4/10/2023 - 8/12/2023 | Week 8 - Week 15
Shofwa Alyadiena | 0350019
Design Exploration | Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Instructions
Idea Exploration
With the final overall design submitted to HONOR, our next task is to expand from it.
My design was based around butterflies- specifically an endangered species of swallowtail butterflies (Atrophaneura Luchti) in my home country, Indonesia.
From the very beginning, before ever joining the competition, I was already made aware of what Design Exploration was about, and I wanted to finally attempt to make a short visual novel. I've tried my hand at making one before, but I didn't have a sturdy PC to actually build distributions properly. Now that I have, I got excited.
At the start, I actually didn't like visual novels. I was under the impression that it was only for 'Dating Simulators' because that's what the engine was largely used for. It was only after Hiveswap's Friendsim that I realized it could be for anything. It's reminiscent of those old choose-your-own-adventure books, which I've always loved too.
Script
The first step to this was writing a script. Building the script was actually one of the most difficult bits- I need to keep in mind how many options there will be, and if it's too long or too short to fit into the timeframe that's given (5-6 weeks give or take). Arguably I spent much too long figuring out the script. Finally, after a conversation with a friend, I decided the story should be about the main character guiding an adolescent (who is part of the endangered species) to find their community. It made sense to me- because if they're endangered then they're also rare, which makes it harder for a character to find others like them. It was a solid, one-plotted storyline.
Fig. 1.2 First Script (11/11/2023)
Simultaneously, I did learn the basics of Renpy so I wrote the script with those basic rules in mind. This will be elaborated on in the next section.
I sent the first script to Ms anis and my friends.
Feedback
- (Ms Anis) Firstly, we only have two weeks- keep that in mind. If it's not possible, you can end it on a cliffhanger.
- (Friend R) I'd love to see it be an actual game.
- (Friend M) In one of the options, I thought we would be able to go back and try
- (Friend S) There are a lot more endings than I thought, you could shorten it down if it's more than possible.
I proceeded to edit the script as I entered it into Ren'Py. I agree that
I can be wordy (the more I type here the more I prove myself and everyone
else right), so I decided to come up with some back-ups.
- Originally, the plan is that we're able to continue to search for Nidas' community, but for that to have good pacing (to what's already pretty bad pacing in my opinion) I would have to write a LOT more. If I can't do that, I'll have to end it with Nidas enjoying the presence of their newly made friends and choosing to continue the search another day.
- The original idea also involves MC being able to go back to Cethos after Hala rejects MC's presence. If that's not possible to figure out in time, I'll have to make it so that it's another bad end, and MC leaves Nidas to figure it out on their own.
- I really love Gallery modes in games. If I can't figure it out, however, it's best to scrap the idea entirely.
- For the Cameos options, if I can't make it so that after three choices it automatically proceeds the story, I'll have to write down an extra author's note that they should click on something else after they're done with the characters. It would be a lot less fun though.
Ren'Py
As I mentioned before, I have tried using the engine, but I was never motivated enough to finalize a story or really explore the available options the engine provides. The fact that I was unable to even upload the files to any website caused the demotivation.
Anyway, since I'm finally able to try it out now, I mainly referred to the Tutorial "game" that comes with the engine. There are also other sources:
Ren'Py Tutorial Documentation | Flags in Ren'Py | Image Gallery tutorial | ImageMap
From the image gallery tutorial, I was also directed to Zeil Learning's Discord Server where I could ask for any extra help with issues faced.
I didn't get to finalize the Gallery Mode in time, but I most definitely will keep updating it so that it works!!!!!!!!
Character Creation - Cameos
Quite a while before the script was finalized, I asked my friends if they wanted their characters as cameos for me to try out the "flags" in Ren'Py. Three of them were enthusiastic and sent me reference images immediately. I think this part was pretty important to me because it kickstarted my motivation to draw again. I received their consent to alter the design to fit within the story.
