sneak peek at upcoming development (magical diary)

hanako

sneak peek at upcoming development (magical diary)

#1 by hanako - Jun 27 2010

What are we working on now that Date Warp is complete?

A magical school dating sim!

This is vaguely intended to be a series in which you'll get to play either a boy or a girl and date a huge selection of characters, but each entry in the series will have only so many of them available (about 5-6).

What else is special about this project? Well, for one, you get to design your own character:

[Could not load http://img38.imageshack.us/img38/7905/charactercreation.th.jpg]

Learn and use different kinds of magic:

[Could not load http://img716.imageshack.us/img716/4267/classl.th.jpg]

And, of course, meet lots of wacky characters:

[Could not load http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/4758/boyu.th.jpg]

(screenshots not final, this is still way early in development - I have NO IDEA when this will be finished, but I certainly wouldn't expect it before December.)

FantasyFan

#2 by FantasyFan - Jun 27 2010

Woo, that sounds AWESOME! I'm totally getting it when it comes out.

azureXtwilight

#3 by azureXtwilight - Jun 28 2010

Whoa, awesome!
Looking forward for this! Absolutely!

Koori Odoriko

#4 by Koori Odoriko - Jun 28 2010

Oh yay! This looks so cool! Can't wait to try it when it comes out!

Nada

#5 by Nada - Jun 28 2010

Yay! I love this sort of game. Although I'm not too sure about the series thing. Would it be like what they did with Aveyond?

hanako

#6 by hanako - Jun 28 2010

No, quite different. As I understand it the Aveyond series stops at a cliffhanger each time, leaving the story incomplete and to-be-continued, and then picks up from that point with the next game.

The idea here is that in each entry of the series, you play a different character in the same setting, interacting with largely a different group of people, but over the SAME time period. One game would not continue on from the other game. Each game would be a complete game in itself.

Picking which game to play would mostly be like picking which CHARACTER you wanted to play inside a much larger game. You'd see characters from the other games going about their business but you would only be able to date the characters for the particular game you were currently playing. Like... that boy with wings in the screenshot is a major character in the first game. In the other games in the series, you might see him in the background and he might say hello, but you couldn't go out with him.

The eventual set of games could be played in any order, because they all take place at the same time anyway.

deb44

#7 by deb44 - Jun 29 2010

looks fun

sayuri

#8 by sayuri - Jun 29 2010

I'm happy about the character creation

. Since you said that the perspectives will be changing from episode to episode, will there be changing circumstances for the character we create or would it be more like another existing character's point of view?

hanako

#9 by hanako - Jun 29 2010

At the moment, the way it works is that the school itself is divided up into Halls for particular types of students (distinguishable by the gold symbol on the belt) and the PC you play in each game has starting stats and a vague background that will place her/him in the Hall for that game.

I don't want to make the player have to set lots of minor aspects of the background (like what's your favorite color, what's your favorite sport, how many siblings do you have, what are their names) because that would take a lot of player time for stuff that isn't really important, but at the same time it's slightly strange to have the PC always have the same answers to these questions when you're supposed to be making your own character, so I may select some minor personal details at random.

Nada

#10 by Nada - Jun 30 2010

I really like the idea of different stories set in the same world and can't wait to play it when it releases. Character creation is something I really like and I also can't wait to see how you do it . =)

Yuki

#11 by Yuki - Jun 30 2010

Who's we? Are you teaming up with Spiky Caterpillar again?

liz4187

#12 by liz4187 - Jun 30 2010

yay I am very excited!

Geisterhaft

#13 by Geisterhaft - Jun 30 2010

Wow, looks really Awesome, with a capital A! That's probably gonna be another must-get for me.
I especially like the fact that you get to customize your character :3 that way, I can model the PC after myself and get it on virtually

I have a question, though - you said that the signs on the belts represent a specific ''student class.'' What does that exactly mean?
Are the Halls shared by members of the same social class (royal, rich, middle class, poor), or the same race (witches, elves, or whatever races you had in mind)?
I noticed the player character's belt had a bull (?) on it, while the winged boy's belt had a bird of some sort. Which fits with his wings... which, in turn, supports my theory that the Halls are each meant for a different race...
Um, very sorry if it'd be a spoiler to reveal that owo

(first post in an English forum hallelujah!)

