Winter Wolves - General discussion about MY games

jack1974 Mar 27, 2012

I'm asking because have some projects that are basically finished (still need to write) and I am undecided how to improve them further, so I'd like to know everyone's opinion. I am talking about not only visual novels but also dating/life sim and even RPGs! Thanks

iulius Mar 27, 2012

Well, I'm a sucker for art, so most surely... more art!! PLEASE :mrgreen:

pysali Mar 27, 2012

This one was hard for me. While I love the artists you pick for your games and would be happy with more art/cgs (especially if that leads to more romance pairings) I think extra plot/writing is more important at this point. Your games are beautiful, but I've found myself enjoying them more now that you've added in more writers putting in extra content and scenes. Adds more layers to the story and characters and makes it more fun to read through.

Like Loren versus Planet Stronghold. PS is a fun game, but the romances and writing revolving teammates took a definite backseat to the fighting. Once my characters accomplished a side mission there was nothing else to it, which made a lot of the romances feel really...flat. Seriously I felt like Tom cared more for that damn vehicle then the new relationship he'd just started. I love you deluxe, hot, sexy, baby...Lisa move, I'm talking to my Lady here...That was okay, but when I compare it to Loren which has lots of battles, but also a ton more character development plus different dialog paths it adds something special. I've been enjoying it and have to tip my hat to Aleema for adding the extra shine to it. If I remember correctly she also did the really good female romances for Spirited Heart too?

I showed up because you offered female character driven visual novels, but I stayed because your none otome work involves a lot women (to interact with or play as) and a lot of LGBT characters/themes and that's fantastic. Plus you're open to feedback and pushing the envelope. Keep up the good work.

jack1974 Mar 27, 2012

Haha yes, to be honest I don't think is even fair to compare PS with Loren at this point, since PS was made by myself only (with help of some proofreader friends) while Loren is actually 3 people (me, Aleema and Anima) so... but anyways I agree with you, and it's my fault for thinking that I could make such big projects as a RPG entirely alone. I'm not going to write directly a game anymore, will always use (hopefully good) writers from now on!

I've been enjoying it and have to tip my hat to Aleema for adding the extra shine to it. If I remember correctly she also did the really good female romances for Spirited Heart too?

Yes exactly she did the female romances of Spirited Heart too

that was a sort of test and since I liked her work so much, I decided to put her "in charge" of Loren writing, since she's much better than the previous one (who wrote only the first scenes).

I showed up because you offered female character driven visual novels, but I stayed because your none otome work involves a lot women (to interact with or play as) and a lot of LGBT characters/themes and that's fantastic. Plus you're open to feedback and pushing the envelope. Keep up the good work.

Excuse me, what means LGBT?

Ideally if I could, I would make all games open to both genders (like my recent RPGs) but sometimes is not possible, so I make only the version for the market segment that appreciates more my kind of games: women :mrgreen:

(Even Bionic Heart 2 will have multiple genders, so you play also as women characters).

pysali Mar 27, 2012

Excuse me, what means LGBT?

LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender. Just quick shorthand for a lot of groups that support them and a self identifier. :D Your game ideas and plots are not bad, but I'm happy you're finding core writers to round out the beautiful artists. It gives you time to co-ordinate more games and focus on managing all of them.

jack1974 Mar 27, 2012

Ah thanks didn't know that was the meaning

And yes I should have thought about using writers sooner, some of my older products would have been even better. Well, at least now I know!

fleetp Mar 27, 2012

I like voice acting but I voted for 'other'. I'd like to see animated cut scenes in your games. .

jack1974 Mar 27, 2012

Haha wow, animated cut scenes...! hmm one of my topsecret upcoming games actually has them :wink:

Pakuska Apr 28, 2012

I voted for the scenes/plot/writing, but I wanted to elaborate. Because this is pretty much just at spirited heart, I am aware that that specific game has a lot of art because of the characters, locations etc. And thats really great, but when I play the game, I dont really get fond of any love interest.

In a sense, you get too fast from being acquaintances to being lovers. You dont actually "meet" the other person, The scene's itself are fun, and touching, dont get me wrong. But I would have just loved to see more dates/problems that would actually get them closer to eachother, if you ever make another game like that. (Or release an expansion pack that adds more scenes hint hint.

)

so in my opinion, its something to work on if you do another game like that.

jack1974 Apr 28, 2012

I actually have all the art for Spirited Heart 2, but never got time to start it, since this time I want to plan it better and possibly use a language that allows me to sell it on iOS/Android/web. But a sequel for that game is in the works, and next time will make the romances longer for each character!