Fig. 2.1 Left to Right: Hiitsu, Rez, Yosei
The general idea was to tone down everyone's colours to let the main character shine while keeping the same vibes as the original character. This was a fun little challenge amidst all the technical bits.
Fig. 2.2 Cameo Character Creation (18/11/2023)
Above is the compressed and summarized version of the cameos' character creation.
Character Creation - Main
Lets goo presentation #2
Fig. 2.3 Main Characters Creation (3/12/2023)
Art Style
As you can see from the visual novel (submissions section), there were a few art styles I experimented with. This is part of the exploration as well, to test out the limits- mostly speed- and what suited the given time frame best.
These are the art styles, ordered by the least to the most time taken. This is mostly for personal reference, and potential comparison in the future in case anything changes :)!
Doing a portrait painting was the fastest, and took me about an hour and a half.
This was an art style that took also about an hour and a half, but it took less time to do a full-body. It was lightly inspired by the time I watched a playthrough of No Straight Roads with my friends, I thought the hands were pretty cool!
This kind of full-body with my main art style (though with lineart) took a minimum of 2.5 hours.
My usual painting style took me about the same amount of time- 2.5 hours. This excludes full-body, which would take a drastically longer time. This was also done quicker than normal, as I excluded most of the lighting. The sketching phase, however, takes a lot of time too, which is why I opted in the end to clean up the reference sheets instead.
This one I put at the bottom because I included the time it took to do the base reference-lined-art. In total, it's about 3.5 hours. Cleaning it up only takes about an hour.
Background and GUI
Submission
Rationale (Summarized)
"It's hard to find someone like you when your species is on the verge of extinction, but it's also hard being responsible for a stranger who needs your help to find said species. Would you help the helpless?"
'Expansion', though lazily titled, is a visual novel project based on the HONOR competition submission under the theme of Renewal of Life. It's about finding those who are alike you, though, in the protagonist's case, it's about helping others find others.
Originally, making a visual novel was the goal. It doesn’t matter what the story was, or how it goes, as long as I was able to test myself and how much time and what I can produce as an individual.
Soon after, the competition was over, and I felt an attachment to the theme regardless of whether or not I needed to relate to it. I love insects and bugs, but I tend to overlook butterflies. It was a hard concept to grasp that butterflies could also be endangered and needed more light to be shed on the situation.
‘Expansion’, at this point, is a passion project as well. Upon further sharing it with my friends, they’ve spoken to me about how they care about the main characters and want to befriend Nidas. This meant to me that I was able to achieve what I’ve always dreamt of; gaining empathy through my art.
Much of the art in the visual novel is inspired by other art throughout my life, most I cannot recall anymore, but all that left an impact on me that I can take bits and pieces from it. The visual novel itself was an area I didn’t think about touching before, mainly due to its “romance-genre” nature. I was delighted to have found out it’s not limited to that, and building one requires a lot of art and writing!
It was difficult at first, especially in the writing process. With encouragement, I managed to complete them all in a span of a month. I’d say that belongs in my book of achievements, if I had any.
Reflection:
My experience in creating this was exhilarating!! I believe I could properly explore my limits and art styles and beyond. I'm extremely passionate about art and I think this project reminded me of it- especially since I took Psychology as my minor, which took up 3 out of my 5 modules this semester and is HEAVILY text-based. If you just ask my roommates, my friends, and my classmates, they'd tell you that I really was occupied with this. I'm just so, so glad to be able to create.
There were definitely more I could have improved on, and there are SO SO SO SO many changes I want to add! However, I had to take into consideration the amount of time that would take me; and I had to settle for a semi-cliffhanger ending and cut short on the number of emotions and character poses. The most frustrating part is I obviously was not that great at coding and had to do a lot of alternative ways (for the music and the gallery bit).
Since there were hardly any physical classes for this half of the semester, there wasn't much to observe from my peers. I really enjoyed the technical aspect of the creation, but I also largely enjoyed drawing. I realize as well that I was sometimes impatient and that I took longer than I wished to finish a drawing.
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