/evn/- Work. You lazy trogdolytes

>>146420654

The upper text alignment is triggering me.

>>146420923
You could say that it's trying to be edgy.

>>146420654
Does this game only have 1 background!? I literally haven't seen anything else.

>>146422461
It's the only interesting one

You lost everyone because you waited too long to make the thread and didn't link people from the last one. You all made a slow thread even slower. You brought this on yourselves.

>>146424225
We deserve to be punished

>>146424225
well you could have made a thread. so there.

>>146424225
>whining over a thread
Oh please. People will post if they want to post.

>>146424480
Yes.

>>146424713
But I'm the consciousness of /evn/ speaking. I have to rely on others to keep me alive. All I can do is scold you for what you've not done.

>>146424890
This is a serious matter. Stop acting like a fool.

>>146425090
I'm just a fool
A fool in love
With

hi

>>146427856
Will you be my friend?

>>146427071
>With
Yes?

>>146430571
Me, obviously

I'm super excited to be creating my VN, and I love it very much.

So why am I not working on it?

>>146431503
You need instant satisfaction and creating isn't instant enough for you. Your project will either fail or take tripple the length in development if you do not correct your behavior.

Ask yourself that question.

>>146432272
This. Though really the hardest part is starting. Once you start you shift from imagining how great your VN will be to a working mentality and it gets easier.

>>146431068
No. Definitely not you.

>>146434814
>shirt and tie

Thanks doc.

>>146433229
:(

Why haven't you licensed a hip indie song to close out your VN yet, /evn/?

If I make a dating sim set in a US college, and none of the romance options are black, or maybe even just all white, will a lot of people protest?

>>146438006
I don't think many people will complain. You might get a reviewer who expresses slight disappointment, but that's probably it.

>>146438006
You'll get the special snowflake who will curse you to death and your dog while demanding POC love interests. Just make your LI's hot, guaranteed success.

>>146438006

That's assuming you get a lot of people to look at your game to begin with, senpai. One thing at a time.

>>146438006
Racially homogeneous games are haram.

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>>146438006
>tfw I actually want a dating sim with stereotypes like the jock or the preppy set in US

>>146438006
Not a lot of people, no. Depending on who you target, you might get a couple of complaints or requests. As long as you're cool about it and don't get your hackles up, they'll move on.

Lots of games don't have black characters and most of them don't face any trouble over it. A vague disappointed "aww" is more likely than an outcry.

>>146438771
I don't.

>>146439693

> Not wanting to fuck a cute jock inside the changing room

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>>146420923
I thought the final release fixed the alignment, but they didn't update the Steam screen shots to show it. Now they plan to have a new textbox. What do you think of it?

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4MB, 2560x1440px

>>146422461
Here you go. A good chunk of the other BGs in this game are Uncle Mugen edits.

>>146442073

Imo, that one is worse. The text is way too small, and the words cut off in a way not suitable for extended reading.

>>146442073
what is with that tight-packing of too many words and hyphenation at the end of lines?

>>146420654
The MC's VA stepped down.

Stargazers will now have an 18+ version.

It's been a surprising news week. Hopefully Toko gets an 18+ version too, since a VN about a succubus MC not having ero seems bizarre.

Any good evns in the Steam Summer Sale?

>>146432272
The truth cuts deep.

i'm happy

>>146449804
I'm happy that you're happy!

>>146450843
I'm happy for you being happy for him being happy!

Where is everyone?
Were all of the /evn/ devs brits?

>>146450934
I'm sad you're both happy.

>>146452196
>brits
Why? What happened?

>>146452313
leaving EU

>>146452920
D-does this affect my indonesian flip books?

>>146452196
If most are, it's pretty early for evn devs to be up at this hour. I'm just a lazy night-owl, but yeah I'm watching the brexit news.

guys

SO LONG FRANK LLOYRD WRIGHT

why is everyday so fucking boring

>>146442073
Why the F key at the bottom right of the textbox?

already? gee

>>146452196
I guess now I'll join the third worlders. If the pound tanks a bit more, I'll be able to charge the same as them as a freelancer.

I must either learn to manage scope of projects or mcfucking kill myself

>>146452313
Racism.

>>146466302
Stupidity, mostly.

The left banging on mostly about racism instead of dismantling all the lies that the Leave camp (See: we'll give 350 billions to the NHS... Oh, wait, we never said that!) was spouting is one of the reasons why Remain lost, the Pound is now sinking and no one seems to have a plan on what to do next.

Well played.

>>146466979
I'm not blaming either left or right for the xenophobia, BOTH of them have been pushing that angle for so long that this result was fairly inevitable. Everyone's been wanking on and on about immigrants for years, to the point where all sorts of people who don't know anything about politics, haven't heard anything about the details or the lies, are firmly convinced that the country is under attack and needs defending. Even Corbyn went on television and stated that immigration could not possibly be controlled while we remained in the EU.

I mean, I'm sure it's possible that some people voted based on the thought of money instead, but I never even heard the claims about the NHS until after the fact. All I ever heard was control-of-borders and control-of-our-own-laws.

>>146466979
Pound sterling is making a recovery already. It's higher than it's low points from feb atm if I recall.

Honestly, you can call stupidity but ultimately you don't know if we'll be better off or not, and it's what the majority of people with half a brain would have said before too, we just don't know. You can't tell me if we remained we would be better off down the line because it's uncertain.

I think it speaks for itself that a lot of people are concerned with immigration, if that's the countries feelings so be it, there's also the market to consider and laws we could not enact or laws we had to abide by because europe.

Oh well, life will go on as normal, even if fearmongering is afoot.

>>146466979
Are you really surprised people want off Mr Schultz's Wild Ride?

