Visual Novels are the new…novels

You read right: Visual Novels.  I don’t talk about them much even though I am a fan of Japanese culture / anime / manga, but I am a huge fan of VNs.  I even wrote one back when Katawa Shoujo was only in Act I (I was unable to work on it, though, as my laptop killed itself).
But I digress: the reason I suddenly bring up the phrase is because I am asking you.  The reader.  The Internet.  That lonely kid in the corner who has The Voice of God.

I need your help.
I have come up with a (rinsed, but solid) plot for a VN, and I am looking for helpers.  I have the software, I have the idea, and now I need the manpower (or womanpower). Currently, the things I need help with are as follows:

•Cowriter(s).  I have a basic idea and a starting point, but that’s it.

•Composer(s).  If I’ve learned anything from using a Mac for 7 years, it’s that I can’t use Music programs worth a flying shit.

•Character Designer(s).  This is a maybe, as I can draw fairly well, and I have started using a tablet for my Mac.  It’s always cool to have multiple art styles and views, though.

•Someone with programming skills.  I am relearning how to use Ren’Py, but some of the things I’m doing might take me a while to learn… or never.

•Beta Testers.  Obviously, we’ll need some VN Gamers who are willing to test it out, based on the genre of the game.  They will also help determine the game’s rating.

•Voice Actors.  This will probably be the most fun, and the most difficult (aside from programming).  People with talent to voice one of the 20+ characters I have planned will be a great help.  This is not a necessity, nor do I truly know if I can add voices to this.

•Photographers.  This goes hand-in-hand with artists, but real photographs of Japan will give the game more realistic values.

Just so I’m clear, this project is completely nonprofit.  This is due to a couple reasons, but mainly because I am unable to pay minimum wage for two people, let alone for approximately 30 people at a regular rate.  This is purely a charity project, unless we can come up with a way that everyone gets paid.

Currently, I have enlisted four potential voice roles (but that part will come much later).  At the very least, I’d like help planning the story a little better than I already have.

If you do want to help out, just send me an email, a tweet, a post, a SMS, or anything to let me know that you’re interested.  My information is below.  I will start a page for the Visual Novel(s) on this blog (and the Moronic Spasms one, if it becomes more popular).
Thanks in advance to those who want to help.

~Marcosias B.

Email: marcosiasisif@gmail.com
Phone: (907)347-8885
Twitter: Marcosias Isif @DemonEvangeline
deviantArt: MarcosiasIsif
Facebook: Marcosias Adam Bowman

Forum’s Up, Bitching!!!

Aside

So, if you haven’t been watching my many blog posts every few months, you’ll not nee that I have just started a To Aru RP Forum. Please, I encourage you to check it out, or even join, if you are interesten in the series. When science and magic cross… a new world will form!!

Forum Link: http://toaruomoshiroinorp.createaforum.com/

Game Review Friday: A new thing for me to post shit.

So, fuck. I meant to post this last week, but, hey, shit happens.

So, hey, it’s been a little while. But then, this post isn’t for chat. This is… Game Review Friday!!! I have decided that starting this week, I will post a review of a game that I have recently played (or beaten >3>;) every two weeks. I will present the content in a way that is TOTALLY unbiased and fair, and not based on the opinions of others and their peers that I read online at the game’s wiki… Totally.

Anyway, here’s the first game I will review: Borderlands 2.

Borderlands 2: Hyperion Strikes Back

Borderlands 2: Hyperion Strikes Back

Borderlands 2 came out a while ago, but I’ve only recently completed it, due to the many little frustrations, the time-consuming effort to kill and revive, and the difficulty to decide which weapon I wanted to get rid of to get the new, godlike weapon. When I first started playing, I (like many others, I believe) chose to play as Zer0. I mean come on, what’s not to like about a ninja that can turn invisible and use a freaking KODACHI?! But as I played the game, I realized that some of the abilities shown in his opening video were near the END of his skill tree, which seemed pretty tedious, even for the badass assassin.

So, after I got to Level 14, I decided to look at the other characters – mind you, I had already gotten a bunch of Microsoft points and the Season Pass, so I decided to use the newest character to the fray, Gaige the Mechromancer. She’s hysterically violent, cocky, and owns a FREAKIN’ ROBOT DESTROYER! So, I played through my first entire playthrough with Gaige, learning that I probably rely too much on Deathtrap and Shield Damage too much.

I digress. Next: the gameplay. As I said, I have only used two of the five chracters, so an unbiased view of this game’s play will be a little difficult, although I believe that all the characters are from the same cloth, more or less. As I love First Person Shooters and Role Playing Games, Borderlands 2 was a bifecta on my “To-Play” list. The game offers not only a wide variety of guns, shields and other crap to kill stuff with, but also intruguing characters, vivid environments, and a dickhole antagonist that just won’t give up. For people who have a hard time getting through games without ironside aiming, the game takes care of that too; a crosshair for guns in general, plus a nice zoom effect for all guns (even better for sniper rifles). There are even some special, secret guns that are complete dicks to you, even though all you did was reload.

Back to the general game, Borderlands 2 makes great use of things like side missions and experience farming. Even so, if you aren’t prepared for what the game can throw at you, YOU. WILL. DIE. (Seriously). The main story follows the Vault Hunters who have just arrived on Pandora, greeted by a Hyperion train and an explosive welcome, all complements of a dickhole tyrant known as Handsome Jack (the same dickhole I referred to earlier). His job is to make sure you don’t get work, and he assures this by sending thousands upon thousands of malevolent robots, soldiers, and creatures to find and kill you. If that weren’t bad enough, there are millions more creatures that also want your untimely demise. And still worse off- Claptrap is here.

But there is a silver lining- You are the champion. You are a god. You… Are The Vault Hunter.