Hello, it’s been a while. As promised in the previous post, I’m here to talk about writing and so on. Long preambles are boring half the time, so let’s just get into it.
I was one of the main writers (one of 2-3 of them over the course of the project, as I recall) back in the late aughts, and early 2010’s, but eventually I got pretty burned out on the project and left. Well, almost a decade later, the folks still left on the project tracked me down and here I am. Revisiting something I worked on so many years ago has been an experience; lots of old dusty, compartmentalized memories being awakened. Simultaneously, my life experiences and consuming a decade’s worth of RomComs, Chick Flicks, Eroge, and other less romantic fiction, have obviously changed my own outlook on…everything.
Does this mean everything in ESR is gone? Of course not, but it certainly means a mixture of continuing what was in the plans to begin with, and some adjustments based on my older (hopefully, wiser) perspective. Certainly, it’s different looking back on things I wrote as a college student, now that I’m a full-fledged adult with like, Real People Experience. I’m hoping the things I’ve learned about pacing and diction and the like improve what I write now, but expect at the very least a little bit of a shift towards the latter 25% of the game. I don’t quite write like I did when I was 20; graduating with a literal English degree kind of ensured that.
What hasn’t changed? Thankfully my sense of humor (which I got tapped at least partly for initially) hasn’t changed too much. I haven’t gone back to anything I (or any of the other writers) wrote in the past and been like “I don’t get this joke anymore”. Hopefully my wit, and taste for the absurd, has only gotten sharper over time, but I suppose I should leave that to you, the reader, to decide. No large sweeping plot changes (that would create even longer delays) are planned, don’t you worry about that either.
And of course, my habit of liking the sound of my own voice too much hasn’t changed, so I should probably cut this short before I write a dissertation. Until next time…
Author: LTalon
Ask A Developer!
For all of you who wanted to ask questions of us (like I see a few of you have already in comments), we’ve created an Ask the Developers thread on the forums. So if you have anything that you would like to know, please come down to the forums and make a post there, and we’ll do our very best to address your concerns.
Yukari-n~
Well, first, I’d like to thank all the folks who contributed to it, the testers, and all the people who commented on it and tried it out. A narrative cannot exist without an audience, after all, so without you guys, this project wouldn’t be possible. Please wait warmly for the next release (although this is not an episodic adventure…).
After the demo, work continues. We’re working hard to produce something for you guys!
In other news, work on art poses has been resumed with all your comments in mind, and one of the first up is the lovely Yukari Yakumo (as the post title might suggest)! As y’all might have surmised from the demo, Yukari serves as Rinnousuke’s foil and um…partner in our story (probably the one stable relationship that’s readily visible thus far), and can be either helpful or antagonistic, depending on Marisa’s choices. Of course, there’s plenty of gap-based hijinks in it as well…
They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and this post is pretty short, so…
Flandre!
Since 2002, Flandre Scarlet, everyone’s favorite psychotic vampire, has been terrorizing Gensokyo with her ability to destroy anything, and filling the internet with her theme song, “U.N. Owen was Her?” For a lot of people, Flandre is the first encounter they have with Touhou, and she’s a rather memorable one at that.
Of course, Flandre doesn’t MEAN to terrorize everyone, she’s just a little kid at heart who got handed a very, very dangerous toy, and has her view on the world kind of warped as a result. Of course, at the same time, Flandre is several hundred years old, and she has a very odd mixture of both childishness and maturity. She certainly is more knowledgable than the average kid. She’s as energetic as the role requires, of course, and one of our more expressive characters–especially compared to such characters as Patchouli.
That isn’t to say that Flandre’s path isn’t dangerous. To be blunt…you asked for it. This is easily one of the harder paths, and the most fraught with danger. And Flandre might even have a few surprises up her sleeve, like an alternate form of immortality. Of course, for those of you less interested, or perhaps more intimidated, we’ve included the option of bailing out of the path entirely.
