What's next?

I was quite busy this week working both on Heileen 3 and Bionic Heart 2 (you see a new video of it above), so this post will be mostly an attempt in having a sort of "planned release schedule".

December 2012

As you probably know already, I really hope to release Heileen 3 sometimes during December (hopefully in time for Christmas!). The beta testing will begin soon for sure, but the final game release is still unknown (depends how many bugs people find in the beta!). Anyway, all that's left beside 10 more "random events" is for the simulation parts: 21 chibis, some small artwork, a few texts, some more balancing. I believe it's just a week or two of work.

In December I should also have one of my first games on the new Monkeycoder engine, so available also on iOS/web.

January/March 2013

Between those months, I'm surely going to release the yuri version of Heileen 3 (which I really wanted to release at same time as the main game this time, but alas because of problems with the original writer I couldn't). Also, Bionic Heart 2. The background art for that game is all done, the plot is finished, but there are still some sprite images that needs to be colored.

April/June 2013

Here things gets more difficult to judge. My goal would be to start Planet Stronghold 2 beta in early April, but you know, with RPGs is hard to know since they're so hard to make ;) I might just have one of my other games in a good advancement state and release it. Possible candidates are Roommates and Nicole.

Late 2013

Anything is possible! I really hope to have finished Planet Stronghold 2 by that date, and one of the other games. Maybe even Spirited Heart 2 or Amber's Magic Shop. But is very likely that at least one of those two games will slip into 2014!

As you can see I've got quite a busy schedule ahead. Now excuse me but I need to get back to work ;)

Continuing romances from previous games

In the image above, you see the "Romances Graph", a thing I like to make for all my RPGs, since romance plays an important role in all my games :)

In practice describes all the romance options available when playing the game with both characters (genders).

Those of you who played the first Planet Stronghold game will be happy to know that I'm not writing it myself :D so you can expect a much better writing this time! Aleema is in charge (same writer of Loren Amazon Princess) and from what I've seen so far, it will be awesome. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of sci-fi but reading the intro scenes got me the chills!

There will be time to talk about the new, refreshing plot (which will show the main character not as the classic "invincible hero", but more his/her human aspect) but for now I want to talk about the great idea the writer had, to continue the previous game romances.

I must say in the beginning I was scared since was something I never tried to, and was unsure about how/if that could work. But now I'm sure it was a great idea!

For those worried about keeping 4-5 versions of the first game save files, no worries: I've decided that is pointless to do that. I mean, since the only information passed from the first game to the sequel is who you were loyal to (Empire or Rebels) and who you romanced (which character), I thought to just show that as choices to pick during the character creation, as seen below:

It's much simpler to do that ;) in the same screen you can choose the difficulty level, your class and other stuff yet to be coded. As always remember that the screenshots posted here are all work in progress and might differ a lot from the final version.

So, based on your initial choice, the game changes, showing different scenes for every romanceable character. For example below is a screenshot from the Joshua/Rebecca intro:

which you won't see if you picked another romance or for example Lisa. This leads to a lot of variety and increases the game replayability by A LOT! :)

At same time, it makes everything feel more epic. It's hard for me to describe with words, but instead of starting from zero, is like if you continue a story that apparently only ended a few years ago (of game time). Some romance intro are tender and romantic, other are tear-jerking, other are passionate, and so on. It's refreshing for once to start one of my games with an already established relationship, and makes you even more attached to your character and his/her partner.

Obviously you can pick the choice to have no previous romances, and also you'll be able to break your current relationship later in the story and pursue a new character. It will be interesting to read those scenes as well :)

Next time I hope to be talking about Heileen 3 and show you some of the rules for Planet Stronghold 2, since I'm still working on those. But I can say that differently from the first game it will use a perks system and lower scale skills.

Bundles, expansions and new faces

The Manga Bundle

First of all, I'm doing a Manga Bundle which includes many of my games at a very minimum price (pay extra to get more/newer games) made in collaboration with Groupees.

You can find more info here: http://groupees.com/ww

It started yesterday and will last for one week.

