Blog

We’re not related! Honest!

Posted on February 23, 2012 by LTB

So today I was doing some work on the visual side of the map in Blue Rose, resulting in this test screen:

That’s when I realised, while looking at all the character icons together on that map, that three of the four male characters have almost the same hair colour. Well actually Aran has several colours in his hair (the guy in the top left), but you can’t really see it on his icon, and most of it is silver anyway. Then there is Gavin who is white-haired, and Simon with a very light blue.

Only poor Tobias breaks the combo with BLACK hair. (And Erin, but being a girl and all already makes her a bit unique in this bunch.)

Huh. I seriously never thought about this before, even after working on this game for so long now.

Blue Rose Characters – Gavin

Posted on February 21, 2012 by LTB

(I realised I had said earlier that I would now introduce Blue Rose characters, then never actually continued doing so…. oops? Anyway, here is finally introduction #2)

Next up in our character introductions is – Gavin! He was the first character I wrote a route for, so he might as well be the first of the main characters that I introduce as well:

Gavin is one of the first people that Lena is introduced to in the village. He can be a bit of an idiot, but I quite like his non-serious attitude. In spite of his tendency to piss off everyone around him, Gavin is also a pretty dependable type.

Like Lena, Gavin is a bit of a newcomer in this village, and therefore also somewhat of an outsider.

The inspiration for Gavin came very early on from a certain character in a certain movie/book. In the end his personality ended up completely different from that character though! They only share a very few superficial traits.

Blue Rose Characters – Lena

Posted on July 24, 2011 by LTB

Guess I can (very) slowly start to introduce the characters in Blue Rose.

The obvious choice for the first one is:

Lena – the protagonist.

The last visual novel I wrote (which spanned more than 5 minutes) was Angelic Orbs. The protagonist in that story was Kevin, a boy from the country who… well, was kinda helpless. Kevin was not the bravest of men, and certainly no warrior, often resulting in him having to improvise during the more dangerous situations in the story.

Lena is something different – apart from being a girl, she is also a Templar of the Blue Rose, a high order of elite knights in the kingdom of Tanves. She believes in being able to hold one’s own and in fighting for what is right. Which means she can kick some serious butt if it comes down to it.

She is also the only important character in the story without any in-game sprites. That doesn’t mean you won’t get to see her in cg’s though.

Although Lena believes in being strong, she soon realises that in reality she has hardly ever made an independent choice in her life. She also comes to the realisation that these choices will end up having great consequences for everything around her.

One of the key points I had in mind when starting out on Blue Rose, was that I wanted a protagonist with a clear, strong personality. She would have a name, a face and an important role in what happens. She is not just the protagonist, but the centre of the story – and the reader will go through the events together with her, aiding her in her choices.

Hopefully you will enjoy this journey when it’s finally done – and that you’ll be able to care for Lena, even in spite of her faults.

Give me endless mode!

Posted on June 16, 2011 by LTB

One thing that really saddens me when playing Atelier Rorona, is that the time restraints really limit what you can do. There are so many possibilities in that game, but you have to replay the same parts over and become awesome at time management to do them, and then you still have to settle for certain goals that you want to pull through.

This gives the game a great challenge, but at some point it gets too frustrating. What I really wish Rorona had, was an unlockable endless mode. A sort of sandbox that you could play through after finishing the game, trying out the harder dungeons and searching for those recipes you never really had time to get before, levelling characters and just plain experimenting with all the cool features.

Then when you get tired of that and want a challenge, you can start over and chase down that elusive ending you always wanted.

I feel like playing the game a little more casually, exploring all the possibilities. Just starting the game over from scratch and race through it again is a bit… meh.

Why must you torment me so, Rorona!?

Munch munch

Posted on February 15, 2011 by LTB

“Oh, was this yours?”

I really need to practice more. Anyway, have a random sketch.

Erin’s transformation sequence(?)

Posted on February 12, 2011 by LTB

Usually I would never show off crappy art like this publicly before I fix it, but I thought I’d tell a little about how I work on the art for Blue Rose (and most other things, really).

Some days a w.i.p drawing just looks awesome while you’re working on it, but then when it’s done, you look at it and think ’OMG what was I doing!?’

Ewww (especially when mirrored).

At times I get lucky and I only need to clean up the lineart a bit and make sure the head has the right shape (one of my sloppy areas). And then there are times when proportions are thrown out the window and they look like that example up there…

Poor Erin.

Actually I could redraw the whole thing and that might be easier, but I’m too lazy. So instead I try to patch up the lineart I have, although the amount of work ends up pretty much the same!

Hours later…

Yay, much better!

After this, I can finally go on to drawing her different expressions and send her off to my colourist… until next time I open the file and realise ‘aww I should have fixed this and that too!!’ <_<;;

Usually I would never show off crappy art like this publicly before I fix it, but I thought I’d tell a little about how I work on the art for Blue Rose (and most other things, really).