>>146468076
I rest my case

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Does anyone know when Love Ribbon is supposed to come out? It was a welcome but unexpected announcement from Razz.

>>146468998
What was your case anon

>>146442314
>Uncle Mugen
If their BG artist is a Filipino using SketchUp no wonder it's shit.

My poor pension

JP plans to review Burokku Girls http://store.steampowered.com/app/443980/

>>146471158
>Those pixels
Nah I think that's just a shitty paint over man. Which makes it worse.

>>146473134
>searching out bad tiddy games to write """""""hilarious"""""" bashing reviews
when will he finally kill himself for attention

ACE Academy's final release is currently planned for late August. We'll finally get to see the finished project that used to be Kendo Crush. Now we'll get to compare it to Sunrider Academy.

>>146475302

> romances are available
> not of the characters are hot
> why do they do this

>>146476549
That screenshot guy is almost attractive, could become attractive with good writing or voicing. On the other hand the voicing on the trailer is annoying,

>>146475302
Arthas go home

Any devs here going to be effected by Brexit? I think Winged Cloud and some other devs are in the UK.

>>146478443
i am but fuck knows what will actually happen

soooo anyone played heirs and graces?

>>146479038

Not with that art.

>>146479097
I really don't understand the art complaints, the art looks fairly nice to me, though obviously tastes vary.

It just sounds so boring, that's my problem

Please don't include voice acting in the game trailer if your game isn't voiced. It just feels like false advertising, since a trailer is supposed to represent the actual product.

Do people prefer partial voice acting or no voice acting? Full voice acting is too expensive.

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>>146479593

Everyone has an overbite, and the eyes are soulless.

Are there many English otome game players out there who are NOT tumblrweeds/SJWs?

This >>146438006 is the kind of thing that I'm concerned about.

>>146479990
Either one is good.

>>146480180
Despite absolutely everyone saying that this fear is a complete overreaction?
Enjoy your persecution complex.

>>146480180

> making an otome game
> knows nothing about the playerbase

look at this guy.

>>146479990
I probably won't even touch evn with english voice acting, cause dev has a bad taste.

>>146480373
What does the typical otome player want?

>>146479990
Partial voice acting is really awkward in a pure VN, it feels buggy to the player if voices come and go whenever.

In a hybrid game where it's more obvious which parts can expect voice it might work better

>>146480579
To be double-stuffed with really big cocks.

>>146480579
Twincest. Preferably with redheads.

>>146481173
So otome players just want Harry Potter self insert fanfiction?

>>146481439
Definitely.
Also beards. You can't go wrong with beards.

>>146480579

A doormat main character and abusive love interests.

They say they don't, but that's what sells.

>>146482034
Just look at all the threads saying that Dogcage is the best love interest.
Or don't, since that might involve doing actual research instead of going off vague stereotypes and rumors.

>>146482314
>going off vague stereotypes and rumors
If that many people say it, then it must have at least a grain of truth.

It's like when BL fans complain about rape but love Dramatical Murder.

>>146482483
>If that many people say it, then it must have at least a grain of truth.
Also, all men are rapists.

>>146482483
>If that many people say it, then it must have at least a grain of truth.

No, it's a case of "loud minority". People that complain about "muh diversity" in otome aren't your client base.

In reality, EOP will buy any game that is not absolute trash.

>>146482529
No, no. All artists are scum.

>>146482314

>Literally all the best otome VNs in Japan are all doormats + abusive love interests
>It's just rumors and stereotypes, no one likes that shit!

>>146482483
In case it wasnt clear, dogcage boy is not, in fact, the most popular love interest.

In the west.

Apparently he really is in Japan. Japanese girls are weird.

>>146482758
>in Japan
>while asking about the western otome audience

I'd question your data for 'literally all the best' (do you mean the most popular? the highest-rated? are you only considering r-18 games? only PC games?) except that it's completely not relevant to begin with when you're not selling to Japanese girls.

One of the most frequently BL games for English translation is Pigeon Blood and that game is full of rape and weird shit.

Clearly what women really want is to fuck birds.

>>146483093
You know what else chicks love? Butt-babies.

Write an MPREG rape date sim on Steam. You'll make a killing.

>>146483121

One of those birds is a yandere, so the point still stands.

>>146482920

>Japanese girls are crazy, western otome fans are the true audience! Give use real otome
>Western fans only support Dramatical Murder or Diabolik Lovers
>Where's the REAL otome's Japan!

Time to admit both male and female VN fans have shit taste and stop pretending West is sooo different.

>>146483287

> they get games
> they pirate them
> wh-why no more BL/otome releases? ;__;

>>146483287
>Western fans only support Dramatical Murder or Diabolik Lovers

Also, no bishoujo player has ever bought a game other than Euphoria. Look, I can lie too!

>>146483435

Are you somehow implying that N+C aren't the most popular BL games in the west?

good haro pls go

Is an 18+ patch basically expected on Steam for any game that has romance nowadays? It just feels like it is. Highway Blossoms had alot of hype for the patch and it only had 2 ero scenes, and the second one was meant to be funny rather than erotic.

>>146483865
no? but sex sells, this isn't new.

>>146483865
If your game is BxG? Yes. Otome/BL/Yuri fans appreciate it, but they are less anal about it.

>>146483561
Honestly? I don't follow BL enough to make a firm statement. As far as I know there IS no BL market established in the west right now, so it's currently nearly impossible to know what sells. It's a no-brainer that more Western fans have paid for and played a gay relationship in Mass Effect than have paid for a N+C game.

Or, for that matter, have paid for Coming Out On Top or No Thank You.

But there's so little market existing that it's hard to get much of a read on it.