The Castle Of N'Mar

Second, the Loren expansion is officially released: http://www.winterwolves.com/lorencastleofnmar.htm

I still didn't do any press release because I want to have a small promo video ready before I do it, but you can already buy it since is out of the beta testing stage. Just remember that to play the extra content, is preferred if you load an old savegame in chapter 2, or start a new game. If you resume an old game from chapter3, you won't see the extra content.

New Faces

I'm working on several project now that Loren's expansion is finished. The biggest one is Planet Stronghold 2, but I'm also actively working on Heileen 3. For Heileen 3, I'm waiting for new backgrounds, and this will surely delay the game release. I hoped that would be ready by October but for several reasons (Loren that absorbed me completely first, and then two months of african heat that made me KO) I didn't plan it carefully as I should have.

But is still going to be the next game I release!

See the full gallery on Posterous

Above you can see some images from the scenes I've already finished coding.

More new faces will come to Planet Stronghold sequel as well. We've decided to add a few more secondary characters to the story, and also to let the player continue any previous romance, so it means that Rumi & Michelle will be romanceable in the sequel as well.

We're also thinking to add a simple but interesting colony-building sim to Planet Stronghold sequel, a sort of metagame which will influence the main roleplay part. I think should be quite interesting to play and offer more variety of situations. Those who don't like those simulations don't worry, playing at easy level will be a piece of cake ;)

How it's going

How it's going? Well, not really good since I've got wrist pain since 3 days, because of carpal tunnel syndrome :(

However I still managed to code good part of Loren RPG chapter4, and also add the new map. The latest available beta version is the 0.91 which can be downloaded here:

http://www.winterwolves.com/download.php?game=LorenRPG-0.91.zip

Chapter 4 is coming along very nicely, and we hope to have the final 1.0 release by mid-April! I'm really looking forward to finish this project, the biggest I've ever attempted :)

What about the other games?

As you know, before devoting myself completely to Loren, I had started many projects. Unfortunately, I miscalculated the amount of work I had to put to make a BIG game like Loren, so when the time of the beta came, I realized that I couldn't work in multi-tasking as before (working on several projects at once). This means that I temporarily paused many projects, except those which had already the full storyboard written (like Heileen 3 or Nicole).

Now that Loren is about to be finished, I'm going to get back into managing the other games. Here's a detailed status for each one:

Heileen 3

Art: (100%) is completely done now. I might decide to do two versions, a otome and a yuri one, adding two final CG scenes with two new female romances. Have yet to decide if to do that or not, but I have time since the artist won't be able to make those last 2 scenes before next July!

Writing: (90%) Marie's path is being written right now, and she's the last romanceable character (unless I decide to do what I said above). Game is pretty long, over 150k words, so much bigger than previous titles!

Coding: (25%): Well, it's not that bad actually, since is a dating sim but not very complex. I still need to add a lot of choice changes (based on the 7 cardinal sin/virtues), testing, the scheduler, and so on. Probably 1 month of work.

Amber's Magic Shop

Art: (60%) I need some more backgrounds, and the potion-making interface, but apart this, the sprites are done and only needs to be colored.

Writing: (15%) It's still in the beginning, but several scenes are finished, and Lorelei (the writer) assured she'll resume working on it quickly next month :)

Coding: (10%): I still need to design and implement the potion making interface, that will be the part that needs more coding and testing of the whole game. Also need a "shop" interface, and a lifesim but will probably modify Always Remember Me one. I think about 2 months of coding needed.

Nicole

Art: (50%) I have some character sprites done, but still missing some, and also missing all the CGs, UI and backgrounds. So there's still quite some work to do art-wise!

Writing: (60%) The last character storyboard is being written now. I might review the whole writing later, to check for plotholes, or add some more scenes (I'm used to make big games now!).

Coding: (50%):I plan to reuse Always Remember Me framework for this game, with some small changes, since will also be a mystery game I want to put some kind of diary in the game. Also want to simulate a sort of computer with college intranet :) So because of those new features, probably need at least 1 month to code everything.

Roommates

Art: (70%) all characters are done (might add a few more though). The backgrounds are missing, but the ending CGs scenes (8 in total plus some variations/close ups !) are almost finished (saw the sketches already and artist is finishing them right now).

