Hanako Games

Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#1 by hanako - Dec 7 2014

Starting a new topic for fresher information on what's going on right now!

Black Closet is just about to start alpha testing. I've spawned a subforum for it Black Closet. If you have any questions about that game please ask in the Black Closet section.

We are still in-progress with the new backgrounds for The Royal Trap, because plans for new artwork never go smoothly.



They really are mostly done but the last bits stretch on forever.

Speaking of last bits of art I am still waiting for the CGset to be completed for Hanabira - New Games In Production. It could be ready as early as Christmas? Stay tuned for more information.

Once we start getting some tester feedback on Black Closet, I can look at the final content update for LLTQ. I am not sure how much I want to add at this point, really. There are things I've thought of that would be fun, but at the same time I don't want to cause too much upset for people proud of 100%ing the game. I've been trying not to think about it too hard because I need to get these other things out the door.

And then, when Black Closet actually launches, it should be Wolf Hall time. Should be.

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#2 by Oki - Dec 8 2014

Woooo! Wolf Hall! Excited as always for new art and even though it's not normally my thing, I can't say no to a Hanako Game, so even I'm playing Black Closet

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#3 by FruitySnooty - Dec 14 2014

D-did I just hear WOLF HALL? PRAISE.
And Black Closet updates, wooo. Looking forward to it.

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#4 by Bunni89 - Dec 23 2014

Awesome! I didn't expect another content update for LLTQ, I'm super hyped for that! It still remains my favourite game from this company, and I love how the updates always add so many new ways to play. I still haven't managed to get all the achievements from the last update XD
I'd love to help out with alpha testing Black Closet once I get some money next week, it's awesome that the fans can bugtest and get a nice preview at the same time~
And I'm looking forward to Wolf Hall too!

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#5 by hanako - Dec 28 2014

I've opened up a Sword Daughter, along with links to get the discounted beta version.

Somehow I don't think we'll get enough feedback to be able to do an official 2014 release date though!

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#6 by hanako - Jan 1 2015

I am now starting to work on Final Plot Update - Planning Thread. This will probably be the last time the plot updates.

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#7 by Oki - Jan 5 2015

Probably my favorite part of LLTQ is the plot insertions. BEst part of loving indie games is the love, time, and additions indie people put in.

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#8 by Fairyjade - Jan 7 2015

I look forward to all the wonderful new projects coming in this year. 2015 seems like it's going to be a good year.

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#9 by hanako - Jan 23 2015

New content for LLTQ is NEW BETA UPDATE!!! Details within! - 1.3 - January 2015.

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#10 by hanako - Feb 6 2015

I've just cleaned up the secrets forum a bit and chucked out a bunch of topics into the forum of the game they most related to.

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#11 by hanako - Mar 11 2015

I may now have a complete set of art for the Royal Trap revision. Will be going over a lot of things and preparing upgrades. I am still trying to decide what to do about the version change. Is anyone going to want the option of buying the old version at a discount after the new version is released, or should I just wipe the old version away? The main reason for having the old one available is that the new one is probably going to be HD-only. I don't know whether there are going to be any stray customers who think that's too big for their computers to handle... on the other hand, I can always sell old versions specially on disc if there are needs...

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#12 by FantasyFan - Mar 11 2015

Perhaps you could have a "low-res" option in the new version like there is for Cute Knight Deluxe?

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#13 by somestrangecircus - Mar 13 2015

Give everyone both versions if they purchase the game? Or is that not feasible?

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#14 by hanako - Mar 13 2015

That's awkward and undesirable - it creates confusion for the player trying to figure out which thing to run, makes downloads a lot bigger, makes installers and the like more complicated, and fails to push the old ugly backgrounds out of sight.

It's simple enough to keep the old versions on the discs though. The discs already ship with multiple versions, since it's much easier to let players navigate and install the version they want from a disc than trying to figure out what to give them in a download purchase.

Going through the routes trying to adjust everything for the new art at the moment - http://www.hanakogames.com/trt/hd1.jpg so you can see how it looks.

All the backgrounds have been changed, and a few bugs that I knew about in the original release have been adjusted. I've also tweaked a couple of spots that caused inappropriate giggling in LPs (the stupid running effect is gone, replaced with a proper radial blur). So far I've made only a few very small dialog adjustments, one of which was required because of the art changes. While there are places in the plot that are not as strong as I might like, I'm not doing any major rewrites.