Of course, for those brave of heart, the road ahead is hard, but with some very cautious teaching, and maybe some psychological help from the other residents of Gensokyo, one day, Flandre may be a productive member of society. Well, as much as that means in Gensokyo. And of course, perhaps with some help from Marisa’s friends, there might be room for something beyond pure friendship with Flandre.
Of Fanservice, Bikinis, and Birthday Suits
So.
Visual Novels. Lots of them have sexual content. Not all, but lots. So when we began this project, we had to decide…
“How explicit should our work be?”
Well, frankly, the general conclusion was that none of us felt confident or comfortable writing in an explicit environment. Some of us didn’t think we had the skill to do it properly, and others just didn’t like the idea in general.
Of course “not explicitly H” covers a whole lot of ground. We also had to decide how much fanservice we were going to put into the art, and how much we were going to insinuate was going on off screen.
Art wise we’re going to stay within the boundaries of safe. However that doesn’t mean there won’t be fanservice. The girls will be visiting the hot springs that popped up, and there are a few other interesting events that we have planned that will allow the girls to change outfits.
Writing wise… we haven’t fully decided yet. However, sex is part of relationships, and even if Marisa’s relationship might be too young to get into those matters there are other couples in Gensoukyo as well. So while nothing may happen on screen, there may be a good deal implied, or occasionally outright stated.
So…what does all this mean for you, the audience? If you enjoy swimsuit pics and a dose of innuendo there’ll be something here for you. But if you don’t care about those things don’t worry, we aren’t going to twist the story in odd shapes just to put those scenes in. So, all in all, expect a lot of good fun, of all shapes and kinds.
Introductions, Part 2
Well, I’m next. Miss me?
I’m LTalon. I figured I should introduce myself next, after da Boss. I’m the Funny Man. I’m the guy who’s writing all your insane gags, leaps of logic, silly jokes, and so on. Well, not ALL of them, but a good amount of them. I’m also responsible for a good amount of the side material–specifically a lot of it relating to everyone’s favorite Kappa.
I’m also one of the writers in general, and the primary editor of the project. I get to take a stick and beat people if they’re not following the Law. The Laws of Grammar and the Code of Spelling, to be exact. And if it comes to it, I’ll be helping with the Programming.
I’ve thrown together a few projects of my own here and there, although nothing particularly interesting to the uninitiated, though. I suppose you just need to sacrifice a chicken or two before you really appreciate it…
I really hope y’all enjoy what I…um…we! I mean we! What WE put out. It’s our blood, sweat, and tears. Mostly blood. And it’s my job to make y’all laugh while you do.
You’ll be seeing me around doing PR, so I guess y’all will have to put up with my colloquialisms for a bit longer, eh?
More Information
I suppose it’s time for more info. Information about things. Everyone loves information, right?
Well, first off, I suppose a bit more data on the game itself is in order. How about a release on who’s in it?
…who am I kidding, it’s Touhou. Just about everyone is. Well, almost everyone. But your romantic options are: Patchouli, Reimu, Alice, and Flandre. And one other SECRET. And of course there’s a host of other people floating around…
On unrelated notes: It’s time for introductions! I’ll be badgering people around the design team to make posts introducing themselves, so let’s give ’em a hand!
Yes, we exist.
Hello, hello, hello! I’m LTalon and I’m here to tell you a bit about our pet project.
First of all, if you have no idea who we are, or what we’re doing, I suggest you dip over to the About page and see what’s what.
…you’re back? Yes, I know it took us a while to get this blog running for all of you who are paying attention. Okay, then let’s get started.
Our first project is a visual novel with some odd twists here and there. We’ve taken a focus on everyone’s favorite broom-carrying, laser-flinging, street-punk talkin’ magician, Marisa Kirisame, and we’re hoping to take our audience through a…actually, short would be false advertising, so I’ll just call it a romantic adventure of fairly moderate length through Gensokyo. Expect more details as time goes on.
That’s all for now, I suppose.