Writing: (5%) Sadly, previous writer disappeared, so I need to look for a replacement. I also need to plan the gameplay better and do the storyboard, but for this kind of game (set in US college) I definitely need to find someone who knows well that kind of reality so can help me with storyboard beside writing scenes!

Coding: (5%): I haven't done much. I am planning to use a mix between Flower Shop scheduler and Always Remember Me various places to visit. Still need to do lot of design though, including the player stats. I'd say around 2 months of work.

Queen Of Thieves

Art: (80%) is missing the final kissing scenes, but artist disappeared since 1st February, and I'm not sure if he can continue working on the game. In any case, there's not much hurry since I need to design the gameplay, interface, and so on. And worse case I can hire someone since are only the kissing scenes missing.

Writing: (50%) This game is a bit different, meaning that there's more gameplay than other life/dating sim, and less texts. About half of the romances are finished though.

Coding: (5%): As I said, this game will have more gameplay than all the others, but I need to think how to implement it. It might include: 2d turn-based tilemap, short RPG battles, shop simulation... so there's still a long way to go. I think minimum 3 months of work!

Planet Stronghold: Warzone

Art: (50%) all the romance CGs are done, but misses all backgrounds, the wargame tilemap, many enemy sprites, so still long way to go.

Writing: (5%) I only wrote the beginning, and while I have the general plot in my mind have yet to write a storyboard for it. Since is a RPG, will take LOONG time to write it, but Aleema already said wants to work on this one :) Still, probably won't be able to work on it before next summer!

Coding: (90%): Even if it's a RPG, since I'm going to reuse most of the first game RPG framework, coding is quite advanced. I need to code the "wargame" map, but that's it (since I already did some coding for it last year).

Undead Lily

Art: (80%) it's missing some backgrounds, but depending how the battles will take place might add some more sprites, and perhaps some more backgrounds.

Writing: (25%) Several characters scenes are finished, but I paused it because need to rethink how to program the main gameplay, so might have to rework what has been already written to simplify it, or change it somehow.

Coding: (10%): Not much done, and while it will be a simpler RPG than Loren or Planet Stronghold, I decided to pause the development for now. Will resume working on it next year!

 

I tried to put them in order of a possible release: however, there's no guarantee about the release order, with the exception of Heileen 3 that will almost surely be out this summer! :)

Past, present and future

The Past

Don't worry, the picture above is NOT of any upcoming games! ;) It's from one of my early fantasy/RPG games called Magic Stones, which has still a special place in my heart because was the first game I made to become relatively successful. That though represent the past, what I was doing several years ago. I used royalty free poser 3d models because I couldn't afford decent artists.

The Present

The present is of course represented well by my recent manga games, and Loren in particular. I never invested so much time and resources in a game before, but now that the game is currently in beta stage, I can say it was definitely worth it!

In case you missed my Twitter/Facebook announcement, I released version 0.8 which lets you play through the whole chapter 1. The game has also a very long demo, so you can try it before preordering it!

We have added a lot of new features to version 0.8 based on early tester/players' feedback, and I must say that the game now is much better. I liked a lot in particular the feature to double-click to repeat last action (very useful in battles, making them much more smooth to play!) and the new "Tasks" feature, in which you can play battles to raise your Fame in a specific town, to obtain discounts in the town's vendor.

The. plot is also going on very well, with Aleema (the writer) finishing the last chapter. I can assure you that the final battle will be something epic, and also have a surprising end! But for now, I'm concentrating on finishing the chapter2, since adding all the new enemies and battles is quite time consuming, since I have to test them all.

I also reduced the difficulty on the Easy level so much, that I can say that playing Loren at easy level is almost like playing a normal visual novel. So I think that even if you don't like RPGs, you should try playing it in easy mode just to read the story, which I think is very good!

The Future

As I said, after Loren I plan to take a break from very detailed RPGs. But of course, Planet Stronghold sequel will be still done this year, since in this case the RPG framework is already tested and finished (and also, is more simplified vs Loren).