Josep Maria Apr 28, 2012

A secret and funny extra ending credits XD

The more story option or a "10 years later" or the simply, what happened to... would be great.

Also access to characters bio's and stats.

Of course, sountrack, art, new story will be thank

Pakuska Apr 29, 2012

An extra 18+ What happened to/10 years later? sold seperately. (just kidding xD)

jack1974 Apr 29, 2012

Haha I can't sell hentai/porn games. Beside would be shooting myself in the foot since wouldn't appeal to a big market as they do now, I think something like sexy/soft erotic is the best way to appeal more people :wink:

MarSel Apr 29, 2012

I like the 10 years later thing. It wouldn't work if you wanted to do a sequel but saying that it would work if you did it for characters that wouldn't be returning.

jack1974 Apr 29, 2012

The "10 years later" thing indeed breaks the possibility of sequels. However I do that often already, for example in Planet Stronghold I tell what happens after the main story ends, just I don't say if the time frame is 1-2-5-10 years :wink:

Jim1958 Apr 30, 2012

Haha I can't sell hentai/porn games. Beside would be shooting myself in the foot since wouldn't appeal to a big market as they do now, I think something like sexy/soft erotic is the best way to appeal more people

I wonder if the sexy/erotic thing is even necessary in some games. With Loren the cutscenes for the "sexy scene" didn't seem to me to be any more erotic than a clothed image of the couple being together would have been. The writing of the scenes was more erotic than the art, in my opinion, and in some ways trying to "sex it up" with the artwork seemed to detract from the overall game. Just an opinion and you know your market best, but to paraphrase Sheldon, it is sometimes best to use the highest power graphics - your imagination.

Best Regards

Jim

Aleema Apr 30, 2012

My preference is just really hot make-out scenes, and fading to black for anything more. I agree that stripping down characters can seem cheap if you're looking to be taken seriously. Instead of focusing on the characters, you're probably focusing more on the nakedness. Maybe. xD I like the CGs for Planet Stronghold, for example. Sexy, but not (too) explicit.

jack1974 May 01, 2012

Instead of focusing on the characters, you're probably focusing more on the nakedness. Maybe. xD I like the CGs for Planet Stronghold, for example. Sexy, but not (too) explicit.

Ahem, then the new ones... :oops:

Well, they're not as hot as those of Loren, but more spicy than the first one for sure. There's some nudity, even if the poses themselves seems more "soft". A bit hard to explain :mrgreen:

I don't know, honestly I liked the Loren's CGs and I noticed many players liked them, I'm sure that also many others didn't like them. It's one of those things that is hard to judge, to know what is right / wrong. Probably the safest way is to have something like Planet Stronghold indeed, sexy but not too explicit.

I can only imagine when the expansion is out and people will see Chambara's CGs :shock:

Jim1958 May 01, 2012

Instead of focusing on the characters, you're probably focusing more on the nakedness. Maybe. xD I like the CGs for Planet Stronghold, for example. Sexy, but not (too) explicit.

Ahem, then the new ones... Well, they're not as hot as those of Loren, but more spicy than the first one for sure. There's some nudity, even if the poses themselves seems more "soft". A bit hard to explain

I don't know, honestly I liked the Loren's CGs and I noticed many players liked them, I'm sure that also many others didn't like them. It's one of those things that is hard to judge, to know what is right / wrong. Probably the safest way is to have something like Planet Stronghold indeed, sexy but not too explicit.

I can only imagine when the expansion is out and people will see Chambara's CGs

I am looking forward to the Chambara expansion. I didn't mean that I didn't appreciate the CG's, just that it might not be necessary to sell the game. There is always the danger of having things appear gratuitous. For instance Jul should be scantily clad and provocative as she is a succubus, but Elenor and Dora probably shouldn't be as slaves and thieves most likely are safest when they blend in. (the nail that sticks up is the most likely to get pounded down kind of thing) However I did wonder how sexy Myrth would be if her "vines" turned out to be poison ivy?

Also regarding Planet Stronghold was Michelle and Myrth's voice the same?

Best Regards

Jim

jack1974 May 01, 2012

No I understand what you mean, don't worry

I remember when I started the art production of this game, I made a sort of poll on FB about the sexyness of the CG, and most of them wanted more spicy scenes, so ... I thought to follow the poll result :lol:

but as you said the important is not make it gratuitous, in a succubus is normal, while on the slaves probably not really needed.

About the voices no, the only "returning voices" between those two games as far as I can remember are Apphia Yu (Rumi - Elenor) and Michelle Rojas (Lisa Nelson - Chambara).