harry_kinomoto

Thanks for the replies everyone!! Definitely some good food for thought and possible alternatives for me here. Also apologies to Tay for not crediting him properly @Steve, on mutitasking devices: I feel you man. But what I notice recently is that nowadays, devices that do only one thing tend not to do it any better than another device that does that AND something else. mp3 players are my pet peeve in this. See, I tend to like to create and keep special playlists that, I would like to think, be with me for life. And because we tend to change phones like every 2 years nowadays, phones are NOT my ideal primary mp3 player function. However, all modern phones nowadays have a built in mp3 player function. They actually also do it surprisingly well, and are comparable in performance to any mp3 player on the market out there. That is also to say, mp3 players nowadays are basicallly phones without the phone function attached to them! You'd think they offer extra music-related features, but unfortunately, they don't. It particularly irks me that there is little customisation available to album art - it's a small detail, and probably overlooked by many, but myself, I like the idea of pictures that represent each song, and not being able to have that option rather annoys me >.< But RE the portable VN issue, basically I do already have a laptop, but it's a pretty hefty piece and not necessarily portable. While I definitely agree that 10mins on a overfull commuter tube is not the best place to enjoy a VN, I like the idea of having something that I can take around with me and open up to do/play stuff on on a whim. The programs I run on it are usually limited to old games, VNs, and other low-spec things. Thus if for the same price I can either get an ultra-portable, low-spec machine VS an average-sized, high-spec machine, I feel that the ultra-portable one is where my money's best spent ^^;

Oh, how fun~ Eh, why the heck not - I'm gonna start running the Narcissus and possibly one other moderate length VN, and would love to do it as part of this. Sign me up! So is the idea that we run one VN for a set amount of time at a regular schedule? And must we run all parts of the VN from start to finish? Some longer VNs might not be suitable for this if so....

I was wondering what options there were for people who wanted to play VNs on the move - eg with your phone/iPad/tablet/laptop/etc? I know there has been some discussion about this already - for eg I think Sakamoto was creating an Android app?? I would love if someone could give a quick summary of what headway has been made here thus far. Indeed, considering how nowadays everyone seems to emphasize mobility and convenience, I think offering people ways to get into VNs that DOESN'T involve them being chained to their desk for hours on end could help a great deal~ What also got me into thinking about this was an ad campaign for the HP Envy x2 - which sells itself as a tablet with windows functionality. If I recall correctly, one of the main problems surrounding this is getting an OS to run a VN engine, which is typically optimised for Windows. This makes most app-dependent devices, such as the iPad and most other smartphones, ill-suited for the task unless someone goes and does some major hacking. That said, the video review of the Envy x2 above showcases how it can indeed run a Windows desktop as a standalone tablet (skip to 12:12) - so to me it seems like it might overcome the OS problem with ease. That said though, I am not particularly knowledgeable on technology, so I was wondering if anyone more-so could confirm this or shed some light on the matter? Or, does anyone know of different devices or ways to do this job??

Instant noodles - one of my specialist subjects Unfortunately, no UK brand seems to have yet learnt how to make instant noodles properly, so if you want some good ones I strongly advice you hightail it down your closest oriental supermarket. Loon Fung and Wing Yip are the two most well-known names, although any other in Chinatown (tube: Leicester Square) will serve you well. You'll find yourself being spoilt for choice and I can pretty much guarantee all of them will be a step-up from standard supermarket brands! Just find one that looks authentic and has a flavour you like the sound of - Nissin (as seen in shcboomer's post) tends to be reasonably-priced and reliable. If you feel particularly game, you can even buy a box of 30 packs for <£10 http://forums.fuwanovel.net/uploads/emoticons/default_laugh.png' alt=':lol:'> (although you could find the exact same boxes for as low as £6.50 3 years back....) My personal recommendation is XO Seafood~ PROTIP While not my personal favourite, Eat Tokyo ended up serving reasonably-priced no-fuss food that proved popular with a friend of mine known for being a gourmand, so is probably a safe bet. While not exclusively ramen shops, if you have extra cash to spare, I hear Roka and Bincho are places to try. And just 'cos I love my sushi, I'm just gonna go ahead and throw out SushiMania for having all you can eat sushi AND sashimi for cheaper than I thought~ I could continue talking about my signature "double-boiled" method of cooking noodles and the ways I spice up normal instant foods in the local supermarket, but I do have other work so will probably leave it for now. If nothing else, your neighbourhood Japanese will do in a pinch! The local Chinese takeaway can also help - so long as it looks somewhat respectable. That being said, for having the most bland-tasting and disproportionately overpriced food, I avoid Wagamama like the plague >.<

Saw this the other day at my local and immediately thought of this thread =P Be looking forward to playing the latest episodes when I get the time!!