Below you can admire a new sketch from the artist for a Marada Shaman enemy:

Planet Stronghold: Warzone should be out this summer, though is more likely will be this fall. As for my other projects, beside Heileen 3 and Nicole, I didn't make much progresses, since my last two months were completely absorbed by Loren!

But hopefully once Loren is out, will have more time to devote to those games, which compared to the complexity of making a RPG could even be considered "relaxing"! ;)

I also have more surprises coming out next months: might do my first online/webgame, and if I can find the right partner also a webcomic. Stay tuned!

2012 Time to relax!

In the picture above my cat Gilda sitting over a "hot water bottle" (hope to have found the right word!).

Yes because at the start of the year, for the first time in the last four years, I got the flu and high fever! So I had to momentarily pause my work. At the moment of writing this post I still don't feel really well, but at least it's an excuse for typos/grammar mistakes ;)

I think this was a sort of warning. In 2011 I worked like NEVER before, but since I'm human, in 2012 I plan to take things more relaxed. Don't worry this doesn't mean I won't release any games or slow down incredibly! But thank to the effort of the previous years, I'll be able to release new games reusing good part (or almost all) of the code I've already written, speeding up the process.

This is a commonly used tecnique, even in the top AAA games. Making a new game from scratch is one thing, but doing one with already a solid code base, even if of course needs to be changed, expanded, redesigned, is much faster, believe me!

Loren The Amazon Princess uses a new RPG Framework, but luckily the big part of it was written in past year by Michael (also known as "Anima" in some forums). There's really not much work left, and what I have tested so far seems to work very well apart some inevitable minor bugs. I spent most of this week redoing several times the battle screen layout.

In the image above, an almost final GUI layout. But as the user "Foxfeeder" rightly pointed in my forums, it's a pity to use those small portraits, when I have such well done waist-up images of all party members and enemies! So I'm going to tweak/change it again next week as soon as I can resume working.

Planet Stronghold: Warzone will obviously reuse the first game code, but with some improvements that will have a big impact on gameplay, like area of effect Psionic Powers. Even in this case luckily, I did most of the update last year, so there's "only" the story to write and the item/enemies. Still quite a lot of work, but should be done before the year ends (don't want to say this Summer even if I hope to)!

As promised, above you see a "sneak peek" of Joshua possible romances. What do you think? I believe the sequel will satisfy everyone and every tastes ;)

Nicole, (the Mystery/Otome game), Amber's Magic Shop and Roommates (set in college with all romance options available) will use Always Remember Me interface with some changes, so that each game will feel somehow unique. In Nicole I plan to put some clue system, in Amber there will be a potion brewing simulation, and in Roommates you'll be able to take different jobs based on some of your statistics.

Heileen 3: New Horizons will use a scheduler similar to Flower Shop games. There won't be any farming simulation, but other mechanics. Some coding will be required, but at it's core is a Visual Novel, since the first two games were "pure" Visual Novels I didn't want to transform it into something too complex. There will still be stats, relationship system and other things though :)

In the image above you see Sebastian, the "new entry" and 4th male dateable character of the game. The artist Rebecca will be working during January-April of this year on the art for the game, I saw the preview of the romance CG for John - Heileen and is very interesting ;)

The "New" Games

If you follow me and knows all the various games I'm working on, you might have noticed that from the list above is missing both Undead Lily and Queen Of Thieves. That is because they are the games which will require more brainstorming, coding, and testing, since will use very different gameplay mechanics:

The Queen Of Thieves will use in part a map/life sim, but also several new gameplay methods. I have already in mind some interesting ideas for it, but I think will either find a coder for it, or if I need to code it myself will take some time... :)

Undead Lily is almost finished art-wise. It's missing only a few backgrounds but all the character art is done. However, I have an idea on how to make it, but I am almost certain that it cannot be done with Ren'Py (maybe using some black magic with the Sprites class... but I don't know how!). So I might even do this game with Flash or some other language. I had started making it already but I paused it, since I want to make the game the best I can.

RPGs status update

It's time to give you an update on my two main RPG projects I'm currently working on: Loren The Amazon Princess and Planet Stronghold: Warzone.