>>146483865
Lewds shouldn't be in a patch, they should be in the first release of the game. That way you can have that 'Nudity' tag which will bump you to the 'Popular New Releases' category.

>>146483865
Expected in the sense that people will absolutely ask? Yes.

>>146484137
I keep hearing the meme "No ero, no buy", so it sounds like some people are refusing to buy games that don't have adult versions.

>>146484040
People put the Nudity tag on things anyway, even if it's only for the patch

>>146484029

The market itself is small, but the fandom is huge. N+C have managed to get a really big following in the west despite having no official english releases, which says a lot about how popular they are.

In fact, one of the biggest arguments people have when they ask for N+C to be brought over is "no, we have already played them" vs "but we want an OFFICIAL release."

>>146484425
It's just not enough information to make clear predictions about what sells, and certainly not proof that adding rape will make your game succeed, or that not having it will doom it.

There are huge slash fandoms for other things that wouldn't necessarily translate into marketability unfortunately.

Clearly we need more people to hurry up and get some BL games on sale so we have more data.

>>146484628
According to AO3's stats, what women really want in slash is Wincest.

Daily reminder that single love interest games would be made better by having romance options.

>>146485886
like this?
>do her ass
>cum outside
>crempai

>>146486040
That's a good idea too.
>Take her glasses off.
>Leave her glasses on.

I meant having more than one love interest. I find that the default one is almost never the character that I'm most interested in. Why tease the audience with a hot character that they can't date.

>>146486435
>Take off her clothes
>Take off her underwear
>Take off her shoes
>Leave her socks on

>>146486750
>leave her underwear hanging off one leg

>>146486750

>Not coming in her socks and having her put them back on.

RIP your sex scenes.

>>146486435
Because we can have stories that focus on more than who we can fuck?

>>146487114
Yeah, but having a love interest you're actually into can make the story more compelling. I know people who dropped Kindred Spirits or didn't bother to pick it up when they found out who the sole love interest was.

>>146487398
That seems odd to me, given that the game follows multiple couples so they'd probably like some of them.

I wonder if it's a writing thing. I mean, if you're writing a romance, the love interest should be the most interesting character (to the other character, if nothing else). I guess books have it easier since they don't have a picture of a cute secondary character sitting on the page.

>>146488147
It's kind of awkward if the main pairing is a huge turnoff, but yeah, it's a little silly in Kindred Spirits where there'll be another pairing along in a minute.

>>146488340
Not all the couples were interesting and when that couples issues are resolved they're basically dropped from the story. The main pairing is the only one that has focus throughout the story.

>>146490079
>when that couples issues are resolved they're basically dropped from the story
What? No they're not. You keep unlocking content for them even after the main story completes

>>146490604
The main story. They appear in apple scenes post game, but those are just random happenings throughout the year.

Only you can add more brother/brother romance to EVNs.

>>146493464
what about two brothers into you, the faceless mc, and a threesome.

>>146496071
I am fine with the category of porn where two men are using the same woman because they desperately want to fuck each other but are too afraid to actually make the first move without some compulsory het to shield them

>>146496071
>>146496287
When it's two brothers, though, a threesome is obviously better if it's twins and she has to fuck both because choosing just one would be unfair.

>>146496287
>yaoi version of netsuzou trap

n-no thanks.

>>146484242
>I keep hearing the meme "No ero, no buy"
Sounds like people I wouldn't want to market to anyway. They're probably the same ones who play the game for 10 minutes, write a shitty review full of 4chan terminology and then refund the game.

>>146486750
This shit isn't even in Japanese studio VNs, and you expect some fledgling westerners to be able to pull it off?

>>146498824

Apparently Seiyuu Danshi will have stuff like reversible roles.

A game with too many options is one without purpose or meaning. Options for the sake of options is the same as no options.

>>146499170
We are nothing but a sad shadow of our great overlords. This is why EVNs will ultimately fail. We're just trying to be watered down JVNs.

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>>146499447
>implying games without options have no purpose or meaning

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>>146500160

Except that's not what I was implying, hence the period. Second sentence referring to the fact that a game with more options isn't 'better', both are the same and it's what the game needs. Which also goes back to the first clause, options for the sake of options is without purpose or meaning.

>>146500005
>We can't compete, let's find an alternative!
Just man up and beat them at their own game.

>>146500625
>Too many options = no purpose or meaning
>Too many options = no options
>Therefore, no options = no purpose or meaning

maybe work on your phrasing

>>146500774
Westerners like VNs because they're Japanese. You'll get a subset of those people willing to play western made VNs, but there will always be the stigma that EVNs are just a second rate Japanese VN. Most of them are made by small and inexperienced crews, or people with no talent for writing. They put things that they think should be in their games without figuring out why. The only thing they care about is what has been done before and what they believe will sell well. You see the same tropes time and time again. Westerners don't live Japanese lives, and yet they create characters living those lives inside their VNs. They use Japanese names, Japanese uniforms, Japanese locations. It's sad to watch this. Where has all the creativity gone?

>>146501495
>Westerners like VNs because they're Japanese
No, weebs like VNs because they're Japanese
>You'll get a subset of those people willing to play western made VNs,
Western-made VNs sell just as well as or better than JVNs, in the west
>They use Japanese names, Japanese uniforms, Japanese locations.
Only some do.

>>146501495
>Westerners like VNs because they're Japanese.
Westerners like them because they have higher production values and/or more enticing writing. You get a western crew to make a VN like that, people will play it proudly. And the thing about Japanese culture is hogwash. Kamidori takes place in a fictional universe, cultural tropes are very scarce in that context (maybe MC utters an "itadakimasu" before eating, nothing relevant).