+1 THOU CAN'ST DENY MY MOE PROWRESS!!!1!!!!!ONE!

Oooooo looks like I'm late to the party due to posting in wrong topic but I'll copy-paste what I posted HERE instead so it doesn't go to waste. Enjoy, and feel free to use it as you see fit! And if you need any extra help with writing/production etc, you know how to find me~

here's harry_kinomoto, general all-purpose ball-fan and semi-chuunibyou demon lord... I totally called this from happening but that doesn't mean I'm any less disappointed.... I mean ffs, you people are of course aware that all these people were actually coming from THE SAME TEAM at first - and people tend to get so hecked up over the rules of the game and the umpires and all that but really, I think if all this unnecessary competition hadn't come to rear its ugly head I think we may well be seeing a very different kind of baseball.... Because you see, I think I speak for most everyone else in the audience when I say I'm less concerned about who wins in the end as opposed to the fact that the ball is actually flippin' hit at the end of the day. At the end of the day, people don't care about anything about the game, or even the players - all they want is that the ball is hit in such a way that they understand the magnitude of moe that hits them when their waifu/husbando comes on screen. Honestly though, how an action as simple as hitting a ball became a competitive sport is quite beyond me; because in this game I think its the balls that are the most interesting and I think a lot of people who are in this business agree with me. The process of ball-making is beautifully complex and touches on a lot of things that are art forms in their own right. Of course, hitting balls is no easy task in itself (anyone who disagrees obviously hasn't seen Ixrec's ball-hitting manuals) and I have a great respect for those who try, but it is the beauty of the ball - and everything in it - that draws in the fans. I honestly regret that this has all been lost to some mindless sport, and believe that if the players could bear to look away from this for only the slightest moment, a lot more people would come to know the beauty of these balls. tl;dr: if the world was a happier place, we'd be able to move more balls. That is all!

Alright people, I think its about time to break it up. As a fan who wants to know how the Da Capo series develops I'm annoyed that Mangagamer didn't let me find that out a little sooner. As an associate of Aaeru I feel very sorry that Mangagamer has made the decision to halt her otherwise well-intentioned efforts so abruptly. But as a moderator of Fuwanovel, I think it speaks very poorly of our character to continue to criticize them in the wake of this decision. Fuwanovel is not political. We take no sides except against those who would consciously prevent the spread of VNs in the West. As a company that strives to sell VNs to the West I believe Mangagamer is at least partially aligned with this goal, even if our methods may differ. I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt that they had valid reasons to send the CnD. If you want to make a new topic discussing possible business models for marketing VNs in the West, please do so. Otherwise, please keep the company-bashing in this thread to a minimum. Peace~ B)/>

Just to pop in and say quickly what I remember of it when I last played it (a week or so back).... The Good >Excellent degree of immersion generated, rather impressively, without a great deal of text. No waffle/filler. Readers will hang on to every word. Excellent quality to have and very hard to do - a good testament to overall quality of game! >Very good pacing with a healthy degree of suspense As above. Good use of storytelling mechanics. Dividing story into chapters works well. >Everything else (characterisation, scriptwriting, music etc) generally very solid. *** Things I might change if I was making this (and I will be very nitpicky! Encouraged to disagree if you feel that way inclined!) >Make it longer! It may be because the game is not finished yet but I simply feel having each episode as being able to be completed in <10mins is WAY too short and prevents it from having any real impact.... Maybe in later stages, have the mazes more elaborate...could consider having them span >1 screen, though that would be a MASSIVE programming task I'd think. Could add more scenes, but be careful you don't disturb the already-excellent pacing. Another more ambitious way to do this is give it a broader scope. Eg you know those VNs when you finish it and as the MC you've just like saved the world or something, and because you did sth SO grand you just feel awesome? I don't know if you do this later on anyway but it may be sth to consider. >Art. Two things.... First, people. Weedy's body, to use as an eg, is wide at the upper body/chest area and gets narrower at her hips. This suggests developed Pectoralis, deltoids and trapezius muscles. Coupled with her small breasts this is, in effect, a muscular, masculine physique. Second, and TOTALLY my subjective opinion only: I just can't take viruses that look like tadpoles very seriously..... >Add keyboard controls I hear what you're saying about designing it as an app but if you sell it on the appstore why not prep a PC-based version and sell it online too? You could try using DLSite for that, for eg. ****** tl;dr: I like where this is going. You have the basics down well and it shows clearly here. I have no experience in drawing art or game design so if you genuinely feel you know what you're doing, don't let me throw you off track!!

