Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Dating sims, visual novels, bishoujo games' LiveJournal:

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Friday, June 1st, 2007
8:01 am	Is this the end for our hero? Maybe this will be the last time this journal is updated. In any case, if I decide to try 9Rules or Anime Nano, I'll mention it here. Version 2 of "Emo Boys and Moe Girls" is now available on my site at http://www.visualnovels.com/emo2.exe. It's an ambitious beginning, but probably too ambitious. I think it's time to scale back this project and turn it into a simple, brief simulation. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 29th, 2007
7:41 am	We're working on the problem, we'll get back to you soon The writing for "Emo Boys and Moe Girls" version 2.0 was finished on Friday. The editing and playtesting began on Monday. Good news: no crashes thus far, and no frustrating game bugs. Bad news: it'll be a day or two more before I can thoroughly check the game for errors. I'll also need a little time to find somewhere other than my old, not-so-good site to host the game. That said, I'll get this game done and online on or before May 31. That's a tight deadline, but since I almost made my previous deadline, I'll definitely make this one. What next? Ask for help and probably also reduce the scope of the game. Current Mood: anxious Current Music: Weird Al - The Check's in the Mail (Comment on this)
Monday, May 21st, 2007
7:44 am	Take it to go I've created "week 1 date events" for three out of six girls, and I'm working on numbers four and five right now. So I will have something to show next Monday. This is probably going to be one of my last posts on this LJ. I stopped using it for several months, and even after I resumed using it, my interest is very low. Time to think about my options. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, May 14th, 2007
8:29 pm	Setting a two week deadline Two weeks from now, it will be Tokimeki Memorial Day. So here is what I will do between now and then: ( Read more... ) One new license recently announced from Peach Princess, called Snow Sakura. Another from G-Collections, called Lightning Warrior Raidy. Even though I'm pretty "meh" about Zyx games, I might give that latter game a chance since it includes RPG elements. (But the recent license that I'm most intrigued by? A port of Growlanser 1 for PS2, even though it is mostly a straightforward RPG.) (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, May 10th, 2007
8:00 am	Epic fail / MOAR! (backup, that is) I wish I didn't understand those phrases. Anyway, just when I was trying to create an executable file, RPG Maker XP crashed. Worse yet, it apparenly wouldn't recognize my file when the program finally started again. I should have made backup files every day or two. Now I have to go back to where I was a week ago. Time to put in work tonight so that I can have a workable version of version 2.0 at the convention. It'll be a while before I can catch up. (Comment on this)
Monday, May 7th, 2007
7:11 am	I made you a gift but I eated it Been working on the "gift giving" portion of my game. It's a little complicated. First, the player has to have enough cash, and that has to be verified. Second, during the date sequences, there has to be some code to make sure the player has a gift... Meanwhile, I tried that translated demo of Binary Pot, but it left almost no impression. Sure, it was a short demo, but I didn't find anything unique or even interesting about it. By the time the ren'ai panel at ACen arrives (less than a week away...), at least a few of the people there will have heard that the translation of Fate/Stay Night is progressing. Or if they haven't, then I'll try to spread the good news. I enjoy telling people about what I learn through teh intarwebs. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, May 1st, 2007
7:45 am	Oh yeah, that old thing I was mentioning interesting news yesterday, and I totally forgot to mention that a patch for the doujin game Melty Blood was released. When I have time one of these days, I'll have to find out just what I might be missing in the doujin game world. I'm sure there's a lot of junk, but there might be a few interesting strategy or simulation games out there. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Monday, April 30th, 2007
7:46 pm	Favorite volume title? Definitely "Secrets and Lies" Wha-? Tomorrow is May? That means I have about ten days left. Well, the good news is that things are looking up. Version 2 of "Emo Boys" works, and I haven't had any major problems creating date events. The bad news is that in order to have this version be the equivalent of version 1, I have to create four more, plus another week of game events, plus a disclaimer that will state "This is the end for now." Should be manageable... Interesting announcement #1: a second season of Higurashi TV. Interesting announcement #2: license of Air TV and movie for region 1. I thought Key's anime spinoffs had been prohibitively expensive, considered totally uncommercial, or both. Huh. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 25th, 2007