>>146502572
Can you list the best selling western VNs?

I also forgot to list the terrible animu art, flat face cell shading with symbol eyes style being a major selling point. Has any EVN sold well that didn't have this kind of art?

>>146503130
Cinders.

>>146503256
First of all, holy shit that art.

Secondly, holy shit that art.

>>146503130
loren if it counts. honestly the best selling stuff tends to have gameplay of some sort.

>>146503450
good holy shit or bad holy shit?

>>146504592
Well, mainly the outside backgrounds, but good holy shit. Characters look pretty good too.

How hard would it be to make a good enough VN to pay for living costs for a year or so to make another VN? Is making VNs as a profession a viable thing?

>>146504982
It's not impossible, but it's really fucking hard.

Keep going.

>>146506860
but it hurts

>>146507510
No pain, no gain.

Thread's going to die soon. /vg/ keeps getting more and more generals, and we don't have the numbers to fight back.

>>146509646
I'd say it was a good run but that would be a lie. /evn/ should just retire

>>146509646
We could moan and groan about Rising Angels and Highway Blossoms. That got some life.

Why does Natalie think Marina trying to flag down help in the middle of the desert when she has no water is a bad idea? Seems like one that increases the odds of surviving alien superweapons.

I finally bought Solstice. Will report back.

>+ Length: Being a slow and attentive reader, it took me 25+ hours to finish, with save loss reset then skipping, and reporting issues. Just starting Goofball Mode.

holy shit who has 25 hours to burn on a 4 hour kinetic novel?

>>146510579

a REALLY slow reader.

>>146503130
Highway Blossoms sold well and that VN isn't like those JVN wanbavees.

>>146509646
Most of you are only interested in whining and not working anyway. You're probably artists.

>>146511615

Maybe we're so dead because we're working?

>>146509952
Why don't more people buy IDHAS' games? Is Raithfyre using Sekai's entire evn advertising budget on his own projects?

>>146510363
looking forward to your report. i've been iffy on purchasing it, but it really doesn't look bad. part of my problem is the protagonists look incredibly boring.

>>146511883

I was kind of iffy too, but I liked Cinders and it's on sale so I figured I might as well.

>>146511874
Because Komi is known for giving no shits about his marketing and spending all of his time developing. He's a stereotypical engineer, not a salesman.

maybe weeaboo.nl should get off his ass and review something

If you're all bored, Tao is taking questions about his upcoming projects on ask.fm. But don't spam him whoever did it last time that I assume was JP.

>>146512558

So he's Dilbert?

>>146512558
>about his marketing

> cue 1000 posts about what a publisher does/doesn't do

>>146512558
I can't believe that he's making Fates the length of an entire novel series with so many assets. That takes a ton of time and money.

>>146513013
What's the intended wordcount?

>>146513527
No idea, but it's currently in the hundreds of thousands.

>>146512817
He is. I think he's even an engineer in his day job.

>>146513013
That's what happens when you have someone who is passionate about their work. They do stupid things.

>>146513013
judging by the other two RA titles, it's going to be a beautiful disaster

>>146514725
>He is. I think he's even an engineer in his day job.

At least we don't have to worry about his dog/cat any more.

>>146514810
How so? Reborn was fun and got attention. Steamspy has it at 145,000 and Google Play has it at 50,000+. Hope was enjoyable, but it just never got any attention.

Who am I kidding? Nobody is going to know it exists and what little moment of light it gets is going to be quickly overshadowed by some tits game. Maybe if it had dragon and fox girl porn it would do better.

>>146515720
i did a double-take until i remembered that reborn was free

sadly, the original release didnt do very well. hopefully he gets some buys from f2p people

>>146516253
The free to play came out first and was long enough ago that people forgot about it.

>>146516742
reborn was the remake, hope was first

Any idea why C14 dating is doing so poorly? Steamspy numbers are pretty low for a decent looking otome game.

>>146516926
> Reborn: Release Date: Oct 31, 2013
> Hope: Release Date: Mar 18, 2016

Hope is the remake of a game that was never available outside his shitty little website.

>>146517293
I wish I could tell you. I've been playing it and it isn't bad. Nothing amazing, but certainly better than the numbers Steamspy is giving it.

>>146517293

My guess is

> marketing

I haven't seen it mentioned in the usual otome places

> uncertain writing

WW keeps changing people, so there's no guarantee that you'll like a game of his even if you liked the others.

> Katawa shonen love interests

Wtf is the deal with the designs? The art is on part with Deji's regular works, but the designs are just... ugh.

> consumer base not on steam

Iirc, he gets a lot of sales from his own store.

>>146517293
WW prefers to promote his own games direct first, and c14 was put on steam over a month after release. then steam generally doesn't give two shits about otome outside of a few outliers.

also WW really doesn't seem to market or has given up on it. even the usual crowd of bloggers who do press on visual novels out of pity or something don't discuss his games.

>>146518103
>WW prefers to promote his own games direct first.

I wonder if he gets that many more sales in the first month or so direct vs putting it on steam sooner. I mean, one would think that more steam sales = more visibility would be a no brainer.

>>146519010
Maybe otome stuff is such a small niche that everybody who's interested in it already checks vndb or websites that cover the genre?

And he won't have to throw 30% of his earnings at gaben if he doesn't release on steam at first.

>>146519010
You get a higher percentage of the sales price AND access to customer data that you can advertise future games to. Direct sales are valuable. Steam has value too, but it's not a no-brainer.

c14 doesn't look like it's doing WELL, but it's also really, really hard to draw any conclusions about a game from steamspy with those numbers and that limited a release period. If it's sold over a thousand copies on steam already it's not actually doing badly. But we really can't tell right now if it's sold 400 or 1400.

