I’ve already talked about the changes and fixes regarding the script, so today, I’d like to talk a bit more about some of the others things that will get adjusted in our little update for SHINRAI.
For one, there is the sound. Several tracks inside the game don’t loop properly, for instance, which is something we’ll fix with the help of our new composer Solo Acapello. There are also long periods of awkward silence, though, with no background music playing at all, so I’ve been thinking about what to do in those kinds of instances.
One possibility would be to add actual music, but back in the day, I specifically decided against that, because I wanted to have a moment of quiet. So, right now, I actually lean more towards the other solution, which we have already applied in GENBA no Kizuna to avoid the same problem: using ambience noises.
In GENBA, jungle-like sounds can be heard whenever there is no music (they are played over the speakers in the Kaseki residence, something that also has actual plot significance). So in SHINRAI, we could do something similar. Maybe you’ll be able to hear the distant howls of the mountain winds, or the humming of electronic devices. I’ve already collected some sounds and will see what I can do with them over the course of the upcoming week.
Speaking of sounds, some SFX files also don’t have the crispest sound to them, so I’ll see what I can do about that, as well.
A couple of sound effects will definitely get updated or replaced with new ones.
Another thing I’ve already taken care of is updating the character introduction cards. For the most part, they still look the same, but some things have been adjusted. Most notable the writing for most of the character names. Although the names are still the same, the kanji to write them have changed. I did this for a couple of reasons, which I will talk in detail about some other time.
I can already show you a little example, though:
If you compare this with Taiko’s old introduction card, you will notice that his first name and family name are written with different kanji now. And although the pronunciation remains the same, the meaning has changed. Furthermore, both of these are real ways to write these names. By which I mean that you won’t really find the old kanji combinations in real life, but that you will find people in Japan, who carry the family name Kikai as written above, or who have been named Taiko, written with these kanji.
Again, I will talk more about the reasoning behind this in a future blog post, but for now, let’s move on to the other changes:
The D.O.B. format has been updated, which I’ve done for GENBA as well, after noticing in several SHINRAI LPs that American players tend to get confused by the DD/MM-format. Aside from that, Taiko is one of three cases in which the Likes/Dislikes have been adjusted as well, keeping in mind what’s going to be revealed in GENBA and SHINRAI‘s sequel. Finally, the “full” sprite is now shown, without the legs getting cut off by the black bar at the bottom.
There’s actually a bit more to say about all this, but I guess I’ll have to wrap up here for today, since I’m running kinda late, sorry!
As always, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care! :3
PS: Fellow VN dev Nayru from NoBreadStudio has just released Blank Space, an escape room style mystery VN, so please consider checking it out! Especially since it’s on a 10% launch discount!