Current route-locking design is that, at the river, the option to talk to Callum simply doesn't appear unless you've reached some other ending (and not the failure no-path ending) first. This makes it more likely that a player will progress down Oscar's route first, without absolutely requiring it.

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#15 by chudah - Mar 15 2015

I'm super excited for TRT update. The route "locking" is an elegant solution to the issue. It doesn't force it if you really REALLY want to go with Callum first, but will steer most new players onto Oscar's Route.

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#16 by hanako - Mar 15 2015

Well, it does stop you from doing Callum's route first unless you get a hacked save file to unlock the option, because you have to choose that option in order to pursue him. But if you absolutely want to do Nazagi or Gaston first, you can.

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#17 by chudah - Mar 15 2015

Ah, ok...probably for the best. I went with Oscar first just because I usually go for the obvious guy first since a lot of times there are important story points in the base story that end up getting spoiled in other routes. It's probably a boring way to go for some, but it works for me.

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#18 by hanako - Mar 25 2015

working on writing a completely new normal end for Callum's route... oh, the angst.

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#19 by ILoveElodie - Apr 17 2015

I think that the people who have 100%ed lltq would still like more content. Lltq is by far my favorite game of yours, and I think you should continue to add content to it (or make a sequel that still includes Elodie ). Just my 2 cents.

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#20 by cae - Apr 18 2015

hanako:

And then, when Black Closet actually launches, it should be Wolf Hall time. Should be.

Yes. Yes. Yes!!!!!!

Can't begin to tell you how excited I am for that!

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#21 by Hoosha - Apr 18 2015

cae:

hanako:

And then, when Black Closet actually launches, it should be Wolf Hall time. Should be.

Yes. Yes. Yes!!!!!!

Can't begin to tell you how excited I am for that!

-w- Sadly it probably won't be ready for another 2 years

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#22 by hanako - May 12 2015

Now uploading tests of the free demo version of Black Closet.

If you're not already playing the beta version of the game, please have a look at the demos and let me know if they work for you!

(links removed, outdated)

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#23 by Tenarium - May 12 2015

Mac version works fine on my end!

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#24 by hanako - May 13 2015

In other news, I have been working with a GUI designer on some ideas for Wolf Hall. The interface will look a little different the next time around.

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#25 by Hoosha - May 14 2015

hanako:

In other news, I have been working with a GUI designer on some ideas for Wolf Hall. The interface will look a little different the next time around.

Will it still be cutsey?!

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#26 by hanako - May 14 2015

It's still round edges and bright colors, so it should still feel cute and friendly.

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#27 by somestrangecircus - May 14 2015

Is it pretty much exclusively Wolf Hall/Black Closet updates, or will you be working on something else as well, like another Hanabira game?

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#28 by hanako - May 14 2015

I have a million things I want to do but I promised I wouldn't start anything until Wolf Hall is moving - which, since Wolf Hall requires a good bit of Spiky effort to actually get moving, has me sort of in a bind.

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#29 by hanako - May 17 2015

Black Closet webpage now up - let me know if you see any problems or anything isn't working!

http://www.hanakogames.com/closet.shtml

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#30 by somestrangecircus - May 17 2015

Laaaaauuuuunch time!

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#31 by hanako - May 18 2015

(Please note: this is not a game request topic. If you post requests here, I will move or delete them. This topic is where I tell people what I am currently doing or about to do.)

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#32 by hanako - May 18 2015

so, this week I need to pester journalists, send out review copies, run ads everywhere, and do a lot of boring paperwork.

The new art option is still ticking along. It will eventually go into beta, but I don't want to be too hurried with it because I want to be able to release some fast patches if there are bugs or problems in the near future, without having to pull in the big filesize of the new art set.

The other thing that will go into beta eventually is the create-your-own-characters mode, which will have no traitors and no 'plot', just cases to solve. You'll be able to adjust how many cases you want to take on at once and things like that. We have done some groundwork for this mode but switched over so we could spend all our attention on the main gameplay.

This mode will also have the option to enable SILLY cases, things that don't go into the main game. Like clowns and vampires and hyper-intelligent crabs.

I may be making some of that up.

Maybe.

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#33 by somestrangecircus - May 19 2015

Get TotalBiscuit to do another video! Then everyone will know about your wonderful game.

