It took us two years to create Lucid9: Inciting Incident. During those years of development, we've faced a lot of challenges. English Visual Novels are a small niche, so there aren't many online guides that teach you the process of VN creation. A lot of what you'd learn is through other developers, and even then, you don't get the full picture of what it's like to work with other people from different parts of the world. Organization, deadlines, communication... there are so many things that need to run smoothly for a project to work. It takes effort - and a lot of it. 

Since the beginning, we've always wanted to keep Lucid9 free, but that lack of monetary compensation, strangely enough, forced us to set the bar higher for ourselves. Sure, even if people were to hate Lucid9, we would at least have some experience under our belt for future projects. But knowing that you had spent all those years working on a passion project that was poorly received would still sting, frankly speaking.

That's something that'd we'd likely continue fretting over until the completion of the Lucid9. No matter what the reception is though, I'm glad that I got to meet so many amazing people along the way. That's something I won't ever regret.

We've been making decent progress with the next part of Lucid9, though a lot of us had to deal with tighter schedules than usual. Luckily, we still managed to make time to get things done, so it hasn't been super detrimental.

The artists have been working on a number of things lately, though coloring and style consistency have been at the top of their list of priorities. The screenshot above should show how that's progressing. Other than that, we're planning to have at least two or three outfits for each character. They'll be designed in a way that best reflects their personality or situation, and we're aiming for a style that isn't too "ornate", but nevertheless displays some uniqueness.

Concerning the backgrounds, the metropolitan setting of Isamu will have more significance compared to what was done in Inciting Incident, so we wanted to experiment with structure and aesthetics of the city for the next part. Eufonie posted a few "unofficial drafts" on Trello to help him get a sense of how he should go about designing it.

Voice acting for Inciting Incident has been progressing, albeit slowly. There's a number of people involved in the process — voice actors, composers, and programmers, among many others — so it takes some time to get done. The voice actors record their lines all in one take under the direction of John, who then uploads the files to the Drive so they can be split into individual lines. Afterwards, they're brought to Breezee for mixing, and once they're mixed, Ian implements them into the engine. 

This is just an oversimplification, but hopefully it explains a bit about the process for those of you who are unfamiliar with it. As mentioned previously, the voice acting patch has unfortunately been delayed. Judging by the progress now, John is aiming to have all of the recordings for Inciting Incident done by mid 2018. 

On a brighter note, John had shared a hilarious clip with me a while back, so I thought it'd be nice to post it here.

Breezee and I recently talked to Ian, our programmer, about the implementation of a dynamic soundtrack that flows with the script. He had assured us that it is definitely possible to do on the engine, so we're commencing with that plan in confidence. We're still attempting to schedule a discussion with the rest of the composers to fill them in on the direction. That should happen some time soon, once their availability opens up.

Also, thank you to everyone who filled out our Lucid9 soundtrack questionnaire. It gave us a better sense of what the readers found enjoyable, and we're planning on integrating some of your suggestions. There will be a number of new tracks for the next part of Lucid9, and old tracks would likely be reworked in some way to fit the style and tone of the narrative. Breezee has already created a few drafts. Below, you can hear a teaser for one of them:

Writing has been progressing, though we are a bit behind schedule. Our goal was to have all of arc 1 drafted by this month, but that would need to be delayed by a few months or so unfortunately. I don't want to give a specific estimation quite yet.

Nevertheless, the writers are at about 16,000 words in with the exception of Misaki's and Akira's route, with the latter at around 54,000 words (and already on arc 2). So yeah, some of us are further along than others in terms of progress. Of course, we're monitoring each other's writing closely, so we all should be on the same page despite that difference. A big thanks to our editors for helping us along the way as well.

In other news, the official soundtrack of Lucid9 is now available on Steam! The tracks are available in both MP3 and WAV formats, and you can download it here. It only took us about two thousand years, but we appreciate your patience for the delay. A huge thank you to Raithfyre and the people over at Sekai Project for helping us spread the word.

That's all the news for now. We can't thank you all enough for sticking with us these past few years; it really has been an amazing journey. We hope you're looking forward to the next part of Lucid9!

In the meantime, look out for Milica's editorial on AMVs coming out in May, as well as our readers' Top Picks for Anime Tropes following this post!

Until next time!


~ Fallen Snow Studios

and I was originally going to upload this as my birthday special on February 25th, but I've been too busy to write anything lately. Thus, having gotten over some of last month's craze, I'd like to announce my return a week later with something a little different from my usual editorials.

