Dang, we’ve hit another milestone there, eh? 400 consecutive weekly updates… I wish I could say I had something special prepared in celebration of it, but unfortunately, no grand announcements just yet! That will take a little more time, I’m afraid. We do have made quite a bit of progress again, however, so let’s get right into this week’s report!
Apr 09
Weekly Update #399: Confrontation Phase
As mentioned in last week’s blog post, I’m currently working on the script for the first “Confrontation Phase” in GENBA no Kizuna.
Here, our investigators face our suspects and confront them with the clues and evidence they have uncovered thus far.
As such, the entire chapter is basically one long discussion that addresses some of the mysteries and aims to unravel them.
Keiichi will not only have to argue with the four members of Raptor Pack Productions, however, because even some of his own teammates might occasionally present theories of their own, which he will need to debunk.
Apr 02
Weekly Update #398: On To Chapter 3!
With GENBA no Kizuna‘s second chapter now completed (which patrons can actually check out themselves right here, in case you’ve missed it), it’s time to finally move on to the next part of the game! As mentioned in last week’s blog post, I’ve already been working on the first “Social Phase” which can be seen as a sort of quick “intermission” between the second and third chapters, and which allows players to get a little closer to the other investigators.
Mar 26
Weekly Update #397: Chapter 2 Feedback & Social Phases
Welp, this past week went a little differently than I initially expected. If you’re following my private Twitter account, you might already know, but last Sunday, I had to take a sudden trip to the hospital and undergo surgery one day later. I’m back home now and on my way to recovery, but needless to say, not much progress could be made regarding VN development and I will probably have to take it easy for a little while longer, even though I’m itching to continue work on GENBA no Kizuna more than ever.
Mar 19
Weekly Update #396: Chapter 2 Complete
Yup, we finally did it! Not only is GENBA no Kizuna‘s second chapter fully playable now, as of today, patrons can even try it out themselves and once again help us with testing and further improving the experience!
Mar 12
Weekly Update #395: Super Quick Progress Update
Alrighty, today we’re once again only going to have a really quick update. I have fallen ill and am still in the process of recovering, so this past week has been a little bit sluggish, unfortunately. Progress was still made, however, and part of Himatsu‘s investigation route is now playable, while the rest will follow shortly. I want to spend this coming week beta-testing and then finally make the chapter 2 demo available on Patreon to get some feedback on the whole thing!
So yeah, that’s what we’re currently up to and there really isn’t much else to say about it. Next week, that will be a little different, but for now, I think I’ll get back to work (and recovering), so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care :3
Mar 05
Weekly Update #394: Plans For March
We’re one week into March, so today, I’m going to lay out our plans for the rest of the month!
The main goal is going to be to finish the second chapter of GENBA no Kizuna and to provide patrons with a demo, so that they can once again help us with beta-testing. There isn’t too much left to do to achieve this goal. Natsu is currently finishing up the coding process for Rei‘s route, while I’m going through Himatsu‘s route, getting everything ready for it to be coded as well.
It’s taking a little longer than anticipated, as I ran into a few problems over this past week, but I’m almost done now. By the end of next weekend, the entirety of the second chapter should hopefully be playable. Afterwards, I will do some beta-testing of my own, which might take another week. So I guess patrons might be able to get their hands on the new demo some time around the 20th.
The rest of the month, I will then work on the first “social phase” of the game, which I will elaborate more on once we get there.
Since I’ve spent the last two months almost entirely focused on script work, I think I might first take a quick break and work on some art-related assets, though. Focusing so much on writing can get pretty exhausting and I’m itching to draw something again for a change. Chapter 3 won’t need anything new, but there are some sprites variations for chapter 4 that I’m very eager to work on, so I might just tackle those, even though they’re not urgently needed at the moment!
Anyway, that’s really about it and since there is still a lot to do, I’m gonna quit right here and get back to work!
As always, please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care :3
Feb 26
Weekly Update #393: Quick Progress Update
With Keiichi‘s and Shinketsu‘s routes fully coded and Rei‘s currently being made playable by Natsu as well, there is only Himatsu‘s left now before we can finally finish up the second chapter!
To give you an idea as to the length of it: excluding Himatsu‘s route, chapter 2 currently sits at around 35,000 words.
Adding to that the ~50,000 of the prologue and first chapter, we’re getting very close to the 100,000 mark now!
And the entirety of SHINRAI is around 150,000 words, sooo… this definitely is turning out to be a much bigger project!
Anyway, I hope to have Himatsu‘s route wrapped up by next weekend. Since Natsu will obviously need some time to code it and I’d like to play through the whole thing myself before we share it, I guess patrons will be able to beta-test chapter 2 around mid-March.
By then, I will work on the first “social phase” of the game, which is a rather short affair, and then move on to chapter 3.
At least that’s the plan, but first things first! I need to write two optional character scenarios for Himatsu‘s route and then there really is only the usual revision/proofreading routine left!
That kinda wraps up all I can say for now, but before we already come to a close, I’d like to show you something pretty rad:
Huge shoutout to Lilenee0 for drawing this amazing Amber! I think she did a phenomenal job! You have no idea how happy this made me, haha. If you’d like to see even more beautiful art by her, be sure to check out her pinned tweet with all her social media info and art accounts! It’s definitely worth it!
Now, as always, it’s time for me to get back to work, so please enjoy the rest of your weekend and, until next Saturday, take care :3
Feb 19
Weekly Update #392: Rei’s Route Nearing Completion
Once again, we’re going to have a rather quick update, but despite its shortness, we have actually accomplished quite a lot again this week! Not only has Natsu finished coding the entirety of Shinketsu‘s route, the first third of Rei‘s is now playable as well!
The remaining two thirds will follow shortly, as I am about to finish the last few things that were still missing to complete it.
I have, for instance, just taken care of the sound effects and a couple more cut-in images that will be used for visual variety.
All that is left to do now is to give the script two or three more passes to ensure that everything makes sense and clicks together.
Feb 12
Weekly Update #391: More Coding Progress!
We’re currently hard at work to finally make the second chapter of GENBA no Kizuna fully playable and, after wrapping up Keiichi‘s route last weekend, Shinketsu‘s is now following suit and nearing completion as well!
Despite a much shorter word count, it still takes quite a bit of time and effort to code, due to the higher level of interactivity compared to Keiichi‘s route. Natsu has been very diligent, though, and should be done with it within the next couple of days.
