Visual Novel Dev log # 1

Shining shiny shine shone shined skinner skinne

Next month's dev log

Most of my power is being funnelled into a project, and I would like to write about it

I feel like it is a bit crass to talk about projects when they are in their early stages, but it really is most of what I have in my heart these days - I have been “registered as sick” (sygemeldt) and this is what fills my time.

I’m making a visual novel

It is essentially about:

1. bug zappers, but for human beings

2. a group of people living somewhere where they have to do presentations

3. being tampered with

here are some early concepts:

I haven’t really figured out what they’ll be wearing yet

you will be running in a flooded area, eating what they tell you to, and doing your own project - ready for presenting

when I was young, I once saw an adult cutting the legs off a spider that was stuck in a sink with a pair of scissors

I have also learned how to use renpy

I have neve really “coded” before, but I think that I’m okay at it

It’s fun to learn about branching paths and dialogue choices

I made a test game that can learn about you to tell you who you are or to have you executed - here is a screenshot:

(The model here is a free one that I found)

It is also fun to mess with the UI, and I have an idea for it that might be hard make with renpy

◑ᴗ◑ Music ◑ᴗ◑

I feel conflicted about music these days - it sends me into a state where I am much more like an animal in a stable than a person (no matter what kind of music it is). If something hurts: music - If something is boring: music - if I can’t start a task and I want to get some mindless work done: music - if I am having a feeling and I want to ruin it by quantifying it through something that is helplessly different: music

But I still like music, and I want there to be music in the game

I was thinking a bit about renpy as a DAW like ableton, but for pictures and text as well

1. A lot of my music is rhythmic, or based on repetition (though, I never liked the session view in ableton)

   - I did a couple of tests of music that evolves with the lines of dialogue (rhythm pattern 1 is replaced by rhythm pattern 2 and so on)

   example from a test - these are meant to change with every 1 or 2 lines of dialogue:

   becomes:

   then becomes:

   (It might sound a little disjointed like this, but it feels surprisingly smooth in context)

2. I’ve always wanted to make music for a whole game. 7 years ago an indie dev actually comissioned me to make some music for their game, and they even paid me pretty well to do it - they didn’t finish the game though

3. I still really like the idea of abstract sound design for a game - you pick up a flower and it sounds like something else than a flower - or rain that sounds like porcelain - your teeth meeting each other in a bite sounding like a harmony etc.

4. I was also thinking about using voicevox or utau/ vocaloid for the character’s voices and then playing with them using effects and cutting them together differently - If anyone has advice on this, let me know (I don’t know a lot about using vocaloids)

5. maybe it sounds like this when you start a new game:

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Wait

I haven’t really written about the story here,

I’m more worried about the light and sound not wrapping around the words in the right way - I also want it to be more of a surprise

I haven’t really set a deadline,

but I would like it to be done within six months - and I would be extra happy if I can do it in less than 4 months - I don’t want the game to be super long either

I’ll do the next dev log on the 10th of May, and I think it’s going to be about the institution that they live in and what life looks like, so, uhm, be sure to check back in on me in a month! ƪ(`▿´ƪ)

I am alive,

so, I am making a game now

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Hello anonymous,

Thank you for reading my post - I hope that you are doing well

It’s really nice to have my own project!