I know I said in my debut blog I'd post monthly, but there are now topics I'd like to cover that don't necessarily require much writing. So, I'll sporadically post these "bonuses" in addition to my longer pieces. I currently don't have very many of these planned, but if there are any topics you'd like me to cover in a future piece, feel free to leave a comment below and/or tweet us at @FallenSnowStudios! They don't even have to be short enough for a bonus; you can also suggest ideas for editorials :)

Oh, and one last announcement before we dive into the nonexistent pools that are MC eyes: I'd like to take a poll on Twitter soon with a question prompt for our fans, which will be the basis for a future post! That's right; the post will be completely comprised of your answers and opinions, with absolutely no input from me. Keep your eyes peeled on Twitter for both the prompt and details on how the poll will work, deadlines, and all that jazz.

Finally, and without any further ado, let's break every bone in our bodies and wonder why we did that when we can clearly see no pools in the MC's eyeless face.

But for real; why homegirl got no eyes? And why is she always a brunette, for that matter?

​

DISCLAIMER: To be honest, MC being a brunette is the main reason I wanted to talk about this on my birthday, seeing as yours truly is also a brunette ;)

Not only does it look totally jarring, but the intent behind it also doesn't make much sense. Now, many of us are used to it by now - heck, some of us even like the idea of MC having no eyes. But that's because not a lot of people take issue with iconic appearances in games to begin with.

For the most part, we accept what characters look like, regardless of our personal feelings towards them. But the problem is when a developer claims that a particular design is meant to represent everyone of a certain demographic. 

Such is the case with MC; without eyes, players (presumably females) are symbolically able to see her world through their own eyes. You do see this with male characters, but not nearly as often. Why don't more bishoujo games feature the trope?

Anyway, the point I want to make is that this is a pointless design choice, because MC nevertheless has an established look even without eyes. She's pale-skinned, thin, and a brunette. How is that representative of all females who might be playing these games? How does this take into account non-straight people? I only bring this up since we're going by dev logic. 

What drives me up the wall even more is when some avatars in-game (depending on the game in question) show the MC with eyes. Fantastic work! Now can we see those sparklers elsewhere in the game? 

Truth be told, this causes more of a disconnect between player and game than it does a bond. People are much more likely to relate to characters that feel real to them, than to stock avatars that are purposely made bland so as to not impose a made-up personality onto the player. 

Either complete the character design, or give the player some options to create their own avatars. It's not rocket science, guys.

~ Milica M. "Mimo"

Annnnd welcome back to our monthly chat over at Lucid9 blogquarters! Today is "National Corporate Holiday Tradition Coaxes You Into Being A Romantic" Day, and what better way to celebrate this joyous and wholesome day than to talk about the Yandere trope? Because nothing is more romantic than the Yandere, am I right?

But seriously, why are we so drawn to the anime personality that absolutely terrifies us? It's usually the Tsundere that gets lots of attention, no?

Well, the first thing I want to get out of the way right off the bat is that, much like Tsunderes and all other tropes, not all Yanderes behave the exact same way and have the same dispositions towards things. After all, the tone and setup of a story, as well as unique character backstories do impact interactions and how they'll deal with scenarios.

If you wanted the short answer, then I'd tell you that their unpredictability, intensity, and personal motives are what make them interesting and entertaining to watch/read about. 

But if you wanted the long answer, then I'd tell you about why they're arguably the epitome of true romance. 

Wait, what?

Now, I wouldn't call myself a fan of the Yandere. But I do believe that their complexities and dimensions can be considered relatable when we really think about what love actually is and how many times we might've been hurt in life because of it. 

When you put yourselves in the shoes of a Yandere, suddenly you may find yourselves sympathizing with them. Yanderes are undyingly loyal, trustworthy and devoted people who've probably been abused and taken for granted so many times in their lives, to the point where they feel as though they need to be prepared for anything in order to keep alive the very things they hold dear - even if it means taking the violent route. 

They are everlastingly protective, possessive - and obsessive - but they're genuinely committed to making the relationship work however they can. 

See, that's the key word here: "genuine." Yanderes know what genuine love is, and when they've fallen genuinely in love. They do not question their feelings, and aren't afraid to proclaim them, which I honestly find refreshing and something that the world is severely lacking at the moment.