“Our bodies are our own; they're ours to use, abuse, and, since we're all going to die one day, they're ours to use up.”
- Dan Savage.

phoenixgirl

#14 by phoenixgirl - Jun 30 2010

I'm looking forward to this as well. Glad to hear that each game will be complete in itself. So I assume that the length will be as long as other games like Fatal Hearts, Date Warp, etc.?

Please help and support me here.

sayuri

#15 by sayuri - Jul 1 2010

To answer Gei and Yuki:

From my stalking, it seems that this is a joint venture with Spiky Caterpillar. This game is sorta the brainchild of Super Charm School so I assume, as was the case with Super Charm School, the "classes" are like Harry Potter. So basically, not by race.

I really don't know though, please correct me if I'm wrong Hanako

My blog~

http://otomelife.blogspot.com/

Muse

#16 by Muse - Jul 1 2010

Wow I am so excited! This looks adorable.

I was wondering what you would work on next so I am very excited to hear about this!

So I have to ask for clarification, when you say that throughout the series, you can play as a boy or a girl, I assume that means some of the games will be pursues boy and other pursues girl? (I'd also be curious to see if you plan to put any bi/gay characters in the game, like you have with some others, but if you don't know yet or want to keep secrets I totally understand.)

Either way it sounds gorgeousness, I am so excited. I will most definitely be getting this once it's out. I really like the art style as well; Simple but still very pretty and distinctive.

Hello Mr Dragon boy/man! He reminds me of the show Gargoyles, in a great way. *pokes pretty hair*

I am just so happy to see another game!

hanako

#17 by hanako - Jul 1 2010

I'm going to fall silent on answering too many questions at this stage.

If you want to know more about the game while it's in development, I'm experimenting with setting up a devblog here on indiedb. Be warned that this blog is aimed at a slightly different audience and may contain irreverent humor and maybe even spoilers! If you'd rather be surprised by everything, stay here... you'll still get the game when it's done.

misamisa

#18 by misamisa - Jul 1 2010

Looks sooo awesome i really like the idea of the character creation i've always wanted to do that in a dating sim game ^w^

Muse

#19 by Muse - Jul 1 2010

Yay blog link! Thank you.

I just can't wait for this game at all! *squeals*

sayuri

#20 by sayuri - Jul 3 2010

When I saw the name of the character in the screenshot, I lol'd. YEs, you are DEFINITELY drawing ideas from fanfiction.

My blog~

http://otomelife.blogspot.com/

azureXtwilight

#21 by azureXtwilight - Jul 8 2010

This looks very awesome!
I am looking forward to the release!

AnimeMint

#22 by AnimeMint - Jul 8 2010

Can't wait for this one!

aisza_1995

#23 by aisza_1995 - Jul 8 2010

sory for being lazy and I don't know if someone had asked it already
It will be something like fantasy hearts?

Btw - love it ^ ^
Finaly game when I can customise my charatcer .... december... it will be a long time but I will buy it for sure xD

Spazzbunny

#24 by Spazzbunny - Jul 9 2010

Aah! As a new addict to these games, I'm very excited for this one. ^^ The stress bar worries me a bit though. Is it going to be like the ones from Tokimeki Memorial, or will it be a bit easier to handle? Haha, either way though, I can't wait!

Esphirisa

#25 by Esphirisa - Jul 20 2010

Yay! School + Magic + Romance! Looking forward to it!

Muse

#26 by Muse - Jul 20 2010

By the way, I don't mean to push, but is there a rough estimated release date for this game? I know great games take time, so I do not want to rush this at all, but I tend to like to plan ahead (e.g. if I get these two games now I'll finish in time for this etc).