>>146515720
>Maybe if it had dragon and fox girl porn it would do better

Who says there isn't?

>>146520647
They don't even have fangs.

>>146521429
People like the minimalist approach. They don't want wolf people, they want humans with little hairpoof ears and little tails.

>>146521429
I think that was just part of the joke.

>>146521923
>little hairpoof ears and little tails
And little fangs. You need all three to make a proper awoo.

>>146480682
>it feels buggy to the player if voices come and go whenever.
Only if they're retarded casuals.

>>146523421
newsflash: paying customers include a lot of idiots

>>146524581
and even the ones that don't pay can be idiots, too.

so no one cared about the steam sale since you can just extend the launch discount for the duration.

>>146530280
Not entirely true. Steam sales bring in a broader audience. So even if the dev did extend a launch discount, that could still be appealing to someone who finds a title mildly interesting.

>>146510363
>>146511883
>>146512014
what is it that caused Solstice to flop so badly? Cinders was one of the most successful non-lewd EVN on Steam (sold 50,000+ which is quite a lot for a game priced at $20) and Solstice never cracked 1000 copies. Did Cinders only succeed because it hooked the POSTMODERN FEMINISM crowd?

>>146518103
>>146519010
I think he said at one point that most of his games sell ~50% direct, with the exceptions of "hits" like Loren that find a mainstream audience on Steam. My guess is that his margins are low enough that not having to pay the 30% Steam tax on half of his sold copies makes this approach worth it. (I'm assuming low margins because his games tend to all have relatively lukewarm sales, yet evidently his business is doing well enough to continue plugging away at it)

>>146532064
VNs were a fad on Steam when Cinders launched. Nowadays a VN has to market itself well, be a meme, or have some other reason to draw people in *cough*porn*cough*.

>>146532562
Serious question. Did Highway Blossoms only sell well because of the memes?

>>146532562
Actually Cinders came out in an era when getting onto Steam was hard (you basically had to be hand-picked by someone at Valve), it was out for almost two years before appearing on Steam. (Came out in 2012, got put on Steam in 2014.) So the actual sales figures are probably a lot higher than those on Steam.

>>146532790

Absolutely. Should you make a VN with lots of dat feel and "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY ABOUT..." then you too can easily sell over 9000 copies.

>>146532790
No, it sold well because it was shilled everywhere and had both yuri and LGBT sites writing about it. I think Sekai blew its entire evn marketing budget for the year on it.

Many people also found it refreshing because it was set in the US, as opposed to Japan.

Youtubers love the memes, so that's another following its gotten.

>>146532790
>sell well
steamspy is showing pretty typical numbers for a new evn release, though. a much better example would be the tank dating simulator.

>>146532790
Make sure your meme has a porn patch and you're all set.

What's the best way to make your evn successful on Steam?

>>146535269
Lewds.

>>146535269
Me, as a romanceable character.

look at me
i am the captain now

>>146533670
You know, a meme patch might be a good idea.

>>146538525
no i am

>>146539180
And you call it "director's cut" patch to make it sound sophisticated.

god

>>146547669
let it all end

What's the setting of your vn?

>ib4 japanese highschool

>>146550626
US college

>>146550626
Japanese University

what is the next Katawa Shoujo

>>146551528
you are

>>146551631
NO

>>146551528
I'd much rather know what the next UAB is.

Why do I still check this stupid general 50 times a day when I know there's nothing happening?

>>146532064
>(sold 50,000+ which is quite a lot for a game priced at $20)
For fuck's sake, it sold nowhere near that.

God sometimes I wish SteamSpy never existed, considering the number of people who have trouble understanding that things like "was in two weekly humble bundles for pennies" are KIND OF RELEVANT.

>>146554610
It's an addiction induced via operant conditioning, with an intermittent reward pattern (you only get new posts occasionally every time you F5, not always), which is more effective than continuous reinforcemen. It's the same psychological mechanism employed by slot machines.

Now you know why. Become the master of your own fate.

>>146555113
>F5
hownewareyou.jpg

>>146555172
It's shorter than "everytime you use the update button" and I thought it will convey the message. My mistake, I often forget most of 4chan userbase are autists.

>>146555303
>everytime you use the update button
once again, hownewareyou.jpg

>>146555384
You want me to say too the thing about the auto box? It won't make your OCD go away, you know?

>>146550626
Hogwarts

>>146533571
No it isn't. Have you not watched EVN releases before? Highway Blossoms is not a runaway hit but it's doing obviously better than the 'average' EVN launch.

>>146555097
Even if Steamspy were gone, people would find other reasons to believe the stupid things they decided to believe.

POST
PROGRESS
DO IT
NOW

>>146558289
Not with that attitude.

>>146558384
Post progress... please?

>>146557797
Go first nigger.

>>146535269

bare minimum of gameplay to fool normies

How is everyone doing? Any weekend progress goals?

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>>146559937
[x] fuck around with the battle framework and realize it's boring shit
[x] scrap everything and turn into a minimal participation type deal
[x] realize I'd have to add like 5 gorillion trillion billion characters to keep the interest up
[x] decide to cut the combat altogether
[ ] figure out what to add instead that's not too resource intensive because fuck I don't want to code/draw too much
[ ] not kill self

>>146559080
bad gameplay is worse than no gameplay.

Just look at SOTW.

>>146560581
uh? People liked the gameplay in that. Its problem is lack of story

>>146559080
Does anyone have any ideas what kind of gameplay could be in a murder mystery game that's not "find the hidden object" or copying the Dangan Ronpa courtroom system? I would really appreciate any help on this.

