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jack1974

I was also thinking maybe it would be interesting to have a bionic female protagonist this time. So maybe Tanya or someone else as the main character for a different viewpoint :).

Yes, right now my idea was to have mutliple playable characters. Is something a bit new, I don't know if has been attempted before in VNs but the game would start with a mystery and you would play several characters in sequence to discover it. So you could play as Luke, Tanya and maybe even Tom and Helen. Maybe even as Othello :lol:
charonn
Oh I like the multiple character / choice idea. I really like games where you play as different characters to get their perspective. I really enjoyed this on the ps2 version of arc the lad and the 5th growlancer game I believe. I don't think I've seen anyone being able to choose their character at the start of a VN. I've seen being able to customize your character, but that only changes HOW one looks , not HOW they behave :). Oh I'd really like playing as Othello. I think I just need a VN like the cat returns or so for my cat fix :).



I was also thinking today it would be nice to see somewhere besides London. I know in the game you have the virtual world, but it would be nice to see some other place of the real world. I guess it might look the same, but the part Luke lives in seems to be fairly high class. Would be interesting to see the "slums" or any equivalent if there was/is one or another region of the world.



I'm also curious about water in the game. I guess there is enough rain so that doesn't run out , but I find it interesting that there can be a food crisis without a water shortage :lol: .
jack1974
Oh I like the multiple character / choice idea. I really like games where you play as different characters to get their perspective. I really enjoyed this on the ps2 version of arc the lad and the 5th growlancer game I believe. I don't think I've seen anyone being able to choose their character at the start of a VN. I've seen being able to customize your character, but that only changes HOW one looks , not HOW they behave :). Oh I'd really like playing as Othello. I think I just need a VN like the cat returns or so for my cat fix :).

well my idea is that each character would contribute their point of view. Like in an interrogatory. Then based on how the player plays each character sequence, you get a different ending. I know already this game is going to cause me a big headache in planning stage! :mrgreen:



I was also thinking today it would be nice to see somewhere besides London. I know in the game you have the virtual world, but it would be nice to see some other place of the real world. I guess it might look the same, but the part Luke lives in seems to be fairly high class. Would be interesting to see the "slums" or any equivalent if there was/is one or another region of the world.

Yes, well the starting place (and perhaps the whole story) might take place on Mars. When you get some more endings you'll see what I mean (there's a human colony on Mars now!).



I'm also curious about water in the game. I guess there is enough rain so that doesn't run out , but I find it interesting that there can be a food crisis without a water shortage :lol: .

Well because of sunlight shortage! in my idea of that dark futuristic world, the sky is almost completely enveloped in dark clouds (like Blade Runner) and would be quite hard to raise vegetables (or any kind of lifeform really) without the solar light :)
MarSel
I think if you was going to do a second game this ending was your best choice :) I know you will find this question familiar but


Will you be using the name from the first game or the new names Eleonor (Helen), Lucas Walker (Luke) and Otto Van Aughentaler (Tom)??

jack1974
Haha in the beginning yes, but then they will be discovered, and...
MarSel
OOo :lol: oOO The plot thickens :P
OromeAldaron

I'm also curious about water in the game. I guess there is enough rain so that doesn't run out , but I find it interesting that there can be a food crisis without a water shortage :lol: .

Well because of sunlight shortage! in my idea of that dark futuristic world, the sky is almost completely enveloped in dark clouds (like Blade Runner) and would be quite hard to raise vegetables (or any kind of lifeform really) without the solar light :)


As an environmental chemist and hobby-ecologist, I think I have to answer to the statements.



First, vegetables are not ONLY consuming water, that's why flowers in a pot of water will die rather soon. And plants can prosper in rather shadowy environments, e.g. under the canopy of the rain forest, there is a huge number of plants which do not like direct solar radiation.



Plants need light and water, to produce "sugar" (CHOH) and the oxygen we breath with the following reaction: CO2 + H2O ----(light)----> CHOH + O2



However, as we cannot live from sugar alone, plants cannot either. They need to construct other molecules as well, e.g. the chlorophyll, which is important to 'harvest' the solar radiation. For that reason, plants need a lot of other nutrients as well, e.g. nitrogen and phosphor, and minerals. Soils usually provide these nutrients, as does air. However, a plant cannot take up water and nutrients from the soil easily, therefore, a symbiosis with various types of mycorrhiza fungi has evolved. The fungus gets sugar (see above) from the plant, and returns water and nutrients to the plant, which results in a win-win situation. Interestingly, these mycorrhiza fungi take nitrogen from the atmosphere, although the fungi are coating the roots of the plants which are in the soil. This is possible because healthy soil is more than just "dirt" - it only consists of about 50% of its volume of solid materials, the other half is water and air. The earthworms and other organisms dig channels through the soils (bioturbation) which promote soil ventilation. A soil with a healthy bioactivity and thus high fraction of channels in it also helps in preventing floods, as huge amounts of water can penetrate deep soil horizons easily and thus do not harm the top soil layer, which is important for agriculture.



To close, I think a darker world could actually grow food for humans, but I agree, maybe not for as many as live on it today. With fertilizers and biotechnology, we might help a bit and don't forget, we can always eat fungi, which usually grow very nicely in dark and humid environments (they don't need solar radiation) and a future society can of course synthesize its food from basic chemical elements. It won't be a pleasure to eat, but we would not starve. A food crisis can come because of many factors, not just water scarcity (the current food crisis in the horn of Africa are mainly, but not only due to water scarcity).



Sorry, I spammed this forum, but this complex interaction of natural environment, a wide spectrum of species and physical laws is highly interesting. It forms the basics of our lives and thus a basic understanding might not be totally useless. I can provide more info if someone is interested. Let me finish with a book recommendation: Tim Flannery, Here on Earth: http://www.amazon.com/Here-Earth-Natural-History-Planet/dp/080211976X/
jack1974
Haha amazing info, thanks. Now I know who to ask if I need some info for Bionic Heart 2 (which will take place on Mars) 8)
jack1974
Unfortunately, some very bad news... the artist I wanted to use, the same of Loren RPG, got hired as professional mangaka in Japan :( While I'm happy for him, it means that all the plans for Bionic Heart 2 art are screwed, and I think will need time to find a good replacement. SIGH.
SpectralTime
[backpat]Oooh. Nuts. I hope this doesn't hurt you too much financially.[/backpat]



Is his work for other games already done?
jack1974
In the end he worked only for Loren RPG. His art will be exclusively used on that game :) He left but at least he is honoring his word and he is currently finishing some last background images for Loren.

Anyway, since Bionic Heart 2 won't be out this year for sure, next year I might even be able to convince Rebecca (the original artist) to work on it again (crossing fingers!)
OromeAldaron
OMG, how very sad. I read this after my post in the Loren forum today.



This is indeed a very sad outcome... I would have loved BH2 by this artist. Please tell him that even before we even had the opportunity to buy a game he contributed, his reputation here was very high. And that we congratulate him for his job. And that, if he reconsiders or sees a possibility, the doors might be open... lol :-)



Anyway, is Rebecca the one with the examples of BH2 art, or the original BH artist?
jack1974
Rebecca Gunter is the original artist, she also drew Heileen 1-2, College Romance, Card Sweetheart and she said she would draw Heileen3 because during a convention a "fan" of my games approached her table asking her to draw a lady for him :lol:

So maybe she thought that my games got her some popularity beside the webcomics ? I don't know, but I hope that maybe she will work on more games for me next year!

The examples of BH2 art are from another artist, but he had serious health issues and cannot work anymore on the project sadly :(