Will make several fast points, my two cents on this... First, consider what exactly is your aim with this? If it is to just get the word out about your game and generally receive feedback as a designer, then the social media route everyone else talking about is a good way down. If, however, if it is really to sell it commercially on the app store, you may want to do a bit of research also. I never did economics/business but I do think to go about it logically you need to at least have some idea on how to approach the following questions: Precisely what genre does the work fit in to? (ie which category of app. I can talk for ages about how by being both story and game VNs defy current categories but this will not fly when you're filling out the form that asks you where you want to place the app for sale... ) What other apps are already out there that it will be competing with? And this isn't just a general run-down of the English OELVN scene, mind; I mean actually going down to the app store and seeing what people are doing with their stuff there. You never know, it might give you ideas! Also, it also helps you determine.... ....What does your product have that others already available don't? Marketing, in the strict sense of the term, alludes to advertising. So you want to know how to pitch it at others. What is its main pull? And if you already know what that is, do you want to work on it a bit more so that your game includes more of it? And this is where I start picking bones about the whole idea of "marketing" art, because then people can easily fall into the trap of doing things for the sake of sales as opposed to, well, art for art's sake. Lucky for some what they do is precisely what sells; but for the rest of us that isn't always the case. That being said though even if you abandon ALL intention of selling anything (and I in no way think you should) it is still useful to consider this perspective because it can help you see things from a different viewpoint - which is always good for the creative process!! Hope that helps. Good luck and let us know how it goes!!

All I will say for the immediate moment is: ever considered why I called myself HARRY Kinomoto?? Have a video for good keeps

Eclipsezero’s Power of Social Influence scenario (link here) There are some divisions of real-world psychology that are dedicated to finding out how to do precisely that. See, for example, Motivational Interviewing or Neuro-Linguistic Programming. My idea was to take those facts however, and run with it, modifying Tay’s suggested plotline for it thus: ACT 1 / ACT 2: As per original. ACT 3: Confrontation with the bad guy. MC runs out of SI power at critical moment. To reader’s surprise, however, bad guy is able to continue using SI power – and uses it to wipe MC’s SI power – but for him to act as if he still had it. The writing should suggest to readers that this is a cruel intervention: possibly for eg because the bad guy suggests he do things that may sound impossible. ACT 4: Where readers expect MC to crash and burn, he actually does well. In fact, aside from a few minor inconveniences, MC is able to live his life normally. MC stumbles on several pieces of information that essentially inform the reader that the “bad guy” wasn’t actually such a “bad” guy after all; rather, he was trying to free the MC from the crutch of living life a slave unto his SI “power”, and learn to start living as a confident, natural human being. AND NOW IT’S DECISION TIME~ Normal End: MC continues to live life happy and carefree. However he remains ignorant, never learns the truth of the “SI incidents” / Research Division’s agenda, and the “bad” guy vanishes tragically into the sunset. Good End: MC actually realises “bad” guy was trying to help him, and they become friends, and life goes on, the “SI incidents” a distant memory. True End: Above except that they work together to uncover the whole mystery. Possible implication of YOUR HAVING POWERS WAS ALL A DREAM but hey, isn’t IRL actually quite beautiful when you look at it hmm?? <3 OR: include some suspenseful vestiges of unexplained supernatural phenomena. (for sequel?) How exactly this can be done effectively depends on details of previous plot. ***** And that’s all from me for now. I will sign out again as I will still be busy for at least another solid month, but I will try to check back regularly so please do keep me informed~

