Hello, my name is Emanuel. I do game development and writing as hobbies on the side.
I have recently discovered a Visual Novel engine called Ren'py, which allows for easy scripting using Python.
I have had the idea of creating a specific mystery Visual Novel for a long time now (Or a Sound Novel. A Sound Novel is just like a Visual Novel, simply without any of the choices. It is a story told in a linear fashion, which has its pros and cons. For example, Higurashi would be considered a Sound Novel).
I want to put a big emphasis on the design of the novel. It has to feel whole; like all the people working on it had a specific vision in mind (Which will most likely be three people, me, an artist and a composer). This means that communication with the artist will be vital throughout the development process, by phone, email and other means (Yeah, I'm making this sound a little official, but I'm pretty friendly, don't worry).
I'm looking for a very clean anime art-style, with grey and serious tones and a good use of subtle colours. I don't know many art terms, excuse me, so just try to understand what I am going for here, besides, this can be discussed later as it will depend on the style as well as the skill of the artist.
There will be a lot of art required for this game, so you will have to be prepared for that. I estimate the script to be around 400,000 words, with the game being around 15-20 hours long. Three main things will be required, art-wise:
1. Characters (With no background and numerous different facial expressions)
2. Backgrounds
3. Characters in situations
The resolution of the project will be 1280x720, meaning that the backgrounds will have to be drawn in that resolution and the characters will have to scale to that resolution. If that is a bad idea from an artistic or technical standpoint, please let me know. I will also of course let you know what characters and backgrounds are needed.
As I said, the design and art-style will be discussed before development on the art starts, yet after the artist knows the general idea that we are going for, he will have the creative freedom to create the art however he wants, based on those design discussions of course.
It is currently being developed. If you are interested in this project, let me know and we can discuss the plot as well as the eventual release of the novel. Neither me or you will get any money from this at the moment or most likely any time during development, but I am planning an eventual Steam release, thanks to the indie-friendly Greenlight system. A percentage of the profits would go to you the artist and the composer. The percentage of the profits will also be discussed.
Here is a quick story synopsis (Of the first Act of six):
"This is a story of a girl called Hikari and her dreams of becoming a private detective, which come true when she makes her way home from the last day of school to meet her dad waiting with a surprise. Fulfilling her dreams, her dad finally agrees to her uncle, Yuuto, taking Hikari under his care for one simple case. At first, the case seems like any other, yet soon she finds out things that will change this two week work experience for the better, or worse."
Of course the story will develop far beyond that, expect Metal Gear Solid kind of plot twists!
Thanks for reading!
PLEASE READ: Thanks for reading!