8:00 am	Less than a week until May... ...and since I'm going to finish up version 2.0 of "Emo Boys..." no later than May 10 2007 (the day before ACen), that means I have just a couple weeks to shape and refine my game. "Emo Boys..." is slowly becoming a game in which the hero can freely walk around his room and make decisions. Compared to version 1.0, which was all menus and automatic events, it's easier to make changes -- I don't have to do quite so much copying and pasting. On the other hand, there is one problem: time in the game seems to go by even faster than it does in real life. The player can only make two decisions per day. Plus it's tough to figure out just what day it is -- the player has to look at a calendar in order to know that. That might annoy people. I considered a game which would run on "simulated time" (think Harvest Moon). In a situation like that, it would be clear what time/day it is. However, that idea seemed really complicated. Brief opinions on recent fan-made games: ( Read more... ) (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007
7:57 am	30 days until... ... a certain anime con. Thirty days in which to decide how many "multi-faceted" characters (ones with multiple interests, such as Art and Social Life) I want in my game. And thirty days to get version 2.0 done. Piece of Wonder started off cute, but I'm holding my judgment until I see the combat. Once I get to experience that, then I'll be able to either recommend the game or not. (Comment on this)
Monday, April 2nd, 2007
8:08 am	Within a room somewhere Since the first draft of "Emo Boys..." is done, I tried creating a version in which it's possible to walk around the room. I think it's possible - I just need to make sure the player can find out what day it is. *If* this works out, then I might try this approach to the game. Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: Sixpence - Within a Room Somewhere (Comment on this)
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
10:04 pm	That which is being LJ'd After some months of deliberation, I sold my domain to Go!Comi. And I promised I wouldn't wear the mask of a stranger and betray any of the company's secrets. But until the domain is full transferred, I'm hosting my Nanoreno/NanoRMXP game there. It's a rough preview of what I fully intend to be a dating simulation. I've called it Emo Boys and Moe Girls. It was created with a demo of RPG Maker XP, since it's legal software, and since I currently find it fairly easy to use. The graphics are currently quite simple, the music is MIDI files from various games, and the gameplay is just two weeks in the main character's school life. But I'm planning for this to grow and improve. Now that I have something to show, I'm ready to admit the places in which this game needs improvement. Please see my Readme file at http://www.visualnovels.com/readme.txt for more information. The direct download link is http://www.visualnovels.com/emomoe.zip I'll check for feedback (no, really... even though I've been busy/distracted over the last month...) when I have time. Current Mood: Underwater Ray Romano (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 29th, 2007
8:19 am	Last minute panic You know how it is. It's 1 AM Monday morning, and you just realized what you have to do by 9 AM... That's how I felt while playtesting this morning. Lots of stuff needed correction. Today's story idea which I'll probably never use: "I should get paid to work in a tsundere cafe, because that's how I want to act." Current Mood: tsundere? (Comment on this)
Monday, March 26th, 2007
8:00 am	I'm not a snob, but I play one on TV Yes, this post is a few days late. The next one will be up at/near the end of March, and it will be about my "NanoRMXP" project. A while back, I was saying things such as "I don't want to think of myself as a 'game snob,' so I will focus on visual novels and ADV games." But these days, I'm thinking back to my old favorite games. They were usually straightforward RPGs. They were sometimes a little too linear. Their gameplay wasn't exactly life-changing, and their dialogue was (in retrospect) usually terrible. But you know what I liked most? Dialogue and characterization. Even though it was in little fragments, and placed between long exploration and fighting scenes. That said, my current goal is to look for games which have a lot of gameplay, but which also have interesting dialogue and such. I've realized that's what I want to create. There has been so little in the English VN scene, but there hasn't been very much in the "cute games in English that also have gameplay" scene either. And all this while saying "no, I'm not a snob, really..." I recently ordered Piece of Wonder. I'll make sure to say something if it meets my rather vague criteria. [Edit: since I posted this, I listened to a podcast on which there was one person who knew quite a bit about eroge and otome games, and two intelligent anime fans... but even they couldn't name many examples of visual novels which were more than mindless nonsense. So few people know that they *can* be thoughtful, and so many people talk about the large number of mediocre ones, ahem, Something Awful, ahem. That seems so sad. I want to get the idea that there really is something worthwhile. And that is basically why I've been kind of snobbish.] Current Mood: busy Current Music: Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pidgeons in the Park (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 15th, 2007