This (ie Western-created VNs that lack the standard stereotypes that always plague otherwise excellent Japanese-produced VNs) is a cause I’m passionate about, so I’ll quickly break my self-imposed hiatus to quickly throw a few ideas out into the ether. The first thing to say is: good job Tay! Organising something like this takes passion and dedication and the results are well worth-it. Rewrite for example was one VN that tried to put multiple minds to work to create a single overarching story and was all the better for it. It was very broad in scope, touched on multiple genres, several of them being quite different (eg slice-of-life VS shounen action). Because it combined so many thematic elements as well (eg the “happy school life” idea, environmentalism, self-worth, etc) I could very easily imagine it to have been borne out from this very process. The only thing is when individual writers run too independently on their own creative genius without focusing enough on the overarching plot what results runs the risk of looking messy and carelessly stitched-together. Some writers try to overcome this by abusing established templates (eg TVTropes stuff) - which imo takes something away from a creative process where what is created really should be personal to you. Not something to worry about in the brainstorming phase, perhaps; but definitely something to consider later on. There were two ideas that I’ll play about with. This is not to say the others are in any way inferior; it’s just that they were simply the first two I saw and I really should be in bed by now!! mooingmage / Ryoji’s mystery of the Wish-Granting Book. (link here) Turns out Miss Lolimoe was planted there as a deliberate trap by Rin’s enemies, who had suspected her to be the one whom they had sworn vengeance on, but wanted to make absolutely sure she was the one before they captured her and subjected her to a fate worse than the burning of a thousand and one suns... So Rin opens the book and Miss Lolimoe pops out – subconsciously drawn to Rin because of her latent demon-summoning powers. Then cue a scene where she maybe goes sth like: oh, this person is of a pure heart and desires world peace…maybe I should start making all the girls in school fall in love with each other so they stop fighting!! > suggestive Yuri scene/imagination portrayal? But then Rin notices her before (or if you’re REALLY wanting to write sth like that then shortly after!) she does anything, and then she goes all DFAKJGBogvr doushite you can SEE meeee!??!?! kyaAaaAaAaaahh hazukashii desu yo~~~ >.< However seeing Rin commune with Miss Lolimoe on such friendly terms is proof enough for her evil enemy people that they’ve found their target! So they charge in all guns blazing, and after the two run around like headless chickens for a while Rin realises Ms Lolimoe is actually a pretty strong Youkai and in the heat of a moment chants an ancient, centuries-old chant of untold power: In the name of the ancient power of Aaeru that within me sleeps, I call upon thee, oh burning child lolimoe, within whome is housed moe from the lolis of the moes most high, yea! High enough to turn the most stonehearted into Steves; the most simple-minded into Tays; and the most pure-hearted into harrykinomotos. Under me to serve, oh lolimoe, your power now turn these wretched people into hikikomori otakus who will never bother me again except to ask to gaze once more upon thy lolimoe form!!! And as the evil people are blasted off by her newly-appointed sidekick’s power, Rin turns to her (who btw is still going I got seen by people and some of them were men kyaaaah thisissohazukashii >///<), and realised her school life was never, ever going to be the same again... A/N: I clearly have a disturbing talent for writing Mahou Shoujo...

As above. Just thought to poke my head around for a bit before I vanish again! Unfortunately, Real Life commitments have been piling up unfortunately (exams and competition prep mainly, so nothing catastrophic -thankfully!), and it being a little unwise to ignore them for too long, I've decided to take a temporary hiatus from posting. I do tend to spend many (too many!) happy hours browsing and posting when logged-on, as such have decided to scale down activity for the next several months :x I do also drop by occasionally when logged-off to browse stuff, so I will be with everyone in spirit! A big thank-you to all existing Fuwanovel members and staff for making and keeping the community awesome, and a big welcome to those who have just come to join us!! I'm confident you'll enjoy this site as much as I do~ Visual Novels for the World~ Harry_Kinomoto

