Some Time After Winning National Novel Writing Month

It's been some time since I have won National Novel Writing Month.  National Novel Writing Month is an challenge that happens once every November.  This is when a person decides to sit down and write 50,000 words in a month.  I won last year's nanowrimo and won this year's challenge again.

Next year, I want to publish my first electronic book on my indie author website: www.indieauthortiffany.com.  I will be publishing my 2013 nanowrimo story on that website but this year's nanowrimo challenge was different for me.  I decided to make the challenge about my next visual novel story.  Captured (previously known as Trapped) is nearly its final stages of development.  I can not work on the visual novel's artwork on the go, so why not write a story while I am out and about?

Bernard's Secret

Bernard's mermaid mother tried to escape with him at an early age of twelve year's old but failed.  Forced to live with his paranoid human father for years, Bernard has grown a low tolerance for everyone on the island he lives at.  One day, he hears the voice of his mother calling to him from the sea.  She tells him that if he does not find her during his eighteenth year, he will die an agonizing death at the hands of the gods.

There's a reason why he's stuck with his father and why his mother is unable to come get him.  Bernard's Secret is a boyXboy visual novel.  I had lot's of fun writing the rough draft.  The story is really dark right now and hast a ton of metaphors.  I'm going to have fun with it.

This is Going to Take a While

 

A few weeks ago I began working on the final scenes for Captured (formerly known as Trapped).  I'm not used to doing drawing with multiple characters and a background.  Most of my work on deviantart has just a character and no background at all.  This image above has made be think about perspective and my character designs.  I accidently left some details out on Amenti (mermaid main character).

I will try to color in those details and not not forget about them on the other special pictures.  My next issue is that I'm not sure how to put these scenes into the ren'py engine, but I will get to that part later.  Maybe I will make a thread of this on the lemma soft forum.  Maybe...

Coloring multiple characters and the background will take a while but I am putting 1 to 3 hours a day into making this visual novel now.

Changing the Name for Trapped

Hello guys!

As it has been brought to my attention that the tittle Trapped has been taken.  I have been thinking of a new name for  my visual novel right now.  I'm thinking of Fish Tank and Caught!  Anything to deal with a mermaid being stuck in a tank for long periods of time. 

Last Background Image is Done!

I think I am improving each time I get to use Photoshop.  This is the last background image for Trapped.  I will now be working on special character scenes.  I have six of them to do in total. 

Since making this game, I have learned more about Photoshop, anatomy drawing, and writing better.  There is going to be a lot of mismatched artwork.  

Of course there is a possibility that I could be adding in more background images or redoing or touching up on old images.  I will do this after drawing and finishing the special scenes.  

I need to redo the story as what is written in the ren'py engine is a rough draft.

Then...next is collecting all the tracks from both of my wonderful music artists.  One of their websites is here  Both artists have volunteered to help me with the music.  I am happy to finally have people to count on.

Lastly, I need to find another tittle for Trapped as the name was already taken by another visual novelist.

This post was already on www.darksirengames.com

Some More Additions (music)

Hello guys.  I am currently working on finishing the rest of the artwork for Trapped.  Music has always been an issue for me.  On the video where I experimenting with ren'py for the first time, I forgot to add music.  

This post is not about me asking for someone to do some music for me.  I already have two people willing to do music for me as of the beginning of November.  It really helps to have images available to show these musical artists so they can get a good idea of the story.  I'm no longer the only one working on this visual novel.  This is such a good feeling for me right now.

National Novel Writing Month

November is almost over.  On the first day of November was the start of National Novel Writing Month. National Novel Writing Month is when a person sits down and writes 50,000 words in one month.  If using Ariel font and 12 sized font, then that is roughly 118 pages.  This is a rewarding challenge that I have managed to take on in 2013 and finish.  

This year, I want to make the story I'm currently writing into my next visual novel.  The visual novel will be BxB but, for right now, I am working on the main story and not the romantic choices eyt.  Here is a summary that is a work in process:  

"Rey was rescued from a car filled with water, when he was twelve. His mother was never found. The experience left him desiring to find his mother who he knows survived the incident. She told him that he must find the seashell and kill his humanity if he wishes to become whole. Anyone has been told this on the island, have become murderous monsters upon their eighteenth year."

You can follow my Indie Author Tiffany  website in order to see my progress.  

This post was already on www.darksirengames.com a few days ago. 

Learning From Anime Conventions (Nekocon 2014)

Nekocon 2014

Last Friday was Nekocon 2014.  Like any anime convention, I had the chance to speak with people who are into the same anime and video games that I like.  The panels this year were what I needed to feel inspired and ready to continue working on Trapped, National Novel Writing Month, and my anatomy drawing practice.

 In an ironic sort of way, I visited a panel in which the panelist showed us how he made video game music and the music rules that applied to modern and old video games.  On the same day, I was contacting with a man who emailed me, saying he is interested in making music for Trapped (more on that in later posts).  The Making a Strong Female Character; More than Just a Sword panel, there was a lot of talk on making MENTALLY strong female characters.

There was some good ideas.  I always think of the character's personalities, flaws, motivation, perks before thinking about their gender.  From the panelists suggestions, even battle girl in bikini armor number 123,454,564 could be an interesting character with good writing.  It was also nice to hear that one of the panelists was adding some fanservice for females after having just fanservice for males in his work for a long time.

One thing that really stuck with me on that panel was the concept of fridging and how bad it is.  The idea makes me shudder.

 

Artist Alley

At the artist alley, I wanted to see some work that would get me inspired to pick up my tablet pen again.  In the above picture, the artist's work drew my attention rather easily.  We spoke for a bit and she told me how long she was working on her anatomy skills and how she goes about attracting people to her art table.   I would like to sell artwork in the future at conventions but, for this year, I will work on putting some of my work for auction at the next Nekocon.

You can view the artist's work here.

 

Yaoi, Yaoi, and More Yaoi

There was the History of Yaoi and Yaoi Cliches panel.  I always like going to the yaoi panels, as I get to hear different opinions on yaoi from people who love yaoi.  My boyfriend, being that amazing boyfriend that he is, often accompanies me to these panels.  At the History of Yaoi the panelist explained that game developers have used yaoi to their advantage in attracting people to play their games (example is Chris and Wesker from Resident Evil, Jin and Ragna from Blazblue, etc).

I spoke with the panelist for Yaoi Cliches and she told me to find ideas for yaoi through Tumblr.  Considering the stuff she showed during her presentation (from Tumblr) and my boyfriend's horrified face (he saw more than stuff than he could handle this time), I'll have to be brave while searching Tumblr's dark places for ideas. The best part about the panel was learning what men could and could not take during intimate times.

Till next time for Nekocon.

This post was already on www.darksirengames.com a few days ago.