>>146560930
Nothing wrong with copying DR or PW to start with. It'll still come out slightly differently because of your characters and theme.

Any kind of gameplay can be integrated into a murder mystery depending, you can have action games and RPGs that are really murder mysteries.

If you want to look at some older adventure-style mysteries, you could examine the Famicom Detective Club games, or "The Colonel's Bequest".

One thing you need to decide from the beginning is what kind of mystery game you want to make, in terms of letting the player have the clues. Do you want the player to always be guaranteed to have all necessary clues before the time comes to make a deduction, or not? That's pretty key to your design.

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>>146560930

interrogations


preferably with verbal abuse and racial slurs

>>146561432
For a more detailed explanation of what I meant here:

DR steps you through the investigation so that you can't proceed to the courtroom until you've found all the clues you can find. You have to keep looking. You may not, however, have all the real clues needed to solve the mystery because other clues will come out during the courtroom experience. By the time you have to do the final comic-assembly, you have all the clues, but you've also had a lot of what happened spelled out for you. It's a series of revelations, not a bunch of clues and one giant deduction. You could easily have a mystery game where you can't proceed until you have all the evidence, but it's entirely up to the player to take that evidence and assemble it into a working theory from scratch.

On the other end, in The Colonel's Bequest, it is completely possible to blunder through the entire game missing almost all of the clues and not even knowing half the murders are taking place (It's difficult, though. You have to be pretty dumb to miss THAT much. But a lot of subplots are optional and easily missed, so you'll probably have only a fraction of the story depending on where you went when and what you did) The PC doesn't die in the final conflict, but she can exit the game's scenario completely confused about what was going on. (Or, of course, die in dozens of grisly ways before the final conflict, because it's a Sierra game.) You'll have to play again from the beginning and try harder to find the clues.

>>146561432
>>146561840
>>146561949
Thanks for the help.

Strangely enough, I didn't even consider La Noire style interrogations even though the game itself is sitting on my computer. Might be an easy way to make the game look like it has deeper gameplay than it actually does, too.

I'm also checking out The Colonel's Bequest right now, since that seems to be closer to what I'm going for judging from the description.

Thanks for the help.

>>146560930
Sure l have ideas, but I'm gonna use them for my own game. Just make a DR clone like everyone else.

>>146562775
Just realized I said "Thanks for the help" two times, damn I need more sleep.

>>146562842
Three times. Get some sleep, anon.

>>146559080
Selenon rising didn't fly so good and it had (actually preddy decent) investigation gameplay

>>146563293
Very poorly marketed, ugly, and episodic probably doesn't help

>>146556334
evn get 1-3k sales in the first week on steam and then dip off dramatically until they can go on sale again. It's even easier to pull in sales towards 3000 when your game is $8.49 vs $19.99.

>>146563924
>evn get 1-3k sales in the first week on steam
1K is average, not low end. Many, many EVN releases come out under that.

>>146564235

The ones below 1k and around it always have something wrong such as a premise that won't find an easy audience, ugly art, or the creator doing sales for them direct before moving on to Steam. the current sales for HB are not anything out of the ordinary.

>>146564921
They're not massively out of the ordinary, but they are good and better than average. It is worth discussing why it did better than many other games did.

Frantically trying to shuffle the goalposts helps no one, especially because discussing those little details about why certain games DIDN'T make it to an average level of sales IS useful.

In my opinion, direct sales before steam is not actually a thing that would cause a lower sales number, especially because in the one case people were trying to invent that as an excuse for, it was for someone who gives out steam keys with direct sales puchases! So most of the direct sales WOULD end up being counted.

>>146564921
1k sales is chump change after steam takes their cut. Why even bother if you can't even make enough for a few months rent and food?

>>146565593
>who gives out steam keys with direct sales puchases
are you under the impression that steamspy counts free keys?

>>146565642
> developing evns for a living

that's the mistake. (unless you are making tit games)

>>146566080
>tfw anon made me realize japan is a mistake
Time to nuke them again I guess.

>>146566036
Uh. Yes. It can't NOT count them. Do you even understand how SteamSpy works? You don't think Steam actually gives sales data to them, do you?

They're sampling steam accounts, checking to see what games those accounts own, and extrapolating from there. When you look at an existing Steam account, you have NO way to tell whether the game that account owns was bought at full price, bought at discount, received as a gift, installed from a Humble Bundle key, installed from a key given out with direct sales, installed with a key bought off a gray market site, or installed with a key given for free. All you can tell is that they own the game.

>>146566036
Does it not? Honest question. I thought it counted the owners and couldn't differentiate between people who purchased the game and people who got free keys.

>>146565642
1k sales in the first week does not mean 1k sales over total lifespan. Also, if you're selling a game for $10-$20, where are you living that $7-15K is not enough for 'a few months rent and food'?

Quick thoughts on Hierofania 2, now that it's basically out:

It deliberately ignores many core VN tenets. There are no sprites. The PoV character switches several times. When characters are shown, they are not even remotely attractive.

Despite that, the story remains darkly compelling, and it always feels as though there's a huge and detailed world of which we're only getting the barest glimpses. The characters are believable and interesting, and push the story along well.

It's just as weird as its predecessor, and certainly doesn't win any awards for production values. Despite that, I still think it's worth checking out.

I started Solstice and I can get why casual would be put off by it: there's A LOT of exposition in the first part.

This is not unusual for a fantasy setting, but having a few scenes interrupted by narration makes the pacing weird. It zig zags quite a bit.

On the plus side, so far the characters are all quite good so the slower parts don't feel terrible.

>>146550626
Space. The final frontier.

How's the weekend going senpaitachi?