Loren The Amazon Princess

As you can see below, I made a mockup for the game main menu, and I like it (not that the main menu is so important in a RPG, but I want to have it look good). As I'm writing, the game soundtrack is being recorded, which will feature Cristina Vee again singing the theme song. I'm eager to listen to it :)

Below, you see the first icons made for the skilltrees. I also got some weapons/items, but not enough yet to show a full equipped character. As for the skills, I realized yesterday that I actually need a separate icon for every skill present in the 16 base skiltrees: since every skilltree has 5, it means that I still have 60 icons to commission!! It's necessary of course, but it all adds to the final game costs. This game better sell well!

The writing is at good point, and everything should be finished at end of this month or early December, however there is still left to add all the battles and quests and everything else that makes a RPG (enemies, balancing, and so on). So, I'd say that while I hope to have a public alpha at end of the month to get feedback about the battle system, the fullgame won't be available for sure this year. I'm aiming at Q1 2012 release (probably February/March).

Planet Stronghold: Warzone

For this game things are "apparently" going slower. I say apparently because even if the game writing is still at early stages (I don't even have planned the full story yet!), I have already made the changes to the combat system (in practice a full redesign of the Psionic Powers vs the first game). I also have planned all the romances, which will be even more important than the previous game, since there will be 4 for each gender (vs the 3 of the previous title).

So in practice, since the gameplay/game system is already tested, once the story starts to be written this game will progress much faster than Loren (also because the RPG system is simpler).

Speaking of romance, take a look at this:

It's a fun "collage image" I made picking some details from each of the 4 romance scenes for Lisa Nelson. As you can see, lots of *hot* stuff going on! :)

I don't have all the 4 romance images for Joshua, but once I have them will make a similar thing for him too.

I have another important announcement about Planet Stronghold, even if it will have to wait until next week, but is a very interesting deal! So stay tuned (will announce it on twitter, facebook and in the blog).

Four new games in progress!

In the image above, my cat "Micia" back in 2002. She was living with my parents now, and she died last week, at 15 years old. It's kind of sad since she was the first cat I rescued and officially adopted. I want to remember Micia with that funny picture of her in the bath tub :)

Now, speaking about my games, some interesting news:

First of all, I updated both Vera Blanc games, added a new "visual novel mode" (that eliminates the need to solve the minigames) and put on sale until Sunday for 4.99 each. So if you haven't already, check the demos here:

http://www.winterwolves.com/verablanc.htm

Four new projects!

I've started 4 new games. Yes, four! I'm crazy, I know. But as you know I'm now using external writers, so I'm "only" writing the scenes and doing the games storyboard. Obviously I won't release all those games this year, also because I expect some of those writers to quit/disappear halfway, like usually happens...
Of those 4, only one has already some art ready and is the Queen Of Thieves game, which will be a fantasy RPG/lifesim (though I have yet to think about the gameplay in detail).
The other 3 are: "The Hospital" a horror game, "Amber's Magic Shop" another fantasy lifesim/potion making game with both good/bad endings, and "Roommates" a more light themed game with college settings.

All the game titles are temporary names which might change.

The Queen Of Thieves game

Is being rewritten by another person, which hopefully won't disappear from one day to another. I am sorry for previous writer since she was doing a good job, but I can't keep chasing everyone, especially if they don't email for 2 months ^_^;

I want to push this game hard since as I said is the one where I have most of the art done (still need to be finished though) and it could be one of my next games to be released, alongside with Loren and Planet Stronghold: Warzone.

Amber's Magic Shop game

As you have noticed, recently I released mostly light-themed games and all of them had happy endings. While I like them of course, I also like games that offers sad/bad endings. Sometimes, a bittersweet ending or even a sad ending can be more rewarding (story-wise) than the more "classic" happy endings.

So in the fantasy life/potion sim game I'm writing right now, I'll have bad endings, since the overall game setting is dark fantasy. I wanted to try with one game to see how the public would react, since honestly I'm a bit tired of writing only happy ending games! Besides, there will be happy ending even in this game, alongside with the sad ones.