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#34 by hanako - May 19 2015

That's not a thing I have the power to do!

He played LLTQ (and Hatoful Boyfriend) because his wife made him do it.

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#35 by somestrangecircus - May 19 2015

Seduce his wife, obviously.

This all reminds me that I need to get started on my own review, with all the best out of context pictures I can find.

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#36 by Ren - May 22 2015

Well, realistically: they do receive several builds for consideration and the most straight-forward way to get them to play it (if even as a stream on Genna's channel) would be to send either or both of them a build. :)

I think it would be interesting to see both of their takes, since they look for different things in games. He likes a fair few worker placement boardgames, if I recall correctly, so it would be interesting to see what he thinks of a game that puts a spin on that sort of mechanic by introducing D20s and procedurally generated tasks (which I suppose are only a bit different than drawing tasks from a deck like you do in Viticulture, for example). I get the impression Genna Bain is more into quirky things and into the fun side of things and I wouldn't be surprised if she enjoyed seeing him getting royally owned by the first few cases. I've seen her crack the mechanics of other hybrid VNs and then slowly introducing them to him, it was really entertaining to see.

And, of course, Dodger would be amusing to see, too. She seems to go more adventurously into this kind of game, so she's more likely to just be generally hilarious while playing it.

That's me musing, of course, I tend to listen to a lot of this kind of video while drawing, to keep me going. :D Drawing BC stuff while listening to Magical Diary play-throughs is quite a weird juxtaposition!

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#37 by silentheartsong - May 29 2015

It'd definitely be fun to see Total Biscuit or Dodger play this...I just want more people to see it, because it's just so darn good.

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#38 by hanako - May 29 2015

I'm not planning on actively inviting more review attention until the new art is finished, at least.

Dodger is especially hard to reach, though. IIRC she doesn't have contact info anywhere.

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#39 by silentheartsong - May 29 2015

Well, she has a Tumblr...That is actually about all I've ever seen out of her besides Youtube.

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#40 by hanako - Jul 4 2015

Because Spiky is tied up with something else right now and the person doing GUI work for Magical Diary is being really slow, I'm sitting around writing up scripts for the Little Princess game. Yes, I'm terrible.

If I actually finish it, I'm still struggling to figure out what it should be called. For various reasons, it can't simply be called [a/the] Little Princess. Could go for the somewhat on-the-nose "Little [Yuri/Lily] Princess", or the mouthful "Select Seminary for Young Ladies"...

But if I'm not nearly done with this script by the time other people are making more progress on other things I'll probably set it aside.

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#41 by somestrangecircus - Jul 4 2015

You're not terrible! Better to be working on something than nothing, right?

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#42 by Kerhi - Jul 6 2015

It's a shame that you have to wait for the person doing the GUI, Magical Diary is one that most people are looking forward to.

good luck with it though

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#43 by hanako - Aug 13 2015

Bits and pieces of the GUI are slowly getting done, dude's just really slow. And Spiky's been out being an international secret agent and far away from his computer. But he is finally back home and should be updating Black Closet again soon.

Unfortunately I've also been ill the past month so didn't get as much done as I wanted, but writing is happening. The common route for lilyprincess (which still lacks a proper name, and I've changed the poll settings in the struggling with titles) is roughed out in script. I'm starting to work through the character routes. There are six routes to write, but this is a Hanabira title for a reason. Lots of stuff is coming straight out of the book, or scenes being fluffed up based on a stray line from the book, and there's a lot less player choice than in a normal me-brand title. So it should not take forever to finish.

I am not hiring an artist for this game until the script is written because there is still the possibility of me dropping it.

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#44 by hanako - Aug 29 2015

GUI dude keeps updating extreeeeemely slowly. He is doing things, he's just clearly got other stuff on his mind.

Spiky is starting to fool around with new engine code for bigger, fancier Magical Diary dungeons. Whether any of his current engine experiments will be useful is unknown.

Two of the six routes on the silly thing are drafted. I've talked vaguely to some artists but there's nothing to show yet. Probably leaning towards ALLP for the title - it's slightly leading in the poll, it was what I named the game folder to begin with before I started polling, and it gets the point across.

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#45 by somestrangecircus - Aug 29 2015

Honestly, I'm looking forward to the Little Princess game more than Magical Diary 2. I mean, both are good; Little Princess gives me the nostalgia feels, though.

