NaNoRenO 2006- Tick tock people!

[herenvardo]

how are we suposed to put our finished games up?
I wasn't around Nanoreno last year, so I'm a bit clueless.

Otherwise, we'll find some sort of alternate hosting for it.

Well, I guess I can host your games if you need. I'd only ask for some requisites, which I feel very reasonable:

• Anticipation: Please let me know with some days of anticipation, so I can better handle it.
• Size: If it's less than 50Mb, there will be no trouble. I've looked in renai.us and the biggest file there is around 30Mb, so I guess noone will break this limit. If somebody does, I can still consider hosting it, but only if I feel it's worth the space.
• Open-source: This is not strictly necessary, but I'd like that you publish the games you want me to host as open-source. Take care that the art associated with the source doesn't need to be open (and narration/literacy is also art, so only structural or engine code are trully open). I ask for open-source simply because my web is devoted to open-source software

So, don't let hosting limitations prevent your games from being published

[PyTom]

I should point out that it's okay to release your game whenever it's done. There's no need to wait until April 1st to unleash your game.

To the rest of the NaNoRenO participants, I should point out that if a few extra days make your game better, then by all means take them. What matters is that you actually release your game, rather then postponing it to never. The goal of NaNoRenO is to force yourself to complete a game, not to compromise it.

[mikey]

I should point out that if a few extra days make your game better, then by all means take them. What matters is that you actually release your game, rather then postponing it to never. The goal of NaNoRenO is to force yourself to complete a game, not to compromise it.

Hmmm, now it's a single-digit number of days until the deadline is over. Last year we had around 12 participants, the final game count was 5+1. So this year, with 16 people signed up....

[mangokiwi.com]

Hi all,

we haven't finished our game yet, but we would like to enter NaNoRenO. Is this post enough for an application of entry to the contest? What else is required.

Also, 'romance' is pretty open ended. Would friendship of two close friends be counted as romance (we're not doing the fruits again, don't worry!)? We have a dynamic story where we try to capture relationships (friendship, enmity/antagonism, self actualization) on a backdop of an action filled mythical story line. Adding a love interest just to fit criteria will be jarring to the reader (I know I hate when stories throw in token love interest and/or token minority characters for no other purpose than to cover their a**es).



Thanks,
Diwant

[PyTom]

Also, 'romance' is pretty open ended. Would friendship of two close friends be counted as romance (we're not doing the fruits again, don't worry!)? We have a dynamic story where we try to capture relationships (friendship, enmity/antagonism, self actualization) on a backdop of an action filled mythical story line. Adding a love interest just to fit criteria will be jarring to the reader (I know I hate when stories throw in token love interest and/or token minority characters for no other purpose than to cover their a**es).

I'd guess that no, that wouldn't count as romance. But I'm not sure how many of the NaNoRenO2 games will be romantic, especially compared to the NaNoRenO games. I think that what you're doing is might be in the spirit, however, even if you focus on non-ren'ai storylines.

One of the interesting things about VNs is that they're one of the few visual media where you can really get into characters heads. You very rarely see manga, anime, or TV have first-person bits... and the thought boxes in American Comics tend to be relatively short, when present at all. The reason Ren'Ai games are such a large fraction of VNs is that the topic is a match for the medium. But, of course, there might be other stories that can benefit from being told from a first-person perspective... is yours one of them?

[Counter Arts]

Oh nos... I can't work on my Operating Systems assignment, study for tests/exams and finish my game in time!

Hyper emergency backup plan... use BCS's background images and have new game! It will be called Shift.

[mikey]

Also, 'romance' is pretty open ended. Would friendship of two close friends be counted as romance (we're not doing the fruits again, don't worry!)? We have a dynamic story where we try to capture relationships (friendship, enmity/antagonism, self actualization) on a backdop of an action filled mythical story line...

I'd guess that no, that wouldn't count as romance. But I'm not sure how many of the NaNoRenO2 games will be romantic, especially compared to the NaNoRenO games. I think that what you're doing is might be in the spirit, however, even if you focus on non-ren'ai storylines.

