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This page is for discussion of the artistic side of content creation, such as writing and characterization, as well as for the posting of incomplete content for the purpose of receiving feedback from each other.

Feel free to discuss characters and stories you are working on.
The old Custom Content thread can be found here. The first archived artistic discussion thread can be found here.

Posts

Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
There definitely can be a point where things feel like they are dragging on. However, where that point lies can differ. I think the question you have to ask yourself is what the purpose of the scene is? What information is it trying to relay? While it's not appropriate to focus solely on the info you want to relay (conversations and internal thoughts get derailed all the time), brevity can be an ally as well.


Feel like I just talked in a circle, there.
Zakariya
Every misdeed has its own punishment, and every good deed has its reward.
1174
So, how's everyone doing in terms of content-progression?
Hi all! Been awhile since I've shown my face around here. Hope everyone has been well.

I may have a little surprise brewing. Thought about saving it for the game's 10th anniversary, but since it should be completed by the end of the year, why wait? I'll be posting again before then....
Kakyusei pack is almost here!

I'm gonna do one more test run through and then upload a beta before New Year's Day.



This content pack features 5 out of the 13 pursuable female characters from the original 1997 game Kakyusei by Elf. They are: Mizuho, Miko, Reiko, Mayumi, and Shizuka. A 6th character (Nana) is partially complete, and unfortunately that's all I can do for now. (hard to remove her at this point, as a bit of the story is intertwined with other characters, so forgive the fact that there is one unwinnable character)

You will want Clean Mode ON so that you can focus on the Kakyusei characters only. Stats are not very important but state locks play a big role. (more on this in the Readme file to come)

The story routes try to be faithful to the original game for the most part, but there are plenty of changes. Since no English translation of the original game has ever existed, this is the closest thing to it...yet.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21806
That collage of screencaps is incredibly reminiscent of True Love ~Jun'ai Monogatari~. Particularly Mayumi, though, I think there was a character with that name there?
^ I very vaguely remember that game.

Mayumi from Kakyusei is a character that not everyone likes, but she rounds out the cast well, and is very nice eye candy imo.
Download link to Kakyusei pack v1.0 beta:
https://rpgmaker.net/media/content/users/4260/locker/Kakyusei_pack_v10_for_Heartache_101.zip

@Garage and anyone who wants to try it: I'm interested in feedback of any kind.

I'm in the middle of my first playthru. Not sure if I'm making the right decisions yet. But there's something I'd like to comment on:


There's several choices like that where there's so much text that it's almost flowing over ...
Minor bug. If you talk with Shizuka about computers you'll get an event in the sick room where the last few sentences of her part of the dialogue are "spoken" by Miko.

"If you can't decide yourself, it's okay to imagine that you're doing it for the sake of a girl. I think you'd best decide soon."
Oh, I thought I'd fixed the overflowing choices. Thanks
Zakariya
Every misdeed has its own punishment, and every good deed has its reward.
1174
I will attempt to test out your content later today, flowerthief.

Also, it is...interesting...how you chose the name Bowser instead of Kazuhiko. XD
author=Zakariya
Also, it is...interesting...how you chose the name Bowser instead of Kazuhiko. XD

Kinda sorry about that. I was thinking about picking a name, and the first I came across was "something like Yoshi" ... well ... got stuck on that for about 10s - then it somewhat mutated ...
Zakariya
Every misdeed has its own punishment, and every good deed has its reward.
1174
It's alright, Garage.

If it means anything, choosing that name added to the amusement factor and makes that screenshot worthier of attention.
Zakariya, right on. Possibly there are not many bugs, but I'm interested in general feedback.
As for general feedback:

They should show more variation in facial expressions during events. The way you did it with the original cast of HTC - these girls felt really like they were ALIVE. Your new characters lack a fair part of this quality. (And yes I do know how much easier this is said than done)

On my first (and up to now only) run I got Mizuho and Miko more-or-less without trying and (with plenty of luck and not before DAY 125) Shizuka. I missed out on Mayumi somewhere and failed to try getting closer to Reiko. (At least I gathered some pointers about where I failed them - I guess)

I consider this "balanced" in the sense that Mizuho (and to a degree) Miko are seemingly meant to be easy and I was concentrating on Shizuka, who's supposed to be hard to get.
So only almost getting her in a normal-length game on the first try is about perfectly paced. (If I went for her again, I'd know what to do better to speed things up).

For my taste there were a few too many panty shots, frankly. But all in all the GC were a nice addition to the game, made things a lot more interesting and relatable.

And I'm a sucker for endings (yeah that's probably just me). The three I watched provided a nice glimpse on how things will play out after the end but they're pretty short.
Thanks, Garage. Good stuff. I'm a sucker for endings too.

One issue I'm reflecting on is that it's too hit and miss to find the dating CG events. With most CG in the latter half of the game coming from dating events, this might make the latter half feel slow. The solution I lean towards would be to add another picture-less NPC who dispenses hints. The original game in fact had such a thing.

author=flowerthief
Thanks, Garage. Good stuff. I'm a sucker for endings too.

One issue I'm reflecting on is that it's too hit and miss to find the dating CG events. With most CG in the latter half of the game coming from dating events, this might make the latter half feel slow. The solution I lean towards would be to add another picture-less NPC who dispenses hints. The original game in fact had such a thing.

By the way: that NPC is - of course - still there. Only that their hints aren't all too helpful for characters without stat checks ;)

A few other things that I'd like to bring to your attention: most of the new girls don't have all their "CUSTOM" strings defined. Especially not for the "can I ask a question event".
And there seems to be very few PHONE/Bedroom stories ... which is a bit sad since I usually try and upgrade my plan at least once. (And they're a nice way to get to know someone outside of school)

Speaking of: I really like the "Counceling session" events with my new favorite teacher. They're not too much interfering with normal school events and they add a nice touch.
author=Garage
And there seems to be very few PHONE/Bedroom stories ... which is a bit sad since I usually try and upgrade my plan at least once. (And they're a nice way to get to know someone outside of school)


Yeah... Without inventing new conversations that weren't in the original game, I have no good solution for this. I could split up conversation stories that normally appear in the school phase into school or phone, or provide both a school and phone version, but implementing either strategy could get ugly.

Speaking of: I really like the "Counceling session" events with my new favorite teacher. They're not too much interfering with normal school events and they add a nice touch.


Ikr? It was one of the reasons I selected Shizuka to be in the pack. Those exchanges are fun, especially when the pc starts gaslighting her with double entendres.