The Hospital game

This is a kind of an experiment, I admit it. I have absolutely no clue how a horror VN game can sell. It will be probably shorter (and so cheaper) than my other games, and still have some romance options as well, but obviously quite different from my other light-themed games. The game starts and you wake up in a hospital bed, with no memories of who your are...

(I know, not the most original start, but the rest of the story I think it will be!)

The Roommates game

I got lots of feedback from people who wanted a game with college/light setting. I am designing one right now, which will include both male and female main character. So you'll be able to play it as GxB, GxG or BxG, BxB. In practice, all relationship tastes included!

 

Loren RPG framework status

We made lots of progresses this month so far. Right now, we're waiting for some new icons/UI for the equipment screen and then we'll be able to post a public alpha preview, which will be very useful to find some possible nasty hidden bugs. I tested the battle a lot, but I only recently added many new items, and I also want to start creating some new enemies, so is likely that some bugs could pop-up.

In the image above you can see the equipment screen mockup, which obviously is not final but just a work-in-progress.

Obviously my other games like Heileen 3 and Planet Stronghold: Warzone are progressing as well, with the former getting lots of the 100-scenes done, and the latter almost all the romance CGs finished.

Fantasy or reality?

In the image above, my dog Artù (italian name for Arthur) watching my dwarf rabbit Cleo in the garden.

As those who follows me on twitter might know, I'm currently writing the scenes for Heileen 3. Initially I did a lot of research, since it's based on the pirates of the Caribbean, however I quickly realized that trying to keep it historically accurate was too much pain. And not just that, but it would have also been less fun to play for the users! So, I am just going to use that as "setting/background" but everything will be pure fantasy (for example Morgan the pirate was definitely not a kind man, and cats don't talk!!).

There's a reason why I (and I suspect many other writers) prefer to write fantasy stories. Be it classic swords & sorcery, or science-fiction, with a fantasy world as long as you plan it out beforehand, there aren't problem of inaccuracies, mistakes, wrong dates, and so on. Let me tell you, it's really MUCH MUCH easier! :)

However, I also like stories with a historical background setting, and a simple solution is to mix the fantasy with reality. In Always Remember Me, the story is set in a "unnamed warm town", like could be San Francisco, but there's no reference at all to real names or real events. In Flower Shop all the story takes place on "Fairbrook", a fantasy town somewhere in California, and so on.

There was a game I wanted to release by Halloween, but of course I won't make it in time (I didn't even start it!), which is a horror/mystery/otome game but will take place mostly in a hospital. The town could be any town in USA, and the equipment is modern, but ... there will be definitely some fantasy elements! ;)

And now a quick summary of the work-in-progress... progresses!

Heileen 3: New Horizons

That's what I'm mainly working on right now, even if the game will be out next year because the artist Rebecca can only work starting from January (except a few days in November but surely won't be enough to finish all the art!).

However, I like how the story is coming out so far, the gameplay system seems fun too (similar to Spirited Heart but with some changes) and we're also planning to have some mini-animations for each of the 14 activities! Though this mainly depends how long will take to draw the 14 different job endings, and the  6 romance endings CG (4 heterosex and 2 homosex).

Planet Stronghold: Warzone

Artist resumed working after a summer break, and currently has finished 2 romance CG scenes out of 8! There's a new team member called Milo, and a new NPC called Lakadema which is an alien with incredible powers but also very shy and fragile. You can see the images below (Lakadema image is not yet final):

See the full gallery on Posterous

As always I don't have any estimate, but considering I haven't finished writing any scene yet, for sure the game won't be out this year. Yes, RPGs take A LOT of time to make!

Loren The Amazon Princess

The plot writing is going forward steadly, we're at beginning of chapter3, and the game consist of four chapter so the end is on sight. Of course, I'm only talking about the end of the main plot, there is still the expansion to write (which I think will be around 1/3 of the main game length).

The battle system is at good point too but still need more accurate testing and probably also balancing. And all the enemies needs still to be created (have the art, but didn't plan their skills yet).

Below you can see the commander of the Amazon army Breza and the infamous witch hunter Raven (available only in the expansion).

See the full gallery on Posterous

That's all for this week!