August, alongside December, is always the busiest month of the year for me. Even though this time, we (sadly) aren’t releasing a game, there’s still been quite a lot of stuff to take care of, and that won’t really change until the end of the month, either. Nevertheless, I’ve still been able to get some writing done.
Aug 14
Raiko’s Birthday & Blog Anniversary
As mentioned in our last Weekly Update, I wanted to type another blog post today, as it is kind of a special date for two very different reasons. One of which is revealed through the picture above: the 14th of August is actually the birthday of SHINRAI’s grumpy little protagonist, Raiko Shinpuku!
Aug 12
Weekly Update #156: Character “Routes”
Today’s posting is going to be a little shorter. Over this past week, I did some more writing for GENBA no Kizuna, finally finishing the introduction scene for the second Investigation Phase and sending it over to Natsu, so that she could give me her impressions on it. I was able to hear her thoughts on the more extensive additions I have made to the first phase as well, and am once again quite happy with what she had to say.
I honestly can’t wait to continue writing as I will fully delve into the investigation next. I just have to decide whose scenario I’m going to write first. Keiichi’s? Shinketsu’s? Rei’s? Or Himatsu’s? It’s a tough choice, as I truly think that all of them will be equally interesting and entertaining.
Aug 05
Weekly Update #155: Attention To Detail
In last week’s blog post, I talked a little about the recent research I’ve been doing for GENBA no Kizuna and the issue of trying to find the balance between “fun” and “realism” in a game. Because often times, sticking to realism can make a game (or a story in general) boring, while straying too far away from it could make it seem utterly ridiculous, causing the players to roll their eyes.
This is especially the case in mystery stories where the readers/players are prompted to think for themselves and figure out the truth before the detective does. Because of this, they tend to question a lot of things. Way more than they’d do with any other kind of story, be it romance or fantasy.
Jul 29
Weekly Update #154: The Balance Between Fun & Realism
Over this past week, I have done some more editing on GENBA no Kizuna’s first Investigation Phase and started writing the intro scene for the second, which ends at the first point that will allow you to play as a different character than Keiichi, the officer-in-charge.
It is here where the actual investigation starts, with everything that happens before it being “preparation”: meeting your team mates as well as the possible suspects/witnesses, taking a look at the victim and receiving some general information about the case. The second phase is where you will actually start collecting evidence, examining the body and interviewing people.
Jul 23
Weekly Update #153: 1st Investigation Phase Writing Done
As mentioned in our previous blog post, I’ve spent this past week once again working on the writing for GENBA no Kizuna’s first Investigation Phase (or chapter if you will), aiming to finish it by today. And I was indeed successful in that. I actually finished it yesterday and simply did some proofreading, editing and a few revisions today, so that I can send it over to Natsu later.
Jul 16
Weekly Update #152: Writing Progress
A little late with today’s posting, which is mostly due to the fact that I have been so busy writing again. I really wanted to get another scene for GENBA no Kizuna done, so that I can send it to Natsu later and get her impressions. I’ve been mostly focused on the writing in general for this past week, and have made quite a bit of progress.
Jul 09
Weekly Update #151: GENBA no Kizuna’s Structure
Originally, I wanted to do a little GENBA no Kizuna summary for today, compiling all the information we have unveiled over the past month into one informative post. Due to the recent summer sale, we have gotten quite a few new players after all. And they might be curious to learn more about our next project without having to read through a month worth of posts, haha.
However, I think I’m going to hold off on that summary a little longer and instead talk about our current progress and what I’ve been up to this past week.
Jul 02
Weekly Update #150: GENBA no Kizuna’s Setting
So, Jurassic June has unfortunately come to a close. As a final conclusion to this month that not only celebrates the Jurassic Park franchise, but dinosaurs in general, I’d like to elaborate a bit more on what I have talked about in last week’s blog post: the reasons as to why we chose Jurassic June in order to reveal more about GENBA no Kizuna, our next murder mystery visual novel.
Jun 25
Weekly Update #149: GENBA no Kizuna’s Dinosaur Theme
One of the reasons why we have decided to wait until June in order reveal more about our next project is the fact that, among dinosaur enthusiasts, June is also known as Jurassic June. It’s a month to celebrate the Jurassic Park franchise and really just dinosaurs in general.
Before we revealed the actual title, I used to refer to GENBA no Kizuna as our “dino project”. An admittedly rather misleading term. When you look at the teaser page, you will see that it is another murder mystery that “tells the story of four rookie investigators, trying to solve their first murder case and learning how to effectively work as a team“.
So now you might wonder, what does this have to do with dinosaurs? Well…
