Weekly Development Update 23/10/2024

1 week into my vacation! Let's see what I've done so far.

Progress:

• Writing

  •   Finished writing out the chapter's story

  •   Need to re-read for QC

  •   Awaiting proof-read

• Rendering

  •  Beginning characters rework

  •   Beginning the first scene

Objective list:

• Phone System

• Gallery

• Fix Android version

• Character skin rework

• Fix MC face shape

• Making "Previously on" segment

• Some chapter 1 renders rework (Unsure)

• Re-convert chapter 1 renders for better quality (.webp)

• Mandarin/Cantonese translation

Since I've finished writing the plot for chapter 2, I'll be working on the rendering. For me, I tend to change my writing while I'm doing the rendering. It's kind of like a quality check as I have re-read the story while I'm rendering the scenes.

This time though, it'll be a lot more rendering work as there are more scenes for chapter 2 and the fact that there will be around 7 fight scenes across the chapter. So now, I have to start drafting the choreography as well. I'll post them in my discord so if you're interested, come check it out!

Now, I also have to think about some other features I need to add into the game. I'm talking about the gallery, phone system and something that I haven't thought off yet. I think I'll start working on these once I'm finished with the renders. It'll be a lot of learning for me.

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Weekly Discussion:

This time, I want to talk about Character Design. Good character design is an essential part in any story, in any format. Whether it is a book, a game, a movie or a play, character design shapes the experience it gives. In my opinion, every character should serve a purpose (excluding background characters). Now, they don't always have to make a big impact or set a driver for the plot, but they do have to offer something, somehow.

First thing about character design, we want to set the characteristics. Characteristics is the reason why each character is unique. This is where I have to pay attention on why are the characters the way they are. For this, I need to come up with a back story for each of these characters and ensure that their traits and behaviours are largely shaped by their past experience. Why do they respond as such? What causes them to act like this? In what way would they deal with this situation? I need to make sure that each character act in correspondence to their past experience.

Then, we need to think about their appearance. I believe that each character should have some sort of distinctive appeal that makes them different. Now, thanks to the "Visual" part of a visual novel, we can visualised the appearance of the characters to our audience. The face of these characters usually gives us all we need to differentiate them, but I also like adding some extra features. These extra features are not only there to help audience differentiating them; they can also raise questions about the characters. If a character has a lot of tattoos, the audience might want to know why did they have so many tattoos. If a character has a lot of scars, the audience might want to know where they come from or if they affect how the character behaves at all. You get the idea. I also think that these extra features can lay a foundation on what's to come later in the story, where I explain the character's back story.

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The next thing I need to pay attention to, is the purposes each character serves. There are 3 types of characters, I believe: main characters, side characters, and background characters. We all understand that the story mainly revolves around the main characters, so what purpose do the other characters serve?

To me, side characters are essential to a few things: plot driving, supporting/challenging the main characters, providing different perspectives, and enriching the world-building. Ok, now we know the purposes, but how can we achieve them? Side characters, in my own opinion, should offer some kind of perspective that is in relation to the story. If I have a side character that just constantly agree with the main characters, they might as well just not be there. But looking at this on another angle, we don't actually have to make every single side characters useful (contradicting myself here XD). They don't have to always bring something to the table. Constantly chasing the plot may become exhausting for both the writer and viewers. However, I only said that they don't have to be "useful"; what they do need is to be either interesting or fun. You can have a side character that literally does whatever the fuck they want, as long as they are not boring to watch.

Background characters, on the other hand, doesn't serve as important of a purpose, but still necessary. They are there to set a tone, whether it is for the theme of the story, the location, or the scenario. For example, in an apocalyptic scenario, we have a bunch of background characters screaming in agony. This sets the tone for the location and the story, which is chaotic and dreadful. Without these characters, we won't be able to achieve that. While they may never interact with the main characters, or make any sort of impact to the plot, they also play a significant role in shaping the overall experience for our audience.

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Alright, this will be the end of the update. Thanks for my supporters and especially my patrons! I'll come back with another update next week. Bye!