An imagethread to celebrate the multinational presence in Anime, VNs, and everything else!! That being said, I do have plans for these images as well. But first, some music to get people in the mood~ (Warning NSFW lyrics!!) I should perhaps explain myself. In what will hopefully be the not-too-distant future, I intend to busk piano music in a very central London location. I will be cycling through my best and most attention-grabbing Classical and VN/Anime/Touhou/other jp soundtrack music. I've always marvelled at how many similarities these "Western" genres have with "Eastern" ones. The fact that there seems to be an energy in good music that may well be universal and transcends geographical boundaries and I want to showcase that in a way that all may see and hear~ The current plan is to design a poster and display it behind myself while I busk. This will be headed by the text "Because Music is Magic" and two portraits of Beethoven (one traditional; another of his girl form). Below shall be a montage of traditional classical composers, possibly famous pianists, and Anime/VN/Touhou/etc characters, all displayed alongside with a flag indicating their country of origin. I'm looking for people to include on this poster! Please post images along with a quick sentence saying who they are and where they are canonically from! Also, considering the nature of the project, I award bonus points if the images are: of someone who is supposed to be from the UK (DOUBLE that if they don't look it) in some way related to music in high-resolution (poster will be at LEAST 160cm long) looks beautiful/eye-catching Also while I don't mind this turning into a loli thread, I probably won't be able to display NSFW images in public without getting arrested So go on, surprise me with your best, prettiest and weirdest pictures~

Harry Kinomoto's totally pointless First Impressions Rewrite post Kanbe Kotori The Actrapid/Levemir combination was working fine for me as I cycled through a choice, wondering if I should take it. Then I thought a bit, went back, chose the other one involving her.... Then she appeared, was all, "It's lunchtime~~~<3"....and next thing I knew, I was hyperventilating rapid shallow breaths on the floor while people around me began to comment on how fruity my breath now smelled. ALSO SHE SOUNDS LIKE USAMI HARU WTFFFFFFFFFFFF Ohtori Chihaya is a house. Men become ultramen when she zaitakus at chuu. NO THAT DOES NOT MEAN WHAT YOU THINK IT MEANS Tennouji Lucia <<<<<<<<< Konohana Kotarou THREE CHEERS TO HIM FOR BEING AN OPENMINDED JAPANESE MAN (I wonder why she didn't like it though...) Ohtori Sakuya An Otome-ge chara in a bishoujo-ge?? I APPROVE OF THIS NEW PRECEDENT. Shizuru of the Mysterious Surname that is most probably Takanashi. Rikka's long-lost sister. No doubt Rewrite is the Unseen horizon that she has been looking for. No doubt deliberately sealed herself inside this alternate dimension because too much moe between too few eyepatches tends to mess with the laws of physics. Senri Akane Adorable NEET girl that doesn't look very NEET. Able to extend her wrist at very odd angles in her sprite. also boobs tl;dr: THIS GAME IS MOAR MOE THAN MERONPAN (see below)

Flattered to be considered the go-to person for dilemmas like this!! Much of what needs to be said has already been said, but I’ll try to add my own spin on it. This. Put another way, what the options that VNs seem to imply tend to be very different from what they ACTUALLY imply. It’s also worth noting that the amount of “choice” that VNs give you is very little compared to what real life offers you. Many times you choose the Bad End choice, a good amount of time elapses before it actually happens. One could well have spotted the warning signs before the Bad End happened, and take steps to change things before things screwed up irreversibly. This is most evident in Bad Ends that lead to the degeneration of a character’s personality, like for example the one for Sharin no Kuni’s It cannot be denied that the relationship between certain choices and endings can indeed have deep meaning. However, identifying this relationship is difficult, and very often only possible after you've seen the Bad End. As such value judgements on people just because they keep getting Bad Ends are arguably premature, not least since many choices leading to Bad Ends can seem perfectly well-intentioned - you yourself said you often chose it in hopes to give them a second chance. Of course, if giving someone a second chance led to a Bad End then the author probably didn't think it the right thing to do, but I don’t necessarily think it means the author doesn't believe in second chances at all; rather that THIS character with THIS mindset giving a second chance in THIS situation in THIS specific way... wasn't quite wise! (see above discussions on disconnect between VN worlds and real life.) Also, a word regarding your philosophy on VN relationships: Absolutely nothing wrong with that at all, imo. Also don’t forget, being troubled doesn’t mean you can’t be energetic - Sachi from Sharin no Kuni being a good example of someone who was both!

