details that my housemate thought were a little off. (I drew her in a really high resolution with lineart that was, in retrospect, too thin.) She still looks pixelly as an attachment, but not in fullsize.

Is this version an improvement?

Thanks for showing me where to get backgrounds, too. I really appreciate the help.

[Mrs. Abject]

Anyone with even minimal or no editing experience is welcome, just help me make sure the writing's not too awful.

[JinzouTamashii]

I will once you're finished with your script. Just like Strum's project, I want to make sure that it's going to be complete or has a high success rate before I really commit myself.

Good luck.

[Mrs. Abject]

Thank you so much! Is it okay if it's written in paragraph form, or do you need me to break up the lines like how it would be displayed on the VN? Or do you want it in a Ren'py script? I'm not sure how these things are done.

Either way, I should be able to get it to you by the weekend.

[JinzouTamashii]

script.rpy, please.

[Exhausted]

Oh dear.

I read your fanfiction and liked it. I am sad to see you become involved in something like LSF. I hope it doesn't destroy every redeeming feature you have, like it does to so many.

[JinzouTamashii]

If you hate this place so much then why are you still here?

[Minnfae]

@Jinzou: To troll certain people?

@ Mrs. A: I'm willing to help too, if you need another opinion

[JinzouTamashii]

Sounds good, let's both proofread then.

[Mrs. Abject]

Nice try, but most of my fanfic is pretty obscure. (I write for an unpopular pairing in an unpopular game, lol).

@ Minnfae: I would love for you to proofread it! Thank you very much.

The script will probably be a little later than this weekend-- maybe the weekend after it? I know first drafts are supposed to not be that great, but the script was going in a direction that I wasn't particularly sure of, and I'm thinking of approaching it from a different angle. Jane came across to me as unrelatable, and I need some time to think about whether I should change her, or put her in a setting where her motivations make more sense, or both.

I am still putting in multiple hours of work on the writing per day, so please don't think this means that the project is never going to be completed! It's expanded beyond the 5-10 minute story I had originally pictured, although it probably will not take longer than 20 minutes to play if you read relatively fast. Although I don't want to take on a long project on my own as my first VN, I want it to be substantial enough to stand on its own and feel like a finished product. :3

[JinzouTamashii]

Uhh, first drafts ALWAYS suck. That's why you need an editor. But you knew that already.

[Mrs. Abject]

First post is now more organized and informative! Designs on Maria and Justine are done! Still making progress on the writing! Call me sushi, 'cause I'm on a roll!
...


I went with my idea to change the story, so that set the writing back a little, but I could still use some of the same dialogue with a little modification and therefore didn't lose too much. In case it's not obvious by the front post, Jane is now Justine, and instead of being set in a high school, it's set in a fairy tale village. The setting change makes the story more interesting to me and the main character more likable to me, anyway, so I'll at least be more motivated to work on it now. Hopefully I'll be able to make Justine and the new setting likable to whoever wants to read this, too. :3

[JinzouTamashii]

Mrs. Abject, your art is starting to really pop!

I can't wait to see you refine your style in future games.