Why? Because the love interest is potentially the problem here. Yanderes actively challenge what is considered "normal socialization." Any "normal" person would constantly evaluate and re-evaluate their feelings and relationships without necessarily resorting to extremities, whereas a Yandere simply trusts that everything will work out with extreme, eternal dedication. Besides, they'll always have their loved ones in their best interest, and whether or not they even know what's best isn't relevant. Their only real obstacle is whether their object of affection themselves can be trusted. 

They don't trust others, and when you really think about it, you can hardly blame them. People seem to make things a lot more complicated than they need to be in their eyes.

That's where the power dynamic comes in. They don't just passively let things slip by them; they'll act on the first sign of trouble. They are in control. And we are compelled by characters who are highly motivated and have the courage to be the dominant. 

We might call them selfish. But the second we think about the fact that they literally do everything and anything for us, only think about us, never brag about us to anyone, and are 100% true to themselves, they immediately start to look much more selfless than we realize.

What's interesting about all this is, they're not following us around because they need us. They don't need any kind of validation from us. They're around, because everything they do is for our sake. They're not ill-intentioned people; this is where the complexities come in, because while they might push the line, they aren't doing it out of animosity towards the offender, but rather for the safety of their beloved. They're so smitten with us, that even when we're gone they'll never think to look for another. It's no wonder they get so easily jealous; the least we could do is acknowledge them, and even then, we fail to reciprocate. That's actually pretty sad. Just think how different the situation could be if we actually made the effort to reach out to them emotionally.

I think it's about time we all got to know ourselves and understood what we really need in life. Maybe we all just need a good slap in the face every once in a while. Not a knife to the heart, of course, but a snap back to reality will do.

Or, would that be the Yandere's reality?

~ Milica M. "Mimo"

Hey everyone! Milica here. I hope you all enjoyed the holidays; for those of you celebrating any of the upcoming holidays, I wish you a wonderful holiday season as well :)

Now that the crew is back and kicking, it's time I returned with another editorial for you guys as well. 

To start things off, I'm going to assume that a lot of you know what I'm talking about when I say the words "Mystic Messenger." 

Yup. This game is actually what inspired our topic of the evening. I think that it's one of the best examples of a visual novel featuring a "bland" MC in recent memory. 

As much as I love learning about and trying to connect with the character I'm playing as, I nevertheless feel that there can be an advantage to having a sort of blank slate as your lead every once in a while. I shall explain.

The idea of having control over an action in a story is a big thing for players; sometimes it does make sense to have less control, yet other times it's admittedly frustrating. There are instances where your character will do the opposite of the choice you thought you made, or they will act in a way that's totally unreflective of how you personally would've handled the situation. The VNs that use these devices for conflict are usually the ones with less gameplay/choices.

Once we cut down on - or eliminate entirely - the MC's dialogue, we're able to make more choices that are more likely to be in line with things we'd probably say or reply with, which is something that I think Mystic Messenger does really well. We're able to play more as ourselves, and less like the MC. It gives a chance for the characters we interact with to be fleshed out more, and for us to learn so much more about them. We're better able to get inside their heads, and maybe even find ourselves in their shoes. They feel a lot more real to us.

That's the other thing about many VNs with fully-developed MCs. I often find that the development of other characters kind of suffers in favour of excessive internal dialogue. Though at the same time, I acknowledge that it really depends on the goal for the VN. Mystic Messenger's system definitely wouldn't work for Lucid9. Regardless, Lucid9 manages to keep Yama's inner thoughts concise so as to allow for that nice balance between introspection and interaction (thanks to Dia's direction and our writers' clever wordplay *wink*) 

I actually read a post-apocalyptic VN called Aloners recently (maybe some of you know about it), and the way it handles characterization is pretty cool. You essentially develop your character's personality and attitude towards things through decisions you make, even though you character has her own thought process from the very beginning. As the story goes on, you learn more about her backstory and what's become of the situation she's currently in. You give her a voice. This is wonderfully balanced with the development and "dimensionalization" (as I'll call it) of your companion, with whom you choose what sort of relationship you'll have. This tells me that maybe there's a way to combine player insertion and the VN's world after all; this is a particular technique that I'd like to see used again in VNs.

That being said, it may - understandably - depend on how many characters you're dealing with, because it really boils down to focus. At this point, blank slates seem to be most effective in stories that don't involve established backstories and motives prior to the actual objective of the VN, so that the player can literally be that person and direct their attention to making more meaningful connections with characters - as themselves. 

I could be wrong, though. Is there a VN you've read that you believe does something innovative with the "bland" MC?