Sunday 1 November 2009

Netballa', Shot Calla'


They see me pivotin', they hatin'

As usual, I'm hard at work creating artwork for the game rather than actually working on the script, but eh - the above should eventually be part of the game's intro 'movie', if I decide to actually make one. If I can't manage it with 'pan's and 'move's, I don't think I'll bother, tbqh.

The netball player is Merle Piepo, one of the first characters the player meets in the game and the heroine's default BFF, albeit a fairly bitchy one who clearly has aspirations on one of the dateable boys, oh my. She's also the captain of the netball team, and will be found dossing about around the court once I've actually got her scenes written, hurr. Of course, netball scenes require new sprites (ugh) and an actual knowledge of netball (to Wikipedia!), so these kinds of things always end up taking longer than I expect them to. But hey. If I can somehow bring the joy of netball to the world (oh god, I hated netball so much, seriously, all that standing still and spinning on the spot nonsense did my head in, I swear to god), it'll all be worth it...

~~~

In other news, I did actually manage to get some scenes written, mainly for Shuppin's (the quiet, emo-looking musician) path. Again, though I can possibly just about handle an acoustic guitar (coincidentally, Shuppin's instrument of choice, those young'uns and their newfangled electronic guitars be damned), I don't really know anything about music and have pretty much had to trawl Wikipedia for the few scenes where someone actually has to look like they know what they're talking about. Will it end up making any sense? Probably not. But eh, I figure they can talk about Fenders and humbuckers and plectrums every now and again and then get back to the whole 'hey, quiet guys with guitars are cool' thing. Maybe.


...Maybe. I've also been trying to give every character at least one sprite in the game - Shuppin's dad up there has about four, because drawing instruments is fun (and a real time-sink, ugh), and I've just finished watching K-On!, which might have contributed to the whole musical thing just a tad (not that there's much actual music in it. To be honest, as an avid moe-hater I'm not entirely sure why I actually watched it, but eh. The slice-of-life parts were nice. But I digress). There's also Shuppin's boss, who is pretty much just another foil for Shuppin, as he's pretty quiet at first and loud, obnoxious characters are much easier for me to write, hurhur.


It's also that time of the year again, when the travelling funfairs come crawling out of the woodwork and there are fireworks and candyfloss and toffee apples and all that good stuff, so I figured I'd code some date events centred around that. They should end up being pretty much the same as the ones in Tokimeki Memorial: Girl's Side; you choose which ride to go on with a boy, and maybe get a little boost of affection depending on the ride you chose. I've got the most difficult part (choppy animations! Woo) done already, so I should probably get around to actually writing the events themselves... but eh. It can wait. It's nearly Bonfire Night! Happy Halloween while we're at it, too - I went as a gangsta with bling and everything, cheapest costume ever. Ahh, festivities...




Next up, Chrimbo! I've got stock Christmassy music, and all. That, and a ballroom background / various sprites in formal dress ready and waiting, though I'm not sure whether I should use them for a Christmas party (à la Tokimemo) or for some kind of Leavers' Ball / Prom... choices, choices.

*Sigh*... All this work, and I've barely made any noticeable progress. Dating Sims are hard!~

(Fun as hell playing back through it all, though. It's like, it's an actual, playable game already... *warm fuzzies* albeit one with no ending or point. But still!)