New look

As you can see if you’ve ever been to this blog before – we have a new image.  Um… who’s we? >.> Shuddup.

This change was way overdue, so here it finally is. Still blue, because blue is my favorite color, but with a new banner. This was hard stuff guys, it took me like a day.

The mascot-couple is still present, as they have been with this blog since the very beginning. Maybe I should name them…

Now all that’s left is to finish another game to add the new logo to it. *cough cough*

So if I’m slacking off from my games, what have I been doing? My friend convinced me to start reading Game of Thrones so… there goes my free time.

I’ve been playing Starry Sky in Winter some more. I don’t really like SS games, but the plot/text is more accessible for a j-newb like me.  I’m saving “Spaz-kun” Tsubasa for last since he’s my sign (he could have been the worst character ever and I still would have liked him).

Aaand of course I’ve been watching anime. So many series have come to an end, but I’m excited to decide what I’ll be picking up in the new season.

So yeah, I’m like all of you, I have a life (kinda).  Don’t kill me just yet, I’ll finish Poison Sweet at some point and then Crypto.

Sorry for being lazy and stuff

I haven’t posted in a while… I just haven’t been working on the game, so there was no reason to post. Real life problems and just general lack of motivation… The usual. I’ve been watching unhealthy amounts of anime and tv shows, reading a lot, and pretty much living the life of a vegetable. A lazy vegetable.

As for the studio name thing, I’ve decided to pick Selavi, since it was my favorite anyway and it was well recieved. Thank you everyone who voted! When I have time I’ll make the appropriate changes to the blog.
I did make a tumblr in the end, for all the little updates. (this is where I’d put my updates… IF I HAD ANY!)
http://selavigames.tumblr.com/
It’s a work in progress, don’t hate. >.>

Warning: this post may contain whining

After Signed X I’ve been feeling a little lost. I’m supposed to work on Poison Sweet, but I feel like everything looks kinda… meh, and that I can do more, but at the same time I ask myself why. Why should I bother redoing/touching up sprites, UI, etc.?

This brings us to my problem. A few people have told me I should try to do commercial games. I’ve always hoped I could one day, but now the thought won’t leave me alone. The thing is most people don’t understand what making commercial games really means (and I can’t say that I completely do either). I know my content isn’t at commercial level, but the thought of selling my games is appealing. Knowing I’m actually getting paid would give me more motivation, not to mention alleviate the guilt I feel every time I work on a game instead of searching for a real job.

I started entertaining that possibility. I thought I would sell my games cheap, so that everyone could afford them (future games only, of course). But then I realized, even if I charge 5 $ or less, most people still won’t get them. There are many free VNs, why would they pay anything for mine, when they could just play free ones?  My biggest desire is that as many people as possible play my games.

So my other option would be donations. 1$ from every 100th person who visits my blog would still be something.  Sure, not nearly enough to be considered profitable, but just the feeling that I’ve done something worthwhile would be enough. You might be thinking, isn’t the fact that people are playing your games worthwhile already? Of course it is. Reading comments from people who’ve liked my games makes me really happy, but only very few actually take the time to write a comment.

Wait. How many comments has the Summer found me page have? Around 50 (not including my own). How many downloads does the game have? Over 11.000, if we count only the latest English version.  So one in 220 people left a comment. Leaving a comment is free. See where I’m going with this?

Sure, I haven’t done much promotion for my blog, because I’ve never had a reason to do so before. I haven’t even posted it to my facebook. (I don’t want my -especially male- friends to laugh at my girly games. lol)

Le sigh~

Anyway, I’m done whining for the day. Thoughts are very much appreciated.

 

Still working…

It’s been 3 weeks since I last posted? Time sure files…
It’s true I haven’t been working on the game too much, but at this stage there’s nothing much to show, and no one wants to hear (read?) me talk about how I struggle with code problems.

The biggest task ahead of me right now is putting the sprites in. I really, really, REALLY don’t want to do it. It’s so tedious… Playing the whole game, frame by frame and adding each expression. This sucks for me because I’m such a perfectionist when it comes to things like this. To be honest, when I play a VN a lot of the time I don’t even look at the character’s face, unless I pick an option and wait to see how he/she reacts. Still… when I think about a line in the game, I know exactly how the character would say it, but the player doesn’t. Punctuation helps of course, but I’m never sure if people actually catch the difference between “Oh.” and “Oh!” and I tend to use them a lot. The best thing I can do is help them by changing the character’s expression. So I have to make sure to do it right. This is why I dread the thought of putting the sprites in. It’s so much responsibility… And no one hates responsibility as much as me.

I didn’t really know what to put as the mandatory picture of the post. So… I thought since Valentine’s Day was just a few days ago, some funny pick-up lines from the boys. 😛 Not very creative, I know.

 

Finals == X_X

So… I haven’t done much lately regarding the game. There’s still a lot to do, more than I’d care to remember, especially regarding the sprites. I have avoided working on the game because when I start tinkering with the tiniest thing, next thing I know I’m knee-deep in code. And that is bad, very bad. Why? Read the title again.

Once such occasion lead me to the creation of one thing I’d never thought I’d make, a side image for the main character. I am not overly pleased with the side image or the special textbox, but it serves it’s purpose, and I’ve learned some valuable lessons making it.  I still have to work on it some more, but that’s for another time.

Other than that… not much else I want to reveal yet.

To make up for the fact that I didn’t work much, I’ve made a drawing. That makes everything better, right?  I was thinking of using the chibis as part of the game presentation when I finish it. Anyway,  here’s the “masterpiece”:

I don't have to draw hands! Muahahaha