7:54 am	When doves cry versus when cicadas cry Yeah, March is halfway over now. And I'll reveal just a little about my game-in-the-works: ( Read more... ) I noticed that Higurashi was licensed in R1, making it the third doujin game-to-anime license. There have been a few other bishoujo game-to-anime licenses which are creative (something other than "main character gets harem/fanservice"), so it's not as if there's *just* mindless junk. But as for the actual games? Translations, especially of games which are creative or thoughtful, are still rare. (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 8th, 2007
8:09 am	One week down... One week of March is now gone, and there's just over three left. So without spoiling anything, I can safely say that my game is off to a good start. I've managed to work through confusing issues such as custom main character names. Also, I'm working with a definite stopping point in mind. There will be something like an ending. Current Mood: accomplished (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 1st, 2007
7:44 am	NanoRMXP... GOOO~~~!!! Started my nameless-for-now project today. Made sure I had a tutorial from Gaming World on how to create a system in which... no, I won't spoil it. When I have something to show (or something important to say), I'll post again. Current Mood: amused Current Music: "Searching for Odin, My Love!" (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 22nd, 2007
8:09 am	March plans: "NanoRMXP" Just one week until March 2007. In that time, I will... ( Read more... ) Current Mood: busy Current Music: sound clips from Larry the Cable Guy (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, February 10th, 2007
2:15 pm	You are the Wind, you are the sun... Since Wednesday, I've been *slowly* going through the first few scenes of Wind. It has been quite a long time since I tried the hour-long demo, and I don't remember everything... but thus far I haven't seen anything different from what I recall. Once I get past the SUPAH HARMONICA scene (that sounds vaguely dirty, but it isn't!), then I'll have more to say. Will that Galaxy Angel game translation project actually get completed? I honestly don't know. The news thus far is only from one person on the Animesuki board - there's no official site or BBS. Plus it seems the project has already been delayed a few times. In other news, I can't believe I didn't hear about Zeiva Inc's original English language Flash games until today! See http://zeiva.sitesled.com if you haven't already. I've been thinking: ( Read more... ) Current Music: The really bizarre "I am the Wind" song from Castlevania PS1 (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, February 8th, 2007
7:58 am	The third one stayed up; or, "Wind" no longer a dream Since about 2002, I've kept an electronic record of all the games I have in working condition, as well as all the games I want. That's included watching and taking notes on the progress of various fan translations. So here's my very limited observations of the Wind -a breath of heart- translation project over the last two years: ( Read more... ) That being said, I've searched through my shelves and unearthed my copy of Wind. It's been a long time... maybe two years... since I played the translated demo. (And even though I tried watching the TV series, it didn't hold my interest.) Fortunately, I'd already installed the game. The patch works quite well, even on my old PC. I had no problems at all in the first fifteen minutes. Also, I should note that the liner notes are all in the re-worked help file. I'm just going to assume there's demand for this game. And right now it's not easy to find a legit copy. Today, my search for "wind a breath of heart" on Yahoo Auction Japan turned up a lot of CDs, TV series DVDs, PS2 games, and other merchandise... but I didn't see the Re:Gratitude DVD-ROM. So when I get done with the game, I'm gonna be thinking about what I should do. The people at Shira Oka are responsible for some recent ren'ai game panels at anime conventions... I'm vaguely thinking about giving it to them. Besides, my skills at selling things on eBay are not exactly refined. Current Music: "Dream" from the Rustle OST (2 Comments |Comment on this)