>>146570302
Pretty boring. Artists have gone missing again, so it is just back to me writing a story that probably should just stay as traditional prose.

>>146570302
drawing lesbo schoolgirls

>>146570302
My file is launching and then immediately giving me a windows error "Exe has stopped working"

>>146573412
Well that's a divine intervention telling you to stop working and fap the day away!

>>146573840
So the culprit of my zero progress in the last three months were none other than God's will?
Good to know. You have taken a weight off me, anon.

>>146574865
> how anon got turned into a catholic

Is there any way to write a love interest who is neither male nor female without ticking off either the tumblrites or the people who despise them?

Since the answer is almost certainly 'no', is it even worth trying?

>>146577352

Depends. Is it because their culture is similar to japan, where the strict gender roles means that being gay/trans is seen as being a little bit of both? Is it because they are non human and their gender doesn't work that way?

Specify, anon.

>>146577662
Intersex and raised outside normal culture (like, being raised as a living god by superstitious villagers who were weirded out by the biology)

>>146572656
Relutionizing the medium one step at a time.

>>146577918

In that case, I don't think anyone who isn't looking for stuff to be offended by. It sounds logical for them to be neither male or female.

>>146570302
Good! After a two-month block where I was barely able to write a meager 1000 words/day, I discovered the problem was the fucking music I was listening to. Tried silence too, to no avail. Aparently only touhou gets me over the 6000 mark.

>>146580438
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXiktIl0EO0

put it on repeat

>>146580856
Sounds soothing enough, I'll give it a try.

>https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=37081
>they actually got people

oh god why?

>>146581312
It's yuri.

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>>146581312
christ

Only made $300K so far this year from EVNs. Must try harder.

>>146581312
>yuri game
>MC's name is "Hana"
>it starts as she's collecting lilies

jfc

>>146581312
Someone should warn those poor souls. It's got to be uninformed consent.

>>146581786
See? If this guy can make that much money, so can I!
Mine will be the EVN that will pierce the pussy in the pussy of EVNdom!

>>146581312
Ay de la puta.

>>146581786
Dang senpai. Share your trade secret.

>inb4 lenny memes :^)

>>146582137
uniformed consent
my favorite kind of sex scene

pride and precum

Silent playthroughs of a kinetic novel are essentially piracy, and that's not very nice.

Finished Solstice. The game is technically quite impressive - it takes what was done with Cinders and improves it.

However, the story is one of those "love or hate" types. The characters, while compelling, are all terrible people in some way or another (less so the protagonists). Personally, I have a low tolerance for cynical stories, so I didn't enjoy it as much as I could have. Overall, it's even more bleak than Cinders.

The mystery is ok, though it's more of the type where you watch it unfold rather than be given all the pieces to solve it yourself. It takes second place to the interpersonal relationships of the cast, and their own backstories.

The romances are very superficial, and they center more around sex than actual romance. The game isn't explicit, though (there's kissing sprites and then fade to black).


I'd give it 7/10 if you're like me and don't care for the tone of work, 8/10 otherwise.

And then someone posted bad explicit yaoi fanart of my otome game characters. Clearly, I have made it now

>>146589647
post it

>>146589763
blue board

>>146589836
link it

>>146589993
pervert

I didn't ask for this.

>>146590618
liar

>>146567212
>Also, if you're selling a game for $10-$20

Is that realistic though? I mean for a team, maybe. I'm talking about from a single developer standpoint. Most people probably don't want to pay that much for a VN.

>>146566080
No one will do anything passionately if they can't see any meaningful return from it. If there's no passion there will be no good VNs.

>>146572656
There's a Stargate VN?

>>146595015

> most people don't want to pay 10+ for a vn
> creators should get meaningful returns

???

So what's the plan? charge $5 and sell 20k copies?

>>146595015
>Most people probably don't want to pay that much for a VN
anon, most VNs cost that or more.
I mean, sure, go ahead, sell your game for $3 and then complain that it's impossible to make a living selling EVNs, but that's really your fault then

>>146595015
>$10-$20
>Most people probably don't want to pay that much for a VN
How are people who are making VNs so fucking clueless about the people who play them? Do you even play or buy them yourself?

"A-Anon, please stop this while you're still young and take that corporate job your uncle is giving you. You won't like it at first but, in a few years, you'll get used to it. This... VN-dev thing won't put food on the table. You won't find a sweetheart this way. My friends has been asking me what you do for a living and I don't know what to say. P-Please anon... Leave all this behind and work in the office."

>>146599525
If only I had an uncle... I'm very talented at pretending to work, could use part of that office time to write.

ded

>>146599525
The biggest problem with Welcome to the NHK was the suggestion that even a complete loser could instantly get a job if he were just willing to try

>>146602872
It's the japs plan to shame NEETs into working 100 hour shifts at minimum wage. If not, how else would you mantain a system that benefits greatly their corporate exec overlords?

>>146599525
Actually this is more practical for me since I'm too physically weak to work in the city. The pay in my country is too low and I can get more off vn and selling chinese cartoons. It's fun working at home and relaxing while others are grinding away their lives. Not that it doesn't have its hard times of course, but I'd rather do this instead of inhaling smog and getting squeezed in the train everyday.

>>146605580
Inhale smoke instead

>>146597751
Theyre just insecure. They believe they can't possibly be worth anything, so they undervalue themselves even more.

https://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=38936

What an unfortunate project title.

>>146586972
Highway Blossoms dev?

>>146607607
>Golden Essence was founded in 2016 by...

Is this a South Park episode?

>>146442546
>>146442576
Good news, he's looking into making the box and text a bit bigger.

http://ask.fm/Irraere/answers/136811762646

>Part of the idea with the new textbox is that you can full screen the game with the higher res and the textbox will naturally be bigger with the rest of the game.

