In the photo above, Gilda and Leon sleeping “head to head”

I was hoping to announce the start of the beta pre-order for my fantasy RPG “Loren The Amazon Princess” but alas, I am going to delay it by a few weeks. I’m hoping by mid of February to have the full chapter 1 finished.

Below some screens of the vendor (WIP) and the battle with a 99% final layout:

What’s left ?

You might ask what exactly is missing? The biggest part of the game is done, but there are a lots of small things missing. To be clear I could release the beta at the end of this month, but it would miss a several interesting features like:

• working vendor – the vendor code is still half-done, and even if the coder probably could finish it in 3 days, it would be greatly untested. Also I would need to define the vendors inventory, check what kind of items they might have available, and so on!
• side quests – I’m thinking what to have as side quests. In the game, there are already side-quests but they appear later in the game, in particular in the expansion when you can choose if to recruit Sauzer, Mesphit and Chambara. I want to add a few more, nothing complex since the game is already VERY long, but still…
• map system – it will be a simple map system like Planet Stronghold (nothing complex) but still I am missing the art and good part of implementation (like random encounters, and so on)
• battle effects – there are SOME battle effects done (nothing fancy!) but when you have 80+ skills to do, it starts to be a LOONG task. I don’t want to spend much time on this, because it doesn’t make sense to make lots of efforts for a 1-2 second animation, but still I don’t want it to look like a total crap

So as you can see, nothing really ESSENTIAL to the game, but I don’t want to rush out the beta, and have people test an already outdated version, since I will add most of the things above.

What about the grinding?

The term grinding, as defined by Wikipedia:

“Grinding is a term used in video gaming to describe the process of engaging in repetitive and/or boring tasks not pertaining to the story line of the game. The most common usage is in the context of MMORPGs in which it is often necessary for a character to repeatedly kill AI-controlled monsters, using basically the same strategy over again to advance their character level to be able to access newer content.“

As you might know, I make heavy story-based games. However, Loren is the first game that has a very solid RPG gameplay. It’s much deeper, detailed and also complex than Planet Stronghold. And you can reach up to level 30 (I decided to lower the level cap from level 60 !).

I know that some people hate grinding, while other consider it an essential part of RPGs. Of course, not an excessive grinding, but if the battle is well done, it’s cool to kill monsters to gain more experience and unlock new skills.

In my case though, it also helps the game. As much as I can test it, and even if I offer different difficulty levels, I cannot know every single player skills. So even if I give out more experience points at Easy difficulty level, I cannot know if it will be enough for everyone to win the battle with Jul in chapter 4 of the game (it will be a hard battle!).

A solution is to leave some zones of the map with “wandering monsters”, so that if the player is stuck in a battle and cannot seem to win it, he can visit those places and fight some grinding battles to gain more experience and level up. As consequence, he can retry the previous battle but with a strongest party, increasing the chances of winning.

I think done this way, grinding is not a bad thing anymore, but is a sort of “approved cheat mode”. You can win most battles at your selected difficulty level? Good. You can’t? Try playing in a easier mode. You still cannot win that specific battle? Try grinding a bit, and then come back with a strongest party and kick the enemy’s ass!

The other games

I know recently I’m completely absorbed into Loren and haven’t updated much the other games progresses. This is because Loren is a very long and complex game to make, and I want to finish it soon. However don’t worry, since after it’s finished I’ll release some new dating/life sim, including Heileen 3 (probably this summer).

Here’s a picture of Marie with the “new look”. I find her very cute:

And she is a romance option

The new preview build of Cinders is finally ready and available to all pre-order purchasers.

 

If you bought the game, please check your email for a new download link from BMT Micro. If you are a member of the press willing to do a preview, please contact us and we’ll fix you a copy, too.

 

 

The new version includes a lot more story content, along with numerous fixes and improvements. Writing took much longer than we expected, so to make use of that extra time, we got around to implementing some cool new stuff from your suggestions and our own wish list.

 

Notable changes:

• Branch icon appears when current events are an outcome of earlier choices.
• Every character now has several more poses for specific situations.
• Small face icons were added next to character names for better readability.
• Rewards visible in the main menu for completing various events.
• Auto-play option is available.
• Fast-text option for the quick readers out there.
• Many new sound and visual effects were added.
• From now on, save files will be compatible between game versions.
• Several bug fixes and other minor improvements.

 

We hope you’ll enjoy the new build. If you have any feedback, please leave it in the comments or on our forums.

 

 

As for the general development progress — we’re getting there, but there’s still a significant amount of writing left to be done. We have hired an additional writer to speed up the process. If everything goes well, we should be able to set some release date soon.

That’s right! After a short break, I’ve decided to reboot this project and I’m looking for a team to get involved (since creating version 1.0 alone was tough work). So what’s different this time around? The first version seems to have done well enough, considering it’s a free game and was only advertised so much, and so I’m hoping to expand on what’s been done. A version 2.0 will include routes for Miwa, Miu, Shino and Katsuro, as well as making Haruka’s path full length. An original soundtrack will be composed and original, better artwork will be created. I’m also hoping to have the game voiced (by amateur voice artists) at some point, which means the game will include the option to turn this on or off. Anybody who’s interested in helping get this off the ground again (so long as a reliable team can be assembled) should leave a comment on the new Recruitment page, along with some examples of your abilities in your chosen position. My role would be as Project Leader and programmer, helping everyone to collaborate together. I won’t be doing much writing myself on this since I’m currently working on another project singlehandedly again.