Some days a w.i.p drawing just looks awesome while you’re working on it, but then when it’s done, you look at it and think ’OMG what was I doing!?’

(Erin pose2, before fixes)

Ewww (especially when mirrored).

At times I get lucky and I only need to clean up the lineart a bit and make sure the head has the right shape (one of my sloppy areas). And then there are times when they look like that example up there…

Poor Erin.

Actually I could redraw the whole thing and that might be easier, but I’m too lazy. So instead I try to patch up the lineart I have, although the amount of work ends up pretty much the same!

Hours later…

(Fixed Erin sprite)

Yay, much better!

Bang! You’re dead!

Posted on February 4, 2011 by LTB

I’m not entirely sure why, but somehow I’ve turned into quite a figma maniac. I just can’t resist them…

I’ve never really been into action figures as I like the quality of static figures more. But these just appeal to me somehow. (And they often choose characters that I really like).

Come on, me! Stop checking up on new figma releases already so you won’t get tempted!

2010-2011

Posted on January 25, 2011 by LTB

It’s 2011 already! Time to follow the example of others and make another post looking back at what we have accomplished so far. Hey, it’s still January, I can still make it!

<><><>

2010:

In the beginning of 2010 I was chatting with some friends, discussing what we were hoping to do in the new year. My humble hope was to at least finish the script of the large VN I had begun working on, Blue Rose. Much to my relief I succeeded in this goal! Not too long ago the final route was finally written, and the script is now going through proofreading and editing.

Also, through the power of outsourcing, all backgrounds and in-game music tracks were finished before the new year as well! Blue Rose has really seen a lot of progress, and now I’m focusing on finishing character lineart and just got a great colourist on board.

As a part of my work with Blue Rose something else happened in 2010 – I finally decided to found my little commercial game company, White Cat. So far it has had a humble beginning. I haven’t really done any advertising as I haven’t finished any real products yet, but I made a small site for it and also decided on a name. Hopefully it will all look a little better by the time I have something to sell.

I also released the two very short vn’s, My Eternal Rival and Dust, both part of events running on Teacup and both somewhat related to each other.

My Eternal Rival was a bit of an experiment in making fast but pretty visuals for a short mini-story. I think I succeeded in this – even though the sprites for this game definitely have their faults, they are still some of my prettiest art on my DA portfolio. (Damn, makes me cry when I work so long and hard on other things!)

–

Non-VN related things:

Unfortunately I had to pretty much shove Angelic Orbs aside in 2010. Nothing at all has been made for this story this year. Le sigh.

A secondary project for White Cat was begun though, the small rpg called “The Nest Egg”. This was for when Blue Rose was driving me nuts.

And then were regular commissions taking over from time to time…

Phew, even though I didn’t really release anything major, it still felt like an awfully busy year…

<><><>

2011:

A new year! So, what will I hope to accomplish this time?

– Release Blue Rose sometime in the first half of 2011. Go-go!

– Promote The Nest Egg to primary project

– Begin work on ??? as new secondary project (won’t reveal anything about this one yet.)

Those are what is certain. Then follows wishful thinking:

– Return to work on Angelic Orbs ;_;

– Blue Rose is amazingly successful <_<

– Finish another game!

– Improoove on… everything.

–

That’s it for this long summary post. See you all in 2011 🙂

Another milestone reached

Posted on November 24, 2010 by LTB

What I didn’t mention in the earlier blog post is that a major milestone has been reached in the development of Blue Rose – the script is practically complete! The last word of the last ending has been written, completing all 5 routes of the story. Huzzah!

When I say “practically” it means that I still need to make another few runs through the script and fill up any gaps that connect all the branching that occurs in a game such as this. And after that, I’ll have to pass it on to a couple of proofreaders for a final check. (Anyone interested?)

As for other parts of production, I can say that almost all background pictures are done as well. A good deal of character art (sprites and CG’s) have been finished too, except they only exist as lineart thus far. Half the music is as good as done, and I’m getting more of that shortly.

So that’s pretty much it. Sounds good, but there is still far too much work left! (I still have to code it all together, *le sigh*.) Which means I better get back to it.

Silence before the storm

Posted on November 22, 2010 by LTB

So, about time I actually showed some real art from Blue Rose. Except it’s still only lineart!

But here you have the main cast of the game – the protagonist Lena in the front, and all the pursue-able characters around her:

Aran is being all mysterious in the back, turning his face away from the audience. Not to make him super mysterious or anything, but he’s never been that close with the rest of the group anyway! You’ll get to see what he actually looks like later…

Character names from left to right: Gavin, Lena in front, Aran in the back, Erin, Tobias looking annoyed in the front and lastly Simon.

Now back to drawing art that actually appears in-game…