Good for the people with 1440p, but most people are between 720p and 1080p, so most people won't have the advantage of the full res he's going for. Those people will still want the extra CG and full body sprites, so a box that reads well on multiple resolutions is a must.

>>146610929
Considering that a visual novel requires reading, I'd rather have a comfortable box (that you can always hide) than see more of the sprites.

>>146612178
I think this is especially true of Tao's work, since feet seem to be something he struggles with. At least if they end up looking awkward, the dialogue box is there to help mask them.

Will Black Sands revolutionize the medium?

>>146614476
The medium has no crown to topple

>>146615635
I thought Dischan was the crown to topple.

Highway Blossoms review

>Cute little story but it would have been better in another medium, like a webcomic. I didn't like the main characters at all so their romance didn't pique me, but in another medium with better character development it probably would have. Had there been any interactivity, then the visual novel format would have worked, but since there are no chocies or interactivity, again, it would have been better as a webcomic.

>Goofball Mode was cute, and EZ Mode made me laugh really hard.

Changing mediums isn't going to make the characters or story any better.

>>146615739
The people who couldn't organise a pissup in a brewery?

>>146616193
They had a pretty in-depth analysis of the characters done. It's a good read
> http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561198022888714/recommended/451760/

>>146612798

Every sprite he's done beyond Toko has feet. And why is a textbox there to mask feet when sprite feet are almost never in frame? Your comment makes zero sense.

>>146618938
He's done feet before, but half the time they seem off somehow. The sprite update will have full body sprites and with 1440p as a goal, the entire sprite will likely be on screen head to toe.

>>146616193
>Goofball Mode was cute, and EZ Mode made me laugh really hard.

So basically the actual story is absolute shit you're better off reading memes? Good to know.

>>146618406
This is practically a thesis on why the MC is shit.

>>146622024
>not feminine enough because she knows how to drive
I didn't know Saudis played EVNs

>>146621363
Pretty sure that's not what they said.

>>146622303
They keep bringing up how the MC is an unempathetic jerkass who's selfish. They even say that Marina became a less happy person due to being with Amber and that they don't think the relationship will go very well post-game.

Highway Blossoms AKA Toxic Relationship Simulator

>1. It seems like you can’t do anything right.
>2. Everything is about them and never about you.
>3. You find yourself unable to enjoy good moments with this person.
>4. You’re uncomfortable being yourself around that person.
>5. You’re not allowed to grow and change.

http://tinybuddha.com/blog/5-signs-youre-in-a-toxic-relationship/

Marina suffered all 5 signs of a toxic relationship.

>>146623094
It's her own fault for having shit taste in women
she was asking for it

>>146624197
Very positive reviews, people calling their relationship cute/sweet, and people saying how emotionally touching their story was. People like unhealthy relationships confirmed.

>>146607607
>All the positions below are not paid positions. This recruitment is for people who are willing to work for free for this project. However, we can give you some money that we make from the game as well. If you work for us, you will be seen in the credits; which we may put in a movie, opening or ending (most likely ending).
Why don't you learn from this guy and start making a commercial game for no cost at all?

>>146624950
Is Aki Sekai at it again?

>>146624950
No more slave labor for me. Also, Sharded... Seriously? It's like naming a VN Die Area.

Die Area
Battle for Watari Butte Hole.

>>146627260
I don't get what's funny about the project being called Sharded.

>>146627638
say out loud "i sharded at work"

meep

>>146485886
yes but that's also more work

just like how a doodle would be better as a painting or a VN might be better as a fullblown RPG.

>>146633419
that logic leap

>>146607607
On the one hand, someone really should tell them.
On the other, this is hilarious.

>>146637058
Don't. It'll ruin the fun.

denied

>>146639945
But why

come on

>>146567373
Oh cool someone else who liked Heirofania (the first one -- I haven't tried the second yet!) I'm really excited to hear that it's got a similar feel to the first.

This is the first time in years I've played a VN and wanted to volunteer to help out. I agree some it could use some polish in places, but some of that is it's charm IMO. Like, as weird as this is going to sound, the perspective being off on Douglas' sprite when he casts a spell with the mirror... that works? Idk how to explain it but it's like the sprites having this uncanny look accentuates the mood.

The place where I would change things would be like the textbox, which has an obviously stretched BG image. The music also abruptly cuts off in places, or switches too quickly. A couple of tracks loop in a jarring way (the title theme, for example.) Not sure if I'd add dissolves or not. Maybe for all the characters *except* The Stranger (like with the mask guy from Majora's Mask). But the writing really carries it, and a lot of the time the visuals still look good (or fitting) despite being a result of technical deficiencies.

I'm getting excited again.

>>146643334

JB, I presume? I'd certainly be thrilled if you volunteered.

It's strange, but I think the low budget actually works in its favour - the off-putting sprites certainly feel unique, and probably help contribute to the grim feeling of the world.

But yeah, the writing is really the strong point. Crocket is just fantastic in action.

>>146643684
> JB, I presume? I'd certainly be thrilled if you volunteered.
D-Damn it they know who I am!

Idk how I'd help though. My typical art would ruin a VN like that. Maybe stuff like effects programming, graphic design, or something along those lines.

>>146622303
I don't think these are valid points for somebody 'not seeming like a woman' (pretty stereotypical), but I do agree with the reviewer in that Amber's internal narration reminded me more of a man than a woman's... I know there's no 'one specific way' that all women have to act in order to be women, but even so... Amber's narration and some of her dialogue made me think of the 'standard cool male protag' you get in a lot of VNs... Mostly because of her initial aloof-ness, and some of the snide jokes.