Recruiting:

-Writers

-Musicians

-Artists (backgrounds, CGs and sprites)

-Voice Artists (English but potentially international ones when a translated version is released)

-Translators (once this version is finished)

Fingers crossed and good luck to any recruits!

On another note, due to Megaupload recently going down, there’s no download link from there anymore for v.1.0. However, it can still be downloaded from Renai.us.

Long time, no update! Finished working on the music themes for the five heroines.

• Memoria Test 11 (Julia’s Theme) – The cymbals near the end were a new thing for me to try out.
• Memoria Test 12 (Mikaela’s Theme) – Decided to go “off key” for a bit at 1:03-1:04, listen to the vibes carefully.
• Memoria Test 13 (Anna’s Theme) – Because I was sort of “lazy” at the time, I took parts from Test 7 and added them to Anna’s theme; of course had to make it fit the key signature.
• Memoria Test 14 (Tristina’s Theme) – To be honest, creating rock music is not my thing. But this turned out pretty well, I think.
• Memoria Test 15 (Aurelia’s Theme) – Had to abuse the automation to get her theme to work out. Personally, my favorite heroine theme.

Hope you guys enjoy!

Updates on the story – Currently revising Aurelia’s route, and I’m hoping to get her done by the end of this month. Then it’s revising Julia’s route, which will prove to be a challenge.

Just in case some of you didn’t notice, you can follow me and my sister on twitter if you wish; there’s a follow button on the side menu of the blog.

-Ryne (project manager/writer/composer)

It's the Lunar New Year, and that means time for tasty food, fireworks, and hope for a great harvest. I'm making rice cakes for dinner tonight. ^o^ As it's the year of the dragon, I thought it would be cool to post a sketch of a relevant character from Jisei, but then I realized that that would be a massive spoiler. D: However! I did get this lovely dragon logo from Alisa, and it was just too

Romance, drama, and technology are three themes that fans of Christine Love‘s other works (such as Cell Phone Love Letter and Digital: A Love Story) should be familiar with. don’t take it personally, babe, it just ain’t your story is a visual novel that includes all three in spades. You play as John Rook, a two-time divorcé and high school teacher that secretly monitors his class’ social network on his Amie XTablet computer for potential cyberbullying. Through both reading their private messages and talking to his students face-to-face, Mr. Rook becomes seriously involved with seven of his special snowflakes’ lives.

The game plays out in two different ways. It’s like your typical visual novel with a bunch of choices, three endings, seven chapters, character development, and lots of dialogue. What makes the game shine is in its second feature – the Amie XTablet. That’s where you find the high level of customization that you’d expect from a Christine Love game. The tablet is your voyeuristic passport into the personal lives of your students. Their social network is like a better, more interesting FB with status updates you can actually care about, rather than bash your head open over.

Every time one of the kids posted something new (indicated by a noise), I rushed to read it. It didn’t matter to me that they weren’t paying attention in their lessons. Who cares about that when you can read about the latest classroom gossip? It’s funny how different they seem online versus reality, when you first meet them. There’s a quiet and proper girl standing in front of you in her uniform, and there, online, is that same girl with a suggestive profile picture. It made me laugh, because the same thing happens in real life – people have all kinds of pictures that their teachers shouldn’t be seeing, but probably can by doing a simple search.

The social network aspect made this game worth it to play, especially since we’re all stalkers. “Friending” and following and checking up on people – those are today’s most acceptable forms of stalking, because people post every minute detail of their lives, hoping that someone, somewhere out there will read it, even if they’ve only got their moms as followers/friends/etc. Some of us admit our creep status more readily, but social networking has provided us a whole window into people’s private lives. People air all sorts of dirty laundry online.

The characters in this game do exactly that. When they have problems, they write about it. As soon as they’re done confronting someone, they post about the aftermath. Nothing offline is kept one hundred percent separate from the online world. Even when John talks to his students, they’re texting away on their tablets, carrying on with the latest news.

The game is set in the year 2027, which is important to the plot. The chatspeak that the characters use might get annoying, but as someone who hears people quoting memes on a near daily basis, I think it’s feasible that kids in 2027 would have adopted “lol” into their regular speech. Strong language (including a certain homophobic slur) that we’d find offensive in 2012 has also become as common and innocuous as saying the word, “cat.” I found it more surprising that the kids weren’t using chatspeak in their actual posts.

It’s also set in a more liberal era, where homosexuality is more readily accepted. You witness the struggles and innocence of a new gay relationship, and can choose whether or not to help a broken up lesbian couple get back together. You can also choose to accept the advances of one of your underage students, if you’re feeling up to that. It was great to read a story where the relationships were treated naturally and realistically. There’s an opportunity to look at one of your students’ nudey pictures, too, by Googling a password. If any of those things bother you, then this might not be your game (’cause it definitely ain’t your story). The pedo storyline did gross me out, though, mainly because of their first kiss graphic.

Speaking of the CGs, some of them were pretty awkward looking. For the most part, the art is passable. The writing and coding completely trumps it. The side images are redundant, but I loved finding out more about the characters, and realizing how much more insightful they were than what I expected them to be on the surface. They’re more mature than they look, but at the same time, they’re just kids. And, this game, ultimately, is about their stories and lives, not yours. These are characters that will stick with me for a long while.

Read it. Play it. Whatever. You won’t regret it. The ending was a little preachy, but it did make me think about what the kids of the future will be like when I’m around John Rook’s age in 2027. I think I’ll look back on this game, and see how much of it rang true.

Become the bro-est of bros, and download the game here.