Once again, I have spent most of my time writing this week, now actually breaking the 40,000 word mark for GENBA no Kizuna‘s 4th chapter. I really didn’t expect it to become this long, but it is the part of the story in which the core investigation work is being done, similar to SHINRAI. Unlike our previous VN, however, there are a lot more places to investigate this time!
May 23
Weekly Update #301: Quick Progress Update!
Just a very quick update today, as I’m running out of time! I spent all day to get the first third of GENBA no Kizuna‘s 4th chapter ready for Natsu to beta-read. And I literally just finished, haha. I’ve made some adjustments and cleaned up the dialogues a lot and feel a lot better about it now. So I hope she will enjoy it…
As mentioned before a couple of times, chapter 4 is turning out to become quite long, which is why it makes more sense to me to send it to Natsu in parts, so I can get her feedback sooner. Overall, I’m really just trying to find the best way to tie it all together at the end now. I hit quite some roadblocks which caused a few headaches, but hopefully, I’ll get to a satisfying result soon. I’m really this close to the finish line now!
Anyway, there is one other thing I did today. I’ve posted a new Patreon poll, so our patrons can now help us decide which SHINRAI character will be featured in swimwear this year!
That about wraps it up, though. Sorry for the short post, but since I’m still focused on writing every day, there really isn’t much else to report! Maybe next week, though, as we get closer to Jurassic June!
Until then, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, as always, take care! :3
May 16
Weekly Update #300: More Writing Progress!
As mentioned in last week’s blog post, we currently have some things going on behind the scenes, which I can’t really talk about nor do I really want to at this point. I’ve decided to share at least a little bit of information with patrons, however, so if you’re curious, you can check out this newest Patreon post. I will be able to share more details publicly soon, most likely during Jurassic June which is fast approaching. So please keep an eye out and look forward to that!
For now, however, I’ll unfortunately have to remain a little secretive. That said, if you do have feedback and suggestions as to how SHINRAI could be improved, now is the perfect time to let me know (or maybe even give me a little reminder)! *wink wink*
May 09
Weekly Update #299: Writing Progress Continues!
As mentioned a number of times before, my work on what was supposed to be the “outline” four GENBA no Kizuna‘s fourth chapter has kind of escalated and turned into actual writing sessions. Although some parts are only summed up in key notes, huge chunks have been fully written out now. At the moment, the chapter is sitting at approximately 22,000 words, making it almost as long as our extended demo.
May 02
Weekly Update #298: Writing & BG Art Progress
I’ve continued with the writing for the fourth chapter of GENBA no Kizuna this past week, more or less finishing up the core backstory events for Rei and Shinketsu. During these, Keiichi learns some important details about their personal struggles and gets a little glimpse into their pasts and even their family lives.
There will certainly be a few more revisions, but I’ve locked down the general structure, rhythm and tone of these events, as well as the kind and amount of information I want to share with players. As such, I can now go back and adjust some earlier parts of the story in order to better build up to this.
Apr 25
Weekly Update #297: Character Backstories
My work on the outline for GENBA no Kizuna‘s penultimate chapter has continued, although this time around “outline” really isn’t the right term to use here. So far, I’ve actually fully written out chapter 4, with Keiichi‘s initial route more or less done.
Once players have completed Keiichi‘s route, it’s about time to help the other main characters tackle and overcome their individual problems, which prevent them from truly focusing on the investigation at hand. This, to me, is the focal point of the entire game, so rather than note down a general outline in key words, I’ve decided to properly write down these scenes.
Apr 18
Weekly Update #296: Chapter 2 Feedback
Over this past week, my work on the outline for GENBA no Kizuna has continued. For the first time, I shared the events of the second chapter with somebody else. Both Natsu and Kuna, actually. Getting their feedback was very useful, so today, I want to get into a little detail about that.
Apr 11
Weekly Update #295: Character Selection
With chapter 2, the investigation in GENBA no Kizuna is really going to get started. So right at the beginning, after the chapter intro screen, players will be prompted to pick one of our four investigators. Because of this, I had to design a little “character selection screen” and you can see the result below (which may not be 100% final yet, but pretty close):
Apr 04
Weekly Update #294: Plans For April
Before we get into my plans for the next few weeks, let’s start with a little progress update! I’ve finished the outline for GENBA no Kizuna‘s second chapter and even sent it over to Natsu. This will actually be the very first time anyone outside of myself is going to read it. As a matter of fact, not even Natsu knows the whole story of GENBA, so I will be very curious to get my first feedback on the events lying beyond our extended demo.
Mar 28
Weekly Update #293: More Outline/Writing Progress
With the “discussion” chapters done, I’ve spent this past week working on the outline for the “investigation” chapters and made quite a bit of progress. Once again, I would like to emphasize that, even though I use the word “outline” here, it’s actually a bit more than just that. I’m not just ordering a list of key notes, structuring how the individual chapters will unfold… in many cases, I am doing actual writing as well, chapter 2 being the best example of that.