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#46 by hanako - Sep 2 2015

Forgot I had this - I don't think I've ever posted it.

This was from the first set of artist tryouts for Black Closet CGs - the artist was having some family problems to deal with at the time, disappeared after sending this sketch, and I never heard from her again.

Since it was never finished it shouldn't be reposted outside of the members area, but I thought someone might like to see.

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#47 by FantasyFan - Sep 4 2015

AAAAH, I love that! It would be awesome if the artist came back and did more!

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#48 by hanako - Sep 5 2015

Starting to get Steam prep work for Black Closet done. First set of card graphics submitted for review (I don't know if they're going to object to cleavage, I hear they're weird about cards, but it should be okay?) and achievement graphics set up, and Spiky is starting to get the code bits lined up.

We will likely be looking for a few people who want beta keys to run the Steam game in the next week or so.

When it actually launches, I'm hoping to get a website set up like the one we did for LLTQ, so that people can put in their license key and get a steam key right away instead of having to ask me and wait.

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#49 by FantasyFan - Sep 8 2015

I would love to test the Steam version if possible.

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#50 by hanako - Sep 13 2015

Steam rejected the initial card uploads (Rowan and Mallory were just too enticing) but accepted the second set. So, cards and badges should be ready to go.

GUI artist continues to take forever but I have at least first attempts at ALMOST all the Magical Diary screens.

Three of the six routes for ALLP have been drafted and I have a little bit of background art being done.

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#51 by somestrangecircus - Sep 14 2015

hanako:

Steam rejected the initial card uploads (Rowan and Mallory were just too enticing) but accepted the second set. So, cards and badges should be ready to go.

GUI artist continues to take forever but I have at least first attempts at ALMOST all the Magical Diary screens.

Three of the six routes for ALLP have been drafted and I have a little bit of background art being done.

Do we get to see the rejected cards?

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#52 by hanako - Sep 14 2015

It's just game CGs, not special art made for the cards. So you already have.

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#53 by somestrangecircus - Sep 14 2015

Shucks. What did they think was suggestive? I mean, I haven't seen all the CGs yet, but out of the ones I have, Althea's route has the only one that I'd call suggestive.

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#54 by hanako - Sep 14 2015

Rowan's minion CG is quite naughty.

And Mallory sitting on Elsa's lap, out of context, apparently looks a bit too much like an adult feeling up a child. Even though they're both fully dressed and no hands are anywhere inappropriate. Poor Mallory.

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#55 by somestrangecircus - Sep 14 2015

That'd be it...I can't bring myself to do Rowan's minion route because I like her too much to treat her so poorly.

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#56 by hanako - Sep 24 2015

First peek at artwork for the little lily princess game (which I suppose needs its own thread soon)

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#57 by Bornsecular - Sep 24 2015

Pretty! I am a fan. :)

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#58 by LinCereal - Sep 24 2015

Oh goodness oh dear me she's so adorable I want to play with her hhhhaaaaiiiiirrrrrrrrrr ^___^

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#59 by FantasyFan - Sep 24 2015

Love the hair!

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#60 by sleepycat - Sep 25 2015

Gorgeous - look forward to seeing more

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#61 by hanako - Nov 5 2015

So close to being done with the first draft script. Only a couple more scenes with Becky to go.

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#62 by FantasyFan - Nov 7 2015

Yay!

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#63 by hanako - Dec 11 2015

Year's coming to a close!

Right now I have three different artists all trying to get things done for lilyprincess (and I may need another at some point for some minor gui/cheeve work but that's later). I've been doing basic implementations and a solid chunk of the game is playable, though still lacking a lot of frills. Been busy lately so I haven't finished going through the whole script yet. Spiky hasn't touched it yet, since most of the code isn't very complicated. I am holding off on getting him involved in this game until the last possible minute so it doesn't distract him!

He is still messing around with weird stuff for future Magical Diary dungeons, when he's not busy maintaining older games to keep them running. MacOS updates are the bane of our existence some days

I should make a new poll topic soon with more games that everyone wants me to make that I don't have time for...

Re: Projects and Plans - Heading into 2015

#64 by katicflis - Dec 23 2015

I just wanted to say Black Closet was surprisingly amazing. Very well-polished and quite addicting. I hope it sold well because you obviously put a ton of effort into it. I'll support you as long as you make games.