Hmmm, I think Narcissu and Alltogether 05 games had an impact on how people view VNs. Nowadays, it's more or less accepted, that a VN doesn't need to be ren'ai and actually, that it doesn't even need any choices. The game-makers understand this so there are more game projects that don't have choices or/and aren't focused primarily on love.

As a ren'ai fan, I find that a bit sad. I do hope that NaNoRenO II will produce at least some all-out ren'ai games. I'm perfectly fine with a nice non-love-game in between, but in the long run, I don't like if the romance is just "added value" or if there isn't any at all.

Maybe, in the future, it will be good to differentiate between VNs and romantic games more clearly. It's all coming together now and whether that's a good thing is a question to be answered.

For a bit of nostalgia, look at the definitions of ren'ai under:
http://www.renai.us/submit.shtml
http://www.renai.us/faqs.shtml
http://www.renaigames.net/about.html
http://www.renaigames.net/nanoreno.html
According to those, a ren'ai game has to be strongly themed around romance - if you take the definition of NaNoRenO (complete a ren'ai game) on the official NaNoRenO site... it really does have that significant ren'ai requirement.

[herenvardo]

I'm perfectly fine with a nice non-love-game in between, but in the long run, I don't like if the romance is just "added value" or if there isn't any at all.

Even I'm OK with games that are 100% romance, I find it unrealistic. In my opinion, in real life we don't normally have the chance to think only on that beloved person; there are a lot of other things to care about in the dayly life, and that creates some kind of envelope around the romance. This side-plot may harm or help romantic intentions of a character, depending on case, and I find that idea very interesting. To put an example, in Heikou the game is not straight romance, but that romance comes as a natural part of the interaction between characters. What do you think about this focus for romance games?

[mikey]

You see my other favorite game type are racing simulations. Now, I am also fine with nice arcade racer games where physics are forgiving and fun is the main point. But, admittedly, I play those games only if I want to take a break.

Similarly here, my main interest is for games where romance has the leading role. I will play and enjoy related games with less focus on romance, because a little variety is always nice.

But in the end, whenever I finish/stop playing an arcade racer and get back to my set-up racing sim car, and having to worry about getting the apex right or have a good set of tyres, I always feel back at home, that this is what I like playing the most.

And whenever there is a new ren'ai game, I have the same feeling - that this is the kind of game I feel most happy playing.

Therefore, it's more a personal thing than anything else.

[Shiiiiiii]

Oops... maybe planning this NaNoRenMo schedule around my Italy trip wasn't that great an idea after all.

[Shii]

By the way, my game is going to include exactly 0% romance.

[herenvardo]

Oops... maybe planning this NaNoRenMo schedule around my Italy trip wasn't that great an idea after all.

You seem a bit pressed... even I didn't want to publish it until tomorrow, I'll share with you my secret weapon: I'll start tomorrow what I call the No-Sleep-Week. I guess the name is self-explanatory enough.
Note: don't expect me to be posting too much the few days after that. I'll probably be sleeping.

By the way, my game is going to include exactly 0% romance.

This is cheating! I forced a romance theme within my game because NaNoRenO rules state that it must be Ren'ai. Anyhow, I guess that a game with no romance will be better than no game at all

[bookie]

Oops... maybe planning this NaNoRenMo schedule around my Italy trip wasn't that great an idea after all.

You seem a bit pressed... even I didn't want to publish it until tomorrow, I'll share with you my secret weapon: I'll start tomorrow what I call the No-Sleep-Week. I guess the name is self-explanatory enough.
Note: don't expect me to be posting too much the few days after that. I'll probably be sleeping.

That's my plan. This week is my spring vacation so I'm planning on spending it finishing the last legs of my program.

[mangokiwi.com]

Hi,

Sorry to double post (I have made an announcement in Completed Games as well), but I wanted to announce that our entry for NaNoRenO is complete and online.

Download our entry, Dante's Wrath, from:
http://www.mangokiwi.com/story-games/dantes-wrath.htm

Thanks, and good luck to all!
Diwant
mangokiwi.com

[Kikered]

Whoa ho! It's just about time for the Final Countdown! Good luck, folks - I'm looking forward to all the fine games that will be released.