No pressure, just curious.

hanako

#27 by hanako - Jul 20 2010

Not the slightest of clues, it's way too early in development. I can safely say it won't be done before December simply because so little is complete so far, but I have no idea when it will be done.

When either the writing or the art is mostly done I'll have a better idea of how long the rest should take, generally.

Muse

#28 by Muse - Jul 20 2010

hanako:
Not the slightest of clues, it's way too early in development. I can safely say it won't be done before December simply because so little is complete so far, but I have no idea when it will be done.

When either the writing or the art is mostly done I'll have a better idea of how long the rest should take, generally.

Thank you so much!

Best of luck on the project!

pysali

#29 by pysali - Jul 22 2010

This game idea looks shiny and interesting. It would be fun to see characters from one game appear as cameos and minors in another. I wonder if that means each school 'hall' would be a different specialization to help make each segment unique (battle magic, charms, so forth) so the romances would be different.

Ayanni

#30 by Ayanni - Aug 26 2010

To me it just seems that Hanako's games are getting more and more cliche

Hesquidor

#31 by Hesquidor - Sep 4 2010

It's not a cliche unless the execution is poor.

As it stands, a light-hearted take on all the magical school/teen romance tropes you can pack into one game. Count me interested. ^^

-- On the player picking minor details for the character.

Would it be possible for the Player to fill in some kind of "enrollment form" at the beginning of the game. So you fill in your PC's name and then there is checkboxes below allowing you to pick your favourite colour, best school subject, brothers/sisters, etc. It would be a quick way to fill in all that data without a choice box popping up in conversation all the time.

Though I'm not sure how hard that would be to implement, and it may not be a direction your interested in taking.

MachineMaiden

#32 by MachineMaiden - Sep 17 2010

Looking forward to it! Hoping to have the yandere boy you mentioned in another topic in it. =d Love the look of it already! Can't wait for it and another Cute Knight!

sweetdreams

#33 by sweetdreams - Sep 25 2010

I hope that there are a lot of endings for this game!!! I always love a lot of endings with the guys

can't wait for this!!

hanako

#34 by hanako - Oct 18 2010

Introducing some the major characters for the first game:

[Could not load http://img689.imageshack.us/img689/315/elleno.th.png]

Ellen is one of your roommates in Horse Hall. A sweet girl, slightly shy, and as new to magic as you are.

[Could not load http://img547.imageshack.us/img547/9900/virginia.th.png]

Virginia, your other roommate. Exuberant, athletic, and born into a magical family.

[Could not load http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/1526/donald.th.png]

Donald, one of Virginia's two brothers (Donald is the middle child, Virginia is the youngest). He's a troublemaker in Wolf Hall.

[Could not load http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/452/damien.th.png]

... And this is Damien, a senior in Falcon Hall, and he's trouble of a different sort...

If you've seen a note on a certain other site announcing a game of a similar title coming soon, I don't know if that means me or someone else, but we're nowhere near done here sadly. I've put up a placeholder webpage for the game at
http://www.hanakogames.com/magical_diary.shtml
but there's no real information there, so don't get excited.

J_Yum1978

#35 by J_Yum1978 - Oct 18 2010

Wow, this looks very interesting. I love the concept of designing my own character!! Can't wait to buy it!! Eeeeee, I'm so excited!!

Muse

#36 by Muse - Oct 23 2010

I can't wait for this game to come out! Too bad it's still so far off. But it looks worth the wait!

Vanille

#37 by Vanille - Oct 27 2010

I'm so excited!!! ^__^
But Hanako, dont forget the mistery/drama stories, those are your best!
Like Date Warp and Fatal Hearts!
I guess I like the more dark stuff that makes you think and gets you so involved in the story.
If you ever wrotte a book I'd buy it...

Hanako Games

sneak peek at upcoming development (magical diary)

sneak peek at upcoming development (magical diary)

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