Thanks for the info! Erm, if as mods we can't do it we prolly need an admin....Anyone out there willing to help? (Ryoji/Tay?)

Not a straight answer but I shall accept! Have a +rep! (EDIT: Oh yeah I forgot, and 7000 internets ) .....Okok I'll behave. Lessee what I have here... Start off with Tenshi-tan (of Angel Beats) reading her fanmail... A Fate/Zero for the fans! It is mostly guys, but there is moe in the image for those who look~ I'm a huge proponent for gender equality, so I'll also include something featuring Ilya from F/SN to go along! An adorable one one of Hina/Nitori from Touhou... "I'm gonna make fish food outta you.....Takoluka BAKA!!" Humans aren't the only thing that can be moe <3 Fuuko's expression = priceless~ ...and another adorably stylish Touhou montage. There are loads more! ....SO many more that, Kyou and Sunohara got married to celebrate! Now how many of you would believe me if I told you one of those images contained a trap??

Figurines (or "figs") are sculptures of popular characters featured in a variety of anime/manga/VNs, and form one of the types of merchandise that devs end up end up trying to flog to die-hard otaku fans. They can be quite cheap, for eg the small "gachapon" capsule toys, to well-near life-size and thus ridiculously expensive. Most, however, seem to be rather well-made, and perhaps a reasonable way to reconcile a fanship of 2D characters with a 3D world. I am not normally a fig person, but I have noticed one that am quite keen to procure, and I have other plans for it aside from merely looking good and collecting dust (they involve public piano performance, to cut a long story short): It is released April this year (ideal for me), and is available for pre-order (relatively) cheaply at: -AmiAmi: http://www.amiami.com/top/detail/detail?scode=FIG-MOE-7485&page=top -Hobby Search http://www.1999.co.jp/itbig20/10203320.jpg I was wondering if there were any fig veterans amongst us who has had experiences with buying online from these sites? Or are there any other you would recommend? I'm particularly hesitant about the above which are Japan-based, quite unclear about the buying process in general, and don't seem the most efficient in replying to my emails! So if anyone has tried them out as an overseas customer and has feedback about them, I would be grateful to learn of your experiences! (I do note it for sale at UK-based company Estatic Arts, though for MUCH, much more.) ******* And if nothing else, general fig thread! Share your fig collections here~

I'll begin by quoting something I wrote somewhere else about why I love characters in VNs: See I think VNs, or indeed art in general, presents to you a version of reality is tailored to get you to notice SOMETHING you would otherwise have overlooked. The short version is probably that people don't know how to appreciate what they have untill they are shown what life is like without it. This isn't to say human beings are ungrateful scumbags, mind you; its more to do, I think, with the fact that people perceive many things in relative terms. For eg, if you ask a pepople born blind what they see through their eyes, the answer isn't "black". We may say we see "black" when our eyes are shut because we know what "white" is - we have seen it when our eyes are open, so when this sensation of "white" is taken away the impression is that we see the opposite - ie, "black". In contrast when people don't have anything to compare what they have effectively known all their life, the answer isn't usually, "Black"; rather, it's quite simply, nothing. In similar vein we don't know what we should be thankful for until we lose it - and Art is an absolute MASTER of of showcasing this. We don't appreciate peace until we're forced to go out and experience the horrors of war. We won't know what our friends are for until we consider what is like if our memory went blank and we lived life not knowing them. And we can't possibly hope to know what love is until we fall so deeply into it, and oftentimes afterwards out of it, and thus are able to compare what "normal" friendship is like against that seemingly unsurpassable feeling. Cut a long story short, by being made aware of what, in the extreme, life COULD be like, this knowledge becomes the standard against which all our other experiences are judged. In VNs, the music, images, and interpersonal relationships help add to the emotional salience, making us hyper-alert to the possibility of this experience being repeated, and then spurring us on to take steps to avoid it, or repeat it, as we see fit. tl;dr: VNs for me often end up being some form of life-lesson; or at the very least, a medium through which to understand the complete gamut of human emotion, and in so doing, I think, helps make me a better human being.

OK let's try this again....